Riffs - How to Create and Play Great Guitar Riffs Book/CD [Paperback]

Rikky Rooksby (Author)

Book Description

Series: Book & CD | Publication Date: October 2002

This book identifies 30 distinct guitar riff types, and goes on to illustrate them with 150 inspired examples, examining how they have been developed and used by great rock musicians from Cream and The Beatles, through Nirvana and Soundgarden, to Metallica, Limp Bizkit, The Strokes and The White Stripes. The first half of the book analyzes classic rock riffs and reveals the stories behind their creation, supported by illustrations and a 30-track CD of audio examples. The second section shows how to construct great riffs. Readers learn how to shape a melody, integrate a guitar riff with the rest of a song, enhance it with effects, and work with intervals and scales. Includes an exclusive interview with Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Rikky Rooksby is a guitar-teacher, songwriter, and music journalist. He is the author of How To Write Songs on Guitar and several other guitar instruction books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Backbeat Books (October 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879307102
• ISBN-13: 978-0879307103
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,061,378 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique book on riffs, February 3, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Riffs - How to Create and Play Great Guitar Riffs Book/CD (Paperback)

Glad I found this one for myself. Riffs is not a book of sheet music for other people's riffs, tho'it has lots of famous rock riffs described (and if you don't know how Smoke on the Water or Purple Haze sound, where have you been?). Rooksby has found a way to group riffs by type so you can understand what makes them work. I read this book and had a better idea of not only famous riffs but how my band's riffs work. I've looked at a lot of guitar books and this one is IMO unique in what it does. If you don't read music that's cool anyway cos the 30 made-up riffs are tabbed out and on the CD. This is a great book for anyone who wants to understand riffs, not just copy them.

26 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid.... Less than worthless, December 17, 2003

By 

Slar T Bartfast (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riffs - How to Create and Play Great Guitar Riffs Book/CD (Paperback)

I was extremely disappointed in this book. There is some useful info/discussion in it, if your an absolute beginner to music theory but it is way too lean for someone who is anywhere beyond a couple of introductory lessons and way too confusing/meandering for someone who is a beginner. Your time would be better spent reading something else...

Like the other reviewer, I was extremely annoyed by the fact that while Rooksby has a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of Guitar Riff History (he cites an insanely large and diverse number of artists and songs when discussing various points) and cites a huge number of examples, NONE of those examples are presented in musical format. They are discussed verbally at a high level with little technical detail and, as such, it is rarely clear which portion of the song Rooksby is referring to or why it is related to the chapter's core concept since he quotes no actual music. The closest he gets when discussing examples is he will sometimes mention a chord change in the riff he's trying to cite. I mean this is a joke. The artists and songs cited are so diverse as to be obscure, also. So, you'll certainly be unfamiliar with many of the pieces discussed.

Oh yes, and I would estimate well over half of the book consists of these confusing, vague non-examples. The actual theory is very thin. Rooksby seems to have confused intervals with riffs in the first half of the book and scales in the second half. It's sort of ridiculous actually that this even managed to get published. The title is extremely misleading and the concept of a 'Riff' that is presented here is not really what I think most other guitarists even consider it to be (most players I know think Riff == "Rhythm Figure").

Another HUGE problem: Technique is COMPLETELY ignored. Things like Palm Muting, Drone tones, Harmonics, etc, and their contribution to Riffery is completely lost in this book.

The few examples that are presented in musical format are absolutely trivial (non copyrighted) things like the major scale intervals and patterns. Rooksby's Songwriting book is authored in exactly the same way... like some sort of bizarre muscic appreciation class that has nothing to do with actual guitar playing or composition.

The companion "CD" takes the examples to the point of embarassment: With examples like "let's play two notes a whole step apart" and "let's listen to someone play one position of the A pentatonic scale". Again: You can get past this point in the First Chapter of Guitar for Dummies or after two lessons with a competent instructor.

Really this book would be funny if I had shoplifted it but the fact that I wasted hard earned cash just annoys me. Avoid this and Rooksby's Songwriting book like the plague. :(

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Misleading Title, December 17, 2003

By 

Diecast Lover "thamikon" (Kuala Lumpur, WP Malaysia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Riffs - How to Create and Play Great Guitar Riffs Book/CD (Paperback)

The description of the book "illustrate them with 150 inspired examples" is very misleading. The author talked about 150 riffs. You are supposed find the actual riff tabs somewhere else. After buying this book, you may need to buy another 100 books to find the 150 riffs the author discussed about. Skip this book.