Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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. :(

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.

This book is mostly verbal, yes, and rarely shows any sort of tablature for the reader to try out. However, for a bit of reading about a bunch of different songs and the author's take on the ways that the artists approached the songs, hey, it's an interesting read. A little short on the info, sometimes. Sometimes he'll just lightly graze a topic, and flutter on to the next piece/artist, leaving you wondering why he didn't continue in the same vein.

A fun idea but not exhaustive. Nonetheless worth well over 1 star.

Ricky is spectacular in his manner of explaining not only how to play RIFFS but how to create them and gives a brief history of the origin of the RIFF.
If you desire to play lead guitar or just be a spectacular back up you can't do better than learn what Rikky presents in his book.