Skip to main content Skip to navigation Skip to search
  • Lessons
  • Articles
Unlimited lessons, backing tracks, and more.

Watch anywhere for as low as $10/month. Cancel anytime.

16th Note Displacement - Cool Rock Riff

Advanced Rhythm Rock
Sean Conklin 456 lessons

Okay, here's where we apply everything we've discussed in this tutorial.

When I made this riff, I didn't think too hard about it at all. I basically just picked random notes and put them in random places. And hey, it didn't turn out too bad!

This is actually a really great way to write guitar riffs. Here's what I recommend you do...

Drop your guitar and grab a sheet of blank tablature, then write out the standard 16th note count under the tab. Here's an example:

----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------
1  e  +  a  2  e  +  a  3  e  +  a  4  e  +  a

Then after you've done that, write random notes over random 16th note counts. Then once that's done, grab your guitar and learn whatever you wrote down. This can be pretty fun and sometimes challenging. You might sometimes write something down that is very difficult to actually play, but don't worry, that just enhances the learning process!

Rock on and keep displacing!

Send this to a friend