Albert King with his signature Flying V. Image from Wikipedia
Alright so today I want to talk about cool blues riffs - and in particular I'm going to use Albert King's "Born Under A Bad Sign" as my demonstration riff.
Now, your first question might be, "What's the difference between a lick and a riff?"
I'm glad you asked...Now I'm no expert on grammar (my expertise ends at the end of the guitar neck 
but to me, a riff is signature melody or chord progression that is fairly short and recognizable. It's generally the basis for a song, and not part of a lead break.
Some famous ones are the intro to "Smoke On The Water," "Sunshine Of Your Love," "Back In Black," etc.
Now a lick is a little different to me... I would say something like "check out this lick at the end of the solo to Pride & Joy" for example. It's one little flurry or group of notes that isn't repeated throughout the tune.
Okay, so now that we've got that out of the way let's check out the video:
I also found a link to this tune on Songsterr if you want to get a little more in depth with this particular version.
Have fun with this and make sure you move it around to different keys and play the whole box that it comes from so you can see it.
Downloads For This Lesson
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Leave A Reply (27 comments So Far)
A Martinez
Nice Griff, very nice!
Jack
Great riff and great lesson again thancks
Peg
another great lesson - your lessons are the best
ken lloyd
Hi, i have been trying to watch your Video ref.' born under a bad sign', but it breaks up every 5 to 7 secs. I would love to learn it, and others ,but the continuous breaks ,makes it almost unplayable.
Is there any thing i can do to better the reception. My PC is MS XP PRO & my OP is Googlecrombe I am not a computer Buff, But an elderly guitar learner
Thanks Griff, Ken Lloydl
chester boy
Great lesson Griff for a modest beginner like my self
chester boy
Dave Shephard
Thank you for another good lesson!!
Phillip "Kingsnake" Buscema
Griff,
Pretty cool. As an advanced player, and one who also adores and has opened for Albert,
I'd be more interested in the signature root lead he utilizes as I incorporate elements in my playing style. Keep on rockin the blues!
Al Kanosky
Thank you! To be able to change keys is important, and your explanation makes total
sense.
MICHAEL
my mp3 demos are on this site...just the one signature song...i am lucky to have one of the greatest guitar players in my neighborhood....i go pester him.....he knows i can play, but you are gonna give me the right to blow his mind...i am glad i found you....doc dillon unchainedpublictaste@yahoo.com has 6 of my original demos...if you send an email there i will kick that demo back...some jazz guys in atlanta requested it cause they said my stuff could be recorded in various styles as it was "so simple"....i buy and sell vintage guitars and have access to 625 from a private collection for sale...any wish list guitars i may just have them on file .....
George
Volume is perfect Thanks again G.T.
Alvin
En punto Griff, as always, dead on on it from a novice perspective!
llewellyn
Very Nice and Really cool.Pls send me more of your good work.Tnkx
John
Thanks for simplifying this. I have been practicing my pentatonic scales forever, it seems, but you explaining how they fit with a song is very helpful!
Charles "Larry" Templeton
Thanks Griff like all ways enjoyed the lesson
good job. Larry
guitar mark
Griff..Great Job again! I really love that pentatonic box at the 2nd fret,because going back to the first formation at the 9th fret, you can also play that same stack in the middle of the fret board at the 9th fret on the "A" string to give the Octave Flair to the lead....without changing or shifting to another fret..stacked just like the pattern on the 2nd fret. I hammer this all the time, much like Gary Moore does in his leads when he played with Albert King and Albert Collins with his Midnight Blues Band.
Antonio D'Alfonso
thank you for this explanation to a song I play often... always enjoy your videos
Anthony Selvaggi
Great little lesson Griff. Always enjoy the stuff you share...thanks
bishop
hey griff that was really good ,but it would have been so good if had put a little music back up alone wiht it thanks enjoyed it
Jamin George
Great stuff broken down into a simple understandable mini lesson that is useful and fun. I love the two screen part showing close up what both hands are doing. Keep it coming Griff.
Idiotwind
I'd always wonder what a riff was and what a lick was, in fact I was just about to ask you but you beat me to the punch, thanks for that.
Dave
Many thanks Griff - for both the original "PTTB" course a few years back, and, as promised, the continuing correspondence. I've learned a lot.
It's a very rare experience to receive more than expected......
Highly recommended for sure!
LP
Very cool Griff, strange things happen sometimes I just bought the book "Blues Guitar Tab White Pages" & was looking at this specific song by Albert King...thanks Griff !
stan
Nice lesson. 'Born under a Bad Sign' is a great example of the kind of song your students would want to know how to play at a blues jam. Explaining the general principles is much more helpful than a specific, note-by-note run-through of version X or Y.
MikeS
I'm not sure how you knew it, but I've had this one on my mind for a while. Very cool. Thanks Griff.
Gary Hylton
Griff,
I am forever saying thanks. You are the luckiest find for me in all my years of playing.
Gary...Old School and Still Rockin'
Ian
Really good lesson, Griff. This will expand my limited repertoire no end!!!
Chuck
This a great little lesson. I learned a lot of this one getting ready for your BGU Live event. You can play right along with song with what you've taught here. This is great! Thanks Griff!