ostinato (derived from Italian: "stubborn", compare English: 'obstinate') is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice, usually at the same pitch. The best known ostinato based piece may be Ravel's Boléro.
The term 'riff driven' is used to describe a piece of music that relies on a repeated instrumental riff as the basis of its most prominent melody, cadence, or (in some cases) leitmotif.
vamp is a repeating musical figure, section,[28] or accompaniment used in jazz, gospel, soul, and musical theater.