The Secret To Writing Rock Riffs ft. Michael Nielsen 

Make sure to subscribe to Michael homies ru-vid.com/show-UCYFYUq796NVfuvgWIIkiN1w

"I'm sneaking in a D here" oh ok

Me: can't play guitar yet Also me: let's learn how to write rock music, shall we?

"Dumb, sexy & angry." Well, I have TWO of those.

I feel like I'm watching Wayne's World

6:12 here In England that means something VERY DIFFERENT and I assure you that you most certainly do not want "spunk" on your notes

That intro jam was fuckin’ awesome!

I haven't written a great rock riff since cutting my hair about 10 years ago...

This actually helped me to write my first raw rock riff and it’s slowly forming into a song I’m really liking, never thought writing and getting inspired would be so much fun lol thanks man

1:33 riff left me speachless

Michaels lesson almost started off sounding like a math rock riff

There needs to be more ROCK N ROLL! I love good hard rock and most bands today simply don't rock.

Damn he’s improving and coming up with better riffs that me actually trying

0:23 I thought Helter Skelter was about to start

That fast riff that you used gave off some Metallica kill em' all vibes

Michael’s channel is awesome, been a sub since he did that Zakk Wylde Shaven Years video. His demos are awesome and the playing is incredible. No wonder he’s writing stuff for gaming. This is a very informative video for riff writing.

Dude I love that tone in the intro

Damn you are so good on that guitar

*I can’t believe I’m just catching this now. I’m trying to create more hard rock vibes on my RU-vid channel and I feel like this was the video I’ve been looking for. You definitely know how to keep things entertaining but useful at the same time.*

LOVE your STYLE and GROOVE! Keep going with these rockin' videos!!

Hey! We are a rock band from Singapore and we find this video awesome in helping us write better rock riffs!

Great video... and Michael ..really good teacher.. straight forward... i will join his channel... thanks again...

Would love to see a vid of the bands that inspired you, great vid!

Great vid and the lesson by Michael is great.

Ahh very informative my man! ye, I've been trying to find this sort of idea to pursuing some true rock! Thx my man

Hey Robert, beautiful tone from that tobacco burst!!!! LOve that finish too. Thanks for all this. Subbed.

This is an amazing video - too useful indeed. Thanks a bunch man

That intro riff was sick

Love your tone and your channel!

as always your videos makes me want to pick my guitar up even if i'm dead tired and sleepy... ROCK ON!

Great video rob !!! You are awesome \m/

really good video man, thank for the usefull information, Keep up the good work!!🔥🤘

The example at 4:00 I feel works really well as a post solo variation as opposed to the full song. The full chord approach is thicker, while the double stop approach is more aggressive.

As far as Les Pauls go, that one is a beauty.

Awesome stuff!! Just hit the sub button so hard I broke my screen!!

Awesome riff.🎸😊

That intro is the greatest thing I've ever heard

Amazing tutorial thank you!

Wow!!! Great Rob!!!

Michael really nailed the essence of rock there in his intro: a mix of a bit dumb, sexy, angry...so so true, also that ''I could have made that up too', as well

Honest & True...keep it up brother

Dude! i love your channel! 🤘🤘

Great stuff!

Hi Robert , great stuff

I have a growing concern about your "finger guns" man. This is a Google platform after all. rofl Keep Rockin'!

Why... does playing classic rock... feel so damn good

Rock and Roll Robert yeah 👍👍👍

Man pls tell me what effects are you using this is FANTASTIC

9 times out of ten when I sit down to write a rock song, it just ends up sounding like acdc, and I always end up writing them in A.

6 years ago... damn!

Man...I aspire to play like you Robert. You rock. That relaxed picking hand is what I ultimately want some day. Those relaxed motions with (yet) your incredible ability to finesse the notes with both bite and soft attack (at will) along with very little wasted motion while at the same time also employing a lot of motion (again at will) is right on the money. It just looks like you are having a ton of fun with little need for right hand effort. Watching you...It is fairly safe to say that you have mastered that ability. I played for twenty-five years with arm elbow locked wrist strumming and picking. We old guys didn't have the internet, and I never bought VHS tapes to learn from, so I never had any extended watch-time to investigate and examine how guitarists moved their picking hands and wrists. Sweated constantly when playing fast songs. Wore my arm and shoulder out every time too. lol 10 years ago I started learning a wrist motion that was necessary to change that bad habit.... but it has always been over exaggerated and way more movement in the wrist and forearm than is necessary to play with little effort. I have now started with Claus Levin's picking style. In many ways, he picks a lot like Paul Gilbert and I believe I need to learn that first to eventually get where you are, which is a much more relaxed style... and really the epitome of 80s rock guitarists. I have started to unlock the speed Claus is capable of within the last week...finally. Was worried I wouldn't be able to do it, as it wasn't working at first (2 weeks of attempt and getting nowhere). I was trying everything...including a lot of patience. Then something clicked several days ago, and I ended up realizing that the speed part of it all is a very subtle thing regarding the motion and corresponding muscles one uses to get it. Anyway....thanks for doing the utube thing Robert. Between you, Claus & David I now feel I can get where I always wanted to be. Fan forever. Jason

Writing a good riff is a lot like picking up a date. If I sit down and say " ok I'm gonna write some music." It always sounds contrived and Just has no substance behind it. At least in my mind. Every cool Riff I personally came up with. Just happened by mistake. Usually just goofing around, warming up, or playing with some new piece of gear. I wish I could remember or would have recorded half of them. I did turn a few into completed songs .But most got lost in time. Anyway the picking up a date anology explained: When My buddies and I would go out looking for some "Action" we almost always struck out ending the night going home alone. I guess we seemed to desperate or our intentions seemed unnatural or contrived. But , I'd be out just to hang or have a few drinks and go. That's when out of no where a nice lady would take and interest in me. I suppose that I was note relaxed and just being me. Image ,that's all it took. I didn't need brand new cloths ,expensive Cologne, a cool car, or some clever pick up lines. Just relaxed and true was the ticket. In my case anyway. Rock on ! And God Bless us all!

2:04 thats because youre playing one version with swung 8ths and the other with straight 16ths

Miss this side of you Robert

This guys tone is great

WOOOOO!!!

Ya kinda jumped into a slightly Nugent-ish groove around 1:45... Dig it!

Nice LP.

These are like " SCALE DRUM SOLOS" 😁

Imagine improvising like Robert

Great stuff. Groove hit home. Do you know what spunk is in the UK?

Wooo!!!

Robert you rock mate,could hear you playing all day long

Sweet. What model les Paul is that man?

You play that guitar pretty good

You really like the A key don't you :9

That tele almost looks like a rick parfit inspired tele🤘

You and papastache should make a collaboration

Awesome vididideo

I play drums. But, I’m learning how to play guitar. Aaaand there’s no one around here that wants to start a band so here I am.

I think pentatonic is either mixed drink or hair restorer. That's all I got.

Could you make a tab for the riff played in intro it’s so tasty

Cool Stuff, I like to say no one is self taught, we all learn from something or someone. Say a Book for example or a lesson from an Instructor however, we all learn and Robert you have learned much from you and thanks for that. I will check out your Reference because I just learned a little more from Him. I am left Handed learning how to play Right Handed and Right as I go along and I find the Mechanics are the Hardest but I am glad I have found your Channels.

Good shit. I write faster thrashy stuff. So I just speed a lot of this stuff up. This is a difficult thing to do and maintain a “groove”. You are 100% right on the groove or “hook”. Without it, your music just sounds like a compilation of notes. But that’s what makes it fun. Challenging these notes with creativity and inflections changes the dynamics immensely. And the great part is that you don’t really have to be a technical wiz to be creative. Obviously, the more skill you have the more options will be available too you. But you can still get a lot out of very little if you’re a beginner or intermediate player. Just get creative. You’ll surprise yourself!

"let just stick to pentatonic." man thats the only thing ı can stick to.

this is THE video

Party on Garth

Me encantó !!

the best person on mixing scales: angus young

0:11-0:20 is that an actual song? I want the tabs lol

I love your channel! I just have one small critique for some of these. You might want to use less subjective language. For instance, maybe some people think Rush is great for dancing. Maybe some people can't tell an inverted power cord from a double stop on another string. Use terminology to make yourself more clear.

I dont think I'd want "spunk" on anything, except my girlfriend and that's limited to my own spunk.

The beginning kinda sounds like a country song tbh 😂

dude looks like arin hanson

1:33 is fucking rock mann.. thrash metal and punk use that shitt

So what you're saying is that if you write a riff, you must ask yourself: "'Can I make EVERY Jack Black face' to this?" If the answer is no, then it's back to the drawing board! :P

This guy looks like Jacquen H'gar

Wayne's world for sure.

Are riffs discovered or invented?

10:06 i see what you did there... :D

035

LOL he said he's sneaking in a d

Unrelated but you have great hair

You ever get told you look like Adam Jones?

Bud I gotta day it . I'm newfie yes from Newfoundland Canada. You look if Allan Doyle (Great big sea) had a son. You look like him when he was young.. just saying lol

Now Robert, you must do a how to make metal riffs with Jared dines or Andrew beana or I will riot

Lol!!!! When the hell is Dream Theater ever grounded?!?

Watch out Robert, don't get spunk all over the fretboard!

How to write iconic riffs like Kurt cobain and not some generic hair/ metal kind of music ?😁😁

prefer Roberts jamming style!