Lesson video

Hi everyone, I'm Ms. Boyd and I'll be your music teacher today.

In this session, we are going to learn about musical riffs.

By the end of today's lesson you will be able to recognise a musical riff, you'll have the opportunity to perform a musical riff and you'll have a go at composing, using a musical riff.

To prepare for this lesson you will need an exercise book or a piece of paper and a pencil.

But before we get started, should we begin with a "Hello Song"? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Hello, hello ♪ ♪ It's good to see you ♪ ♪ Hello, hello ♪ ♪ It's good to see you ♪ ♪ I must say ♪ ♪ You've made my day ♪ ♪ Hello, hello, hello ♪ So, what is a musical riff? Now when you listen to a piece of music there are loads of different musical patterns and one of those musical patterns is called a riff, a musical riff.

Now musical riffs are really common in pop music.

Have a listen to this piece of music to hear what I mean.

Did you hear the musical pattern? It went over and over and over again and it was such a short musical pattern.

That was it.

But that pattern repeats over and over and over again, just like the circles I've put there on our screen.

Now, what I love about musical riffs is that they're really catchy.

And as you can hear when we listen to that piece of music, it's really, really catchy to hear that.

To hear that tune, let's have a listen again.

This time, let's see if you can recognise how many times that musical riff happens? Well, just there we heard that musical riff repeat eight times but that wasn't the end of the song.

That musical pattern went on and on and on and on.

So a musical riff is a really short musical path that's repeated throughout a pop song.

Now a musical riff on its own is okay.

It's really catchy and everybody recognises it.

However, musical riffs often support a melody, a tune.

So, we're going to sing a song on top of that 12-bar blues pattern that we just listened to.

I'm going to sing the song, just so you know how it goes and then we're going to have a go singing the musical riff and the song and then both together.

Are you ready? ♪ Off I go ♪ ♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ But there was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ So now I sing the blues ♪ ♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ But there was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ So I sang the blues ♪ ♪ There's a hole in my shoe ♪ ♪ There's a hole in my shoe ♪ ♪ So what should I do ♪ So that's the melody, the main tune but where is the musical riff? We're going to sing that along together now and I will play that musical riff.

In the background.

Let's see how they work together.

♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ But there was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ So I sang the blues ♪ ♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ But there was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ So I sang the blues ♪ ♪ There's a hole in my shoe ♪ ♪ There's a hole in my shoe ♪ ♪ So what should I do ♪ Great work.

Did you notice how the musical riff really lifted that song? It brought it to life and made it really catchy.

I'm sure you can remember the song now, without listening to it again.

Let's have a go this time at singing that properly.

Now that you understand that musical riff is there to support the tune, let's sing that song, knowing that our musical riff is going to lift us up and make sure that this song is a really catchy pop song.

Are you ready? One, two, three.

♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ But there was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ So I sang the blues ♪ ♪ Woke up this morning ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ There was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ So I sang the blues ♪ ♪ There's a hole in my shoe ♪ ♪ There's a hole in my shoe ♪ ♪ So what should I do ♪ Great job.

Now let's sing the riff.

♪ I woke up this morning ♪ ♪ Da-dum da-dum ♪ ♪ I put on my shoes ♪ ♪ Da-dum da-dum ♪ ♪ But there was a hole in the toe ♪ ♪ Da-dum ♪ ♪ So I sang the blues ♪ Great singing everyone.

I hope you enjoyed that musical riff and the melody.

Such fun.

Now for your last activity today, I would like you to pause this video to complete this task.

Can you create four lines of a funny song to fit that musical sequence? Have a go at writing your own words that will fit our 12-bar blues.

Your song can be about anything you like, maybe even find someone in your home and teach them our musical riff and they can sing the riff and you can sing your song on top.

Good luck.

We're at the end of our lesson now but well done, you've worked hard.

You've been able to recognise a musical riff, you've had a chance at performing a musical riff and I hope you had fun composing your own musical riff too.

But before we go we have to say goodbye properly with our "Goodbye Song".

Are you ready? ♪ Off we go ♪ ♪ Goodbye, goodbye ♪ ♪ It's time to go now ♪ ♪ Goodbye, goodbye ♪ ♪ It's time to go now ♪ ♪ I must say ♪ ♪ You've made my day ♪ ♪ Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye ♪ If you'd like to share some of the music we've made together today feel free to ask your parent or carer to share your work on social media.