History
It remains an open question whether the Oriental riff has an actual origin in the region it is used to represent or is a Western invention, dating back to the “Aladdin Quick Step” used in an Aladdin stage show, The Grand Chinese Spectacle of Aladdin or The Wonderful Lamp, in 1847. The notes used in the riff are part of a pentatonic scale, giving the riff a resemblance to East Asian music in the Western mind. However, "while the 'Oriental riff' is associated with Asia, and usually China in particular, this generic exotic riff can sound characteristically Asian, Native American, or old English. It represents a nonspecific otherness."
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