do chords matter in riff based music?

[read]

do chords matter in riff based music?

like the intro here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-IUB62zDlA

i guess he might was holding down a chord starting the riff but from there on isn't it just about what sounds right instead of thinking about chords?

[martifingers]

Not my genre at all but in general chords are really just harmony so whether they matter or not depends on what you are wanting to achieve. Some music (eg Indian classical) dispenses with harmony entirely while "conventional" melodies may well suggest certain chords and progressions.
In metal and some folk music, power chords (ie chords with only the 1st and 5th of the scale) are commonplace so "what sounds right" could include those or you could get way more complex. I have just been to a concert where I heard a song I knew intimately played against an almost entirely different backing. It sounded strange indeed but I decided I liked it. Here are the two versions (er... maybe a Folk Music alert is required!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCnJdQ9izto

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=r0sm4jkaejY

(Some of the melody is changed too!)

In short I agree -it's what sounds right.

[karbomusic]

There are chords played all the way through that song, Am and G to be exact. Caring what sounds right, is irrelevant to whether the sound is chords or riffs.

[Judders]

Originally Posted by read

do chords matter in riff based music?

like the intro here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-IUB62zDlA

i guess he might was holding down a chord starting the riff but from there on isn't it just about what sounds right instead of thinking about chords?

It's still all in one diatonic key, meaning that all the notes, whether in riffs or chords, belong to one key signature.

In the end though, it is just what sounds good to you. Music theory explains what we play, it shouldn't dictate it.