The last post was about great guitar solos, this one is about great riffs. Riffs are great for beginning guitar players because they aren’t always extremely difficult like chords, arpeggios or solos. Sometimes they are extremely easy, but also extremely cool!
A riff is generally distinguished from a solo by several key elements. 1) A riff is usually performed on the lower strings, whereas a solo is more often performed in the higher register of the guitar. 2) A riff more likely involves a short repetitive phrase than an extended melodic form. 3) A riff is more likely to include chords, partial chords, or power chords in combination with single notes. 4) A riff is likely to be the central part of a song, often times the reason for the very existence of the song.
Rock music has so many great riffs, it would be crazy to try and list all my favorites, but here are my top 30 favorites, not really in any order, they are are worthy of being number one!
1) 2112, Rush, Overture, Alex Lifeson
2) Carry On Wayward Son, Kansas, Kerry Livgren
3) Rebel Rebel, David Bowie, Mick Ronson:
4) Black Dog, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page
5) Purple Haze, Jimi Hendrix
6) China Grove, The Doobie Brothers
7) Satisfaction, The Rolling Stones, Kieth Richards
6) Rock Bottom, UFO, Michael Schenker
7) Barracuda, Heart, Roger Fisher
Ironman, Black Sabbath, Tony Iommi
9) Crazy Train, Ozzy Ozbourne, Randi Rhodes
10) Sunshine of Your Love, Cream, Eric Clapton
11) Kashmir, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page
12) Message In A Bottle, The Police, Andy Summers
13) The Ocean, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page
14) A Passage To Bangkok, Rush, Alex Lifeson
15) Big Eyes, Cheap Trick, Rick Nielson
16) Satch Boogie, Joe Satriani
17) Queen, Tie Your Mother Down, Brian May
18) Walk This Way, Aerosmith, Joe Perry
19) Working Man, Rush, Alex Lifeson
20) Back in Black, ACDC, Angus Young
21) Sunday Bloody Sunday, U2, The Edge
22) School’s Out, Alice Cooper
23) Day Tripper, The Beatles, George Harrison
24) Enter Sandman, Metallica, Kirk Hammet
25) Have A Cigar, Pink Floyd, David Gilmour
26) Anthem, Rush, Alex Lifeson
27) Ain’t Talkin Bout Love, Van Halen, Eddie Van Halen
28) More Than A Feeling, Boston, Tom Scholz
29) Rock and Roll, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page
30) Same Old Song And Dance, Aerosmith, Joe Perry
Whew, I better stop there. There are so many more. This list isn’t a bad place for a rock guitarist to start however, so dig in and start learning them!
Next post, top guitar arpeggios….
Do you have any favorites? Let me know…