Riffs
Bass guitarists often use a technique of playing riffs against a chord progression or song. A riff is a pattern of notes which repeats throughout a progression, but may be slightly altered to fit chord changes. The next example demonstrates a riff in A. Once you have learned the riff in this key, try transposing it (changing the key) to the keys of D and E. This can easily be done by locating the starting note and playing the whole line at the appropriate place (string and fret). Example 53 features a riff playing style over a 12 bar chord progression.
In example 52 both C notes are sharpened. This is because of the rule that a sharp (or flat), when placed before a note, affects the same note if it reoccurs in the remainder of that bar.
Example 54 uses a riff in the key of G combining quarter notes and eighth notes. Note that this time the notes are not played in the open position. Memorize this riff so it can be played in different positions on the fretboard for each chord.
Example 55 is the application of the previous riff to a 12 Bar Blues progression in G.
