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{{Short description|Motif or phrase repeated throughout a piece of music}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}

In [[music]], an '''ostinato''' ({{IPA|it|ostiˈnaːto|lang}}; {{ety|it||stubborn}}, compare English ''obstinate'') is a [[motif (music)|motif]] or [[phrase (music)|phrase]] that persistently [[repetition (music)|repeats]] in the same musical [[part (music)|voice]], frequently in the same [[Pitch (music)|pitch]]. 

Both ''ostinatos'' and ''ostinati'' are accepted English plural forms, the latter reflecting the word's Italian [[etymology]].

Well-known ostinato-based pieces include [[classical music|classical]] compositions such as [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]]'s ''[[Boléro]]'' and the ''[[Carol of the Bells]]'', and [[popular music|popular songs]] such as [[John Lennon]]'s "[[Mind Games (John Lennon song)|Mind Games]]" (1973), [[Donna Summer]] and [[Giorgio Moroder]]'s "[[I Feel Love]]" (1977), [[Henry Mancini]]'s theme from ''[[Peter Gunn (song)|Peter Gunn]]'' (1959), [[The Who]]'s "[[Baba O'Riley]]" (1971), [[The Verve]]'s "[[Bitter Sweet Symphony]]" (1997), and [[Flo Rida|Flo Rida's]] "[[Low (Flo Rida song)|Low]]" (2007).<ref>Bufe, Chaz (1994).''An Understandable Guide to Music Theory: The Most Useful Aspects of Theory for Rock, Jazz, and Blues Musicians'', p. 59. {{ISBN|9781884365003}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Rutter |first=Paul |date=2010 |title=The Music Industry Handbook |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=srusAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |location=London |publisher=[[Routledge]] |page=78 |isbn=9781136725074}}</ref>

The repeating idea may be a [[rhythm]]ic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete [[melody]] in itself.<ref name="Kamien">[[Roger Kamien|Kamien, Roger]] (1258). ''Music: An Appreciation'', p. 611. {{ISBN|0-07-284484-1}}.</ref> Strictly speaking, ostinati should have exact repetition, but in common usage, the term covers repetition with [[Variation (music)|variation]] and [[Musical development|development]], such as the alteration of an ostinato line to fit changing [[harmony|harmonies]] or [[Key (music)|keys]].

{{quote|If the [[cadence]] may be regarded as the cradle of tonality, the ostinato patterns can be considered the playground in which it grew strong and self-confident.|[[Edward Lowinsky]]<ref>Bella Brover-Lubovsky (2008). ''Tonal space in the music of Antonio Vivaldi'', p. 151. {{ISBN|0-253-35129-4}}.</ref>}}

Within the context of European classical and film music, [[Claudia Gorbman]] defines an ''ostinato'' as a repeated [[Melody|melodic]] or [[Rhythm|rhythmic]] figure that propels scenes that lack dynamic visual action.<ref>Gorbman, Claudia. "Film Music". ''Film Studies: Critical Approaches''. Oxford: [[Oxford University Press]]. 2000. p. 43. {{ISBN|0-19-874280-0}}</ref>

Ostinati play an important part in [[Musical improvisation|improvised music]] (rock and jazz), in which they are often referred to as '''riffs''' or '''vamps'''. A "favorite technique of contemporary jazz writers", ostinati are often used in [[Modal jazz|modal]] and [[Latin jazz]] and traditional [[African music]] including [[Gnawa music]].<ref name="Rawlins">Rawlins, Robert (2005). ''Jazzology: The Encyclopedia of Jazz Theory for All Musicians'', pp. 132–133. {{ISBN|0-634-08678-2}}.</ref>

The term ''ostinato'' essentially has the same meaning as the medieval [[Latin]] word {{lang|la|pes}}, the word ''ground'' as applied to classical music, and the word ''[[riff]]'' in contemporary popular music.

==European classical music==
Within the domain of European classical music traditions, ''Ostinati'' are used in 20th-century music to stabilize groups of pitches, as in Stravinsky's ''The Rite of Spring'' ''Introduction'' and ''Augurs of Spring''.<ref name="Kamien" /> A famous type of ostinato, called the ''[[Rossini]] crescendo'', owes its name to a [[crescendo]] that underlies a persistent musical pattern, which usually culminates in a solo vocal cadenza. This style was emulated by other [[bel canto]] composers, especially [[Vincenzo Bellini]]; and later by [[Wagner]] (in pure instrumental terms, discarding the closing vocal cadenza).

Applicable in [[Homophony|homophonic]] and [[contrapuntal]] [[Texture (music)|textures]], they are "repetitive rhythmic-harmonic schemes", more familiar as accompanimental melodies, or purely rhythmic.<ref name="DeLone">DeLone, Richard (1975). "Timbre and Texture in Twentieth Century Music", ''Aspects of 20th Century Music'', p. 123. Wittlich, Gary (ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-049346-5}}.</ref> The technique's appeal to composers from Debussy to [[Experimental music|avant-garde]] composers until at least the 1970s "... lies in part in the need for unity created by the virtual abandonment of functional [[chord progression]]s to shape phrases and define tonality".<ref name="DeLone" /> Similarly, in [[Musical mode|modal]] music, "... relentless, repetitive character help to establish and confirm the modal center".<ref name="Rawlins" /> Their popularity may also be justified by their ease as well as range of use, though, "... ostinato must be employed judiciously, as its overuse can quickly lead to monotony".<ref name="Rawlins" />

===Medieval===
Ostinato patterns have been present in European music from the [[Middle Ages]] onwards. In the famous English [[Canon (music)|canon]] "[[Sumer Is Icumen In]]", the main vocal lines are underpinned by an ostinato pattern, known as a ''pes'':[[File:Sumer is Icumen in.png|thumb|center|500px|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMCA9nYnLWo Sumer is Icumen in]]]

Later in the medieval era, [[Guillaume Dufay]]'s 15th-century chanson ''Resvelons Nous'' features a similarly constructed ostinato pattern, but this time 5 bars long. Over this, the main melodic line moves freely, varying the phrase-lengths, while being "to some extent predetermined by the repeating pattern of the canon in the lower two voices."<ref>Fallows, D. (1982, p. 89). Dufay. London, Dent.</ref> [[File:Dufay Resvelons nous 01.wav|thumb|Dufay Resvelons nous]][[File:Dufay Resvelons nous 02.png|thumb|center|500px|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zD8LoZti7g Dufay Resvelons nous]]]

===Ground bass: Late Renaissance and Baroque===
{{anchor|Ground bass}}

''Ground bass'' or ''basso ostinato'' (obstinate bass) is a type of [[variation form]] in which a [[bass line]], or [[chord progression|harmonic pattern]] (see [[Chaconne]]; also common in [[Music in the Elizabethan era|Elizabethan England]] as ''Grounde'') is repeated as the basis of a piece underneath variations.<ref>Bartlette, Christopher, and Steven G. Laitz (2010). ''Graduate Review of Tonal Theory''. New York: Oxford University Press, p. 230 {{ISBN|978-0-19-537698-2}}</ref> [[Aaron Copland]]<ref>Copland, Aaron and Rich, Alan (2002). ''What to Listen for in Music'', p. 117. {{ISBN|0-451-52867-0}}.</ref> describes basso ostinato as "... the easiest to recognize" of the variation forms wherein, "... a long phrase—either an accompanimental figure or an actual melody—is repeated over and over again in the [[Bass (sound)|bass]] part, while the upper parts proceed normally [with variation]". However, he cautions, "it might more properly be termed a musical device than a musical form."

One striking ostinato instrumental piece of the late Renaissance period is "The Bells", a piece for [[virginals]] by [[William Byrd]]. Here the ostinato (or 'ground') consists of just two notes:[[File:William Byrd, The Bells 01.wav|thumb|William Byrd, The Bells]][[File:William Byrd, The Bells 02.png|thumb|center|500px|William Byrd, The Bells]]

In Italy, during the seventeenth century, [[Claudio Monteverdi]] composed many pieces using ostinato patterns in his operas and sacred works. One of these was his 1650 version of "Laetatus sum", an imposing setting of [[Psalm 122]] that pits a four-note "ostinato of unquenchable energy."<ref>Stevens, D (1978, p81) ''Monteverdi: sacred, Secular and Occasional Music''. New Jersey, Associated University Presses.</ref> against both voices and instruments:[[File:Monteverdi Laetatus sum (1650) Ground bass.png|thumb|center|500px|Monteverdi Laetatus sum (1650) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekGB_HZRJMI Ground bass]]]

Later in the same century, [[Henry Purcell]] became famous for his skilful deployment of ground bass patterns.  His most famous ostinato is the descending [[chromatic]] ground bass that underpins the [[Aria|aria]] "When I am laid in earth" ("[[Dido's Lament]]") at the end of his opera ''[[Dido and Aeneas]]'':[[File:Purcell, Dido's Lament ground bass 01.wav|thumb|Purcell, Dido's Lament ground bass]][[File:Purcell, Dido's Lament ground bass 02.png|thumb|center|500px|Purcell, Dido's Lament ground bass]] While the use of a descending chromatic scale to express pathos was fairly common at the end of the seventeenth century, [[Richard Taruskin]] pointed out that Purcell shows a fresh approach to this musical [[Trope (literature)|trope]]: "Altogether unconventional and characteristic, however, is the interpolation of an additional cadential measure into the stereotyped ground, increasing its length from a routine four to a haunting five bars, against which the vocal line, with its despondent refrain ("Remember me!"), is deployed with marked asymmetry. That, in addition to Purcell's distinctively dissonant, suspension-saturated harmony, enhanced by additional chromatic descents during the final [[Ritornello|ritornello]] and by many deceptive cadences, makes this little aria an unforgettably poignant embodiment of [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGQq3HcOB0Y&t=0m56s heartache]."<ref>Taruskin, R. (2010, p.13&) ''The Oxford History of Western Music: Music in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries''. Oxford University Press.</ref> See also: [[Lament bass]].
However, this is not the only ostinato pattern that Purcell uses in the opera. Dido's opening aria "Ah, Belinda" is a further demonstration of Purcell's technical mastery: the phrases of the vocal line do not always coincide with the four-bar ground:[[File:Dido's opening aria "Ah! Belinda".png|thumb|center|500px|Dido's opening aria [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KY2TlUHggw "Ah! Belinda"]]]

"Purcell's compositions over a ground vary in their working out, and the repetition never becomes a restriction."<ref>Harris, Ellen T. (1987, p108) ''Henry Purcell's Dido and Aeneas''. Oxford, Clarendon Press.</ref> Purcell's instrumental music also featured ground patterns. A particularly fine and complex example is his Fantasia upon a Ground for three violins and continuo: [[File:Purcell Fantasia in 3 parts to a ground.png|thumb|center|500px|Purcell Fantasia in 3 parts to a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOLsVkf_4Gs ground]]]

The intervals in the above pattern are found in many works of the Baroque Period. [[Pachelbel's Canon]] also uses a similar sequence of notes in the bass part:[[File:Pachelbel's Canon 01.wav|thumb|Pachelbel's Canon]] [[File:Pachelbel Canon bass line (quarter notes).svg|thumb|center|Ground bass of ''[[Pachelbel's Canon]]'']]

Two pieces by [[J.S.Bach]] are particularly striking for their use of an ostinato bass: the [[Mass in B minor structure#Crucifixus|Crucifixus]] from his [[Mass in B minor]] and the [[Passacaglia]] in C minor for organ, which has a ground rich in melodic intervals:[[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia ground bass.wav|thumb|Bach C minor Passacaglia ground bass]][[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia ground bass.png|thumb|center|500px|Bach C minor Passacaglia ground bass]] The first variation that Bach builds over this ostinato consists of a gently [[syncopated]] motif in the upper voices:[[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 1.wav|thumb|Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 1]][[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 1.png|thumb|center|500px|Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 1]] This characteristic rhythmic pattern continues in the second variation, but with some engaging [[Harmony|harmonic]] subtleties, especially in the second bar, where an unexpected chord creates a passing implication of a related key: [[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 2.wav|thumb|Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 2]][[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 2.png|thumb|center|500px|Bach C minor Passacaglia Variation 2]] In common with other Passacaglias of the era, the ostinato is not simply confined to the bass, but rises to the uppermost part later in the piece:[[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia variation with ostinato in treble.wav|thumb|Bach C minor Passacaglia variation with ostinato in treble]][[File:Bach C minor Passacaglia with ostinato in treble.png|thumb|center|500px|Bach C minor Passacaglia with ostinato in treble]] A performance of the entire piece can be heard [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie52xH8V2L4 here].

===Late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries===

Ostinatos feature in many works of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. [[Mozart]] uses an ostinato phrase throughout the big scene that ends Act 2 of the [[The Marriage of Figaro|''Marriage of Figaro'']], to convey a sense of suspense as the jealous Count Almaviva tries in vain to incriminate the Countess, his wife, and Figaro, his butler, for plotting behind his back. A famous type of ostinato, called the [[Rossini]] crescendo, owes its name to a crescendo that underlies a persistent musical pattern, which usually culminates in a solo vocal cadenza.

In the energetic Scherzo of [[Beethoven]]’s late [[String Quartet No. 14 (Beethoven)|C sharp minor Quartet, Op. 131]], there is a harmonically static passage, with "the repetitiveness of a nursery rhyme"<ref>Radcliffe, .P (1965, p.158) Beethoven’s String Quartets.  London, Hutchinson.</ref> that consists of an ostinato shared between viola and cello supporting a melody in octaves in the first and second violins:[[File:Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 69-76.wav|thumb|Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 69–76]][[File:Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 69-76.png|thumb|center|500px|Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 69–76]] Beethoven reverses this relationship a few bars later with the melody in the viola and cello and the ostinato shared between the violins:[[File:Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 93-100.wav|thumb|Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 93–100]][[File:Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 93-100.png|thumb|center|500px|Beethoven Op 131 Trio from Scherzo, bars 93–100]]

Both the first and third acts of [[Wagner]]'s final opera ''[[Parsifal]]'' feature a passage accompanying a scene where a band of Knights solemnly processes from the depths of forest to the hall of the Grail.  The "Transformation music" that supports this change of scene is dominated by the iterated tolling of four bells:[[File:Wagner, Parsifal Act 1, transformation music.png|thumb|center|500px|Wagner, Parsifal Act 1, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTraCEg0x68&t=05m0s transformation music]]] [[Brahms]] used ostinato patterns in both the finale of his [[Symphony No. 4 (Brahms)|Fourth Symphony]] and in the closing section of his ''[[Variations on a Theme by Haydn]]'': [[File:Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn, final section with ground bass.png|thumb|center|500px|Brahms Variations on a Theme by Haydn, final section with [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5Wm_MFnAto&t=13m15s ground bass]]]

===Twentieth century===
[[Debussy]] featured an ostinato pattern throughout his Piano Prelude "[[Des pas sur la neige]]". Here, the ostinato pattern stays in the middle register of the piano&nbsp;– it is never used as a bass. "Remark that the footfall ostinato remains nearly throughout on the same notes, at the same pitch level... this piece is an appeal to the basic loneliness of all human beings, oft-forgotten perhaps, but, like the ostinato, forming a basic undercurrent of our history."<ref>Schmitz, E. R. (1950, pp.&nbsp;145–7) the Piano Works of Claude Debussy. New York, Dover.</ref> [[File:Debussy, Des pas sur la neige.png|thumb|center|500px|Debussy, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eym3nCRxev0 Des pas sur la neige]]] Of all the major classical composers of the 20th century, [[Stravinsky]] is possibly the one most associated with the practice of ostinato. In conversation with the composer, his friend and colleague [[Robert Craft]] remarked "Your music always has an element of repetition, of ostinato. What is the function of ostinato?"  Stravinsky replied; "It is static&nbsp;– that is, anti-development; and sometimes we need a contradiction to development."<ref>Stravinsky, I. and Craft R. (1959, p.42) ''Conversations with Igor Stravinsky''. London, Faber.</ref> Stravinsky was particularly skilled at using ostinatos to confound rather than confirm rhythmic expectations. In the first of his [[Three Pieces for String Quartet (Stravinsky)|''Three Pieces for String Quartet'']], Stravinsky sets up three repeated patterns, which overlap one another and never [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUepDjGgUnc coincide]. "Here a rigid pattern of (3+2+2/4) bars is laid over a strictly recurring 23-beat tune (the bars being marked by a cello ostinato), so that their changing relationship is governed primarily by the pre-compositional scheme."<ref>Walsh, S. (1988, p57) The Music of Stravinsky. London, Routledge.</ref> "The rhythmical current running through the music is what binds together these curious mosaic-like pieces."<ref>Vlad, R (1978, p52) ''Stravinsky''. Oxford University Press.</ref>

A subtler metrical conflict can be found in the final section of Stravinsky's ''[[Symphony of Psalms]]''. The choir sing a melody in triple time, while the bass instruments in the orchestra play a 4-beat ostinato against this. "This is built up over an ostinato bass (harp, two pianos and timpani) moving in fourths like a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqWZGUO_eoc&t=15m39s pendulum]."<ref>White, E.W. (1979, p.365) Stravinsky: the Composer and his Works. London, Faber.</ref>

==Sub-Saharan African music==
[[File:Gyil.JPG|thumb|left|310px|Ghanaian gyil]]

===Counter-metric structure===
Many instruments [[Sub-Saharan African music traditions|south of the Sahara Desert]] play ostinato melodies.{{clarify|date=June 2017}} These include [[lamellophone]]s such as the [[mbira]], as well as [[xylophone]]s like the [[balafon]], the [[bikutsi]], and the [[xylophone|gyil]]. Ostinato figures are also played on string instruments such as the [[Kora (instrument)|kora]], [[gankoqui]] bell ensembles, and pitched drums ensembles. Often, African ostinatos contain [[offbeat (music)|offbeat]]s or [[cross-beat]]s, that contradict the metric structure.<ref>Peñalosa, David (2010). ''The Clave Matrix; Afro-Cuban Rhythm: Its Principles and African Origins'' pp. 22–26, 62. Redway, CA: Bembe Inc. {{ISBN|1-886502-80-3}}.</ref> Other African ostinatos generate complete cross-rhythms by sounding both the main [[beat music|beat]]s and cross-beats. In the following example, a gyil sounds the three-against-two cross-rhythm ([[hemiola]]). The left hand (lower notes) sounds the two main beats, while the right hand (upper notes) sounds the three cross-beats.<ref>Peñalosa, David (2010). ''The Clave Matrix'' p. 22.</ref>

[[File:Ghanaian gyil.jpg|thumb|center|300px|Ghanaian gyil cross-rhythmic ostinato {{audio|Ghanaian gyil.mid|Play}}]]

===African harmonic progressions===
Popular dance bands in West Africa and the [[Congo (area)|Congo region]] feature ostinato-playing guitars. The African guitar parts are drawn from a variety of sources, including the indigenous [[mbira]], as well as foreign influences such as [[James Brown]]-type [[funk]] riffs. However, the foreign influences are interpreted through a distinctly African ostinato sensibility. African guitar styles began with Congolese bands doing Cuban [[cover song]]s. The Cuban [[guajeo]] had a both familiar and exotic quality to the African musicians. Gradually, various regional guitar styles emerged, as indigenous influences became increasingly dominant within these ''Africanized guajeos''.<ref>Roberts, John Storm. ''Afro-Cuban Comes Home: The Birth of Congo Music''. Original Music cassette tape (1986).</ref>

As Moore states, "One could say that I&nbsp;– IV&nbsp;– V&nbsp;– IV [chord progressions] is to African music what the 12-bar blues is to North American music."<ref>Moore, Kevin (2011). ''Ritmo Oriental's First Album of the 70s''. Web. ''Timba.com''. http://www.timba.com/artist_pages/1974-first-lp-of-the-70s</ref> Such progressions seem superficially to follow the conventions of Western music theory. However, performers of African popular music do not perceive these progressions in the same way. Harmonic progressions which move from the tonic to the subdominant (as they are known in European music) have been used in [[Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony]] for hundreds of years. Their elaborations follow all the conventions of traditional African harmonic principles. Gehard Kubik concludes:

<blockquote>The harmonic cycle of C–F–G–F [I–IV–V–IV] prominent in Congo/Zaire popular music simply cannot be defined as a progression from tonic to subdominant to dominant and back to subdominant (on which it ends) because in the performer's appreciation they are of equal status, and not in any hierarchical order as in Western music—(Kubik 1999).<ref>Kubik, Gerhard (1999). ''Africa and the Blues''. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi.</ref></blockquote>

==Afro-Cuban guajeo==
A guajeo is a typical Cuban ostinato melody, most often consisting of arpeggiated chords in syncopated patterns. The guajeo is a hybrid of the African and European ostinato. The guajeo was first played as accompaniment on the tres in the folkloric [[changüí]] and [[son music|son]].<ref>Lapidus, Ben (2008). ''Origins of Cuban Music and Dance; Changüí'' p. 16–18. Lanham, MA: Scarecrow Press. {{ISBN|978-0-8108-6204-3}}</ref> The term ''guajeo'' is often used to mean specific ostinato patterns played by a tres, piano, an instrument of the violin family, or saxophones.<ref>Mauleón, Rebeca (1993) ''Salsa Guidebook for Piano and Ensemble''. p. 255. Petaluma, California: Sher Music. {{ISBN|0-9614701-9-4}}.</ref> The guajeo is a fundamental component of modern-day [[salsa music|salsa]], and [[Latin jazz]]. The following example shows a basic guajeo pattern.

[[File:Generic 3-2 guajeo.jpg|thumb|center|400px|Cuban guajeo written in cut-time {{audio|Generic 3-2 guajeo.mid|Play}}]]

The guajeo is a seamless Afro-Euro ostinato hybrid, which has had a major influence upon jazz, R&B, [[rock 'n' roll]] and popular music in general. [[The Beatles]]' "[[I Feel Fine]]" guitar riff is guajeo-like.

==Riff==
{{main|Riff}}

In various popular music styles, '''riff''' refers to a brief, relaxed phrase repeated over changing melodies. It may serve as a refrain or [[melody|melodic figure]], often played by the [[rhythm section]] instruments or solo instruments that form the basis or [[accompaniment]] of a musical composition.<ref>''New Harvard Dictionary of Music'' (1986) p. 708. Cambridge, MA: [[Harvard University Press]].</ref> Though they are most often found in [[rock music]], [[heavy metal music]], [[Latin American music|Latin]], funk and [[jazz]], classical music is also sometimes based on a simple riff, such as [[Ravel]]'s ''[[Boléro]]''. Riffs can be as simple as a tenor saxophone honking a simple, catchy rhythmic figure, or as complex as the riff-based variations in the [[head (music)|head]] [[arrangement]]s played by the [[Count Basie Orchestra]].

David Brackett (1999) defines riffs as "short melodic phrases", while [[Richard Middleton (musicologist)|Richard Middleton]] (1999)<ref>{{cite book |last=Middleton |first=Richard |title=Studying Popular Music |publisher=Open University Press |location=Philadelphia |orig-year=1990 |year=2002 |isbn=0-335-15275-9}}</ref> defines them as "short rhythmic, melodic, or harmonic figures repeated to form a structural framework". Rikky Rooksby<ref>{{cite book |last=Rooksby |first=Rikky |title=Riffs: How to create and play great guitar riffs |publisher=Backbeat Books |location=San Francisco |year=2002 |isbn=0-87930-710-2 |pages=6–7}}</ref> states: "A riff is a short, repeated, memorable musical phrase, often pitched low on the guitar, which focuses much of the energy and excitement of a rock song."

In jazz and [[rhythm and blues|R&B]], riffs are often used as the starting point for longer compositions. The riff from [[Charlie Parker]]'s [[bebop]] number "[[Charlie Parker's Savoy and Dial Sessions#Session 1|Now's the Time]]" (1945) re-emerged four years later as the R&B dance hit "[[The Hucklebuck]]". The verse of "The Hucklebuck"—another riff—was "borrowed" from the Artie Matthews composition "[[Weary Blues]]". Glenn Miller's "[[In the Mood]]" had an earlier life as [[Wingy Manone]]'s "Tar Paper Stomp". All these songs use [[twelve bar blues]] riffs, and most of these riffs probably precede the examples given.<ref>Covach, John. ''Form in Rock Music: A Primer'', p.&nbsp;71, in Stein, Deborah (2005). ''Engaging Music: Essays in Music Analysis''. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-517010-5}}.</ref>

Neither of the terms 'riff' or '[[Lick (music)|lick]]' are used in [[European classical music|classical music]]. Instead, individual musical phrases used as the basis of classical music pieces are called ostinatos or simply phrases. Contemporary jazz writers also use riff- or lick-like ostinatos in [[modal jazz|modal]] music. [[Latin jazz]] often uses guajeo-based riffs.

==Vamp==
<!-- [[Vampire (music)]] redirects here. -->
[[File:Funk & R&B vamp riff.png|thumb|left|400px|Vamp riff typical of funk and R&B<ref name="Marshall" /> {{Audio|Funk & R&B vamp riff.mid|Play}}]]

In music, a '''vamp''' is a [[Repetition (music)|repeating]] [[musical figure]], [[Section (music)|section]],<ref name="Marshall">Marshall, Wolf (2008). ''Stuff! Good Guitar Players Should Know'', p. 138. {{ISBN|1-4234-3008-5}}.</ref> or [[accompaniment]]. Vamps are usually harmonically sparse:<ref name="Marshall" /> A vamp may consist of a single chord or a sequence of chords played in a repeated rhythm. The term frequently appeared in the instruction "vamp till ready" on sheet music for popular songs in the 1930s and 1940s, indicating the accompanist should repeat the musical phrase until the vocalist was ready. Vamps are generally symmetrical, self-contained, and open to variation.<ref name="Marshall" /> They are used in [[blues]], [[jazz]], [[Gospel music|gospel]], [[Soul music|soul]], and [[musical theater]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Corozine |first=Vince |title=Arranging Music for the Real World: Classical and Commercial Aspects |page=124 |year=2002 |publisher=Mel Bay |location=Pacific, MO |isbn=0-7866-4961-5 |oclc=50470629 |ref=Corozine2002}}</ref> Vamps are also found in [[Rock music|rock]], [[funk]], [[reggae]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[Pop music|pop]], and [[Country music|country]].<ref name="Marshall" /> The equivalent in [[European classical music|classical music]] is an ostinato, in [[hip hop]] and [[electronic music]] the [[Music loop|loop]], and in rock music the [[riff]].<ref name="Marshall" />

The slang term ''vamp'' comes from the Middle English word ''vampe'' (sock), from Old French ''avanpie'', equivalent to Modern French ''avant-pied'', literally ''before-foot''.<ref name="Marshall" /><ref name=answers>[https://www.answers.com/topic/vamp "Vamp: Definition, Synonyms and Much More"]. ''Answers.com''. Answers Corporation.</ref>

Many vamp-oriented songwriters begin the creative process by attempting to evoke a mood or feeling while riffing freely on an instrument or scat singing. Many well known artists primarily build songs with a vamp/riff/ostinato based approach—including [[John Lee Hooker]] ("[[Boogie Chillen]]", "House Rent Boogie"), [[Bo Diddley]] ("[[Hey Bo Diddley]]", "[[Who Do You Love? (Bo Diddley song)|Who Do You Love?]]"), [[Jimmy Page]] ("[[Ramble On]]", "[[Bron Yr-Aur (song)|Bron Yr Aur]]"), [[Nine Inch Nails]] ("[[Closer (Nine Inch Nails song)|Closer]]") and [[Beck]] ("[[Loser (Beck song)|Loser]]").

Classic examples of vamps in jazz include "[[A Night in Tunisia]]", "[[Take Five]]", "[[A Love Supreme]]", "[[Maiden Voyage (composition)|Maiden Voyage]]" and "[[Cantaloupe Island]]".<ref name="Rawlins" /> Rock examples include the long jam at the ends of "[[Broken Arrow (album)|Loose Change]]" by [[Neil Young and Crazy Horse]] and "[[Ogre Tones|Sooner or Later]]" by [[King's X]].

===Jazz, fusion, and Latin jazz===
In [[jazz]], [[Jazz fusion|fusion]], and related genres, a background vamp provides a performer with a harmonic framework supporting improvisation. In [[Latin jazz]] guajeos fulfill the role of piano vamp. A vamp at the beginning of a jazz tune may act as a springboard to the main tune; a vamp at the end of a song is often called a ''tag''.

====Examples====
"[[Take Five]]" begins with a repeated, syncopated figure in {{music|time|5|4}} time, which pianist [[Dave Brubeck]] plays throughout the song (except for [[Joe Morello]]'s drum solo and a variation on the chords in the middle section).

The music from [[Miles Davis]]'s modal period ({{circa}}1958–1963) was based on improvising songs with a small number of chords. The [[jazz standard]] "[[So What (instrumental)|So What]]" uses a vamp in the two-note "Sooooo what?" figure, regularly played by the piano and the trumpet throughout. Jazz scholar Barry Kernfeld calls this music ''vamp music''.{{full citation needed|date=November 2012}}

Examples include the outros to [[George Benson]]'s "[[Body Talk (Robyn album)|Body Talk]]" and "Plum", and the solo changes to "[[Breezin']]".<ref name="Marshall" /> The following songs are dominated by vamps: [[John Coltrane]], [[Kenny Burrell]], and [[Grant Green]]'s versions of "[[My Favorite Things (song)|My Favorite Things]]", [[Herbie Hancock]]'s "[[Watermelon Man (composition)|Watermelon Man]]" and "[[Chameleon (composition)|Chameleon]]", [[Wes Montgomery]]'s "[[Tequila (Wes Montgomery album)|Bumpin' on Sunset]]" and [[Larry Carlton]]'s "[[Room 335]]".<ref name="Marshall" />

The Afro-Cuban vamp style known as guajeo is used in the [[bebop]]/[[Latin jazz]] standard "[[A Night in Tunisia]]". Depending upon the musician, a repeating figure in "A Night in Tunisia" could be called an ''ostinato'', ''guajeo'', ''riff'', or ''vamp''. The Cuban-jazz hybrid spans the disciplines that encompass all these terms.

===Gospel, soul, and funk===
In [[Gospel music|gospel]] and [[soul music]], the band often vamps on a simple ostinato [[Groove (music)|groove]] at the end of a song, usually over a single chord. In soul music, the end of recorded songs often contains a display of vocal effects—such as rapid scales, arpeggios, and improvised [[section (music)|passages]]. For recordings, sound engineers gradually fade out the vamp section at the end of a song, to transition to the next track on the album. [[Salsoul]] singers such as [[Loleatta Holloway]] have become notable for their vocal improvisations at the end of songs, and they are sampled and used in other songs. [[Andrae Crouch]] extended the use of vamps in gospel, introducing chain vamps (one vamp after the other, each successive vamp drawn from the first).<ref name="California">Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, Eddie S. Meadows (1998). ''California Soul'', p. 224. {{ISBN|0-520-20628-2}}.</ref>

1970s-era funk music often takes a short one or two bar musical figure based on a single chord one would consider an introduction vamp in jazz or soul music, and then uses this vamp as the basis of the entire song ("[[Funky Drummer]]" by James Brown, for example). Jazz, blues, and rock are almost always based on chord progressions (a sequence of changing chords), and they use the changing harmony to build tension and sustain listener interest. Unlike these music genres, funk is based on the rhythmic groove of the percussion, rhythm section instruments, usually all over a single chord. "In funk, harmony is often second to the 'lock,' the linking of contrapuntal parts that are played on guitar, bass, and drums in the repeating vamp."<ref name="Marshall" />

Examples include [[Stevie Wonder]]'s vamp-based "[[Superstition (song)|Superstition]]"<ref name="Marshall" /> and [[Little Johnny Taylor]]'s "[[Part Time Love]]", which features an extended improvisation over a two-chord vamp.<ref name="California" />

===Musical theater===
In [[musical theater]], a vamp, or intro, is the few [[Bar (music)|bars]], one to eight, of music without lyrics that begin a printed copy of a song.<ref name="Craig">Craig, David (1990). ''On Singing Onstage'', p. 22. {{ISBN|1-55783-043-6}}.</ref> The orchestra may repeat the vamp or other accompaniment during dialogue or stage business, as accompaniment for onstage transitions of indeterminate length. The score provides a one or two bar vamp figure, and indicates, "Vamp till cue", by the conductor. The vamp gives the onstage singers time to prepare for the song or the next verse, without requiring the music to pause. Once the vamp section is over, the music continues to the next section.

The vamp may be written by the composer of the song, a copyist employed by the publisher, or the arranger for the vocalist.<ref name="Craig" /> The vamp serves three main purposes: it provides the key, establishes the tempo, and provides emotional context.<ref name="Craig 23">Craig (1990), p. 23.</ref> The vamp may be as short as a ''bell tone'', ''sting'' (a harmonized bell tone with stress on the starting note), or measures long.<ref name="Craig 23" /> The ''rideout'' is the transitional music that begins on the downbeat of the last word of the song and is usually two to four bars long, though it may be as short as a sting or as long as a Roxy Rideout.<ref name="Craig 26">Craig (1990), p. 26.</ref>

==Indian classical music==
<!-- [[Lehara]] redirects here. -->
{{more citations needed section|date=October 2015}}

In [[Indian classical music]], during [[Tabla]] or [[Pakhawaj]] solo performances and [[Kathak]] dance accompaniments, a conceptually similar melodic pattern known as the '''Lehara''' (sometimes spelled Lehra)<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bakshi |first1=Haresh |title=101 Raga-s for the 21st Century and Beyond: A Music Lover's Guide |date=September 26, 2006 |publisher=Trafford |isbn=1412231353 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQdWAAAAQBAJ&q=lehra+meaning&pg=PT59}}</ref> or Nagma is played repeatedly throughout the performance. This melodic pattern is set to the number of beats in a rhythmic cycle ([[Tala (music)|Tala]] or Taal) being performed and may be based on one or a blend of multiple [[Raga]]s.

The basic idea of the lehara is to provide a steady melodious framework and keep the time-cycle for rhythmic improvisations. It serves as an auditory workbench not only for the soloist but also for the audience to appreciate the ingenuity of the improvisations and thus the merits of the overall performance. In Indian Classical Music, the concept of 'sam' (pronounced as 'sum') carries paramount importance. The sam is the target unison beat (and almost always the first beat) of any rhythmic cycle. The second most important beat is the Khali, which is a complement of the sam. Besides these two prominent beats, there are other beats of emphasis in any given taal, which signify 'khand's (divisions) of the taal. E.g. 'Roopak' or 'Rupak' taal, a 7-beat rhythmic cycle, is divided 3–2–2, further implying that the 1st, 4th, and 6th beats are the prominent beats in that taal. Therefore, it is customary, but not essential, to align the lehara according to the divisions of the Taal. It is done with a view to emphasize those beats that mark the divisions of the Taal.

The lehara can be played on a variety of instruments, including the [[sarangi]], [[harmonium]], [[sitar]], [[sarod]], [[flute]] and others. The playing of the lehara is relatively free from the numerous rules and constraints of ''Raga Sangeet'', which are upheld and honoured in the tradition of Indian Classical Music. The lehara may be interspersed with short and occasional improvisations built around the basic melody. It is also permissible to switch between two or more disparate melodies during the course of the performance. It is essential that the lehara be played with the highest precision in [[tempo|Laya]] (Tempo) and [[Swara]] control, which requires years of specialist training (''Taalim'') and practice (''Riyaaz''). It is considered a hallmark of excellence to play lehara alongside a recognised Tabla or Pakhawaj virtuoso as it is a difficult task to keep a steady pulse while the percussionist is improvising or playing difficult compositions in counterpoint. While there may be scores of individually talented instrumentalists, there are very few who are capable of playing the lehra for a Tabla / Pakhawaj solo performance.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bakshi |first1=Haresh |title=The GAT: Raaga Yaman and Yaman Kalyan |url=http://www.soundofindia.com/showarticle.asp?in_article_id=-904088624 |website=Sound of India}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* ''[[Canto Ostinato]]''
* ''[[Chaconne]]''
* [[Chanking]]
* [[Fill (music)]]
* ''[[Folia]]''
* [[Glossary of musical terminology]]
* [[Hook (music)]]
* [[Imitation (music)]]
* [[Leitmotif]]
* [[Music sequencer]]
* [[O Fortuna]]
* ''[[Passacaglia]]''
* [[Pedal point]]
* [[Sequence (music)]]
* [[Traditional sub-Saharan African harmony]]
* [[Minimal music]]{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last1=Horner |first1=Bruce |last2=Swiss |first2=Thomas |date=1999 |title=Form and Music: Key Terms in Popular Music and Culture |location=Malden, MA |publisher=Blackwell |isbn=0-631-21263-9 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/keytermsinpopula0000unse}}

==External links==
{{Wiktionary|vamp}}
* [http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazzguitar_licks.html Jazz Guitar Riffs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227012543/http://www.jazzguitar.be/jazzguitar_licks.html |date=December 27, 2012 }}
*{{cite web|url=https://www.kdfc.com/2018/09/obstinate-ostinatos |date=September 14, 2018|first=Jeffrey |last=Freymann |title=Obstinate Ostinatos |work=KDFC}} Explanation with musical examples.

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{{Tonality}}
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[[Category:Bass (sound)]]
[[Category:Musical analysis]]
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[[Category:Riffs]]
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