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To Ratliff, the concept of single note has the opposite effect of a repeating riff. When a song has a repeating riff, it tends to be catchy, asking the audience to engage with it and have a good time. These riffs come in handy when it’s time to make one-hit wonders or 10+ week chart-topping hits, however, the single note concept is a bit more lifeless. When a listener hears a lyric in the same key for an extended period, it becomes a pattern to their ear. And once the listener recognizes the pattern, they tune out. According to Ratliff, the difference between this and true repetition is that repetition puts a spell on you. The stubborn note takes a spell off you. In Katrina and The Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine”, there’s a constant one-note guitar solo that makes its way through the song. This incessant sound becomes white noise to the audience after the first listen. I used R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World As We Know It” and while it’s a catchy song, the first few verses are sung with the same note, and without the help of the instrumentals, the song would get very tiring to listen to.

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It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

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It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

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A church bell is what Ratliff refers to when an artist uses a single note repeatedly as a sort of "home base" for the song.

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"When we listen to music, we are often making music ourselves, in a parenthetical sense."
~ Ben Ratliff "Every Song Ever" Chapt. 6

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A visual of a single note on repeat

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Ratliff's example of a single note concept

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Ratliff's example of a single note concept

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"But with a single note you have authenticity, because nobody else has played the single note exactly the same way."
~ Ben Ratliff "Every Song Ever" Chapter 6 pg. 72