How To Write A Hardcore Punk Riff

Some additional thoughts/corrections: 1) For the sake of legibility, I've chosen to simplify the notation for these riffs. I've included only the root notes, not the full power chords, and unless there's a specific rhythmic figure worth highlighting I've left out the strumming patterns and just shown where the notes change. I also just decided that the clip length I used (4-5 seconds in most cases) was 4 bars long and did my durations that way instead of counting snare hits. (in a couple cases, for unusually short clips, I used 2 bars.) I also just put them in whichever octave let me avoid ledger lines. The point was to convey the shapes of the riffs, and this simplified notation felt like it made those shapes clearer. Honestly if it weren't for the fact that my brand is wrapped up in staff paper, I probably would've preferred to show these riffs in guitar tab to emphasize the physical closeness of certain notes. 2) The disclaimer about music theorists talking about punk applies to a lot of other countercultural, underground styles as well, most notably hip-hop. In fact, my decision to include it stemmed largely from thinking about the things I was unhappy with in my older videos about hip-hop, and I wish I'd included similar discussions there as well. 3) One point that I didn't really fit into the script but that I hope was clear from the examples I used is that, while riffs are largely defined by the guitar part, they tend to be reflected in the rest of the band as well. Vocal phrases, drum patterns, and of course bass lines all typically draw their structure from the underlying riff. 4) A lot of different things have been called pop punk over the years, and many of them do fit into more traditional punk aesthetics. The pop punk I was referring to was specifically the early-2000s mainstream wave. 5) Yes, both the people I could find doing music theory scholarship about punk are named David. It's confusing. 6) I know Blitzkrieg Bop isn't hardcore punk, but it was the first example I could think of and, in true punk spirit, I couldn't be bothered to find a better one. 7) I wanted to include a longer section on rhythms, but I couldn't find any scholarship on it? The existing literature is very sparse on punk in general, Easley's work is more focused on riff schemes, and while Pearson does talk about rhythm, that's mostly in the context of time feels in the drums, not rhythmic patterns in the riffs. Anyway, from what I've found, punk riff rhythms tend to involve holding (well, strumming) long notes and moving those around occasionally, either on the beats or with slight anticipations. (typically 8th notes at the tempo I'm notating.) When they're anticipated, they're also often actually held over for a moment, replacing the attack on the next beat. This often comes in the form of a tresillo, or 3-3-2 rhythmic grouping pattern. The other common rhythmic move I saw was the one-attack stab, where a string of one note was interrupted by a single hit of another one, typically a perfect 4th up, before dropping back down. These stabs may be combined with those anticipations I was talking about earlier, as in, say, Black Flag's Nervous Breakdown, or they can be on the beat. Because these are based on my own observations, not rigorous corpus analysis, I wasn't confident enough to include them in the video, but in case you want some guidance on rhythms those are some things to play around with. The big thing to keep in mind, though, seems to be that you want rhythms that move enough to be exciting, but sit still enough to be comfortable to play. 8) When talking about the physical motion of the minor 3rd, my point isn't that it's hard to play. It's not! It's pretty easy! My point is that, because of the physical constraints of punk, it's always worth considering the precise motions required, because no motion is free. 9) The actual names Easley gave the various schemes are longer than the ones I used 'cause he was writing an academic paper so he's allowed to do that sort of thing, but for the sake of brevity I cut them down to the shortest length that conveys the intent. Just putting this note here in case anyone actually reads his paper. (which you can do here: mtosmt.org/issues/mto.15.21.1/mto.15.21.1.easley.h… also, the Pearson paper is here: mtosmt.org/issues/mto.19.25.1/mto.19.25.1.pearson.… ) 11) If you're wondering why a small streak appears on the page around 10 minutes, that's because my sibling threw a tootsie roll at me and some of the pigment from the wrapper rubbed off on the page. 12tone is a very professional operation.

I’ve always said that Nirvana, Green Day and Bikini Kill’s riffs are some of the easiest in the world to play, but you’ll never write a Nirvana or Green Day song without being an incredible musician. Heck, I’ve been trying to do just that for most of my adult life, and I still haven’t mastered it like Iggy Pop or Pat Smear have! Writing punk is very much like writing a children’s books or baking a great cake in that sense. Everyone thinks they could do it, but it takes genuine skill and dedication to truly master it

As a former punk guitarist, I think this is an excellent breakdown and analysis. And as you said in the closing, it isn't that theory and musicality don't matter. It's simply that mood and message matter more.

I'm so glad you mentioned the level of skill needed to be a punk icon. I love listening to DK as they clearly understand music to the point they are able to reflect the lyrical meanings in the music in a far more nuanced way than a lot of pink artists. Think the marching drums in California Uber Alles, the tension in Riot, the cowboy stereotypes in Winnebago Warrior, religious chants in Moral Majority, the doo wop in Kill The Poor. Whether it's intentional or not, they were able to clearly portray complex themes within the limits of a punk aesthetic and arrangement. RIP Peligro

The refusal to accept that there’s no point in fighting back- an absolutely quintessential pillar of punk. Maybe the only thing that ties all punk genres together. What a beautifully concise and accurate proposal. Fuckin’ bravo dude. Love this.

If 12Tone keeps going, it's an eventuality they will hit Midwest emo edit: I was made aware of 12Tones pronouns and fixed

I’m a lifelong fan of punk music, especially hardcore punk, thank you for doing this. I’ve been getting back into a bit of music theory and I like being able to see examples from things that I know and are familiar.

A friend once described his band's sound as "Half-steps, tritones, and changing time signatures." Some (more than one might imagine) punk rockers do know a bit of theory.

Nicely done! You nailed it, especially the point towards the end that punk is fundamentally about energy, not any specific formal element or technique.

As a lifelong punk and hardcore fan, I think this video is fan-fucking-tastic. I'd love to see a follow up where you compare and contrast 80's hardcore with contemporary hardcore

thank you for paying genuine respect to a genre that doesn't get a lot of it, and especially thanks for highlighting how the sociopolitical culture surrounding punk is absolutely crucial to understanding it as an art form, a lot of people just see it as angry kids being mad and making noise, and never questioning why we're angry and making noise

As a former punk rocker, I'm glad you did this. Even though I can be quite certain it's overly analytical. The reality is, we weren't thinking that hard about it and we were just learning from those who came before us. This is great! Thank you

Punk's not dead

Greg Ginn from Black Flag is one of my favorite guitarists. When he is playing a solo there are no wrong notes. His playing can be described as psychotic.

Amazing video. As someone who grew up in So cal playing in hardcore punk bands, this is spot on. Most of us didn’t really know theory and just did what we thought “sounded cool”, but when I looked back and analyzed my songs and many other popular ones, I saw a lot of these exact patterns. Great video as always!! 🙌🙌

Great song choices. You were right to include the Ramones. Every sub genre of punk loves the Ramones.

I think I am a person that is pretty well versed in punk but also play a lot of other music, this video was absolutely great and interpreted punk in its video pretty good!

I was quite literally working on writing a 70s style hardcore punk song to be the end credit song in a movie I'm doing the sound/composing for. This video could not have been more timely, and I thank you for this video. It helped me finish the song!

“I don’t want to abandon my responsibility of care.” This right here is why the answer (collectively) to your VERY good questions is: you are being, well, responsible. You have every right to ask these. They’re good questions. Important questions. They actually speak very well to the issue of punk rock as a whole. The questions being asked imply the answers.

I think of punk as an attitude more than a sound, but I liked the analysis and was happy to hear a snippet of Murphy's law in there.