About

"Piano Riff" is a ringtone available on the Apple iPhone consisting of a basic blues riff heard in songs such as "Mannish Boy" and "Bad to the Bone." The ringtone became a prevalent reference in ironic memes in the early 2020s, particularly on TikTok as an example of a goofy ahh sound, for its overuse and its perceived use by the elderly.

Origin

"Piano Riff" has come preloaded on the Apple iPhone since as early as its second generation in 2008, with one of the earliest mentions of the ringtone posted to the MacRumors^[1] forum on December 31st, 2008. On July 23rd, 2009, a member of the MacResource^[2] forum asked for help finding the source of the ringtone. On July 11th, 2011, the ringtone was then uploaded to YouTube, gaining over 150,000 views in 11 years (shown below).

The riff is commonly used in blues and blues-inspired music. A version of it can be heard in the 1955 Muddy Waters song "Mannish Boy (I’m a Man)" and the 1982 song "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood.

Spread

The ringtone's wide use inspired ironic uses in 2021, especially on TikTok. On July 7th, 2021, TikToker^[3] @jcohenstudios523 posted a meme where a man dances to the ringtone, gaining over 530,000 views in a year (shown below, left). The original sound became popular over the course of the year, often used over shitposts, inspiring over 20,000 videos to use it in a year (examples shown below, right).^[4]

On July 19th, TikToker^[5] @afterhourstilldawn113 posted a video where he claims his grandmother's ringtone is "Piano Riff," gaining over 1.5 million views in a year (shown below). On July 31st, TIkToker^[6] @_deku.tard_ posted a video using the sound captioned, "if you can sleep thru this you scare the devil himself," gaining over 799,000 views in a year.

A year later on July 8th, 2022, TikToker^[7] @bretakabard posted a video where he creates an old idea for a Vine he had where he plays the riff on piano, gaining over 1.5 million views in a year (shown below).

Related Memes

Bad to the Bone

Bad to The Bone is a song by the rock group George Thorogood & The Destroyers that originally came out in 1982. The song's distinct opening guitar riff began seeing use in video memes as a sound effect around 2016, primarily on YouTube, with remixes popping up in the following years on other platforms like TikTok.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References