A clavinet creates the signature riff in Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.”
The clavinet is an electric keyboard with a sharply percussive tone. Wonder used it with effects to produce the song’s instantly recognizable funk riff, while synthesizer and rhythm-section parts add weight and motion.
“Superstition” was released in 1972 on Talking Book. Wonder wrote, produced and performed the recording, which became one of his defining songs and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
Listeners sometimes identify the sound as an electric piano because both instruments are keyboard-based. A Wurlitzer or Fender Rhodes has a rounder electric-piano tone, whereas the clavinet’s short, guitar-like attack is central to this recording. The song helped make the clavinet a highly recognizable sound in 1970s funk and popular music.