a jazz ostinato; usually provides a background for a solo improvisation
"The pianist began a repetitive riff that gave the saxophonist plenty of room to improvise his solo over the top."
A repeated instrumental melody line in a song.
"After eating too much at the buffet, he felt like his riff was ready to burst."
The belly; the bowels.
play riffs
"The guitarist leaned into his solo and started riffing on a bluesy melody that had everyone nodding their heads."
To improvise in the performance or practice of an art, especially by expanding on or making novel use of traditional themes.
"The jazz guitarist decided to riff on the classic blues melody during his solo, weaving in unexpected harmonies that surprised the audience."
Acronym of Resource Interchange File Format.
"The engineer spent hours troubleshooting why the software failed to read the RIFF file from the old audio recording device."