Struggling With The Riff

Hi!

I'd like to learn Shawn Mendes' cover of Drag me down and I need a little help.
1) I can't completely crack up his riff. Could you please tell me which notes he sings ?
2) Is it Am scale or is his guitar tuned half step down ? 

Thank you so much if you help me and have a nice day. :D

PS: Riff - 0:50 -) 1:01 Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGCh_aQCzhY

Sounds like Am to me! 

Here's what I'm hearing for those pitches: 

No (A B C D F E) bo (D) dy (D C A C) yeah (E D)

Good luck! That's a fun one :)

Thank you so much! You're the best. :D

My pleasure! I love breaking down riffs. How's it going so far? I highly recommend using the "custom" playback speed function (on YouTube) so you can hear and practice that riff at a slower tempo and gradually speed it back up. Just be aware that sometimes it affects the song's pitch when you do that! 

Hi! Thanks for asking!
I've been singing that riff at slower tempo and in lower scale (2 semitones lower).
I think I will practice that riff higher and then I'm gonna speed it back up.
Or should I do it the other way around ? What do you think ?

Hi

I really love to learn more on how to hit Ryan Tedder's runs in singing.

Good idea! If it were me, I'd prefer to speed it up and then raise the key - less time "sitting" on higher pitches that could become taxing if I'm repeating that riff a lot!

And Dom, feel free to drop a specific run here :) I also encourage you to check out the following videos:

Improving agility for riffs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gdqM0AyU3E

Common pentatonic run pattern w/ song examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu2Lvb5pf0s&t=25s