One of my favorite musical devices is the chromatic scale:
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You’ve heard this sound before. It’s the 12 Western subdivisions of the octave played consecutively. On guitar, that would be each note on a string from the first fret up to the 12th. On piano, that would be all the white and black keys in a row. Chromatic comes from chroma, Greek for “color”. Chromatic riffs have color. Once you start peppering white keys with black ones, you start getting some spice. Some of the spiciest riffs ever written have used the chromatic scale. 10 follow below. (I’ve cued up the audio clips to start at the chromatic riffs.) Can you think of more?
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10. Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov – “Flight of the Bumblebee”
“Flight of the Bumblebee” is one of the OG’s of the chromatic riff. It is basically one long chromatic riff. It is also one of the most annoying pieces of music ever written. Naturally, I went on YouTube to find the most annoying versions ever recorded of it. (Yes, I am single.) Think of any instrument where high, fast notes would be annoying – that instrument has played “Flight of the Bumblebee”. See, e.g., tuba, trombone, trumpet (that one’s actually pretty cool), even accordion (that one’s actually insanely shredding – it looks like a cash register on fast forward). But no one, and I mean no one, wants to hear “Flight of the Bumblebee” on 7-string electric bass. So cheers to this guy for having the chops to play this song – and jeers for letting the rest of us know.
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Dislike
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9. Led Zeppelin – “Dazed and Confused”
Yes, this is not Led Zeppelin’s song. It’s Jake Holmes’, whose original version makes me want to drink. But Led Zeppelin’s version is the one I (and most people) know best – and it makes me want to drink and fuck. So Led Zeppelin gets the nod here, especially for extracting the song’s chromatic essence and flogging the hell out of it. “Hell” is the operative word. Three octaves of chroma snake downwards, giving hips to the line “soul of a woman was created below”.
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8. Unearthly Trance – “God Is a Beast”
Speaking of diabolical creatures, Unearthly Trance’s “God Is a Beast” descends directly from Led Zeppelin’s left hand path. The magick moment comes at 3:27 (note: 27 = 3×3x3). It is not a riff. It is an automated-neck-mover-in-a-vertical-plane. If my head banged any harder, it would start spinning around.
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7. Megadeth – “Five Magics”
Speaking of magick… Megadeth’s catalogue is filled to the brim with chromatic riffs. The textbook example is “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due”, but we’ve discussed that song about 10,000 times already (and we’ll probably do so 10,000 more). So let’s talk about “Five Magics” instead. At 2:49, it unveils a crazy chromatic segment that goes up and down and around and around – and somehow that becomes a progression over which Marty Friedman solos. At 3:16, it goes up an octave to ratchet up the tension. Four seconds later, it starts falling – all the while using chromatics – down to yet another mighty chromatic riff, the one underlying the chant “Give me alchemy / Give me wizardry / Give me sorcery / Thermatology / Electricity”. That then morphs into yet another chromatic riff, a crisp jog that sets up the end of the song. It’s an incredible exercise in theme and variation.
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6. Cave In – “Juggernaut”
For a less deft and but no less effective dispersal of chromatics across octaves, see Cave In’s “Juggernaut”. Aside from the Slayer riff that started “Moral Eclipse”, this was Cave In’s finest moment. These chromatics don’t make sense next to the rest of the song – this was the “kitchen sink era” of metalcore, after all – but they’re so great that I want to loop them forever and have that be my only memory of Cave In. (OK, I’d keep Perfect Pitch Black, too.) Listen in headphones and dig how the notes alternate from left to right. Bonus points for this song: I have witnessed J. Bennett shake his little white heinie with complete abandon to it.
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5. Black Flag – “Rise Above”
Lots of little white heinies have been shaken to this one. I love how a song called “Rise Above” starts with a descending figure that do-si-dos with a two-note ascending riff. Greg Ginn was a clever fellow.
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4. Dom & Optical – “Rage Roll”
This is a strange choice, but it’s one of the first things that comes to my mind when I think of chromatics. “Rage Roll” was the B-side of the “Quadrant 6 (Fierce Remix)” 12″ on Moving Shadow. That heavyweight single epitomized a time when drum ‘n’ bass stripped down to a minimal style of hammering two-steps and grinding synths. People headbanged to this shit. “Rage Roll” wasn’t as overtly militant as its A-side, but it was more interesting. The chromatic part you hear below was its climax – which came after almost five minutes of buildup. The song grows and grows, slowly and evilly, until it drops this riff that’s like a dying person gasping for breath. It’s one of the most haunting sounds I’ve ever heard.
(Note: I’ve cropped this audio to start with the riff at 4:50. To hear the song build up to this climax, see here.)
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3. Converge – “You Fail Me”
I always think of “Rage Roll” and “You Fail Me” together because of the ambience around their chromatics. If one were scoring a film, and the scene were “someone slowly skinned alive while being crushed by a heavy object”, this would be the soundtrack.
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2. Georges Bizet – Aria (“La Habanera”) from Carmen
This is another OG of chromatic riffs. You’ve heard it before. Let’s hear the incomparable Maria Callas rip our guts out with it.
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1. Metallica – “Master of Puppets”
This is the king of all chromatic riffs. It’s as perfect as a metal riff can be. Don’t even think about playing it without using all downstrokes!
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I fucking love God is a Beast to an unhealthy degree. Fucking fuck what a monster.
Nice one, Cosmo.
For another classical example, don’t miss the prelude to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fktwPGCR7Yw). The entire opera is essentially just an exercise in chromaticism, and many of the ‘heavier’ moments come pretty close to what we’d call riffs. Anyway, for a taster, hit up the prelude.
I always liked playing Dream Theatre’s Erotomania intro riff on the guitar for some tasty chromatics
Nice to see that not everyone jumps on the Metallica-hating bandwagon that the internet has turned itself into.
The Fucking Champs have lots of great chromatic riffs, as does lots of old NES music. I dig your list.
I could swear I heard it on the radio in the last couple years, at the end of a Green Day song or something. Maybe “I walk alone”. It’s a neat trick, sonically.
Some PHD in musicology wrote and/or gave a speech about the descending chromatic riff, and it’s usage throughout history, explicitly siting Dazed and Confused, and many earlier sources.
What a wonderfully diverse and instructive collection of examples! Great way to start the day.
I believe the blast riff on Morbid Angel’s “Maze of Torment” is chromatic, as well– right after the chorus? Actually maybe not, because each note (aside from the first plays the one before, something like
5-4-3-4-3-2-1
or something similar. I haven’t played it in awhile.
It’s a great riff regardless.
2. was the answer to a question on the fictional game show in the P.T. Anderson’s Magnolia – just some meaningless trivia.
Indeed, we will write about “Holy Wars…” 10k more times but damn, Dave does juice that one progression in “Five Magics” until there’s only rind. And then he zests the rind.
Also, the descending riff that begins at 1:48 of “Poison Was The Cure.”
Two things:
1) You left out S.O.D.’s “Chromatic Death.” Oof.
2) Can I start a firestorm here and say that “Hangar 18″ is the most overrated Megadeth song precisely for the reason that it is overly chromatic in nature? I feel like I’m listening to basic addition when that song pops up in the shuffle.
@matty2fatty: You beat me to it. “Erotomania” is indeed chock full of chromatic goodness.
SLAMZ BRO. Pretty much all slam is the first four frets in Drop-something. I’m sure you know this, but just sayin’. Also, what’s up with the no Morbid Angel love? Trey wrote the BOOK on chromatic. “Secured Limitations”? Come on. Masterpiece
Finally a good opportunity to ask this: I’ve always considered the verse riff in Trouble’s “Come Touch The Sky” like my personal fav killer chromatic riff. Now I’m a drummer so I really don’t know anything about this, but… is it (chromatic, that is)?
That Maria Callas clip is stunning! I love that she appears just behind Metallica.
Black Sabbath-”Hard Life to Love” (one of my favorite riffs/mottos ever. The Eternal Idol is a completely badass metal album!)
Collision-”True Love” (funk metal lives! very clever song)
Acid-”Acid” (just the chorus)
Not to forget Sabbath’s “Zero the Hero” and its companion pieces “Her Black Wings” and “Paradise City”
“It’s All In The Gravity” by Crowbar. ’nuff said
and as per a recent discussion, “K.I.N.G.” by Satyricon
Another use for chromatics besides the way they’re used in the above songs, is to use them as a bridge from one part to another. Done poorly it can grind a song to a halt, but there are songs with disparate riffs, and sometimes the right chromatic walk can get you there. As a bass player this is kind of a last resort for me, when trying to get from one place to another and there seems to be no clear path. It’s like the hail-mary of fills.
Jerry Cantrell has used chromatic riffs extensivly in the AIC catalogue (and to awesome effect). See Them Bones for one of my favorite chromatic riffs of all time, or the chugging breakdown in It Ain’t Like That.
Oh, “Them Bones”. Yes, good one. And in 7/8 to boot.
And “Junkhead”! Wow, all over AIC with that one…
That fucking 7-string “FotB” is just the most unmusical thing I’ve heard in forever…
“I Don’t Want, Sirs, to Pester,” (Master’s Hammer use chromatics a whole lot), but I’m making a mix for somebody and revisiting some forgotten classics. Some of my absolute favorite songs ever!
“Hand of Glory”-Babylon Whores
So doomy but rocking, sludgy but fast and shiny. I still think this band was totally unique on their King Fear album. Crushing tone, brilliant production, amazing lyrics. The Samhain/Danzig comparisons were pretty superficial, and the White Zombie ones insulting.
“Funeral Day”-Boulder
The electricity just squelches out of this stuff. My choice of drinking music for Ragnarok. C’mon now, he says, “I would give/your soul for Cliffy Cliff” (Burton)
and
“ACE OF SPADES”
“A NEW LEVEL”
“MANDATORY SUICIDE”
“REPO MAN” (Iggy Pop)
Oh and @Simon, the chugging part of “It Ain’t Like That” is actually E,F,G,F – based on E Phrygian. You’d need an F# in there to make it properly chromatic. All that muting obscures the melodic content a bit!
Well, Duke Ellington’s Caravan comes to mind. That ONE part, specifically.
btw, why no Slayer? Surely something must have stood out… Oh, wait; Chromatic is all they play, so nothing stands out.
Cheers Alee
Oh, and as for Master of Puppets, I would have also prolonged the snippet to include the next riff. It’s chromatic too, and just as mean as the previous one.
zeppelin-kashmir and pink floyd-echoes as well.
The verse riff in ‘Holiday in Cambodia.’
“War for War”-Motorhead (from back when they strove)
“The Devil”-Dawnbringer
“Becoming”-Pantera (chorus, love how they brought a hint of blues to ultra-heavy stuff like this. A big part of the Pantera identity)
“Schizophrenic Pavement”-B-Thong (intro)
Nine Inch Nails – the chromatic motif from The Downward Spiral. I can’t believe you forgot that one (or left it out?) – it’s what I immediately thought of when I saw this article.
Well, it’s not legit chromatic, and it’s hardly even a riff, but I’ve got a gigantic crush for the descending melody that starts about about 6:20 in “Color Your World” from Devin Townsend’s ‘Ziltoid’ album. It’s just five notes, and I’m pretty sure the only proper “chromatic” (if by which we mean half-step) transition is the 4th note. Still, gets me every time. And actually, now that I’m thinking of it, the crazy instrumental break that gets going full-speed around 5:52 of “By Your Command” from the same album is all kinds of chromatic, and actually sounds awfully similar to that wee Bumblebee tune…
This is a wonderful post, by the way. “God is a Beast” is probably my favorite Unearthly Trance tune, and that Converge tune manages to do so much with so little. Although in the case of “You Fail Me,” it should probably be pointed out that just as much of the effect comes from the relentless rhythmic repetition as from the descending chromatic scale.
Nobody’s mentioning Celtic Frost?! Virtually every song from the first three releases is stuffed with chromatics. That band is probably responsible for making chromaticism such a fundamental part of second-wave BM.
btw, when the post mentions Holy Wars, does it have the intro riff in mind?
I believe that’s a bunch of blues scale key changes, not chromatics.
I don’t get it. Was Angel of Death ‘too obvious’ or something? Why Master of Puppets then?
Would the intro to “Raining Blood” count as a chromatic riff?
Yes, the riffs in “Angel of Death” and “Raining Blood” certainly have chromatic elements. “Master of Puppets”‘ intro riff has full-on chromaticism from top to bottom.
Brilliant idea for a post, and it’s obvious there needs to be a Part II….?
I alternate pick master of puppets…
@Ahmed: You wuss. Kidding.
Hey if you were going to include a douchy bass cover of Flight of the Bumblebee, you could have at least used a douchy METAL bass cover
No worries, Manowar delivers!
Ah, stripped away the YouTube link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSYrTKXLYH0
what about guitar riffs where not whole chords are chromatic but just notes within them like Pinball Wizard or more importantly Stairway to Heaven? StH should be on the list imo.