ROCK N ROLL RIFF

The rock and roll riff is a great way to really add energy and excitement to your rock n roll tunes. In this example we will explore it in a moveable pattern which means you will need to use some bars but the basic pattern is the same. Today we will look at adding the rock n roll roff over a 12 bar blues in the key of C major. . .

To begin with, you will simply play an arpeggio of a C chord in open position and add a diminished 7th note of the C major scale which will give you a Bb (played at fret 1 on the A string) to get that rock n roll sound.
Where the 0 - 1 are link with a tie, this represents a HAMMER ON.

Repeat this pattern twice to fit over 4 bars of C. 

Next we will look at playing that same pattern over the chord of F major. You will need to bar your index finger across the 5th fret and play the 6th fret of the A string for that diminished 7th as follows:

This pattern just needs to be played once and then you should return to the C riff and play that once again as follows:

Next up is one bar of G major. There are a few ways you can cover this bar as follows:

Both ways will give you exactly the same sound so try both and see which one works best for you.

Next up you would have one bar of F which you could play either way as above but moving down to the 5th fret as follows:

To complete the phrase, you will return the C major riff but this time add a double stop to the last 2 beats as follows: