Motif vs Riff - What's the difference?
motif | riff |
A recurring or dominant element; a theme.
(music) A short melodic passage that is repeated in several parts of a work
A decorative figure that is repeated in a design
(crystallography) The physical object or objects repeated at each point of a lattice. Usually atoms or molecules.
A basic element of a move in terms of why the piece moves and how it supports the fulfilment of a stipulation.
(biochemistry) In a nucleotide or amino-acid sequence, pattern that is widespread and has, or is conjectured to have, a biological significance.
A repeated instrumental melody line in a song.
* {{quote-news
, year=2009
, date=November 27
, author=
, title=Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has 'best guitar riff'
, work=BBC
A clever or witty remark.
A variation on something.
*2012 , The Economist,
A spoof
* 26 June 2014 , A.A Dowd, AV Club Paul Rudd and Amy Poehler spoof rom-com clichés in They Came Together [http://www.avclub.com/review/paul-rudd-and-amy-poehler-spoof-rom-com-cliches-th-206220]
To improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.
As nouns the difference between motif and riff
is that motif is a recurring or dominant element; a theme while riff is a repeated instrumental melody line in a song.As a verb riff is
to improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.motif
English
Noun
(en noun)- See how the artist repeats the scroll motif throughout the work?
riff
English
Noun
(en noun)citation, page= , passage=Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Child has been named the greatest guitar riff of all time, 41 years after it was recorded, in a poll by website Music Radar.}}
London Skyline: Tower Power
- Both the Orbit and the Pinnacle are riffs on an idea sketched out in 1917 by Vladimir Tatlin for a monument to international communism.
- The creative team has experience with spoofing: Both Rudd and Poehler had parts in Wain’s Wet Hot American Summer, a hysterically irreverent riff on ’80s summer-camp comedies.