October 20, 2025 • 52 mins
Riffs, runs, melismas - whatever you call them - can feel like the ultimate vocal flex… until they completely fall apart.
Here’s the truth: most singers don’t struggle with the notes themselves. They struggle with the timing, shape, and delivery of riffs. And the good news? That’s fixable.
This breakdown shows you how to slow down and smooth out your riffs, why fewer notes often work better, and how to practice riffs in a way that makes your muscle memory actually stick. You’ll also hear us break down a riff to show you an example.
👉 Want to make practicing easier? Grab our FREE warm up track here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/free-warm-up-track
👉 Want to know exactly what your voice needs to improve? Get a vocal evaluation from our professional coaches here: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/vocal-evaluation
👉 Book a 1:1 session with Coach Lara: https://lessons.voxtapestudios.com/trial-lesson
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
nice oh yeah
how many notes is that too many
I don't want to count I don't want to count
editor yeah put it in the screen
but now it's like OK cool
now we have all the notes
now it's just a matter of practice
yeah right absolutely
one thing that I as a Learned refer practice
would practice next
once I had these notes down
I would go to the intersection of part 1 and 2
(00:34):
yeah and drill that
yeah because I'm still going
oh
like there's that little
like
thought in between
it's also where you're switching registers too
yeah that makes it so hard
makes it hard but could be easier when you decide
here's where I switch where it happens
and I think yeah
(00:54):
you said it a couple of times
but zooming in on like the yeah the problem area
Hey Vox Star
and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
(01:17):
at VoxTape Studios
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(01:37):
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started yeah
hey hey
hey hey hey
welcome to ripping my dear friends
we've got some amazing riffers in the house
and some not so amazing riffers
hello
but that's why we're here
we're here to learn welcome
(01:58):
Coach Bree hey
is one of those great riffers
welcome Coach Juliana
who's also another one of those great riffers
and hey girl
hey Emily
Learned Riffers Learned riffers
did not come naturally to us
and we had to work really hard to get them
and I'm still working on them
and I feel like I can break them down okay
but I can't do them fast and so anyways
(02:20):
we're here to talk about riffing
how to do it how to practice it
in a way that's actually gonna get you results
rather than just yeah yeah yeah
uh no
yeah yeah yeah
uh no
yeah yeah
like no
like that's not gonna get you anywhere
OK
you gotta there's a system to practicing riffing
yeah and that's what we're gonna look at today
(02:40):
and then we're also gonna actually learn a riff as well
which riff are we doing today
alone and fall in Love Alone by Stacy Ryan
oh okay
and I'll provide the minute Mark of the video
uh later okay
perfect well
I'm excited so
let's maybe talk about the definition of riffing first
(03:03):
real quick
riffs and runs
right there's like riffs
runs licks
they're all little kinds of tails
they're all little kinds of embellishments
tails I have not heard that one before
like tails the phrase at the end of the word yeah
the very at the end of the word like yeah
uh huh that's considered
the people consider it a tail
the people I have never heard that
(03:23):
yeah the council
the council for me
everything is just a riff
what's the difference between a riff and a run
I've I'm sure there's a something on paper about it
but I would say it's the same for me
when I hear when I think run
I think something that is either going it
that's going in one direction
that's just how I interpret it
(03:44):
when I think riff
it's something that maybe like bounces up and down
like the
that one I would
I would fancy that a run
because it just goes down and down and down
like the Halo riff uh
run just goes down and down
Tennessee Whiskey I would consider a riff because like
yes it goes down
but it kind of like bounces
did it did it
did it makes it sweat
that's my definition from my brain
(04:06):
so yeah
for me it's just everything's the same
yeah yeah hahaha
some are longer some are shorter
yeah yeah yeah
but it's basically just a bunch of fast moving notes
in a row at least three in a row
yeah on the same word
all the same word or
or sound syllables yeah
wow yes
so if you look at like the simplest riffs
it would be like there's a
(04:31):
that's four notes but it's only three different notes
right one
two three three
I like to use numbers
2 3
3 cause then I know which ones are the same notes
cause the same notes get the same number
yeah fire
fire that's a riff or a run or one of the above
or both yeah
depending on your definition
(04:52):
the lingo in the voice world is like
everyone says something different for everything
yeah uh huh
some people really like numbers
and you're just like assigning a different number
to every note that you're singing
um sometimes I get a little bit lost in that
yeah uh
and I prefer to think of it as it relates to the scale
yeah a scale degree and yeah
on solfege um
I have another student in T2 right now
(05:14):
who asked if he could do the breakdown
the riff on the growth assessment
yeah with um
like scale degrees instead of like numbers
just numbers and I was like yeah
whatever works for you like
I use I use da da da yeah
I like and then I'll like
switch it up to a dumb or a yeah
or d d d yeah
kind of yeah
like if we're doing like tennis we can
(05:36):
like yeah
for me to do that that mean like
one two three four
what number am I like that yeah
numbers and me we don't get along
I'm doing it because well
I don't I don't ever sing them fast on numbers
oh OK
like what I'm doing is more so like if
if the riff is moving so fast and I'm like yeah
what is that note that I'm just not getting
and then I can break down
(05:57):
like the scale degree so that I can practice
like the interval
yeah yeah yeah
over and over and over again
yeah I guess I do numbers
I do numbers on scale degrees
cause that'll work faster my brain than Solfege
often when I'm flunking it myself on it
if I'm doing it by ear I'm probably doing a da da da
but if I'm like going to a piano and figuring it out
I'd I'm doing numbers of the scale
(06:18):
yeah
I like to do numbers
because it shows you what notes have already appeared
yeah the repeats yeah
I mean unless you just go which
and it lets you do that
without having to have a lot of music theory knowledge
not saying that you don't
you do right
you are very excited about music theory knowledge but
but for a lot of people listening to this like
(06:40):
episode and hearing us talk about this
like you might have not taken
four years of music theory courses
at a university level you know
like yeah
so it's simple so yeah
see like
which it helps you break it down yeah
without needing to really get into like
yeah the
the nitty gritty of it yeah
yes yeah yes
I don't think there's like a perfect
perfect system that like works for everybody
(07:00):
no it's just figure out what works best for you
if you can riff it right
like if you can break it down
and find and listen all the notes
and then you can produce it
like I don't really care how you got there
like as long as we're getting there
yes you know
yes very much so
yeah so I guess we're already going in like
getting into it like
if you wanna do a riff what do
what do you do like if you can't
(07:21):
if you just can't get it from the first try
which I never can hahaha
so what what do you actually do
to have a chance at getting the riff
slow it down hello baby
breaking into a section yes
slow down to speed up
YouTube is your best friend for that
cause you can yes
um you can't necessarily do it on Spotify
or Apple Music or whatever
(07:41):
when you're listening to that song
but I guarantee you that song is on YouTube somewhere
yeah and if you go find it on YouTube
you can slow down the playback to point seven
five or point five
it's gonna sound weird yeah funky
it's gonna sound funky but yeah
it's gonna help you get a really clear picture of
exactly what's going on yes
and I then like to pluck out the notes on a piano
because in a voice like amazing
(08:04):
riffers can truly like
perfectly cleanly separate all the different notes and
like hit them perfectly
but yeah
but not everybody can me uh
but when you're listening to certain riffs
like they're not always like
100% perfect so when yeah
when I'm listening to one and I'm
I was slowing it down
I like to pluck out the notes on a piano
(08:24):
now I know how to play piano
and know how to read sheet music
but I'm doing everything by ear at that point
so like
I'm trying to figure out what's the first note
and then I just like
play different keys cause I don't have perfect pitch
so I just play different notes on the
on the piano and figure out
all right this is the first note
that's a great thing about piano
like the notes are all there in front of you
you just have to find the one
yes yes
(08:45):
you don't have to be able to play piano
and you don't even need to have a piano
you can just take out your phone
download a piano app I like the tiny piano app
but like whatever
there's many different ones
you can Google it put up
pull it up on your laptop too
there you go yeah
and then
you just pluck out the notes that you are hearing
yeah that is really helpful for me
because it truly separates all the notes
(09:05):
yeah and it makes me feel like okay
it's
it's easier for me to copy something that's perfect
mm hmm than
I'm not saying that the riffs are like
not perfect but it's
it's just it's different
yeah yeah
we know I'm not here to teach
no clearly
and it's not like
colored or clouded by yes
what's going on in the background
yeah and everybody
(09:25):
every singer's voice has a different tone yeah
and then they're doing other things too
and so yeah
the piano just makes it more like
straight forward this is what it is yeah
it's like learning by rote
like in my acting class
that was actually something that we worked on a lot
like you you
we were directed to
or told to memorize our scenes by rote
which is just like say
I'm like a robot say your line
I'm gonna say my lines as fast as I can
without any emotion you say to me
(09:46):
because then you don't
you don't decide what those lines are gonna sound like
before you've actually injected emotion into it
and I feel like when you're breaking down a riff
it's like if you've decided
I want this note to be belted
so every time I'm gonna belt it
like you're
you're thinking too far ahead yeah
and you don't know what the next note is
yeah it's like the hierarchy of
like how we're learning
a song in general like
if we don't have pitches and rhythms
(10:07):
we can't think about tone yeah
and embellishments exactly
we have to have that foundation first
absolutely'cause I feel like
having conversations about it is helpful
but also like
we're actually gonna do it playing
talk about relaxation
yeah or even like
do we wanna I almost feel like
a good segue before we go and learn the riff together
is like
hear from each of us for a second about like
(10:30):
what is your biggest challenge with riffing
okay and what is like
the biggest thing that you're working on
when you're going so I feel like I'm
yes in that
I've kind of figured out what works for me as a riffer
um or
or in a riff and how to break that down
like my baby steps
you know like yeah
what is that for me because
(10:50):
and what makes a riff done
like what makes it clean
that's great yeah
what makes it clean that's really awesome
yeah I've Learned with myself
of course like
take it slow take your time
I've also I kind of use riffs as like
a vocal stim around the house
like I'm just always like
I love it yeah yeah yeah
so now when that shows up in a song
because it's familiar always somewhere yeah
(11:10):
I've been doing that around my kitchen
to the point where everyone else is like
yeah right
like just silence for a minute
but um
what else um
yeah so I've Learned like
that's what works for me honestly
more like once I've done the sit down practice of like
breaking down the notes that's how I get it fast
um and using my air
(11:33):
using my air I'm not an H
I'm not an H that's so big
like you don't want to
you don't want to go full pendulum swing to the H's but
yeah but I use
I think about letting a pop like
you know an Al
the Alice in Wonderland cartoon
where the caterpillar smokes the O's
yeah I think that's what my air is doing
to support each thing almost like it's being gently
(11:55):
like lifted up
like when you pass pass around a beach ball
yeah
yeah yeah
that's not that I can't do that fast
but right now but um right
like
I'm using my air to kind of pass the beach ball around
from note to note instead of
like spiking it every time
yeah but yeah
that's
that's what's really helped me as a Learned riffer
(12:19):
you recently in the past
like couple years yeah
oh for me
I think the breaking it down
like taking it slow
breaking it down that definitely
but beyond that it's just
just letting go a little bit too
oh yeah
and and then when you're doing it fast
be like okay
which is the note that's causing me trouble
yes and then I'm trying to like
(12:40):
emphasize that note so that it's like alright
now it's there now I'm making it smooth again
yeah but if we talk about like challenge
ascending riffs like riffs going up that but
and you know absolutely not
you know who created the
one of the hardest ascending riffs ever huh
who in this room you
(13:01):
not me at last
my I love
oh yeah that
but I can do it on the hahaha
no it's not the boga boga
no that's not boga boga
it's at last at my
yeah there you go
no that's terrible
you're right I
(13:21):
I said I made a pop song exercise hahaha
with that I'm ripping
oh yeah but
you have no idea
how many takes that probably took me to get it right
and you know it's like yeah
the secret is she did it good once
and then uh
Modula did it every time hahaha
you know you didn't do that
I wish I was smart enough to do that
(13:42):
unfortunately
that that probably would have saved me a lot of time
shit again
I was not smart enough to do that
yeah again
again it would have sounded weird
and I also I think at one point I was just like
it is what it is and we're just gonna move on
but you know with exercises it's like
I don't I can't do everything
but yeah
someone do the exercises on different things
(14:03):
so let me just try my best
and no
it's awesome
it's awesome I bring it to everyone when
especially when people bring me a challenging riff
I'm like yeah
let's do this one first yeah
I eat that up I eat that up
I I'm a
I'm a challenging teacher haha
I do know that I
I try to challenge everyone at every level
but like
that's something that I am like always
(14:24):
if you're bringing me something
if it's like a little tail
I'm not like
let's do a very challenging nine note ascending riff
but it's something where like you
is that nine notes yeah
oh okay
I see I don't even remember
this is years ago when I do it
it's when it's in my like
my like
12 repeats
I think for me it's very low on the
like the bottom of the list
(14:44):
because I'm like I sound terrible doing this
I don't want to hear it again
no you sound great
you sound really great no
that exercise is so cool yeah it's like
only days haha yeah
the whole thing but it had
it kind of has every kind of riff in it
it's in the hard section yeah yeah
so like 5 stars
like extreme
(15:06):
yeah yeah
4 stars you hate yourself
I just had to bring that up when you were like
ascending rips are so hard
yeah when you're ascending rips are so talented
and then you challenge the whole world to it haha
yeah I agree though
those are the toughest ones
especially like
really fast ones yeah
like I am a Tori Kelly obsessed
I love her oh finelle whatever
(15:28):
and some of them like the ones that she goes low
I'll jump with her going up hahaha
I just I can't
it's hard it's really hard
no it's really hard
how do you feel about ascending riffs
oh they
they are hard and they're hard to get right
but I love the challenge like it
but I sing it really well
(15:50):
it fuels me nice
yeah it like
it lights a fire under my ass so yeah
like seriously
and I just I love it
I'm like I just
I'm fueled by the challenge
it's awesome I love it
yeah I get too frustrated too quickly
I'm the most impatient person ever
it's like the riffing is already challenging
(16:11):
yeah and I feel like if it's already challenging
then doing something that's even more challenging
like an ascending riff for most people
that's more difficult right
than a descending riff
a riff going up versus a riff going down
it was the EP that she released during Covid
inspired by true event language
oh it's the intro of language
I don't know yeah
I think you know who you are
(16:32):
back up on that for a friend
love you
love you love you
uh huh yeah
oh good night
so I like I can
(16:53):
like if I'm doing like the little hahaha yeah
I can do it yeah
but without the hahaha
no good luck
no good luck
well okay
but that is like an excellent way to start with it
because that's what it takes to have that articulation
like that's essentially what she's doing
but like on a micro level
yeah like to keep it really clean on the way up
yeah the little
the little O's from the caterpillar
(17:14):
yeah yeah yeah
good good
but that was really messy
yeah she was really messy it's crazy
how many notes are in there
yeah I don't know but anyways
but yeah a little haha yeah
(17:34):
I'm just laughing through it
yes yes
and I think it's it's kind of like with vibrato
yeah like
approaching it from a relaxed like yeah
and a flowy
like a flowy place let the air move
relax your neck muscles your jaw
do the jaw don't move your jaw
the jaw's the one yeah
(17:56):
I the first time I actually had a riff in a song
I was like I just could not get it fast enough
and my voice teacher Maddie Tarbox
at the time was like
just put your hands on your jaw
and then it's like flew out of my mouth
and I was like yeah wow
wow yeah
this whole time yeah
yeah yeah yeah
raising tension absolutely yeah
but I feel like I didn't grow up listening to riffs
(18:18):
I feel like the the type of music that you're consuming
and singing along to or like
working on is so huge and like
I think that's also why like
I developed a high belt at 14
because I'm like but yeah
Wicked Wicked Wicked
you know like
I was singing that
but I was not singing along to Beyonce
um and riffing like
I mean I
you know I listen to the hits
(18:38):
but it wasn't that wasn't what I was like
mostly weird because
I listen to a lot of Beyonce and Christina Aguilera
and they're both great riffers
but I was obsessed with the like
the Chesty belt yeah
with the belting of it all
and I didn't even pay attention to the riff
that's not the part that I cared about
I cared about the high belting
yeah interesting
I was obsessed with Christina too
but like
I was like
(18:59):
repeating note by note I was like yeah
what is she doing the riffing
I feel like I started listening to Tori Kelly
Kelly pretty early on like
in 2014 and um
so I started getting reference there and from Adele
but I was always like
a really like
interested in belting um
and then I went to college and ended up studying opera
(19:20):
and was working on my head voice for years and years
but also like
when you're on a campus like in
and like
studying music like
I don't know about you guys
but like
it opened up the world of like
my music listening and all
like I started consuming
such a broader variety of genres and styles
and I got really drawn to like
(19:40):
I started listening to Yebba all the time
yeah um
she was huge on my campus
especially because she went to a school in Nashville um
which is where I went to school
like not my school
but another one there um
and so everyone was like you know
she came from here right
like you know
she like
yeah yeah yeah
um like Berkeley
taking credit for every person
that even spent a day at Berkeley
(20:02):
I'm like dude
but yeah
and also during my studies
like one of the words that we use was coloratura yeah
um which you'll often hear of
like in relating to soprano
yes right
like and I have a great friend
she's an incredible coloratura soprano
she's doing the Queen of the night like
right um
(20:32):
um just jumping all over the board like
and so she like
saying that so well and I'm like
oh my gosh
it makes me want to be a soprano sometimes
yeah I love my
um
but so he started giving me pieces that worked on like
more we call them melismatic
it's the same thing as a run
melisma run is like
(20:53):
classical and contemporary version
the same thing yeah
different term different term yeah
different world but
but the same thing
so I started working on pieces that were like
fast and they were hard
but oh my god
did they teach me how to like
have the discipline to sit in a practice room and like
figure out how am I gonna get this clean
(21:14):
because if there's one thing I am
it is a perfectionist
haha like
and I was like okay
this is cool but it's only cool if you
if you get it right 100% like
good enough is not good enough in riffing
no oh no no
you gotta commit yeah yeah
(21:35):
so anyways so I like to tell people hahaha
um and this is not me
advertising
that everybody should take a classical degree
you should you shouldn't do what's right for you like
hahaha
um but I was assigned this Bach piece um
cui sedes
and for the first semester that I was working on it
I was like I cannot get this
like we had to push it back a semester like
(21:57):
and move it to to a different um
times rep it took me like 8 months
but once I cracked it I was like
oh my god oh my god
I can sing along with Yaba
oh my god
and then I got to sing it at like a
a show on campus and people were like
what the hell like
cause I had done a pop singing competition
where I done mostly ballads on campus
(22:19):
I done a classical competition where I did opera
they're like what is wrong
like
yeah you can do it all
what's going on dude
yeah and I was like
I don't know yeah
learning um
I just I was just having fun
like challenging myself and yeah
and like
stepping up to the challenge um
but one of the like
truest things that I ever Learned in a voice lesson
(22:40):
which is kind of what everyone was saying about the
hahaha is that riffing
and you should be relying on your air flow
to change the notes right
rely on your air to change the notes and like
kind of like
move with the rate of your vibrato almost
oh if you're using vibrato
(23:00):
not all risks are gonna have vibrato in it
but on the times that it was like
and especially in the like
classical context for this Bach piece
like I really had to live in that and rely on it and um
riffing and to get it so fast
like to be
and stay in that agile space
you have to keep it really light
yeah and um
at least at least to get some of these like really
(23:22):
really really fast ones in
there's obviously like
a slightly different approach that I would take to
like a high belting riff
like how Christina Aguilera did that burlesque riff
yeah yeah right yeah
I cannot belt that hahaha
that's not in my range but um
it's so hard to riff on a belt
yeah that's riffing in head voice
is a lot easier much easier
absolutely that was
but I think that's a great place to start
(23:44):
yeah if you're wanting to learn riffing
like take the
take the heaviest hardest part out of it
yeah like
go figure out how to nail it down in a head voice
in a lighter placement and then bring the tone back
right cause at the end of the day
it's the same thing
like the progression of how you learn a song
if we can get the notes and rhythms
that's our foundation first
so if we're not able to do the notes and rhythms
(24:06):
in belting let's take the belting out of it
yeah um
and then we can add and adjust the tone later
like I'm telling that to students all the time
I'm like
I hear you saying to me that you don't like your tone
but we are not hitting that note yet
so you have to trust me when I'm saying we can
we have to change our approach
then we can fix the tone later
but not until we're hitting the note right
yeah every time
(24:26):
yeah oh 100%
something I've Learned to help hack my riffing
is using directions so if
especially in fast thinking
um as I get higher
I get a little brighter and as I get lower
I get a little heavier
when that applies to classical music
like
is that something that you ever use consciously or not
(24:47):
or is I mean I mean
when you're working classical
it's very like
even toned yes
and yes yeah yeah
so like um
I'm gonna pull out my computer for a second so I can
yeah hahaha OK
and not because I couldn't understand
where the notes were going
but because
I didn't have the accuracy
to land on the right pitches
each time they were really close together
(25:08):
yeah right
if we break it down in the scale degree
it's um
1 7 1 6
5 4 and then back to 1 7
1 5 4
yeah 3
1 7 1 4
3 2 1 7 1
three two one
and then it goes up to like the flat seven and
and all the stuff but yeah um
and that's like 16th notes
like really freaking fast
(25:28):
go go go
like
and it has to stay even and it has to stay accurate
so if we're struggling with beating up a riff um
and it's a matter of I know what note I need to go to
but I'm struggling to land on it
like we're outside of the riff all together
and I'm just like
(25:52):
hello
cause it really is like you okay
that's like music nerdy
and nobody has to use all the solfege
like all the time but
that's how I was breaking it down in the practice room
of like this is how my brain understands it
and this is how I'm gonna be able to
to know that I'm landing on the right note and tune it
yeah um
and I was always very close to a piano
when I was doing this yeah
(26:12):
as well to help have that like okay
I'm is it really right um
but the passage was like please
and think of that like
at least three times as fast
(26:34):
like that's how fast it was in performance
yeah um
and to get it clean every single time
one I had to stay super light and super bright yeah
um 2
I wouldn't necessarily use the word swing
in the classical sense but this has very like
(27:00):
um yeah
know your cadence know your cadence
and know which notes are important
and everything else can be like
a little bit less loud still accurate
still as accurate yeah
but less loud right
I'm not sitting there going through the riff of
like we say
like I'm my pictures all over the place
because I'm working way too hard
and that's something that I think singers tend to get
(27:23):
overzealous yeah
when they're trying to learn riffs
it's like yeah
you're going at it way too hard
and listen to how softly they're singing the notes
especially like
that Tori Kelly riff right
like yeah
and she gets so breathy on the way up
a lot of and you'll hear that a lot in singers
on those us ending rest like
yeba does it all the time
(27:43):
yeah mmm hmm
oh yeah Yeba Sammy Ray
yeah yeah
something I do that's really similar
but I uh
if if there's a struggle
like getting to a certain note
I bring staccato into it cause that's like
one of the best coordination exercises
so just going between that eight and that five
yeah oh
(28:03):
in general like
just do that doing that back and forth
back and forth back and forth
and then doing each note on staccato
yeah um
start slow and then speed that up
and then
cause then you're also using your breath a little bit
I mean it's more difficult vocal fold coordination
but uh yeah
so yeah
it's that confirmation of like great
the people who do it fast do it to do what I'm doing
(28:26):
yeah yeah yeah
no it's just a matter of practice
no it's just a matter of practice
absolutely yeah
so many patients repeats yeah
and also like that interval training
and that interval practice of like
especially for these runs that have um
leaps in them
if it's not a next door neighbor to the note
yeah and sometimes
even when it is a next door neighbor to the note
particularly when we're going down
(28:46):
like singers will overstep that 4 to 3
like that half step yes
all the time like every week
every week for all of us I think
yeah yeah
um but practicing like
literally to get that riff
half the time I wasn't even singing the whole thing
I was just like
(29:12):
right so that I could find
because the problem areas were those big jumps of that
yeah one down to six
down to five down to four
down to three and
like it crazy
the 8 to 6 of it all is weird
yes yes weird yeah
I took that and was able to like
directly apply it to how I was learning some riffs and
like R&B songs and yeah
but songs that were like
(29:32):
really interesting to me and really exciting to me
and also really challenging and like
riffs that I was like I'm not getting that
and then I kind of brought the same like okay
this is the note where I'm
I'm losing it
let me just do this interval a bunch of times
like a ridiculous amount of times
like an annoying amount of times
because at the same yeah
(29:52):
but that's creating the muscle memory of
so that you know
you don't have to think about it
you don't have to worry about it
as long as you
you keep your air and your placement in place
like you're gonna land on that note
because you've done it a hundred times
you know yeah
and it's also like a nice challenge to the brain
yeah yeah
cause it's gonna be like oh
here comes that hard note
but then you're like I've done it before
like yeah exactly
(30:13):
I'll do it again yeah
it's easier for sure and um
as you're learning to riff
like you have to slow it down to
like get the accuracy
but once you know it
try not to slow down so much when you're singing it
like from when you start
right and it's that thing of
like in the piano lessons
like if you can do it 10 times without messing up
(30:35):
then you can speed up the metronome
and move on to the next part
yeah you know
but
until you can do it that many times without messing up
at the same speed like yeah it's not helpful to
sing a riff and slow down where it's
she's not slowing down or he's not slowing down
keep it even through the entire thing
yeah keep it even through the entire thing
(30:56):
like do the entire thing slow and then 5 bpm faster
and then 5 bpm faster yeah yeah absolutely
but don't start changing the rhythms
yeah yeah
or I have students that like
speed up certain parts and then slow down certain parts
yeah OK
where's our tempo yeah
what's happening yeah
we were kind of working on that
when we were doing the falling riff
yeah yeah
just getting the rhythms right
it's tricky even if it's a little slower
(31:18):
especially if it's a really cool run
it's not gonna be exactly the same amount of like
it's not the same note duration
for each and every single one of those little
rip notes yeah yeah yeah
people go all over and then you stay longer on one
and then they come on like yeah
first table doesn't all the time
oh yeah yeah
crazy cool
I love it
(31:38):
do we wanna break down a little riff real quick
yeah teach us something
teach me out
this is gonna be really fun for me too
cause I don't know this riff all the way yet
so I'm I'm learning with you Yay
we still think about that
it's like we can change it
no no
(31:59):
I'm in I'm in
OK
like 100 retire I can't even like pick up on the first
no my brain's just like I think she's at
yeah that's what I think it is
I buy that that's like 22 million
we're gonna listen to it
if I open my mouth and the camera stays on me
can you do that hahaha
(32:22):
um I backed it up to the beginning of the song
think to me Paolo
okay I killed that yeah
(32:44):
I mean I'm just already gonna struggle
getting all the way up to that note
OK so step 1
and this one is like
I think it's pretty clean in terms of like
the audio so I'm just gonna put it at point seven
five but OK nice
sometimes with like messier ones I'll
I'll take it down to point five
we're gonna try and see hopefully I got the right spot
(33:11):
okay I think I was right um
so with this riff
one I geek out about it because it like
Emily said it so perfectly early
she was like I love when you think a riff's done
and then it keeps on going
yeah like hmm
ridiculous more haha yeah
um and she's totally doing that here
but um
(33:32):
so for this I would like
absolutely break it out in
in like
at least two parts but honestly
maybe three yeah
it's more than five so
or five yeah
so the first part is no by no
(33:52):
okay that's gonna be the second part
I'm missing a note
oh
yeah so
(34:12):
this is the exact pattern that I talked about earlier
that's the vocal stem I do around my house yeah
oh oh
like yeah
exact ish with okay
and then as we're learning it
I want you guys all to imagine that
even though we're going down
that we're walking up the stairs oh
yeah holy moly
that was awesome
(34:32):
it was me I did it it's me
hold on can we put those two parts together yeah
how's the first I keep forgetting that the transition
(34:59):
is that movie yeah
hop hop back up
yeah how many are notes are on top one
oh
yes
(35:19):
oh yeah
I wanna keep I wanna keep weighing it down
okay yeah go up and set it down
yeah am I skipping something
no you got it all
it just it just feels like we're skipping something
because it's so fast it's so fast
it's so fast hahaha
(35:41):
okay we're gonna listen to that part again
and then we'll learn the next part
so the next part is
I got that I got that
that's easy yeah
there you go
but putting it into context is not that easy we have
(36:08):
yeah I think I can do this
one two three right yeah
that was just not clean but yet
those are the notes yeah
I got the notes nice
yes yes yes
also I'm so quiet
like I just need the world to know like that
I'm so like I'm like
(36:30):
she's singing right now literally
cause I'm pulling back my voice and my air
so I'm not trying to like
think about anything yeah
I'm literally just like no
no no yeah
no no no no no okay
(36:51):
oh there's a spicy note
yeah there's a crazy accident over there
(37:14):
ah
yeah oh um
that world don't do what I did the first time
where I tried to Mark it before even hearing it
um that
that actually I will experience a lot in lessons where
um when I'm plunking
it's like our as the singer
like you're so in it that you're like yeah
and then you try to guess what's happening
and then you're like I can't get it
(37:35):
and it's like girl
you didn't even listen girl
you didn't even listen that's why I literally
I was like wait
and I looked Bree in the eyes and I was like
I need to hear it from your voice like twice
um and I already forgot
yeah that one's where it gets spicy
okay so we have
(38:00):
yeah and we're so close to the end guys
we almost have the rest of it
um cause I think the ending part is just like
yeah
I can do that I'll
I'll just do the we can do that all day
I'll do the tail the tail yeah
um okay
what do you guys what do you guys want to do with this
like what's the next part
I feel like we should
(38:24):
should we do it along with the chart
that's right
yeah there we go
okay and this is so hard
because it goes over such a big range
yeah yeah yeah
when you
which is why it's important to stretch your head
voice down yeah
don't don't
but also
like it when you're just learning that beginning part
(38:44):
if this is in your upper head voice yeah
learn it down the octave first yeah
get those notes in your head
well then you're gonna
and then yeah
and then come back yeah
and then you
I would put that up before you add on the next
yeah yeah
um okay
I think I went back too far hold on
(39:18):
yeah that's the ending
so that's pretty easy to add on
oh
oh yeah
oh oh
uh huh
uh huh uh huh
uh huh yeah
odd for me yeah
so we broke that into four
(39:40):
no we five
we're going in five parts
we have hey
I was joking when I said five parts
so I need more parts in that nice so part one was
nice oh yeah
how many notes is that too many
(40:01):
I don't want to count I don't want to count
editor yeah put it on the screen
that's money but this money
but now it's like OK cool
now we have all the notes
now it's just a matter of practice
yeah right absolutely
one thing that I as a Learned refer practice
would practice next
once I had these notes down
I would go to the intersection of part 1 and 2 yeah
(40:23):
and drill that yeah because I'm still going
like there's that little like
thought in between
it's also where you're switching registers too
yeah that makes it so hard
yeah makes it hard
but could be easier when you decide
here's where I switch where it happens
(40:44):
and I think yeah
you said it a couple of times
but zooming in on like the
the problem area yeah yeah
I feel like going into those yeah
this is absolutely like a moment where
like
managing those transitions between
like section 1 and two
where you have like
and then you have
um
was that one
(41:08):
yeah thank you
sorry I was like
yeah um
right like
you're adding add a note by note
yeah to that transition
um so that you practice
like'cause the the hardest part is you have Section 1
(41:29):
that's
go all the way right
wow
and so
hahaha
it's just so infuriating hahaha alright
just falling out of somebody's face and you're like
(41:51):
I hate you hahaha
do you know how
how hard I worked to not work hard to do that though
like yes
there you go like
because the hardest thing is like
if I tried to learn this riff ten years ago
I would have been like
right like
yeah yeah yeah
and that's
it's a lot of work to make it look like an all right
(42:12):
work and so I'm thinking about reducing the volume
using a lot of air and less volume and keeping it like
fluttery like
I like butterfly wings yeah
butterfly wings butterfly wings
I am into that is that a song
yeah like
it just they're going
they're going like
they're just or like hummingbird wings
like you know
(42:32):
it's just like fluttering in the air and it's so
so light but also like
I keep forgetting that last part
sorry not to sing over your helpful
helpful tips
but you were nailed in the first half
yeah um
guess guess
guess what part of my range is it haha
yeah um
yeah do you wanna try the whole thing at uh
point seven five speed uh point yeah
(42:53):
no point seven five
but point seven five yeah yeah let's go
how the fuck is that and honestly
we're like
speak like we're singing ahead of her for the most part
like we want it to be faster
okay I'm still messing up that ending
(43:21):
I think I'm is it
it's like a flat note like out of the huh
is that a little slower it is slower
okay so I'm not okay
I feel like she pulls out
so let me play it in real time for a second
and then we'll go back to slowing it down
(43:43):
so she's holding on a couple of those
right it's not like the box piece where it's all $60
no I'm changing it
no
yeah oh so I skipped
(44:05):
yeah
yeah
oh
oh oh oh
is a spicy noodle oh
(44:26):
my god getting back down at the end
I don't want to be done so bad
oh my gosh hold on
launches into that
(44:47):
ah
I know what we were doing ah
I think that's what we were doing
ah ah
yeah yeah
I think that's what we were doing
yeah I think so
or at least that's what we're doing now
I started I started skipping
(45:07):
a little sloppy at the bottom
but I can clean it up hahaha
yeah
so one thing and you
this probably never came up in your lessons
as little soprano girlies um
in in my mezzo lessons
like
my professor was like
(45:29):
you have to lighten up you have
you have it's the metal curse
you wanna you wanna get heavy
when you go down and for you learning how to belt in
like your
your mid low range like
you do have to think about
like letting the voice get a little bit heavier
and living in that chest voice
but in terms of like
riffing and especially descending quickly
um
(45:51):
your superpower is gonna be like
leaning into your soprano light yeah ness yeah right
like um
I heard you say earlier that sometimes
when you're going down you want to like
I let your voice yeah
weigh it down a little that's usually for shorter ones
yeah yeah
I would say yeah yeah
um but it like
and it took me years of like
(46:11):
beating this into my skull haha
in voice lessons every week
um but to avoid the tendency of
and landing there of like
keeping it and
and thinking that the bottom notes actually
are probably gonna be softer than the top notes
they're actually probably gonna be a little bit lighter
(46:33):
like
like dangling from a string
wow yeah
and that's gonna keep it like really
yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah
cause you want the same consistency throughout exactly
yeah if you listen to Stacy
if you listen to Stacy Ryan do that too
like she keeps it very light
she keeps it so soft so soft yeah
(46:54):
tongue
my tongue is it be brave
it be brave today yeah
she cray every day she cray every day
okay also
I do wanna say if you're new to riffing
this is not what you're starting with
no definitely not hard
this is no
we we start with like
there's a a fire
(47:15):
yeah and even that honestly
like when
can be some of the most difficult riffs to
to nail right
it's not necessarily difficult to learn
there's a fire
like do it very fire
and you want it to be clean
and have that articulation each time
like without vowels right
that's the hardest thing which is sometimes in the
the progression of getting a riff like this clean
(47:41):
right or na na na
yeah yeah
but a da but whatever
like yeah
syllable whatever consonant
that you're gonna use to interrupt that air flow
to give yourself like
to to find that articulation
but then you're using the breath um
to give you that articulation
(48:02):
without interrupting the air flow
yeah yeah yeah
Turkey
ooh ooh
that was nice thanks
I love it thanks Bree
for that yeah
good work everybody
I think we we we
we did pretty good I would yeah
I would say we did
do you wanna try it once at full speed
sure yeah
sure cause oh
(48:22):
why not yeah
let's see I'm not gonna
I think I need to breathe more
I think you need to take a deep breath
yeah I should probably take a deep breath
and like
don't be afraid to use some more of that breath too
um
I backed it up a little bit before
I don't trust myself on the notes
(48:51):
yeah
oh no
my mic's open hahaha
oh
who did that yeah hahaha
we all should have just gone
yeah and then just
you know have re recorded like four times
stop and then overlaying
like a little bit
not super perfectly but then like
oh my god we nailed it
but four different voices
no we are keeping it real
(49:13):
yeah that's what I love about it
we are keeping it real over here
we're in process
it's not like me recording the last pop song exercise
it's like that was a good take
we're taking that
but I did and me too
like I
I can't pretend to be the best rapper on the planet
I know that I'm not
there's a million other people that are like
so much better there's like
so many kids out there that are just like yeah
(49:34):
like how
yeah yeah yeah
different chip but also
please know you do not need to be an amazing riffer
in order to see success in singing
no yeah
and success in riffing yeah
like just don't do the crazy
freaking long crazy awful
well I'm not awful beautiful
you're beautiful but it's so hard
but like
or do it but like
don't try to get a finished product within a podcast
(49:56):
you know like
like don't think that
give yourself a couple weeks
we move really fast and like
at least that box song took me eight months yes
give yourself time keep
like the slow part and the syllable part
and then slowly picking up the metronome
that it can be up 5 bpm a week
you know like
it doesn't have to be like
I got it 10 times in a row
(50:16):
like if keep working on getting it
I think 10 times is it's a great rule of thumb
yeah for like
if you can get it 10 times at that speed
in rhythm correct notes
no no technical yeah
no technical issues there
then start inching up and if five's too much
try four and if four's too much
try three even if you are
can just take it up one right
(50:38):
just push yourself forward
yeah actually
if you can take it up one
take it up two and
and feel free and keep going
yeah I love it
yeah awesome
well thank you guys
yeah this is so fun
yes thank you
we killed it that's fun
but it's okay
we did a great job yeah
it's a process it's a process
who cares well
and I also want to say we're like
jokingly beating ourselves up
(50:59):
being like I can't riff
but we are and we are advanced
so if you're like they're saying they can't riff
and I'm sitting here and I'm going ah
and you are sliding that just shows you like
no matter what level you're at
you're always like and there's better
and there's better and there's better
and that's okay yeah
and we probably started where you're starting
(51:20):
oh absolutely
oh my god way below that
we never know yes yeah yes
you gotta start somewhere
yes to get somewhere else
and then you just keep going
you just keep trying trying trying trying
trying and then eventually you're gonna get there
yeah I can't wait for this
I did a million bad riffs in this school
oh yeah
I can't wait for this episode to come out
and all my students watch it and be like
(51:40):
I've been we've been doing that in our lessons cause oh
we're dragging and dropping
yes yes
to be like I can do that now
yeah I love it
well thank you ladies
thank you thank you for tuning in
if you are like girl
I wanna learn how to riff
Bree's got you she can help you
(52:02):
Juliana's got you she can help you
Emily and I will try our best
I can teach you but I will
I'll demonstrate to the process
we have the process right
like we have the process of it
yeah it's just
and then it's just a matter of like practice
yeah exactly
but anyways we're happy to help you
you know where to go to book a session
we can't wait to work with you
otherwise we'll see you in the next episode bye
nice oh yeah
how many notes is that too many
I don't want to count I don't want to count
editor yeah put it in the screen
but now it's like OK cool
now we have all the notes
now it's just a matter of practice
yeah right absolutely
one thing that I as a Learned refer practice
would practice next
once I had these notes down
I would go to the intersection of part 1 and 2
(00:34):
yeah and drill that
yeah because I'm still going
oh
like there's that little
like
thought in between
it's also where you're switching registers too
yeah that makes it so hard
makes it hard but could be easier when you decide
here's where I switch where it happens
and I think yeah
(00:54):
you said it a couple of times
but zooming in on like the yeah the problem area
Hey Vox Star
and welcome to from singer to artist
I'm Lara Chapman award winning singer and songwriter
turned viral vocal coach and the host of this show
(01:17):
at VoxTape Studios
we help singers from all over the world
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by teaching them the three fundamental skills
all singers need technique
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(01:37):
Alrighty are you ready
let's get started yeah
hey hey
hey hey hey
welcome to ripping my dear friends
we've got some amazing riffers in the house
and some not so amazing riffers
hello
but that's why we're here
we're here to learn welcome
(01:58):
Coach Bree hey
is one of those great riffers
welcome Coach Juliana
who's also another one of those great riffers
and hey girl
hey Emily
Learned Riffers Learned riffers
did not come naturally to us
and we had to work really hard to get them
and I'm still working on them
and I feel like I can break them down okay
but I can't do them fast and so anyways
(02:20):
we're here to talk about riffing
how to do it how to practice it
in a way that's actually gonna get you results
rather than just yeah yeah yeah
uh no
yeah yeah yeah
uh no
yeah yeah
like no
like that's not gonna get you anywhere
OK
you gotta there's a system to practicing riffing
yeah and that's what we're gonna look at today
(02:40):
and then we're also gonna actually learn a riff as well
which riff are we doing today
alone and fall in Love Alone by Stacy Ryan
oh okay
and I'll provide the minute Mark of the video
uh later okay
perfect well
I'm excited so
let's maybe talk about the definition of riffing first
(03:03):
real quick
riffs and runs
right there's like riffs
runs licks
they're all little kinds of tails
they're all little kinds of embellishments
tails I have not heard that one before
like tails the phrase at the end of the word yeah
the very at the end of the word like yeah
uh huh that's considered
the people consider it a tail
the people I have never heard that
(03:23):
yeah the council
the council for me
everything is just a riff
what's the difference between a riff and a run
I've I'm sure there's a something on paper about it
but I would say it's the same for me
when I hear when I think run
I think something that is either going it
that's going in one direction
that's just how I interpret it
(03:44):
when I think riff
it's something that maybe like bounces up and down
like the
that one I would
I would fancy that a run
because it just goes down and down and down
like the Halo riff uh
run just goes down and down
Tennessee Whiskey I would consider a riff because like
yes it goes down
but it kind of like bounces
did it did it
did it makes it sweat
that's my definition from my brain
(04:06):
so yeah
for me it's just everything's the same
yeah yeah hahaha
some are longer some are shorter
yeah yeah yeah
but it's basically just a bunch of fast moving notes
in a row at least three in a row
yeah on the same word
all the same word or
or sound syllables yeah
wow yes
so if you look at like the simplest riffs
it would be like there's a
(04:31):
that's four notes but it's only three different notes
right one
two three three
I like to use numbers
2 3
3 cause then I know which ones are the same notes
cause the same notes get the same number
yeah fire
fire that's a riff or a run or one of the above
or both yeah
depending on your definition
(04:52):
the lingo in the voice world is like
everyone says something different for everything
yeah uh huh
some people really like numbers
and you're just like assigning a different number
to every note that you're singing
um sometimes I get a little bit lost in that
yeah uh
and I prefer to think of it as it relates to the scale
yeah a scale degree and yeah
on solfege um
I have another student in T2 right now
(05:14):
who asked if he could do the breakdown
the riff on the growth assessment
yeah with um
like scale degrees instead of like numbers
just numbers and I was like yeah
whatever works for you like
I use I use da da da yeah
I like and then I'll like
switch it up to a dumb or a yeah
or d d d yeah
kind of yeah
like if we're doing like tennis we can
(05:36):
like yeah
for me to do that that mean like
one two three four
what number am I like that yeah
numbers and me we don't get along
I'm doing it because well
I don't I don't ever sing them fast on numbers
oh OK
like what I'm doing is more so like if
if the riff is moving so fast and I'm like yeah
what is that note that I'm just not getting
and then I can break down
(05:57):
like the scale degree so that I can practice
like the interval
yeah yeah yeah
over and over and over again
yeah I guess I do numbers
I do numbers on scale degrees
cause that'll work faster my brain than Solfege
often when I'm flunking it myself on it
if I'm doing it by ear I'm probably doing a da da da
but if I'm like going to a piano and figuring it out
I'd I'm doing numbers of the scale
(06:18):
yeah
I like to do numbers
because it shows you what notes have already appeared
yeah the repeats yeah
I mean unless you just go which
and it lets you do that
without having to have a lot of music theory knowledge
not saying that you don't
you do right
you are very excited about music theory knowledge but
but for a lot of people listening to this like
(06:40):
episode and hearing us talk about this
like you might have not taken
four years of music theory courses
at a university level you know
like yeah
so it's simple so yeah
see like
which it helps you break it down yeah
without needing to really get into like
yeah the
the nitty gritty of it yeah
yes yeah yes
I don't think there's like a perfect
perfect system that like works for everybody
(07:00):
no it's just figure out what works best for you
if you can riff it right
like if you can break it down
and find and listen all the notes
and then you can produce it
like I don't really care how you got there
like as long as we're getting there
yes you know
yes very much so
yeah so I guess we're already going in like
getting into it like
if you wanna do a riff what do
what do you do like if you can't
(07:21):
if you just can't get it from the first try
which I never can hahaha
so what what do you actually do
to have a chance at getting the riff
slow it down hello baby
breaking into a section yes
slow down to speed up
YouTube is your best friend for that
cause you can yes
um you can't necessarily do it on Spotify
or Apple Music or whatever
(07:41):
when you're listening to that song
but I guarantee you that song is on YouTube somewhere
yeah and if you go find it on YouTube
you can slow down the playback to point seven
five or point five
it's gonna sound weird yeah funky
it's gonna sound funky but yeah
it's gonna help you get a really clear picture of
exactly what's going on yes
and I then like to pluck out the notes on a piano
because in a voice like amazing
(08:04):
riffers can truly like
perfectly cleanly separate all the different notes and
like hit them perfectly
but yeah
but not everybody can me uh
but when you're listening to certain riffs
like they're not always like
100% perfect so when yeah
when I'm listening to one and I'm
I was slowing it down
I like to pluck out the notes on a piano
(08:24):
now I know how to play piano
and know how to read sheet music
but I'm doing everything by ear at that point
so like
I'm trying to figure out what's the first note
and then I just like
play different keys cause I don't have perfect pitch
so I just play different notes on the
on the piano and figure out
all right this is the first note
that's a great thing about piano
like the notes are all there in front of you
you just have to find the one
yes yes
(08:45):
you don't have to be able to play piano
and you don't even need to have a piano
you can just take out your phone
download a piano app I like the tiny piano app
but like whatever
there's many different ones
you can Google it put up
pull it up on your laptop too
there you go yeah
and then
you just pluck out the notes that you are hearing
yeah that is really helpful for me
because it truly separates all the notes
(09:05):
yeah and it makes me feel like okay
it's
it's easier for me to copy something that's perfect
mm hmm than
I'm not saying that the riffs are like
not perfect but it's
it's just it's different
yeah yeah
we know I'm not here to teach
no clearly
and it's not like
colored or clouded by yes
what's going on in the background
yeah and everybody
(09:25):
every singer's voice has a different tone yeah
and then they're doing other things too
and so yeah
the piano just makes it more like
straight forward this is what it is yeah
it's like learning by rote
like in my acting class
that was actually something that we worked on a lot
like you you
we were directed to
or told to memorize our scenes by rote
which is just like say
I'm like a robot say your line
I'm gonna say my lines as fast as I can
without any emotion you say to me
(09:46):
because then you don't
you don't decide what those lines are gonna sound like
before you've actually injected emotion into it
and I feel like when you're breaking down a riff
it's like if you've decided
I want this note to be belted
so every time I'm gonna belt it
like you're
you're thinking too far ahead yeah
and you don't know what the next note is
yeah it's like the hierarchy of
like how we're learning
a song in general like
if we don't have pitches and rhythms
(10:07):
we can't think about tone yeah
and embellishments exactly
we have to have that foundation first
absolutely'cause I feel like
having conversations about it is helpful
but also like
we're actually gonna do it playing
talk about relaxation
yeah or even like
do we wanna I almost feel like
a good segue before we go and learn the riff together
is like
hear from each of us for a second about like
(10:30):
what is your biggest challenge with riffing
okay and what is like
the biggest thing that you're working on
when you're going so I feel like I'm
yes in that
I've kind of figured out what works for me as a riffer
um or
or in a riff and how to break that down
like my baby steps
you know like yeah
what is that for me because
(10:50):
and what makes a riff done
like what makes it clean
that's great yeah
what makes it clean that's really awesome
yeah I've Learned with myself
of course like
take it slow take your time
I've also I kind of use riffs as like
a vocal stim around the house
like I'm just always like
I love it yeah yeah yeah
so now when that shows up in a song
because it's familiar always somewhere yeah
(11:10):
I've been doing that around my kitchen
to the point where everyone else is like
yeah right
like just silence for a minute
but um
what else um
yeah so I've Learned like
that's what works for me honestly
more like once I've done the sit down practice of like
breaking down the notes that's how I get it fast
um and using my air
(11:33):
using my air I'm not an H
I'm not an H that's so big
like you don't want to
you don't want to go full pendulum swing to the H's but
yeah but I use
I think about letting a pop like
you know an Al
the Alice in Wonderland cartoon
where the caterpillar smokes the O's
yeah I think that's what my air is doing
to support each thing almost like it's being gently
(11:55):
like lifted up
like when you pass pass around a beach ball
yeah
yeah yeah
that's not that I can't do that fast
but right now but um right
like
I'm using my air to kind of pass the beach ball around
from note to note instead of
like spiking it every time
yeah but yeah
that's
that's what's really helped me as a Learned riffer
(12:19):
you recently in the past
like couple years yeah
oh for me
I think the breaking it down
like taking it slow
breaking it down that definitely
but beyond that it's just
just letting go a little bit too
oh yeah
and and then when you're doing it fast
be like okay
which is the note that's causing me trouble
yes and then I'm trying to like
(12:40):
emphasize that note so that it's like alright
now it's there now I'm making it smooth again
yeah but if we talk about like challenge
ascending riffs like riffs going up that but
and you know absolutely not
you know who created the
one of the hardest ascending riffs ever huh
who in this room you
(13:01):
not me at last
my I love
oh yeah that
but I can do it on the hahaha
no it's not the boga boga
no that's not boga boga
it's at last at my
yeah there you go
no that's terrible
you're right I
(13:21):
I said I made a pop song exercise hahaha
with that I'm ripping
oh yeah but
you have no idea
how many takes that probably took me to get it right
and you know it's like yeah
the secret is she did it good once
and then uh
Modula did it every time hahaha
you know you didn't do that
I wish I was smart enough to do that
(13:42):
unfortunately
that that probably would have saved me a lot of time
shit again
I was not smart enough to do that
yeah again
again it would have sounded weird
and I also I think at one point I was just like
it is what it is and we're just gonna move on
but you know with exercises it's like
I don't I can't do everything
but yeah
someone do the exercises on different things
(14:03):
so let me just try my best
and no
it's awesome
it's awesome I bring it to everyone when
especially when people bring me a challenging riff
I'm like yeah
let's do this one first yeah
I eat that up I eat that up
I I'm a
I'm a challenging teacher haha
I do know that I
I try to challenge everyone at every level
but like
that's something that I am like always
(14:24):
if you're bringing me something
if it's like a little tail
I'm not like
let's do a very challenging nine note ascending riff
but it's something where like you
is that nine notes yeah
oh okay
I see I don't even remember
this is years ago when I do it
it's when it's in my like
my like
12 repeats
I think for me it's very low on the
like the bottom of the list
(14:44):
because I'm like I sound terrible doing this
I don't want to hear it again
no you sound great
you sound really great no
that exercise is so cool yeah it's like
only days haha yeah
the whole thing but it had
it kind of has every kind of riff in it
it's in the hard section yeah yeah
so like 5 stars
like extreme
(15:06):
yeah yeah
4 stars you hate yourself
I just had to bring that up when you were like
ascending rips are so hard
yeah when you're ascending rips are so talented
and then you challenge the whole world to it haha
yeah I agree though
those are the toughest ones
especially like
really fast ones yeah
like I am a Tori Kelly obsessed
I love her oh finelle whatever
(15:28):
and some of them like the ones that she goes low
I'll jump with her going up hahaha
I just I can't
it's hard it's really hard
no it's really hard
how do you feel about ascending riffs
oh they
they are hard and they're hard to get right
but I love the challenge like it
but I sing it really well
(15:50):
it fuels me nice
yeah it like
it lights a fire under my ass so yeah
like seriously
and I just I love it
I'm like I just
I'm fueled by the challenge
it's awesome I love it
yeah I get too frustrated too quickly
I'm the most impatient person ever
it's like the riffing is already challenging
(16:11):
yeah and I feel like if it's already challenging
then doing something that's even more challenging
like an ascending riff for most people
that's more difficult right
than a descending riff
a riff going up versus a riff going down
it was the EP that she released during Covid
inspired by true event language
oh it's the intro of language
I don't know yeah
I think you know who you are
(16:32):
back up on that for a friend
love you
love you love you
uh huh yeah
oh good night
so I like I can
(16:53):
like if I'm doing like the little hahaha yeah
I can do it yeah
but without the hahaha
no good luck
no good luck
well okay
but that is like an excellent way to start with it
because that's what it takes to have that articulation
like that's essentially what she's doing
but like on a micro level
yeah like to keep it really clean on the way up
yeah the little
the little O's from the caterpillar
(17:14):
yeah yeah yeah
good good
but that was really messy
yeah she was really messy it's crazy
how many notes are in there
yeah I don't know but anyways
but yeah a little haha yeah
(17:34):
I'm just laughing through it
yes yes
and I think it's it's kind of like with vibrato
yeah like
approaching it from a relaxed like yeah
and a flowy
like a flowy place let the air move
relax your neck muscles your jaw
do the jaw don't move your jaw
the jaw's the one yeah
(17:56):
I the first time I actually had a riff in a song
I was like I just could not get it fast enough
and my voice teacher Maddie Tarbox
at the time was like
just put your hands on your jaw
and then it's like flew out of my mouth
and I was like yeah wow
wow yeah
this whole time yeah
yeah yeah yeah
raising tension absolutely yeah
but I feel like I didn't grow up listening to riffs
(18:18):
I feel like the the type of music that you're consuming
and singing along to or like
working on is so huge and like
I think that's also why like
I developed a high belt at 14
because I'm like but yeah
Wicked Wicked Wicked
you know like
I was singing that
but I was not singing along to Beyonce
um and riffing like
I mean I
you know I listen to the hits
(18:38):
but it wasn't that wasn't what I was like
mostly weird because
I listen to a lot of Beyonce and Christina Aguilera
and they're both great riffers
but I was obsessed with the like
the Chesty belt yeah
with the belting of it all
and I didn't even pay attention to the riff
that's not the part that I cared about
I cared about the high belting
yeah interesting
I was obsessed with Christina too
but like
I was like
(18:59):
repeating note by note I was like yeah
what is she doing the riffing
I feel like I started listening to Tori Kelly
Kelly pretty early on like
in 2014 and um
so I started getting reference there and from Adele
but I was always like
a really like
interested in belting um
and then I went to college and ended up studying opera
(19:20):
and was working on my head voice for years and years
but also like
when you're on a campus like in
and like
studying music like
I don't know about you guys
but like
it opened up the world of like
my music listening and all
like I started consuming
such a broader variety of genres and styles
and I got really drawn to like
(19:40):
I started listening to Yebba all the time
yeah um
she was huge on my campus
especially because she went to a school in Nashville um
which is where I went to school
like not my school
but another one there um
and so everyone was like you know
she came from here right
like you know
she like
yeah yeah yeah
um like Berkeley
taking credit for every person
that even spent a day at Berkeley
(20:02):
I'm like dude
but yeah
and also during my studies
like one of the words that we use was coloratura yeah
um which you'll often hear of
like in relating to soprano
yes right
like and I have a great friend
she's an incredible coloratura soprano
she's doing the Queen of the night like
right um
(20:32):
um just jumping all over the board like
and so she like
saying that so well and I'm like
oh my gosh
it makes me want to be a soprano sometimes
yeah I love my
um
but so he started giving me pieces that worked on like
more we call them melismatic
it's the same thing as a run
melisma run is like
(20:53):
classical and contemporary version
the same thing yeah
different term different term yeah
different world but
but the same thing
so I started working on pieces that were like
fast and they were hard
but oh my god
did they teach me how to like
have the discipline to sit in a practice room and like
figure out how am I gonna get this clean
(21:14):
because if there's one thing I am
it is a perfectionist
haha like
and I was like okay
this is cool but it's only cool if you
if you get it right 100% like
good enough is not good enough in riffing
no oh no no
you gotta commit yeah yeah
(21:35):
so anyways so I like to tell people hahaha
um and this is not me
advertising
that everybody should take a classical degree
you should you shouldn't do what's right for you like
hahaha
um but I was assigned this Bach piece um
cui sedes
and for the first semester that I was working on it
I was like I cannot get this
like we had to push it back a semester like
(21:57):
and move it to to a different um
times rep it took me like 8 months
but once I cracked it I was like
oh my god oh my god
I can sing along with Yaba
oh my god
and then I got to sing it at like a
a show on campus and people were like
what the hell like
cause I had done a pop singing competition
where I done mostly ballads on campus
(22:19):
I done a classical competition where I did opera
they're like what is wrong
like
yeah you can do it all
what's going on dude
yeah and I was like
I don't know yeah
learning um
I just I was just having fun
like challenging myself and yeah
and like
stepping up to the challenge um
but one of the like
truest things that I ever Learned in a voice lesson
(22:40):
which is kind of what everyone was saying about the
hahaha is that riffing
and you should be relying on your air flow
to change the notes right
rely on your air to change the notes and like
kind of like
move with the rate of your vibrato almost
oh if you're using vibrato
(23:00):
not all risks are gonna have vibrato in it
but on the times that it was like
and especially in the like
classical context for this Bach piece
like I really had to live in that and rely on it and um
riffing and to get it so fast
like to be
and stay in that agile space
you have to keep it really light
yeah and um
at least at least to get some of these like really
(23:22):
really really fast ones in
there's obviously like
a slightly different approach that I would take to
like a high belting riff
like how Christina Aguilera did that burlesque riff
yeah yeah right yeah
I cannot belt that hahaha
that's not in my range but um
it's so hard to riff on a belt
yeah that's riffing in head voice
is a lot easier much easier
absolutely that was
but I think that's a great place to start
(23:44):
yeah if you're wanting to learn riffing
like take the
take the heaviest hardest part out of it
yeah like
go figure out how to nail it down in a head voice
in a lighter placement and then bring the tone back
right cause at the end of the day
it's the same thing
like the progression of how you learn a song
if we can get the notes and rhythms
that's our foundation first
so if we're not able to do the notes and rhythms
(24:06):
in belting let's take the belting out of it
yeah um
and then we can add and adjust the tone later
like I'm telling that to students all the time
I'm like
I hear you saying to me that you don't like your tone
but we are not hitting that note yet
so you have to trust me when I'm saying we can
we have to change our approach
then we can fix the tone later
but not until we're hitting the note right
yeah every time
(24:26):
yeah oh 100%
something I've Learned to help hack my riffing
is using directions so if
especially in fast thinking
um as I get higher
I get a little brighter and as I get lower
I get a little heavier
when that applies to classical music
like
is that something that you ever use consciously or not
(24:47):
or is I mean I mean
when you're working classical
it's very like
even toned yes
and yes yeah yeah
so like um
I'm gonna pull out my computer for a second so I can
yeah hahaha OK
and not because I couldn't understand
where the notes were going
but because
I didn't have the accuracy
to land on the right pitches
each time they were really close together
(25:08):
yeah right
if we break it down in the scale degree
it's um
1 7 1 6
5 4 and then back to 1 7
1 5 4
yeah 3
1 7 1 4
3 2 1 7 1
three two one
and then it goes up to like the flat seven and
and all the stuff but yeah um
and that's like 16th notes
like really freaking fast
(25:28):
go go go
like
and it has to stay even and it has to stay accurate
so if we're struggling with beating up a riff um
and it's a matter of I know what note I need to go to
but I'm struggling to land on it
like we're outside of the riff all together
and I'm just like
(25:52):
hello
cause it really is like you okay
that's like music nerdy
and nobody has to use all the solfege
like all the time but
that's how I was breaking it down in the practice room
of like this is how my brain understands it
and this is how I'm gonna be able to
to know that I'm landing on the right note and tune it
yeah um
and I was always very close to a piano
when I was doing this yeah
(26:12):
as well to help have that like okay
I'm is it really right um
but the passage was like please
and think of that like
at least three times as fast
(26:34):
like that's how fast it was in performance
yeah um
and to get it clean every single time
one I had to stay super light and super bright yeah
um 2
I wouldn't necessarily use the word swing
in the classical sense but this has very like
(27:00):
um yeah
know your cadence know your cadence
and know which notes are important
and everything else can be like
a little bit less loud still accurate
still as accurate yeah
but less loud right
I'm not sitting there going through the riff of
like we say
like I'm my pictures all over the place
because I'm working way too hard
and that's something that I think singers tend to get
(27:23):
overzealous yeah
when they're trying to learn riffs
it's like yeah
you're going at it way too hard
and listen to how softly they're singing the notes
especially like
that Tori Kelly riff right
like yeah
and she gets so breathy on the way up
a lot of and you'll hear that a lot in singers
on those us ending rest like
yeba does it all the time
(27:43):
yeah mmm hmm
oh yeah Yeba Sammy Ray
yeah yeah
something I do that's really similar
but I uh
if if there's a struggle
like getting to a certain note
I bring staccato into it cause that's like
one of the best coordination exercises
so just going between that eight and that five
yeah oh
(28:03):
in general like
just do that doing that back and forth
back and forth back and forth
and then doing each note on staccato
yeah um
start slow and then speed that up
and then
cause then you're also using your breath a little bit
I mean it's more difficult vocal fold coordination
but uh yeah
so yeah
it's that confirmation of like great
the people who do it fast do it to do what I'm doing
(28:26):
yeah yeah yeah
no it's just a matter of practice
no it's just a matter of practice
absolutely yeah
so many patients repeats yeah
and also like that interval training
and that interval practice of like
especially for these runs that have um
leaps in them
if it's not a next door neighbor to the note
yeah and sometimes
even when it is a next door neighbor to the note
particularly when we're going down
(28:46):
like singers will overstep that 4 to 3
like that half step yes
all the time like every week
every week for all of us I think
yeah yeah
um but practicing like
literally to get that riff
half the time I wasn't even singing the whole thing
I was just like
(29:12):
right so that I could find
because the problem areas were those big jumps of that
yeah one down to six
down to five down to four
down to three and
like it crazy
the 8 to 6 of it all is weird
yes yes weird yeah
I took that and was able to like
directly apply it to how I was learning some riffs and
like R&B songs and yeah
but songs that were like
(29:32):
really interesting to me and really exciting to me
and also really challenging and like
riffs that I was like I'm not getting that
and then I kind of brought the same like okay
this is the note where I'm
I'm losing it
let me just do this interval a bunch of times
like a ridiculous amount of times
like an annoying amount of times
because at the same yeah
(29:52):
but that's creating the muscle memory of
so that you know
you don't have to think about it
you don't have to worry about it
as long as you
you keep your air and your placement in place
like you're gonna land on that note
because you've done it a hundred times
you know yeah
and it's also like a nice challenge to the brain
yeah yeah
cause it's gonna be like oh
here comes that hard note
but then you're like I've done it before
like yeah exactly
(30:13):
I'll do it again yeah
it's easier for sure and um
as you're learning to riff
like you have to slow it down to
like get the accuracy
but once you know it
try not to slow down so much when you're singing it
like from when you start
right and it's that thing of
like in the piano lessons
like if you can do it 10 times without messing up
(30:35):
then you can speed up the metronome
and move on to the next part
yeah you know
but
until you can do it that many times without messing up
at the same speed like yeah it's not helpful to
sing a riff and slow down where it's
she's not slowing down or he's not slowing down
keep it even through the entire thing
yeah keep it even through the entire thing
(30:56):
like do the entire thing slow and then 5 bpm faster
and then 5 bpm faster yeah yeah absolutely
but don't start changing the rhythms
yeah yeah
or I have students that like
speed up certain parts and then slow down certain parts
yeah OK
where's our tempo yeah
what's happening yeah
we were kind of working on that
when we were doing the falling riff
yeah yeah
just getting the rhythms right
it's tricky even if it's a little slower
(31:18):
especially if it's a really cool run
it's not gonna be exactly the same amount of like
it's not the same note duration
for each and every single one of those little
rip notes yeah yeah yeah
people go all over and then you stay longer on one
and then they come on like yeah
first table doesn't all the time
oh yeah yeah
crazy cool
I love it
(31:38):
do we wanna break down a little riff real quick
yeah teach us something
teach me out
this is gonna be really fun for me too
cause I don't know this riff all the way yet
so I'm I'm learning with you Yay
we still think about that
it's like we can change it
no no
(31:59):
I'm in I'm in
OK
like 100 retire I can't even like pick up on the first
no my brain's just like I think she's at
yeah that's what I think it is
I buy that that's like 22 million
we're gonna listen to it
if I open my mouth and the camera stays on me
can you do that hahaha
(32:22):
um I backed it up to the beginning of the song
think to me Paolo
okay I killed that yeah
(32:44):
I mean I'm just already gonna struggle
getting all the way up to that note
OK so step 1
and this one is like
I think it's pretty clean in terms of like
the audio so I'm just gonna put it at point seven
five but OK nice
sometimes with like messier ones I'll
I'll take it down to point five
we're gonna try and see hopefully I got the right spot
(33:11):
okay I think I was right um
so with this riff
one I geek out about it because it like
Emily said it so perfectly early
she was like I love when you think a riff's done
and then it keeps on going
yeah like hmm
ridiculous more haha yeah
um and she's totally doing that here
but um
(33:32):
so for this I would like
absolutely break it out in
in like
at least two parts but honestly
maybe three yeah
it's more than five so
or five yeah
so the first part is no by no
(33:52):
okay that's gonna be the second part
I'm missing a note
oh
yeah so
(34:12):
this is the exact pattern that I talked about earlier
that's the vocal stem I do around my house yeah
oh oh
like yeah
exact ish with okay
and then as we're learning it
I want you guys all to imagine that
even though we're going down
that we're walking up the stairs oh
yeah holy moly
that was awesome
(34:32):
it was me I did it it's me
hold on can we put those two parts together yeah
how's the first I keep forgetting that the transition
(34:59):
is that movie yeah
hop hop back up
yeah how many are notes are on top one
oh
yes
(35:19):
oh yeah
I wanna keep I wanna keep weighing it down
okay yeah go up and set it down
yeah am I skipping something
no you got it all
it just it just feels like we're skipping something
because it's so fast it's so fast
it's so fast hahaha
(35:41):
okay we're gonna listen to that part again
and then we'll learn the next part
so the next part is
I got that I got that
that's easy yeah
there you go
but putting it into context is not that easy we have
(36:08):
yeah I think I can do this
one two three right yeah
that was just not clean but yet
those are the notes yeah
I got the notes nice
yes yes yes
also I'm so quiet
like I just need the world to know like that
I'm so like I'm like
(36:30):
she's singing right now literally
cause I'm pulling back my voice and my air
so I'm not trying to like
think about anything yeah
I'm literally just like no
no no yeah
no no no no no okay
(36:51):
oh there's a spicy note
yeah there's a crazy accident over there
(37:14):
ah
yeah oh um
that world don't do what I did the first time
where I tried to Mark it before even hearing it
um that
that actually I will experience a lot in lessons where
um when I'm plunking
it's like our as the singer
like you're so in it that you're like yeah
and then you try to guess what's happening
and then you're like I can't get it
(37:35):
and it's like girl
you didn't even listen girl
you didn't even listen that's why I literally
I was like wait
and I looked Bree in the eyes and I was like
I need to hear it from your voice like twice
um and I already forgot
yeah that one's where it gets spicy
okay so we have
(38:00):
yeah and we're so close to the end guys
we almost have the rest of it
um cause I think the ending part is just like
yeah
I can do that I'll
I'll just do the we can do that all day
I'll do the tail the tail yeah
um okay
what do you guys what do you guys want to do with this
like what's the next part
I feel like we should
(38:24):
should we do it along with the chart
that's right
yeah there we go
okay and this is so hard
because it goes over such a big range
yeah yeah yeah
when you
which is why it's important to stretch your head
voice down yeah
don't don't
but also
like it when you're just learning that beginning part
(38:44):
if this is in your upper head voice yeah
learn it down the octave first yeah
get those notes in your head
well then you're gonna
and then yeah
and then come back yeah
and then you
I would put that up before you add on the next
yeah yeah
um okay
I think I went back too far hold on
(39:18):
yeah that's the ending
so that's pretty easy to add on
oh
oh yeah
oh oh
uh huh
uh huh uh huh
uh huh yeah
odd for me yeah
so we broke that into four
(39:40):
no we five
we're going in five parts
we have hey
I was joking when I said five parts
so I need more parts in that nice so part one was
nice oh yeah
how many notes is that too many
(40:01):
I don't want to count I don't want to count
editor yeah put it on the screen
that's money but this money
but now it's like OK cool
now we have all the notes
now it's just a matter of practice
yeah right absolutely
one thing that I as a Learned refer practice
would practice next
once I had these notes down
I would go to the intersection of part 1 and 2 yeah
(40:23):
and drill that yeah because I'm still going
like there's that little like
thought in between
it's also where you're switching registers too
yeah that makes it so hard
yeah makes it hard
but could be easier when you decide
here's where I switch where it happens
(40:44):
and I think yeah
you said it a couple of times
but zooming in on like the
the problem area yeah yeah
I feel like going into those yeah
this is absolutely like a moment where
like
managing those transitions between
like section 1 and two
where you have like
and then you have
um
was that one
(41:08):
yeah thank you
sorry I was like
yeah um
right like
you're adding add a note by note
yeah to that transition
um so that you practice
like'cause the the hardest part is you have Section 1
(41:29):
that's
go all the way right
wow
and so
hahaha
it's just so infuriating hahaha alright
just falling out of somebody's face and you're like
(41:51):
I hate you hahaha
do you know how
how hard I worked to not work hard to do that though
like yes
there you go like
because the hardest thing is like
if I tried to learn this riff ten years ago
I would have been like
right like
yeah yeah yeah
and that's
it's a lot of work to make it look like an all right
(42:12):
work and so I'm thinking about reducing the volume
using a lot of air and less volume and keeping it like
fluttery like
I like butterfly wings yeah
butterfly wings butterfly wings
I am into that is that a song
yeah like
it just they're going
they're going like
they're just or like hummingbird wings
like you know
(42:32):
it's just like fluttering in the air and it's so
so light but also like
I keep forgetting that last part
sorry not to sing over your helpful
helpful tips
but you were nailed in the first half
yeah um
guess guess
guess what part of my range is it haha
yeah um
yeah do you wanna try the whole thing at uh
point seven five speed uh point yeah
(42:53):
no point seven five
but point seven five yeah yeah let's go
how the fuck is that and honestly
we're like
speak like we're singing ahead of her for the most part
like we want it to be faster
okay I'm still messing up that ending
(43:21):
I think I'm is it
it's like a flat note like out of the huh
is that a little slower it is slower
okay so I'm not okay
I feel like she pulls out
so let me play it in real time for a second
and then we'll go back to slowing it down
(43:43):
so she's holding on a couple of those
right it's not like the box piece where it's all $60
no I'm changing it
no
yeah oh so I skipped
(44:05):
yeah
yeah
oh
oh oh oh
is a spicy noodle oh
(44:26):
my god getting back down at the end
I don't want to be done so bad
oh my gosh hold on
launches into that
(44:47):
ah
I know what we were doing ah
I think that's what we were doing
ah ah
yeah yeah
I think that's what we were doing
yeah I think so
or at least that's what we're doing now
I started I started skipping
(45:07):
a little sloppy at the bottom
but I can clean it up hahaha
yeah
so one thing and you
this probably never came up in your lessons
as little soprano girlies um
in in my mezzo lessons
like
my professor was like
(45:29):
you have to lighten up you have
you have it's the metal curse
you wanna you wanna get heavy
when you go down and for you learning how to belt in
like your
your mid low range like
you do have to think about
like letting the voice get a little bit heavier
and living in that chest voice
but in terms of like
riffing and especially descending quickly
um
(45:51):
your superpower is gonna be like
leaning into your soprano light yeah ness yeah right
like um
I heard you say earlier that sometimes
when you're going down you want to like
I let your voice yeah
weigh it down a little that's usually for shorter ones
yeah yeah
I would say yeah yeah
um but it like
and it took me years of like
(46:11):
beating this into my skull haha
in voice lessons every week
um but to avoid the tendency of
and landing there of like
keeping it and
and thinking that the bottom notes actually
are probably gonna be softer than the top notes
they're actually probably gonna be a little bit lighter
(46:33):
like
like dangling from a string
wow yeah
and that's gonna keep it like really
yeah yeah
yeah yeah yeah
cause you want the same consistency throughout exactly
yeah if you listen to Stacy
if you listen to Stacy Ryan do that too
like she keeps it very light
she keeps it so soft so soft yeah
(46:54):
tongue
my tongue is it be brave
it be brave today yeah
she cray every day she cray every day
okay also
I do wanna say if you're new to riffing
this is not what you're starting with
no definitely not hard
this is no
we we start with like
there's a a fire
(47:15):
yeah and even that honestly
like when
can be some of the most difficult riffs to
to nail right
it's not necessarily difficult to learn
there's a fire
like do it very fire
and you want it to be clean
and have that articulation each time
like without vowels right
that's the hardest thing which is sometimes in the
the progression of getting a riff like this clean
(47:41):
right or na na na
yeah yeah
but a da but whatever
like yeah
syllable whatever consonant
that you're gonna use to interrupt that air flow
to give yourself like
to to find that articulation
but then you're using the breath um
to give you that articulation
(48:02):
without interrupting the air flow
yeah yeah yeah
Turkey
ooh ooh
that was nice thanks
I love it thanks Bree
for that yeah
good work everybody
I think we we we
we did pretty good I would yeah
I would say we did
do you wanna try it once at full speed
sure yeah
sure cause oh
(48:22):
why not yeah
let's see I'm not gonna
I think I need to breathe more
I think you need to take a deep breath
yeah I should probably take a deep breath
and like
don't be afraid to use some more of that breath too
um
I backed it up a little bit before
I don't trust myself on the notes
(48:51):
yeah
oh no
my mic's open hahaha
oh
who did that yeah hahaha
we all should have just gone
yeah and then just
you know have re recorded like four times
stop and then overlaying
like a little bit
not super perfectly but then like
oh my god we nailed it
but four different voices
no we are keeping it real
(49:13):
yeah that's what I love about it
we are keeping it real over here
we're in process
it's not like me recording the last pop song exercise
it's like that was a good take
we're taking that
but I did and me too
like I
I can't pretend to be the best rapper on the planet
I know that I'm not
there's a million other people that are like
so much better there's like
so many kids out there that are just like yeah
(49:34):
like how
yeah yeah yeah
different chip but also
please know you do not need to be an amazing riffer
in order to see success in singing
no yeah
and success in riffing yeah
like just don't do the crazy
freaking long crazy awful
well I'm not awful beautiful
you're beautiful but it's so hard
but like
or do it but like
don't try to get a finished product within a podcast
(49:56):
you know like
like don't think that
give yourself a couple weeks
we move really fast and like
at least that box song took me eight months yes
give yourself time keep
like the slow part and the syllable part
and then slowly picking up the metronome
that it can be up 5 bpm a week
you know like
it doesn't have to be like
I got it 10 times in a row
(50:16):
like if keep working on getting it
I think 10 times is it's a great rule of thumb
yeah for like
if you can get it 10 times at that speed
in rhythm correct notes
no no technical yeah
no technical issues there
then start inching up and if five's too much
try four and if four's too much
try three even if you are
can just take it up one right
(50:38):
just push yourself forward
yeah actually
if you can take it up one
take it up two and
and feel free and keep going
yeah I love it
yeah awesome
well thank you guys
yeah this is so fun
yes thank you
we killed it that's fun
but it's okay
we did a great job yeah
it's a process it's a process
who cares well
and I also want to say we're like
jokingly beating ourselves up
(50:59):
being like I can't riff
but we are and we are advanced
so if you're like they're saying they can't riff
and I'm sitting here and I'm going ah
and you are sliding that just shows you like
no matter what level you're at
you're always like and there's better
and there's better and there's better
and that's okay yeah
and we probably started where you're starting
(51:20):
oh absolutely
oh my god way below that
we never know yes yeah yes
you gotta start somewhere
yes to get somewhere else
and then you just keep going
you just keep trying trying trying trying
trying and then eventually you're gonna get there
yeah I can't wait for this
I did a million bad riffs in this school
oh yeah
I can't wait for this episode to come out
and all my students watch it and be like
(51:40):
I've been we've been doing that in our lessons cause oh
we're dragging and dropping
yes yes
to be like I can do that now
yeah I love it
well thank you ladies
thank you thank you for tuning in
if you are like girl
I wanna learn how to riff
Bree's got you she can help you
(52:02):
Juliana's got you she can help you
Emily and I will try our best
I can teach you but I will
I'll demonstrate to the process
we have the process right
like we have the process of it
yeah it's just
and then it's just a matter of like practice
yeah exactly
but anyways we're happy to help you
you know where to go to book a session
we can't wait to work with you
otherwise we'll see you in the next episode bye
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