Have guitar riffs “disappeared from modern music”?
Dweezil Zappa is concerned that guitar riffs are a dying art, and that without them, beginner guitarists might be less inspired to pick up and play.
Simple riffs – which as Zappa argues, were often played throughout the catalogues of Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple, for example – often made aspiring guitarists want their instruments due to the ease and simplicity of learning a straightforward, repeating motif that still felt impressive on the ear.
READ MORE: “We made a greatest hits guitar solo”: Dweezil Zappa says he recorded an unreleased Eddie Van Halen solo that incorporated all of EVH’s classic guitar moments
In an interview with Matt Pinfield, Zappa explains, “A riff in general is a thing that has disappeared from modern music. It used to be that you would have a singular type of phrase that was played on a guitar mainly and because of the personality of the guitarist and the tone and the vibe of it, you got into the song straight away. It wasn’t about all these other production elements. It was the real hook of the song.”
He adds, “So, Smoke on the Water or Purple Haze or songs that have these immediate things where you get into it as soon as you hear the guitar, that’s a really interesting way of thinking about how songs were written back in the day, and what guitar players really brought to it.
“You had guys like Jimmy Page, or Ritchie Blackmore, or Jimi Hendrix that were great at writing these small, micro-encapsulated things that would stick in your head. That also inspired you to pick up the guitar because it was so cool sounding that you’re like, ‘I gotta find a way to do that.’”
Zappa continues, “Smoke On The Water is one of those riffs, because it’s simple sounding and compared to other things it is easier to play on guitar, but it’s the feel and the timing and the way that he attacks the strings that gives it the personality that makes you really go, ‘Oh yeah, I’m into this.’”
Dweezil Zappa will continue his Rox(Postroph)y tour in 2025, celebrating 50 years of the classic Frank Zappa albums, Apostrophe(’) and Roxy & Elsewhere. Tickets are on sale now.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
