Best riffs

On Mike Huckabee's commentary and on a radio newscast, I heard that Jimmy Page on "Whole Lotta Love" was no. 1. Others that scored high were Slash on "Sweet Child O' Mine", AC/DC's "Back in Black" and Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water".

If anyone wanted to put forth the effort, I'm sure quite a long list of "beat riffs" could be compiled.

"Jailbreak," Thin Lizzy
"Too Hot to Handle" and "Rock Bottom," UFO
"Rock the Nation" and "Space Station #5," Montrose
"Number of the Beast," Iron Maiden

I could go on forever but don't have the time now.

This is a great riff

intro:
e|------------0h1---|-----------0-|
B|--------0h2-0-----|-------0h2-1-|
G|--7-5-4-----------|--7-5-4------|
D|-0-0-0------------|-0-0-0-------|
A|------------------|-------------|
E|------------------|-------------|

then..
D ? D ?
e|-2--3--2--3-|
B|-3--3--3--3-|
G|-2--0--2--0-|
D|-0--0--0--0-|
A|------------|
E|------------|
play twice, 2nd time with a wah..

This one is a classic, but many people get it wrong:

main riff
E----------------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------------
G------3------5-------------3-----6-----5-----------3----5-
D--5---3------5--------5----3-----6-----5------5----3----5-
A--5-------------------5-----------------------5-----------
E----------------------------------------------------------

E---------------
B---------------
G--3------------
D--3------5-----
A---------5-----
E---------------
X5

I especially like this one:

do this with distortion.
And lots of it too.
E-----------------------------------------------------------
B-----------------------------------------------------------
G--------------------9------9-------9-------9------9--------
D--------------------9------9-------9-------9------9--------
A--------5------5----7------7-------7-------7------7--------
E--5/7------7-----------0-0----0-0-----0-0-----0-0---0-0----

E---------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------------------------
G-9-------9---9\------------------------------------
D-9-------9---9\------------------------------------
A-7-------7---7\-----5--------5---------------------
E----0-0---------5/7------7-------------------------

And you can't overlook this one:

[intro]
Bm/F# Bmsus4/F# F#7sus4
e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
|-2---------------|-0---------------|-0---------------|
|-3---------------|-3---------------|-2---------------|
|-4---------------|-4---------------|-4---------------|
|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

F#7 F#m7 Em/F#
e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
|-0-------------------|-0---------------|-0---------------|
|-2-------------------|-2---------------|-0---------------|
|-3-------------------|-2---------------|-0---------------|
|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-----|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|
|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|---------------------|-----------------|-----------------|

Em/G F#sus4 F#
e e e e e e e e e s s e s e s e e e e s s e s e s e q
|-----------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-|-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2---|
|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3---|
|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-0-|
|-----------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|-----------------|T2-------------------|-2-----------------|

Bsus4 B
e s s e s e s e e s s e s s e s e s e e s s x2
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-||
||-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-||
||-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-||
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||T7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-||

Bsus4 B
e s s e s e s e e s s e s s e s e s e e s s x2
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-||
||-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-||
||-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-||
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-||
||Electric guitar | ||
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-7/9-------------------|-----------------------||
||-----------------------|-----------------------||
||-5/7-------------------|-----------------------||
(elec. gtr: play so that second notes sound on first beat of
bar)

Note: If you want to talk about music, it helps to know a little about music.

TheRover said:

Well, in music especially, one man's ceiling is another man's floor.

Some are Mozart's and then there are the mortals...

Click to expand...

Huh? None of those riffs belong to Mozart? Which ones are you suggesting belong to Mozart?

What in hell are you talking about?

I recognised some of the riffs in the tab, even without trying to play them. Smoke on the Water, Whole Lotta Love.

how about in honorable mention dept., the Home Depot riff?

TheRover said:

Sorry, I what I was trying to say was that some people are Mozart-like, and then there's others. I wasn't saying the music was Mozart's, because I do not read music. It was a jab at you Avid Listener for taking the liberty to get so technical in a thread that was otherwise not.
That's all.

Click to expand...

What's so "technical" about talking about riffs by actually posting some? If you're going to talk about music, shouldn't you know a little about music?

Someone who posts here gets annoyed when I mention the name of this one, so I'll just say it wouldn't be so strange for a riff to be based on Mozart. One of the greatest guitar solos, or so I've heard, was written by Rodolphe Kreutzer. No, I never heard of him either but "E-flat major quotation of the 'Etude No. 2'" sounds like classical music to me.

What about Beethoven's 5th? Da Da Da Dah, Da Da Da Dah... Is that considered a riff?

AM FM listener said:

What about Beethoven's 5th? Da Da Da Dah, Da Da Da Dah... Is that considered a riff?

Click to expand...

Only on a guitar. This all started with a news story about guitar solos.

AM FM listener said:

What about Beethoven's 5th? Da Da Da Dah, Da Da Da Dah... Is that considered a riff?

Click to expand...

Technically, it could be called a riff. Usually, riffs are short musical phrases usually found in improvised music, like jazz or rock. Riffs can be played on guitars, horns, keyboards, or any other instruments. Classical music tends to have its own unique jargon, using different terms for the same things. In classical music, what jazz and rock musicians call "riffs" are usually called "themes".

Riffs also shouldn't be confused with solos, which are extended bits of music within a composition. In jazz and rock, riffs and solos are usually improvised while in classical music they're usually written out. On the other hand, once a jazz or rock player creates a riff or solo, it's often made permanent and repeated again each time the song is played. It can get confusing figuring out at what point an improvised riff or solo becomes "locked in" and becomes a composed piece.

Looking back, I can't remember whether they were called "riffs" or "solos" in the story, and I can remember where I got "riffs" from.

How about Long Cool Woman (in a black dress) by the Hollies.

FrankF said:

How about Long Cool Woman (in a black dress) by the Hollies.

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Excellent song. Like I said in other threads, there is no being a formal authority who defines how often a musical figures needs to be repeated to be considered a riff or not. The intro passage is an excellent piece of music, but since it doesn't repeat, it would probably be called a solo. The chord pattern during the song is definitely a riff, as is the repeating bass line.

Sometimes I don't think the Hollies get the props they deserve for writing some of the best music of their era.

Avid Listener said:

...

Note: If you want to talk about music, it helps to know a little about music.

Click to expand...

Says the guy who posted tabs instead of treble clef.