# Guitar Lick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 5, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797 "2011-05-05T03:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/1 "2011-05-05T03:16:41Z")
Have you ever heard of a guitar lick? A singer was describing his guitarists works as having some good licks. Is that the same as having good riffs? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/2 "2011-05-05T03:22:12Z")
A riff is different than a lick. A riff (short for “refrain”) is a repeated musical pattern, often chordal in nature, basically the “rhythm” parts of the song. A lick is a discrete phrase, usually single notes rather than chordal - basically either part of a solo or a fill. A lead part rather than a rhythm part. A rif is a “Boom chica bow wow” part. A lick is a “widdly widdly” part. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/3 "2011-05-05T03:22:33Z")
Nah, a lick isn’t really necessarily the same as a riff. You make a solo, or fills, out of licks – they’re like the building blocks of music, in a really loose way. But this singer could have been talking just in terms of their chops. That is, if they have their shit together technically. Think “Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin. That’s a riff. Jimmy Page has mad chops. And he plays some cool licks on “The Lemon Song” (among other places!!!). ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/4 "2011-05-05T03:23:44Z")
That was weird – I think we said the same thing at the same time. Jinx? ETA I forgot the OP was **Jinx** – I was just trying to get **Diogenes** to buy me a coke! Also, don’t call me no guitarist, son! ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/5 "2011-05-05T03:24:48Z")
Aw, who gives a lick? Guitarists! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/6 "2011-05-05T03:28:40Z")
As a nod to Mick Jagger’s signature move, the Rolling Stones’ greatest hits album is called _Forty Licks_. So yes, it’s a common term. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/7 "2011-05-05T06:39:37Z")
I thought everyone knew what a guitar lick was. I assumed this thread would feature something like [this](http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_267/1210361742GikzW6.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/8 "2011-05-05T12:23:57Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > A riff (short for “refrain”) I did not know that. > [@](#): > > A rif is a “Boom chica bow wow” part. A lick is a “widdly widdly” part. I love the exceptions or overlaps - e.g., Layla: the widdly widdly part plays the role of the boom chica bow wow, if you follow. Licks Chops Riffs Hooks It’s all good. Stevie Ray Vaughn was such a good player because of his flow and his taste - he could set up a riff, then insert little licks in between parts of the riff, seamlessly. And his riffs were so hummable that they were really hooks - they were a part of the song that stuck with you. Man, he had chops. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/9 "2011-05-05T13:17:22Z")
About “riff” being derived from “refrain”, it seems iffy. Oxford says _possibly_, Websters says _origin unknown_. The [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=riff) says: [INDENT]“melodic phrase in jazz,” 1935 (but said to have been used by musicians since c.1917), of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortened form of riffle, or altered from refrain. The verb is attested from 1955. Related: Riffed; riffing. [/INDENT] Which is too bad, because it’s a nice explanation. Riffle is to turn pages rapidly, or to shuffle pages or cards. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2011, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/10 "2011-05-05T16:19:24Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > About “riff” being derived from “refrain”, it seems iffy. > > Oxford says _possibly_, Websters says _origin unknown_. > The [Online Etymology Dictionary](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=riff) says: > [INDENT]“melodic phrase in jazz,” 1935 (but said to have been used by musicians since c.1917), of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortened form of riffle, or altered from refrain. The verb is attested from 1955. Related: Riffed; riffing. > [/INDENT] > > Which is too bad, because it’s a nice explanation. > > Riffle is to turn pages rapidly, or to shuffle pages or cards. I think the “refrain” origin sounds more plausible than the “riffle” origin. A third possibility I heard, although not mentioned by [etymonline.com](http://etymonline.com) or any reliable source I could find online right now, is that it’s short for “rhythmic figure.” Of the three “refrain” seems to make the most sense to me, but who knows? As for the difference between a riff and a lick, the way I use the terms, it’s pretty much covered in this thread. The biggest difference is that a riff is a repeating figure and a lick is not (although I have heard several guitarists use the word “riff” where “lick” might be more appropriate, as in “Hey, what’s that little riff you played there at the end of the solo?” So there might be some fluidity in the terms.) And the other terms in case anybody is wondering: “chops” - musical skill. “Hook” - the central compositional element to a pop song that “hooks” the listener in. It can be a riff, it can be lyric, it can be a rhythmic phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ee7513/32.png) [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kim_o_the_Concrete_Jungle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/11 "2011-05-06T03:44:27Z")
To me, the difference between a riff and a lick is that a riff belongs to a particular song. So you might talk about the riff of Layla or Black Dog. A lick, on the other hand, might be repeated in many different songs – just a general thing that a guitar player might do all the time, like that thing Chuck Berry does in every other song. Back in the day, they used to put out those Hot Lick videos, the idea being that you’d study a famous guitar player and steal their licks. There’s no copyright problem with that, because licks aren’t riffs from songs, they’re the little bits and pieces you build riffs out of. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2011, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guitar-lick/580797/12 "2011-05-06T13:51:58Z")
> [@Kim\_o\_the\_Concrete\_Jungle](#): > > To me, the difference between a riff and a lick is that a riff belongs to a particular song. So you might talk about the riff of Layla or Black Dog. A lick, on the other hand, might be repeated in many different songs – just a general thing that a guitar player might do all the time, like that thing Chuck Berry does in every other song. > > Back in the day, they used to put out those Hot Lick videos, the idea being that you’d study a famous guitar player and steal their licks. There’s no copyright problem with that, because licks aren’t riffs from songs, they’re the little bits and pieces you build riffs out of. That works for me.