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Friday, November 4, 2011
Some Of The Best Guitar Riffs In Rock
Electric guitar riff
Rock music has always been built on great guitar riffs. The list of guitarists that have made an impact on rock goes out the door and laps a few times around the building. A guitar riff isn't always the hardest part of a song to learn, but it's guaranteed to be one of the most memorable parts of the song. This feature is all about great guitar riffs. You will hear some of the top rock guitar riffs, read an article about riff writing, and read an exclusive interview with Angus Young about AC/DC and his approach to guitar riffs. Soon you will be a riffmaster yourself!
“The opening riff is usually the most memorable parts of the song, and although not always difficult to play, it’s enough to determine the lasting appeal of these recordings. ” Sorry for the extreme cuts to some songs, but YouTube’s tempo limits didn’t allow me to upload the real video. Enjoy it! ^_^ All rights reserved to the artists, Image Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, and WMG.
Electric guitarist playing riffs
There's a good chance that you already know how to play most of the riffs in that video on guitar. But you may also be asking how these guitar legends come up with these riffs. Check out this article on riff writing here at http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/general_music/riff_writing.html.
INTRODUCTION
Riffs are the backbone to rock music, monstrous in their ability to captivate us. They can propel a song into iconic stadium territory. And once you have learnt and mastered classics like Smoke on the Water and Back in Black, it is only natural to think about writing your own. The great news is that, given their simplicity, creating great riffs is no more difficult than playing them.
KEEP IT SIMPLE
First things first, there is no set formula to creating riffs. Inspiration can strike at unexpected times - if you try and sit down to write one, nothing may happen. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine came up with Killing in the Name while teaching a student about Drop D tuning, before running off to grab a tape recorder. Riffs have no limits unless you impose them, and generally range from one to four bars in length.
But there are some guidelines to help riff writers. Keep in mind the KISS principle ("keep it simple, stupid"). The basic and repetitive nature of most well-known riffs means that, even if you have just touched up a guitar, they can be picked up in little time. Don't worry about being a technical genius or knowing countless scales (knowing the E minor pentatonic may be a good idea, however) as most riffs are composed of a few notes and tend to follow the same patterns.
If I had to sum up what makes a killer riff in five words it would be as follows - rhythmically compelling but basic melodically. Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones has just three notes, and Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song has two (one discounting the octave).
Hooks should do exactly that - grab the listener's attention, much like the choruses on top forty radio. Try to make it instantly appealing - will a ridiculously overblown section will not stick in your head or get you off your seat at a concert? There are a few exceptions, like Metallica's Master of Puppets, but basic is generally best.
LEARN FROM THE BEST
It may be a cliche, but to be the best, learn from the best. And to write great riffs, listening to great riffs for inspiration is a great idea.
Take the instantly recognisable introduction to the Guns N' Roses song Sweet Child o' Mine, which Slash first played as a joke as a "string skipping" exercise. The same goes for Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, which uses just four power chords, all in the same shape. Kurt Cobain himself called the riff "cliched" and Krist Novoselic initially dismissed it as "ridiculous," but its simplicity has made it a classic. The notes just work perfectly together.
Californication by Red Hot Chilli Peppers is little more than two arpeggiated chords (A Minor and F), further evidence that if you think a riff idea if too easy to play, it almost certain isn't - you may just have struck gold.
VARIATION
But make sure your riff is not overly repetitive. As playing the same notes throughout an entire song will not enthral a listener, creating some variation is vital. Perhaps use mostly chords for the verses, like with Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze, or vice-versa (Fire).
How about playing the riff in different keys (Are You Gonna Go My Way? by Lenny Kravitz), or having various memorable riff that repeat throughout? In many Led Zeppelin songs, like Black Dog and Moby Dick, just when one riff seems to be going on for too long, it switches to a different root note. Such a change is very effective.
Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple opens with the classic riff, before being doubled on an organ, and joined by drums, bass and vocals. In the introduction The Beatles' Day Tripper, the riff is played once on its own, then along with the bass, then a tambourine joins, before finally a drum kit and John Lennon's vocal. It is also played slightly differently during the verses as not to be too same-y.
Experiment with the structure of your riffs. Try out the 3+1 structure, commonly associated with Metallica. A one-bar riff repeated is three times, but the fourth bar is a new phrase rounding off the riff well - before it all repeats. Arctic Monkeys recently used a similar technique on their single Don't Sit Down 'Cause I've Moved Your Chair. Maybe use power chord combos.
GOOD ARTISTS BORROW...
As the infamous quote goes, "Good artists borrow, great artists steal." And seeing as virtually every of a riff has already been created, don't be afraid to copy some ideas from other artists. Everyone has done it. The Beatles? Check. Led Zeppelin? Check. Even Hendrix mentioned stealing a couple of blues licks here and there.
The other day, I came up with a great riff while improvising. But when I looked back over it, I realised many of the notes were similar to songs like Day Tripper, Moby Dick and probably many others. I had not listened to either song for weeks and the riff sounded nothing like them - it was a completely different pattern played at a different tempo - but it just shows that is neigh on impossible to come up with something completely original.
You may also experience cryptomnesia (subconscious plagiarising someone else's work), as Paul McCartney did when the melody to The Beatles' Yesterday came to him in a dream. When you come up with something, like with my riff (even most people would not pick up the similar notes), it is possible to think, like McCartney, "Has this been done by someone else?" If you can't instantly recall the riff, the chances are you haven't ripped it off and won't be sued!
EXPERIMENTATION
What I'm trying to say is that your influences will always shine through, which is why they should be as broad as possible. Try to expand the variety of music you listen to - look at how Hendrix incorporated so many genres, including jazz and soul, into his brand of rock. It will make you a better and more unique player; have your own style, rather than just trying to imitate one guitarist.
I don't advise stealing entire riffs (which huge bands such as Oasis and Led Zeppelin have admitted to regularly doing), but don't be ashamed of your influences. Maybe take a riff and turn it on its head, changing the pattern, phrasing and notes, like I unintentionally did with my Moby Dick/Day Tripper-esque riff. Give it your own twist, adding vibrato or bends.
CONCLUSION
Good luck with your riff writing! Remember to keep it simple but not boring - variation is vital. Listen to the legends and don't be afraid to sneakily borrow some ideas from them. To round off, I advise you to come up with as many riffs you can; not all will stick, but working on many will increase the chances of one working in a song.
Here's an interview with Angus Young of AC/DC from the February 1991 issue of Guitar World magazine.
He wrenches solos from the neck of a battered Gibson SG with all the grace of a drunken dentist; his fingers practically trip over the frets.
Hands like his are most often found on pork butchers, pinball players and wrist wrestlers. Yet Angus Young's hands have fashioned some of the most memorable guitar riffs in rock history, driving such classic scorchers as "Whole Lotta Rosie," "Highway To Hell" and "You Shook Me All Night Long."
These signature licks not only defined AC/DC 's garage-power boogie, but laid to rest any notion that rock and roll requires anything more than three chords -- and a whole lotta volume -- to be hot, hot, hot.
At the moment, Angus is relaxed. In fact he's sitting down. It's difficult to envision him doing anything but flailing at his guitar and duck walking like some hyper stepchild of Chuck Berry.
Even his famous kneecaps-skinned and scarred from too many losing encounters with the dread Mr. Floor -- are covered by simple blue jeans; his trademark knickers are locked away. AC/DC's new album, The Razor's Edge, is rapidly climbing the charts, and Angus is all set to shred the countryside as he and the band prepare to embark on a world tour.
The guitarist tells jokes, frequently grins his goofy, rubber-lipped grin, and speaks in torrents. But everyone knows he does his best talking with a guitar. And three chords.
GUITAR WORLD: It's quite an honor to be able to speak with the great Angus Young.
Oh, I wouldn't know about it being a great honor!
Well, I still have one of those For Those About To Rock cardboard promotional cannons. And all your albums.
Then it must be a great honor. [laughs]
Now that we got that out of the way, are you still using Marshalls?
Mainly. In the studio, my brother and I have always used a lot of Marshall amps. We like to keep it pretty basic. We just use a couple of cabinets each -- sometimes just one, if we think that's enough. We mainly go for 100-watt and 50-watt heads.
That's been your set-up for quite awhile now, hasn't it?
Yeah, well, we've always found that it works.
It used to be that all a guitar player needed was an amplifier and a volume knob.
Well that's it, you know? Have fingers, will play.
What do you think of all the high-tech guitar gadgetry on the market? It seems that a guitar player doesn't necessarily even have to know that much about playing to sound better than he actually is.
If you notice, a lot of that equipment comes from Japan. And AC/DC has never been a band which likes to sound Japanese.
Have you actually tried any of the new gear that's out there?
I've seen a lot of it over the years. I might pick up a drum machine or something. In general, though, I've always found equipment -- especially technical gear that comes from America -- to be better-sounding. Put it this way: I think that a lot of stuff that comes from your side of the world is always in plain English. [laughs] A lot of Japanese stuff, they have to sell you the manual. It's like reading Wuthering Heights!
Do you do anything special in the studio, such as tilting your speaker cabinets or miking them in a certain way?
A lot of it has to do with the mike placement. I think that for any band, especially a guitar band like ourselves, it's always worth it to spend that bit of time with the mike -- rather than depending on the board. Or using any little gadgets that spring to mind. We always like to get the best, basic raw sound that we can. I think that if you spend a few days to get these sounds, in the end you'll save yourself a great deal of headaches. When you go through effects -- well , it's easy to put an effect on, but a lot harder to get it out.
What steps do you take to prepare your solos in the studio? It sounds like you just plug in …
... and let 'em rip! I only know one solo [laughs], and I made a career of it!
Many young guitar players aspire to be "Guitar Stars" these days -- they go for technique, above all.
There 's always going to be a lot of that. But I really don 't look at these new guitar players. I can be a flash when I want to. But, as I always used to say, I can practice at home; here, I'm playing before the public. I bet half the audience wouldn't even know it if a guitarist is thinking, I’ll play this lick. Oh, I messed it up. I'll play it again." [laughs]
So how do you keep coming up with those great riffs?
I've got great ears.
You are responsible for some of rock's greatest guitar riffs ...
With guitar riffs, we always look for something that 's a little bit special. We've always found that it is harder to come up with something that's nice and simple without getting something that's hard but easy. And a lot of it has to do with rhythm. We tend to go for, if we can, a bit more blues, a more rhythmic thing. Our riffs transport you. We don't know where, though.
What's your favorite key to write or solo in?
It 's usually the first one that I can get my fingers on. I don't mind doing things in "A" or "E" -- maybe the occasional "B" isn't bad. Some guitars, like the [Gibson] SG, seem to be built for "B." I don 't know why that is.
I've never seen you play anything but an SG.
They're light, easy; you don't have to think about them.
Have you ever played anything else?
I tried a Les Paul when I was a lot younger. I tried the Les Paul and because of the weight of the thing it nearly dislocated my hip. I've always found with SG's that if you are a short guy -- about five foot two [laughs] -- you can get your hands around them.
Have you ever tried any of the newer guitars?
Motor cars! [laughs] That's what they look like to me. They've got these wild designs and colors. Whatever happened to the plain colors like black and brown? None of this Art-Deco shit, you know? I bet these new guitars come from east Africa.
You've probably been responsible for selling more SG's than just about anyone in the world.
Yeah, well I have been thinking about opening a store, a brown SG shop. We've got every color you want -- as long as it’s brown!
What are three components that the typical AC/DC song must have?
It's got to have a good rhythm. It's gotta rock. That's the first requirement. I also like the songs to be, for my own preference, uptempo. If the song's slower, perhaps a bit moody, it has to have something extra. And we like it to be a song -- not just a collection of riffs. I think it has to flow and be very natural. Most songs these days seem like excuses to put a riff around. In songs written by the lead guitarist -- the loud guitarist, I call him -- the poor singer's got to sing in-between this guy 's chops. It makes it kind of tough on some of those guys if you only leave the bar in the end. [laughs]
What do you consider to be your best solo on The Razor 's Edge?
It's probably the title song; I think it 's got a little different sort of punch. I tried my hand at finger-picking in little spots here and there. I like that one very much.
I've never seen you do any tapping.
You mean tapping with the feet? [laughs] Or something on the head? Seriously: no, I don't do that. There's enough people out there already doing it. So I figure, hey, while they're doing that, I'll do this. There's no competition.
How about your best solo, overall?
Live guitar riff on stage
The album on which we got to do the most guitar stuff was probably Let There Be Rock. Throughout that album, there are many guitar solos and many breaks. I really like some of them very much. The song "Let There Be Rock" was unusual for me. I remember my brother, George, saying in the studio, "C'mon Ang, let's get something different here." And every day, he would come in with something different. I had great deal of fun on that whole album. On the last track, I remember the amp blowing up at the end. I said, "Hey, the speakers are going!" You could see it in the studio, there was all this smoke and sparks, and the valves were glowing. He kept yelling at me, "Keep playing, keep playing!" [laughs]
Your albums all sound like that, though -- like you played in a great big garage, cranking it up and jamming.
Yeah, well that's what we do the best. We don't like a big studio production. We always like to capture that raw energy.
Did you have any fun experimenting during the recording of this album?
I think "fun" is getting us all to start at the same time! [laughs] You always have a bit of the 'ol fool-around now and again. I think the funniest song on this album is "Mistress For Christmas." That song's about Donald Trump. He was big news at the time, so we thought we'd have a bit of fun and humor with it.
You've referred to the importance of rhythm in your songs. Your new drummer, Chris Slade, really locks in on the AC/DC groove. That must make things easier for you.
That's right. He's not carrying a lot of extra weight. If he had hair, it might weigh him down a bit. He does bang 'em away. And he looks menacing, too. I don't know if you've seen the video for "Thunderstruck." You can see my leg shakin'! [laughs]
You enjoyed yourself on that video.
Those cages that you see in the video weren't there to keep the audience away from the band, but to keep the band away from the audience. [laughs] We had to come in before they shot the video, which we found to be a bit strange. They said, "We got to set the cameras so we know where you're going, Mr. Young." I actually had to bring along a tour guide to show them.
Your video is refreshing to watch because it 's pure AC/DC.
Right, there's not a miniskirt in sight! One thing I have noticed about videos you see on TV nowadays: you can't tell the difference between them and the commercials.
As much fun as you seem to be having in the studio and with video making, it had been quite awhile since you last went in to record.
That's true. When we made our last album, Blow Up Your Video, we were on tour all through '88. Roughly, we had maybe four weeks off in the whole year. That was in-between countries. That's usually what happens with AC/DC; you make an album and then you 're on the road flatout. And the only time you ever get near a studio is generally after you've done a year of touring.
Seems like it's been almost three years.
Which is not bad. I mean, look at the Rolling Stones. I think it 's good that they can still get out there and hammer it out.
I saw the Stones last year. Keith Richard still plays out of tune.
[nodding] The only way to fly.
Much of your new material sounds like it could have come from the Back In Black or For Those About To Rock period. The song "Thunderstruck" even reminds me a bit of "Who Made Who."
With AC/DC, we've always started with rock, and we've just kept it going. The critic's view is always , "They just made an album and it's the same as the last one." I'll have fifteen of them, anytime.
Guitar riffs are the life blood of rock music. Start writing your own riffs today and use these examples as your starter guide. Mike's Guitar Talk is your first source for guitar information on the web. Subscribe now to receive these posts in your e-mail every day. Join in the conversation on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Mikes-Guitar-Talk/208529755864772?sk.
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