How to Write a Locrian Riff
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- čas přidán 7. 08. 2024
- Music Theory from Metallica "72 Seasons".
►FREE Book. Music is easy with this: HackMusicTheory.com/Books
0:00 Step 1. Octaves
0:42 Step 2. Mode
1:49 Step 3. Melody
2:20 Locrian vs. Phrygian
2:50 Final Example
2:59 Guitar Playthrough
Step 1. Octaves
Set your grid to 1/16 notes and your tempo to 97 BPM. You’re gonna start by writing a creative pattern using only octaves. If you’re writing this on guitar, use your low open E string and the E one octave higher. And be sure to play every 1/16 note, as that’s what gives the riff that heavy momentum. At the very end of the riff, though, play four 1/8 notes. That creates variation, and gives the circle pit a few seconds to breathe!
Step 2. Mode
Now that you’ve got an outline of your riff, it’s time to start thinking about the melodic element. For this, we’re gonna use the Locrian mode, like Metallica. So, to get the E Locrian mode, which is what they use, start with the E natural minor scale. Now, flatten the 2nd and 5th notes. And “flattening” just means lowering the note by one semitone - or one fret, if you’re on the guitar. So the 2 (which is F♯), becomes a ♭2 (which is F). And the 5 (which is B), becomes a ♭5 (which is B♭). That’s E Locrian! And if all these numbers and flats are confusing, just read hack 8 in our free book.
Step 3. Melody
Finally it’s time to add the melodic element to your riff. Now, you’re not actually going to move any of your low E’s, they’re gonna chug away down there. You’re only gonna move the high E’s. So, have some fun playing around with where you can move those high E’s to. However, be sure to play the notes that make the Locrian mode different to the natural minor scale, as those are the really dark heavy notes. In other words, play F and B♭. Also be sure to play G, as that’s the ♭3, which is a relatively dark note too. Lastly, here’s a quick bonus for my fellow theory nerds. At the end of their riff, Metallica plays some 5ths, which guitarists call “power chords”. What’s interesting about this is that the 5th of the root note E, is B. But, in E Locrian there’s a B♭ not a B. So theoretically that B pushes the riff into Phrygian for a split second. However, because our ears only pay attention to the root note of each power chord, that end part of the riff still sounds like it’s in Locrian.
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![Making Music with Pascal's Triangle + the LOCRIAN scale [RIFFING WITH MODES #7]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RhKXolkwyDM/mqdefault.jpg)
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Amazing lesson for us "metalheads". I love both the Phrygian and Locrian modes. Thank you guys for always bringing the best of information and advised. For those here who might still be on the fence about the Apprenticeship Courses I totally recommend them. It is one of the best investments ever if you are serious about your music!!!
Jose my friend, you're far too kind. A heartfelt thank-you for your supportive words! We're so grateful and lucky to have you in our apprentice family. See you over in the network, and please keep us posted on your release date. We're so proud of you! Hope the preparations are going well. Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory hi Ray, it is my pleasure always. I have to be grateful because I have learned a lot with you and you have been so kind always. I have already posted the playthrough video in the network and the release date will be announced soon. You guys rule and are amazing always!!!
WHOA!!! Just watched your playthrough video. That's amazingly amazing, my friend. Inspiring work! I absolutely LOVE the fact that you hired session musicians to play. That's sooooo much better than a computer haha! Super inspiring, and we're super proud of you. Sincerest congrats once again, Jose. So stoked for you, and I can't wait to hear the whole album! Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory thank you so much Ray, you can't even imagine how much your words mean to me...🥺🤗...also having my all-time favorite guitar player Andy Larocque from King Diamond doing the guest solo is a dream come true and a check in my bucket list!
Wow, that's the King Diamond guitarist? EPIC!!! So happy for you, my friend. Truly inspiring :)
A genre outside of metal could really be something new.
Our last 3 videos were of other genres :) Did you check those out? Also, what genre/artist would you like us to cover?
OMG...you just made my day. I was stuck with a song and saw your email with the new video. Watched it, loved it and applied it to my song. Changed to Mixolydian mode and used a mean synth with synched filter on the base notes...😊 Thank you!
Hi Kate & Ray! Thank you for another lesson on riffs and Locrian :) they are both my points of interest.
Andrei my friend, so good to see you! Thanks for stopping by again, and I really hope this finds you well. I'm happy to hear you enjoyed our little Locrian adventure, it's a fun mode, for sure! Hope to see you back here on the next video. Until then, have a lovely week and take care :)
Awe yeah, perfect video for me right now. G Locrian is my favorite and most used mode ❤
Very fun video thanks! Recently I wrote a song, basically by ear, and then when I analyzed what I did I was surprised to see that it was in A Locrian. But then I realized that when I improvise melodically over it, I often end on a D, which suggests it might be better interpreted as D Phyrgian. So maybe Locrian and Phyrgian are some kind of dark buddies.
Helpful
Thank you for another lesson. They’re my go to for musical inspiration when I’m creating. Would love some Plini next 😉
Jon my friend, so happy to hear you enjoyed the video! Plini is on the list already, so stay tuned. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you back here on the next video! Until then, take care. Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory oh brilliant I cannot wait for that one Ray! I only discovered Plini a couple of months ago and have been obsessed and listened to all his music non stop since. Thank you :)
some theory I picked up from AFI:
Letting your bassist play in a relative mode (I think their example was mixolydian) can change how your guitar and vocal are perceived when it all comes together.
Thanks for this awesome tutorial! Something about Korn or a similar nu-metal band would be great (loved the one on tom morello too!)
Hack TooL I'd love to see you pull that off
Scott my friend, thanks for stopping by! Good news, we've actually already hacked Tool. Here's our video on their riffs: czcams.com/video/qCCvf5vNqYc/video.html and here's our video on their bass and drums: czcams.com/video/Ybgz0QvaE5k/video.html Hope you enjoy! Ray :)
We need more likes. Good job!
great lesson as usual! have you guys done any lessons on drone/doom metal stuff (SunnO))), electric wizard, sleep, etc.)? Or in a totally different direction, maybe some argent/cyber djent kinda like Mick Gordon (esp around his sound design techniques, but also the crazy melodies and harmonies going on!)
Nice
Thanks for stopping by and connecting, my friend. I appreciate you being here! Ray :)
Hi, first off, loving these lessons, question... How can you write out a certain scale in reaper, where it only allows you to use the notes of that scale selected, I've seen someone do it before but I duno how to do it, so like select e locrian and then it automatically puts in the notes of thar scale in the grid editor and wont let you select notes outside the scale, hope that's makes sense, I know it's possible as I've seen it done. Cheers
sick*!
Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Glad you enjoyed the video, and I hope you're well. Ray :)
why no tea in intro 😭🍵⁉️
It's sad, but nobody has time for tea these days. Attention spans are too short. So now we just drink our tea quietly while teaching. Thanks for stopping by and connecting, my friend, you are very much appreciated! By the way, what's your tea of choice? Ray :)
🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Hope to see you back here on the next video! Ray :)
HACK STEVE VAI. Dude has magic hands.
Thanks for stopping by, my friend. And thanks also for your suggestion. And yes, Steve Vai sure does have magic hands! Ray :)
Hello, does this riff have no harmonic movement? Would you say it stays on one chord, an E diminished, throughout the riff? When you write metal riffs like this, do you think more in terms of single note melodies as opposed to a chord progression? Thanks!
Hi Aaron, thanks for stopping by. That's a GREAT question! Those four 1/8 notes at the end of this riff could be considered to be two chords, but if the bass carried on droning on the E below them, then the whole riff would have no harmonic movement. And yes, metal riffs tend to be written thinking melodically, not harmonically, so it's common that heavy riffs don't really have much (if any) harmonic movement. That's a shame though, as in my humble opinion, I think the best riffs are the ones that do have harmonic movement, because harmony brings the emotion like nothing else! Anyhoo, I hope that helps, and thanks again for the great question! Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory Thanks for your response, Ray! Do you have any tips/insights on how to write vocal melodies over single note guitar riffs like this one? There's lots of information on how to write vocal melodies over chord progressions but I cannot find much info on how to write vocal melodies over single note guitar riffs like this one. Thanks again!
I think you may find this video helpful: czcams.com/video/8e7zqN2l_Qc/video.html
Can you please do a video on Gojira?
Could you make a lesson about Rammstein riffs? I'm from Brazil, I discovered this channel yesterday, wonderful!
Hello!
That was amazing lesson. But may I add another step? if you really want to sound like metallica, drop a YEEEEAAAAHAHHHHHHH somewhere in middle of the song 😁
Hahaha for sure! Well said, my friend. It ain't Metallica without some YEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHs!!! Hope this finds you well, and as always, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by and say hi, we're always grateful to see you here! Until next time, take care. Ray :)
Hi, Ive just purchased your entire course from your website, question... Do I have to watch the wav files in say, reaper? And the midi files in guitar Pro? Might be a stupid question, cheers.
A heartfelt thank-you for your purchase, my friend, I'm stoked and grateful to have you in the family! Regarding the audio files. You can just listen to the WAV files using any media player, but the MIDI files need to be loaded in Reaper, or any other DAW. Once you've loaded the multitrack MIDI file, you can assign your own sounds to each instrument (each track is named, so you'll know what it is). Hope that helps, and thanks again, you're awesome!! Ray :)
@@HackMusicTheory OK cool, also I had a question further down about how to keep the midi grid in reaper in a certain scale, only allowing you to insert notes from the chosen scale, do you know how to do this or what it's called? Bugging the life out of me lol.
Hello again my friend! I actually don't recommend doing that, because true creativity is not bound by scales. In fact, mixing scales/modes is an essential part of making creative music! Coincidentally, our new video is on this exact topic, so check it out when you have 3 minutes: czcams.com/video/JmC6Gvny3Dw/video.html
@@HackMusicTheory hi, it's OK, I've figured it out, it's the key snap feature, thanks for the advice but I'm pretty clued up with my modes ect and how they work, I was only wanting to use the feature for inspiration and just to speed up the process of finding melodies, I love your idea of writing the riff in midi first then guitar, I've been using the idea and coming up with riffs I'd never write on guitar, thanks again.
So er- isn't it worth mentioning about reducing the velocity of every 2nd not to give a more realistic feel?
That's a good thing to do, for sure, but we're a theory channel, so that's our focus :)
Girroz d'metal
Thanks for stopping by, my friend. Hope to see you back here again on the next video! Ray :)
sock!
Hack Quicksand.
I'm sinking my teeth into this one. Thank you!!
Franz my friend, always a pleasure to connect with you, thanks for stopping by! I still can't get over how many songs you write and release, you're such an inspiration! Can't wait to hear your next creation over in the network. Hope you're having a lovely Sunday, and I'll talk soon. Ray :)