the.com/riff
A musical idea short enough to steal, catchy enough to own.
means A short repeated musical phrase that anchors a song — or, by extension, a quick improvised riff on an idea, spoken or played.
from Most likely a 20th-century shortening of 'refrain,' born in jazz musicians' slang for a catchy repeated figure. It stuck in big-band and blues circles before leaping out of music entirely — by mid-century people were 'riffing' on jokes and ideas, not just chord changes.
- origin
- shortened from refrain, jazz slang by 1930s
- repetition
- gets power from looping, not complexity
- beyond music
- now means any clever variation on an idea
- guitar legend
- smoke on the water is four notes, infinite royalties