Mike Rutherford and The Genesis Riff

Over the years Genesis guitarist and bassist Mike Rutherford has implemented a similar riff into many of the band's songs.

[matiasarrala]

That 1-5-emphasis keeps the harmonic possibilities neutral and open on the bass department, which allowed Tony to brew his more elaborate chordal mixtures on top of it all. That really is the Genesis sauce!

[Vasily_dont_be_silly]

He's got another signature riff. You can hear it most prominently in The Lamb - that short bass riff in The Broadway Melody of 1974 and Lilywhite Lilith. It's either the same note, the tonic repeating 4 times, or it goes like VII - I - VII - I. But it's the rhythm that's important. It sounds like "ta dup, (beat) ta daa. (beat) ta dup, (beat) ta daa". I noticed this one and later realized he uses it a lot in different Genesis songs.

[rayrecordings]

Chapter 2: The beauty of Rutherford bass foundations: the Fountain Of Salmacis bass line, In The Cage solo bass line, everything on Wind and Wuthering, the basses on Can Utility and The Coastliners…

[TimJackson-eqiy]

Mike has always been a brilliant player no matter whither it be bass, 12 or 6 string guitar.

[simonpalominos]

Hey! great point!, I would probably add Back in NYC, although it adds more variations to the theme.

[jdmresearch]

Great video. I had noticed it too. And I love it.

[souldreamer]

I noticed this when I was still a kid. Rutherfords 1-5-1-8 pattern appears in many more places.

In the cage - Keyboard solo
In the cage - “outside the cage I see my brother john”
Slippermen - keyboard solo

There are also similar variations in:
- Watcher of the skies
- waiting room (live)
-

[melomane]

Yes, I have noticed that. You could have put "Cul-De-Sac" in there as well. Rutherford is one of my favorite bassists not necessarily because of incredible technique, but because of the notes he plays. He writes great parts. He always adds to the harmonic content of a song, and rarely plays a root note on anything. But this particular riff leaves a lot of space for Tony's exotic chord progressions.

[mantra]

Damn, that's right, I never got that til now!

[PWMoze]

Most musicians end up repeating themselves to some extent if their recording careers are long enough but using octaves on the bass is very hard to avoid? The rhythmic device with the fifth is quite distictive but Chris Squire, Roger Waters, Geddy Lee, Tony Levin all have similar 'go to' patterns, prticularly wuen the riff has to stay on the root note? Also Rutherford was invariably playing bass pedal parts at the same time which is bloody hard! I know I've tried it. Like riding a bike and peeling an orange at the same time.

[juanomatix]

One of those things you ever knew you knew. Great!

[Schimnesthai]

I also thought on making this same video last year but didn't because of lazyness mostly. Glad that it exists, will feature on my Genesis Special Playlist.

[danielanderson]

In fairness it’s just a power chord a 1 5 8 progression ting it’s pretty popular but see what ya mean

[Jaggerbush]

No Reply at All is his best bass work.

[gtf]

He's playing a root, fifth, root, octave interval

[santibanks]

Wouldn't regard tem as a "Mike" or "Genesis" thing, I play patterns like that all the time in so many genres. It's just a basic powerchord split up and it works well to give the parts some movement when the chord sustains for a certain time but always playing it super safe with the root, fifth, octave, and sometimes the fourth.

[toddjones]

Only a non-musician would make this video. It is in no way a 'Genesis riff'. It's called an octave. Virtually EVERY BASS PLAYER IN HISTORY jumps from root to 5th to octave, and back, in various combinations. It's LITTERALLY the most common riff bass players do. Was Hotel California a Genesis song? How about Drive my Car? Rikki Don't Lose That Number? Thousands more. Not trying to be mean, but this is absurd.