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Glite Dictionary
🎸 A repeated phrase 💬 To improvise talk 🎸 To improvise music
to riff

to riff

1 6.6
To play short repeated musical phrases, often in jazz or rock
  • verb
  • /rɪf/
translation icon : improvisar
  • As the band played, the drummer would riff between verses, adding flair to the performance.

Me and Jesse will go like, riff this thing up and start rapping.

Examples

  • You have almost no feedback and you're just kind of riffing and it's a stream of consciousness.

  • So I don't know, just to riff off your little thing.

  • Me and Jesse will go like, riff this thing up and start rapping.

    GaryVee

  • Yo, I can't tell if I'm riffing too much in this song or not.

    The Sun Is Also a Star (2019)

  • "It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" and ended with trumpeter John Lake riffing off of drummer Alejandro Castao's furious close.

    Blog text (14)

  • The guitarist started to riff on some catchy melodies that got everyone dancing.

  • During the jam session, the musicians began to riff, creating new sounds on the spot.

How Repetitive

to repeat
∞ 1.0
to riff
1 6.6
to play
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

riff infinitive
riffed past
riffed past participle
riffing present participle
riffs third person singular

Etymology

Riff as a musical verb comes from early jazz and probably grew as a short form of refrain, which means 'a repeated part of a song'. So when musicians 'riff' they play short, repeated ideas and change them on the spot, which is why the verb means to improvise short musical phrases.