Guitar Shop Riffs

monquixote · December 2013

I've always played guitar to play in bands and when I'm not learning songs for them I tend to noodle about rather than play anything in particular.

As a result I don't know enough "Guitar Shop Riffs", you know the kind of thing that Andy, Gearmandude, and Chappers are always busting out all over the place. Twisty rocking riffs from well known songs that are fun to play and sound impressive.

Cos I've just got me a JS1000 I'm learning Satch Boogie at the moment (not the solos I might add)

What else should I be learning to play?

sted · December 2013

Smoke on the water, stairway, sweet child of mine.....

I do it just to see the look on the staffs faces, I even play them badly on purpose...honestly....

mike_l · December 2013

Enter Sandman

first couple of riffs from Master of Puppets

Ain't talkin 'bout love

monquixote · December 2013

Keep em coming.

I should probably mention that I'm thinking more of fun showoff riffs from songs rather than cliche guitar shop riffs.

octatonic · December 2013

You don't want anything too obvious, but also nothing too obscure.

I play "I'm Buzzed" by Mike Landau or 'Revelation' by Robben Ford.

EricTheWeary · December 2013

Tuneless blues widdle in A works for me.

EricTheWeary · December 2013

Fecking accidental double post that I can't delete but can edit to write pointless gibberish instead of just showing the same thing twice even though my original post was actually little more than gibberish posted whilst watching Worlds Strongest Man in the hope my morning coffee will work its way to my bowels so I can go have a nice poo and go to the hell on earth that is last minute Xmas food shopping with a nice empty feeling in my stomach, you know that happy moment of not feeling quite so fat but not yet feeling hungry which is how I imagine it must be like to be slim and fit pretty much all the time although I suppose having a collection of neuroses about your body and hang ups about minor mental states is not reserved for those of us of a portly nature.

digitalscream · December 2013

He Man Woman Hater (only if I'm totally warmed up and feeling particularly confident)

Get The Funk Out

Bark at the Moon

Enter Sandman, as already mentioned

Cowboys From Hell

Hysteria (Muse) - works equally well on bass, BTW

Know Your Enemy

All good fun. You'll note that there's nothing clean there...

cruxiform · December 2013

Back in the 90's after a couple of pints a friend and I went into a guitar shop in Denmark Street and I picked up a Gibson Les Paul, then plucked the high e string every 5 seconds for about 20 minutes.We were pissing ourselves. Everytime the assistant tried to intervene I'd say 'do you want me to buy this guitar or what?

These days I always like to go through the guitar shop classics and as said earlier, played badly. I laugh at those who take themselves too seriously.

TTony · December 2013

I'm not a huge Clapton fan, but Layla & Tears in Heaven?

Go Insane (Lindsey Buckingham)

Any AC/DC (done properly) or ZZ Top (Heard it on the X - I can never get that right enough for long enough!)

Pinball Wizard

UFO - Rock Bottom or the intro part from DrDr

Message in a bottle

Sweet home Alabama (almost as obligatory as Smoke on the Water & SCoM)

Loads of Zep stuff - I like 10years gone.

Let me know when you've cracked that lot. So, probably tomorrow.

Deadman · December 2013

Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

Search and destroy - Stooges

New Rose - The Damned

When you're young - The Jam

Roxanne - The Police

usuals for me.

Bron_Yr_Aur · December 2013

All of these? :P

Bellycaster · December 2013

Without reading the rest(sorry for any repeats), not all rock, but that axe can cover lots of ground.

Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear

Cult - She Sells Sea Shells

Ram Jam - Black Betty

Crowded House - Don't Dream it's Over (play an abridged version of the whole damn song, solo is a beauty too)

Police - Walking on the Moon

Sabbath - Neon Knights

Laura Branigan - Self Control (possibly one of the greatest and simplest guitar riffs ever)

Any Piccies, MQ?

mellowsun · December 2013

I can tell you what I used to play in my guitar shop riff repertoire

Waterfall - Stone Roses

The Boy with the Thorn in His Side - Smiths

There She Goes - The La's

Run to you - Bryan Adams

Bad - U2

cruxiform · December 2013

Deadman said:

Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

Search and destroy - Stooges

New Rose - The Damned

When you're young - The Jam

Roxanne - The Police

usuals for me.

Nice selection. The riff from Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk To Fuck also sounds cool.

cruxiform · December 2013

Bron_Yr_Aur said:

All of these? :P

Now THAT is cool.

Deadman · December 2013

cruxiform said:

Deadman said:

Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

Search and destroy - Stooges

New Rose - The Damned

When you're young - The Jam

Roxanne - The Police

usuals for me.

Nice selection. The riff from Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk To Fuck also sounds cool.

I dig Dead Kennedys. Never tried to play any of their stuff but will now.

dampoldman · December 2013

This is an interesting thread...I work for Dawsons and we're looking to put some PR out about people's most hated songs in music shops. My own personal votes for most annoying would be Californication or Everlong...

ThePrettyDamned · December 2013

Anything by Pantera

I normally play my own riffs. That way, they don't know if I cock up

Maybe some Alter Bridge to get big chord clarity and Protest the Hero to decide how much the guitar or amp likes things going a bit quicker and percussive.

Ain't talkin' bout love it the best, though. Or Supersonic Sex Machine - honestly, proper good guitar shop riff!

Bucket · December 2013

monquixote said:

Keep em coming.

I should probably mention that I'm thinking more of fun showoff riffs from songs rather than cliche guitar shop riffs.

The perfect twisty, cool show-off riff - Decadence Dance by Extreme (the intro especially, all the other riffs are fucking great too). Cupid's Dead is also good fun. Sometimes the solo from "Get the Funk Out" if I'm feeling exceptionally brave. Others I like:

Black Shuck by the Darkness - my first port of call for testing out something like a Tele with distortion. Listen and you might hear why.

Digi's suggestion of Bark at the Moon is right on the money - the riff after the second chorus in particular is awesome.

Where big chords are needed, try out Stone in Love by Journey. Something more complex that works well for chord clarity etc. is the intro to All New Materials by Periphery, that's a fantastic riff but also a real test of how clear a distorted tone is. One day I hope to be good enough to get the verse riff from Insomnia by Periphery down, that'd be the ultimate guitar shop riff!

The second riff in the intro of Tornado of Souls by Megadeth, perhaps? Lots of good riffs on Rust in Peace. And the main riff from Battery by Metallica, while you're at it. Jesus Christ, that's a riff and a half.

If you want some classic, twisty metal riffage that isn't quite so thrashy, one of the best has to be Get Away by Loudness. And also Run For Your Life, which is a lot harder - weird time signature, odd position shifts. Mad.

If you want a twisty, technical metal riff then the main riff from Sea of Lies by Symphony X is good. I think I can do about the first minute, the rest is just impossible. The solos are mind-blowing to listen to, but literally impossible to play. Im-fucking-possible.

I want to one day be good enough to attempt Green Tinted Sixties Mind by Mr. Big in a guitar shop. That's fucking hard. Another good Paul Gilbert riff is to be found 50 seconds into The Curse of Castle Dragon... that's a toughie as well. Sounds great though.

I also want to work out The Animal by Steve Vai, that riff is monstrous - doesn't sound too complex but really, really fucking good.

Anyway, got carried away - again. Just learn Decadence Dance, it will serve you well.

digitalscream · December 2013

Bucket said:

The perfect twisty, cool show-off riff - Decadence Dance by Extreme (the intro especially, all the other riffs are fucking great too). Cupid's Dead is also good fun. Sometimes the solo from "Get the Funk Out" if I'm feeling exceptionally brave.

Yes. I keep meaning to learn Decadence Dance, but I generally make a point of not learning too much stuff by people I fanboy over, because it's just a lesson in frustration.

Then again....the solo in Get the Funk Out, while requiring large amounts of bravery (I actually played it on stage a few times), is actually the easiest one on the album. I've had seven or eight distinct attempts to learn the one from Lil Jack Horny, and failed utterly every time.

Bellycaster · December 2013

Another one that's in the Champions League of Riffs.

Ratt - Round and Round.

It just oozes Spandex.

bigjon · December 2013

Just casually drop in the Tuck Andress version of the "I Wish" riff - that will shut them up

mike_l · December 2013

How could I forget Queensryche's Eyes of a Stranger and I don't believe in Love.

viz · December 2013

Satch boogie solo is the easiest bit of the song - i'll learn it to ya next time you're round for more fencing.

ThePrettyDamned · December 2013

If you're feeling brave, there is an excellent Trivium riff that took me fucking ages to master, and I now can't play it because I stopped practising it. Here is a dude who pretty much nails it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WHEgRdPc3c

If that doesn't make the staff turn around, nothing will!

I really like the opening riff from waking the demon by BFMV, too. Not my favourite song, but it's a killer riff, and it sounds a lot harder than it is to play. Interestingly, can't find a decent video on a cursory search of someone playing it.

@bucket, that symphony x song is absolutely killer! The picking is amazingly clean.

cruxiform · December 2013

I really want to learn this, would be a head turner for sure.

siraxeman · December 2013

Things that I pull out in guitar shops when trying a guitar out tend to be....

Tenacious D - The Metal.

RATM - Bombtrack...(bass riff intro and the guitar riffs that follow it)

Muse - Hysteria

Van Halen - Panama, Unchained, Hot For Teacher

Joe Walsh - Lifes Been Good and Funk #49

noodling/riffing anything using phrygian dominant sounds different to turn heads I've found!

The23rdman · December 2013

Deadman said:

cruxiform said:

Deadman said:

Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

Search and destroy - Stooges

New Rose - The Damned

When you're young - The Jam

Roxanne - The Police

usuals for me.

Nice selection. The riff from Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk To Fuck also sounds cool.

I dig Dead Kennedys. Never tried to play any of their stuff but will now.

Me too. Good call.

monquixote · December 2013

Thanks chaps.

It's likely I'm going to trade the Ibby for a PRS so I might be on here next week asking for your favourite JoBo riff* and brand of amalgam.

* not bloody likely

mike_l · December 2013

monquixote said:

Thanks chaps.

It's likely I'm going to trade the Ibby for a PRS so I might be on here next week asking for your favourite JoBo riff* and brand of amalgam.

* not bloody likely

You disappoint me. I thought an Ibby was just right for you. Maybe change for an Explorer...........

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