Having done a bunch of stuff, we’re now onto “More Stuff” (pp. 27-32).

It starts by introducing the idea of riffs that extend over two bars, giving a simple “question and answer” (what I’d tend to refer to as “call and response”). The illustration is a classic rock’n’roll riff (all 8ths): 1 1 3 3 5 5 6 5 | b7 b7 6 6 5 5 3 3. The pattern is shown just for the A chords in the 12 bar blues, with the single bar 11 using just the first part of the riff. Next, the D and E chords are filled in also with the first measure of the riff moved to appropriate starting points.

I seem to recall the next two bar riff was a bit trickier. The first half is just quarter notes (1 5 b7 8 ) but the answer puts in some syncopation (e e_e e q q, with the underscore representing a tie). It’s not that hard but it was a step up to a new level of rhythmic complexity. There’s yet another ramp up just over the page (p.30), with more rhythms, including a second bar that has everything but the 1 on an upbeat (e e_e e_e e_e e). Not only that but it makes a couple of tweaks to the notes from A to E (bar 8 going into 9) and the final bar to lead better into the changes. Phew! However, once on top of that peak, you can keep up with a whole range of riff-based, blues-based songs.

More examples follow and that critical word I used in my previous paragraph, syncopation, is finally introduced. The chapter rounds out with another pattern with variations that is very similar to “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream. That probably gave me a head start the first time I was in a band that covered the song although it isn’t an exact transcription. Once you’ve put in the work, you are well set up for a lot of music, although the amount of work isn’t to be underestimated. I wouldn’t be surprised if it took me as long to get through this one chapter as all the rest of the book up to that point. Maybe it should have been called “Lots More Stuff”!