Riff of the Week (3/30/12)

This week's riff is from "YYZ" by Rush. One common theme is Rush's music is a breakdown section (normally no longer than a few measures) that was used as a way to modulate. These usually have odd rhythms and an improvised feel as a well as a rushed tempo.

Implied Chords: Dominant 7th Blues

It is said that the Blues became known as "the devil's music" because many chord progressions contained a dominant 7th interval which was believed to summon Satan. While the myth has subsided, dominant 7th chords still remain a principle aspect of the standard Blues chord progression. One trick to throw in a dominant 7th interval without being completely explicit is to imply the chord by playing the 3rd and dominant 7th. The example below is a chord progression composed of only dominant 7th chords. 

Diminished Chords: 6 riffs in 1

There exists a unique family of chords that have the ability to invert themselves without changing the fingering of the chord. One such chord is the diminished chord. A single diminished chord is actually four chords in one. In Fig. 1, all chords in the measure are actually the same chord but each inversion has a different root note (or the same root note depending on how you look at it). Furthermore, all chords are the same distance apart from one another (3 frets).
This means that you can take one guitar riff and multiply it 6 times across the fretboard. This is a relatively common techinque in shred when you need to get from one side of the neck to the other without too much effort. Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 give some general ideas for how this could be acomplished. Fig. 3 in particular is a sweep pattern.

Riff of the Week (3/23/12)

This week's riff is off of Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" from the Rust in Peace album. This minor pentatonic riff is used as a transition from the intro to the verse and the solo. Nothing fancy, just a really cool bluesy lick.