Riffs
Notice the repeating patterns of notes in the last example. These patterns are called riffs. A riff is a short musical idea (usually one or two bars long) which can be altered and varied to fit a chord progression.
The use of riffs is very common in saxophone playing. Riffs can be used in a variety of situations including playing as part of a horn section, filling in behind a vocalist, and soloing. The following two examples are a riff style of playing applied to the 12 Bar Blues progression.
Class Sessions
1- Breathing Technique
2- Expressive Techniques
3- More on Triplets
4- Triplets
5- LESSON ELEVEN
6- Arpeggios
7- Improvisation
8- More on Blues Scales
9- Playing in All Keys
10- Transposing
11- Using Ties
12- Developing Rhythmic Control
13- INTRODUCTION
14- The 12 Bar Blues
15- The Blues Scale
16- Alternating Thirds
17- Vibrato
18- Breath Marks
19- Swing Rhythms
20- Improvising With Set Rhythms
21- Enharmonic Notes
22- Riffs
23- The Chromatic Scale
24- Breathing Exercise
25- Playing With Other Instruments
26- Growling
27- Helpful Hints
28- A Final Solo
29- Approach to Practice
30- Saxophone Fingerings Index