Adding Color To Your Riffs | RiffNinja.com

Adding Color To Your Riffs

You know the scale. You understand the chords. You've even practiced both.

But when you try to solo, it still sounds like... a scale exercise. Just running up and down notes robotically. This free lesson shows you the one riff that changes everything—the string bend that adds personality and makes you sound musical.

Colin showed you the string stretch riff—one of the most important riffs in blues and rock. How to add personality. How timing matters more than speed.

Now here's the truth about these three free videos...

They give you the overview. Enough to show you what's possible.

But here's what they DON'T give you:

The confidence that comes from real repetition.

You know that feeling when someone says "take a solo" and you freeze? That doesn't go away from watching three videos once. It goes away when you've practiced this stuff so many times your fingers just KNOW where to go.

The understanding that comes from seeing the same concept five different ways.

Right now you're probably thinking "okay, I kind of get it." The full course takes you from "I kind of get it" to "I actually understand what I'm doing." That's when you stop feeling like you're faking it.

The ability to just... play.

Not think. Not hunt for notes. Not pray you land somewhere that sounds okay. Just play. Like the guitar players you admire who make it look effortless.

That transformation doesn't happen from an overview. It happens from going deep. Practicing with real backing tracks. Watching the same riff broken down slow, then faster, then in context. Getting the reps until it's second nature.

If you're serious about finally breaking through, this is how you do it.

  • Why this one string stretch shows up in countless blues and rock solos (and how to make it your own)
  • The "personality injection" technique that turns mechanical scale runs into phrases that breathe
  • When to repeat a bend versus when to move on (this is what separates noodling from music)
  • Why slow practice with perfect timing beats fast sloppy playing every time
  • How to morph between riffs and scales without it sounding like two separate things
  • 60-day guarantee—get every penny back if it doesn't click

Leave a Reply 3 comments

Frank Reply

When soloing over chords like you guys were doing, is there any requirement to pick any particular note at chord change time? For example, when the chord is changed to an Am, should you pick an A? Or as long as you are playing notes in the correct key, it doesn’t matter what notes you are playing as long as they are in time?
Thank you!

    Jonathan Boettcher Reply

    Hi Frank, the choice is really yours… I know, that’s a bit of a cop-out answer, but it’s true. If you’re in the pentatonic scale, you have a lot of freedom to simply noodle around wherever you want to in the scale, over any chord in the progression.

    That said, as you get better and better in your playing, you’ll discover that if you start targeting your notes to the notes that are found in the chords, things start sounding a bit more melodic. You can start by targeting the root notes of the chords, but if you understand your theory, and know what notes are present in the various chords, any of those notes make for great “targets” as part of your riffs.

Frank P. Chapman III Reply

And thank you for the jam track at the end — “the bonus”
Sounds nice.

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