How to turn an old riff into a full song: Part 1

Modern Metal Academy’s Phil Weller guides you through the process of turning a demo riff into a full song, step-by-step

Writing riffs is fun, and often, for us modern metal guitarists, it can be quite easy. However, turning those riffs into full songs is where many of us falter.

When I can’t instantly come up with the next section to keep my momentum going, I’ll often save my recording project and get distracted writing a new riff, thus starting the process all over again, hoping for better luck next time. That’s left me with a hard drive full of riffs with no songs for them to call home, and I know I’m not alone there.  

So, let’s fix that together. In this blog series, I’m going to outline a basic approach and concept that we can take to give those orphan riffs a loving home. Over the next few parts, we’re going to take a riff from my ever-growing demo folder, and we’re going to slowly but surely build it into an actual song.

I can be Lennon, you can be McCartney.

Slow down, egghead

Before we dive into the riff, it’s important to take a step back and address what is, for many guitar players, something of an Achilles heel.

Great songs hinge on one core idea, so there’s no need to overcomplicate your process. We guitarists often think that Riff A will need a tonne more riffs stapling onto it, as, let’s be honest, we too often write to impress the listener with our chops rather than simply serving the song.

If you already have your main riff, you have the core of the song, and what comes next can be greatly informed by that in many ways. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every 30 seconds.

I felt my songwriting took a great turn when I realised that great songwriting is simple, and the best songs do more with less, instead of feeling I needed to flex with each section.

This is the way

What can help with this process is having a sense of structure and context before you start writing so that you don’t just end up with an endless stream of riffs that have no sense of purpose or direction.

I’m a massive nerd when it comes to song structures, and even if a song is around seven minutes long, I’ve found great songs only really have around five key sections. How those sections are arranged and how motifs and concepts are redressed at different points – giving the listener a sense of familiarity while also serving something new to keep the song exciting – is what carries the song.

So, for now, let’s look at a basic structure and how each section can be viewed.

MAIN RIFF – Establish the core idea of the song

VERSE – Often a simple idea with space for the vocals, giving us a chance to bring the dynamics down  

CHORUS – This should feel like the peak of the song – it should feel big and open  

VERSE 2 – Still simple, but now we can add a little extra detail to keep interest, or offer the same idea in a different way, such as a softer or more full-on version to contrast the first verse  

CHORUS – Copy and paste that mother f**ker – your chorus should be simple and addictive, so give the listener their fix  

BRIDGE – This is a chance to inject a new flavour or direction into the song without losing sight of the core concept. This could be one strong idea or two short ideas.

FINAL CHORUS – We can add more bells and whistles here, extra layers and harmonies to really make it feel like a grand finale while keeping our listeners fixed

OUTRO – It might not even need one, but this is where you can whack in a definitive punctuation mark, maybe bring dat riff back but slower. This isn’t always the time to incorporate a completely new idea. If you do, it should be fairly simple, and it should feel like the song is ending, not kickstarting a whole new movement.

Architects of a killer song

Of course, there are many different ways to structure songs, but what was an eye opener for me was, when listening to songs I loved, how many sections there were. I’ll drop a quickfire analysis of an Architects song structure below, and a classic rock banger, to help show my point.

But I implore you to listen to a handful of songs you think are bangers and count the sections. Chances are, the amount of different ideas won’t far surpass the five mark. Listen closely.

So let’s look at Architects’ song Blackhole.

PRE-INTRO – This is mainly for atmosphere; it’s a mood-setting beat

MAIN RIFF – A big, chunky, groovy riff

VERSE - Keeps the momentum but brings down the velocity

VERSE P2 - Brings the main riff back but with vocals

CHORUS - Big, simple, open

MAIN RIFF

VERSE 2 - Takes the pre-main riff idea and extends it, offering a bit of space before repeating VERSE P2

CHORUS

SOLO - Feels like a continuation of the chorus progression, but the solo adds a new flavour to the mix

BREAKDOWN - A variation of the main riff

At its heart, there are only four key sections here. There’s the pre-intro idea, which is later reused in the second verse, the main riff, which is also used in the verses, the chorus, which doubles as the solo backing, and the breakdown, which is built around the main riff. It feels like its sibling rather than its rival.

Let’s take a look at Smoke on the Water. It’s a classic song; everyone knows it, but how is it laid out?

RIFF – Establishes the theme of the song

VERSE – A little groovier, hinging off just two chords with plenty of space for vocals

CHORUS – A few open chords. It feels big, open

RIFF

VERSE

CHORUS

SOLO – This is actually just the verse, but the drums have a little more push and punch to them

RIFF

VERSE

CHORUS

RIFF

So, we can clearly see here that there are actually only three core ideas to the song, with the verse doubling up as the solo backing for the bridge.

The message here is to not overwrite your songs. Your main riff is your centrepiece, and from that, the rest of the song can be dictated by that riff and its motifs and various components, and you can recycle ideas in different ways.

Check out my riff, bro

Now that we’ve showcased how simple songwriting can be if it's done right and how few ideas are needed to get an idea over the finish line, it's time to introduce the riff that we'll be working with.

In the next part, we'll go into detail about what's going on with the riff and present a few different ideas for building a verse section that's informed by the riff.

Stay tuned.