Must know licks and riffs

Slasher · 05-29-2012, 03:33 PM

Hey everyone, wondering what you all consider to be 'must know' riffs and such? like smoke on the water seems to be a favourite and a first for most

some fairly easy/intermediate stuff to learn would be great too?

thanks

bsruther · 05-29-2012, 03:48 PM

There are a lot of licks that are repeated over and over in hundreds of different songs by many different artists. Each player adds their own little nuance to the lick to make it sound slightly different. For example, Chuck Berry licks have been used extensively throughout rock history, but sometimes they are hard to distinguish. I've noticed that Nugent leaned heavily on Berry in a lot of his solos, as well as many other players. You can find a lot of basic licks on youtube. Search them out and take it from there.

AngryHatter · 05-29-2012, 03:49 PM

Slasher · 05-29-2012, 03:58 PM

Cheers bsruther and angryhatter, I'll definitely have a look on youtube and google and the like, sometimes it seems like if youtube doesnt know something, no one does

and thanks for the sheet music angryhatter, i'll translate that tomorrow, still not fluent at reading music

AngryHatter · 05-29-2012, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slasher

Cheers bsruther and angryhatter, I'll definitely have a look on youtube and google and the like, sometimes it seems like if youtube doesnt know something, no one does

and thanks for the sheet music angryhatter, i'll translate that tomorrow, still not fluent at reading music

There are but 8 notes...how long does it take?
One hour - sit there and look and "translate" it for an hour, you'll be fluent by the end of the hour.

It helps to remember that as you move an octave in any direction the note is on the other place - meaning if the note is on the space, an octave higher or lower and it is on the line.

AngryHatter · 05-29-2012, 07:03 PM

The really hard part is looking at the sheet and transposing it to the fretboard...without looking back and forth a lot.

The rest is easy.

7gtop · 05-29-2012, 07:05 PM

Always try to learn music properly as AngryHatter has shown above.
I was lazy and now years later, I do regret not following the language.

Whole Lotta Love , Dazed and Confused , How Many More Times ..........
If you're a ZEPP fan ..............

Excellent starters for great feel ............both in rhythm and lead .

River · 05-29-2012, 07:10 PM

Every riff John Lee Hooker ever recorded.

7gtop · 05-29-2012, 07:13 PM

Might I also add B.B. King ...............

River · 05-29-2012, 07:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7gtop

Might I also add B.B. King ...............

For licks, yep. For riffs, John Lee.

7gtop · 05-29-2012, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by River

For licks, yep. For riffs, John Lee.

River · 05-29-2012, 07:24 PM

Oh, "The Lemon Song". Every bit of it. The riff is nasty, JLH stuff. The licks are, believe it or not, major Country being played over nasty pentatonic minor bass lines and rhythm guitar.

Hot shit.

Slasher · 05-30-2012, 01:11 AM

Thank you for all the tips everyone, they've been really helpful

and 7gtop, no I'm not particularly a zepp fan but i'm willing to play anything that sounds good

John Lee Hooker and BB King I'll look up when I get home from school

Thanks again to all the posters above

River · 05-30-2012, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slasher

Thank you for all the tips everyone, they've been really helpful

and 7gtop, no I'm not particularly a zepp fan but i'm willing to play anything that sounds good

John Lee Hooker and BB King I'll look up when I get home from school

Thanks again to all the posters above

Wucum.

You is.

mdubya · 05-30-2012, 01:20 AM

Every song on Highway to Hell, Back In Black, and Powerage.

And Black Sabbath. Paranoid might take a bit longer.

Toris93 · 05-30-2012, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mdubya

Every song on Highway to Hell, Back In Black, and Powerage.

And Black Sabbath. Paranoid might take a bit longer.

if i could i would give this comment 1000 likes

i would add the famous beano record with eric clapton and the bluesbreakers as a great "lick" record.

the classic Jimi stuff ofcourse.

and i would learn as much Gov't Mule as possible.

Slasher · 05-30-2012, 10:20 AM

Cheers you guys! I'll try to look at everything mentioned

guitarbob123 · 05-30-2012, 04:00 PM

Everything off AFD by Guns N Roses, one of those albums where every song has at least one killer riff in it.

Another couple of great Hard Rock ones would be Blizzard of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne and Montrose's self-titled album. Both are killer.

Rock Bottom by UFO and Just Got Paid by ZZ Top have great riffs in but can get annoying if your alternate picking isn't up-to-scratch..

^All this stuff is a bit harder by the way, a bit of a challenge if you've not been playing long.

Look for Led Zeppelin stuff, Deep Purple's Machine Head album, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Cream and Hendrix's stuff all have brilliant riffs. Listen and learn!

EasyAce · 05-30-2012, 05:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 7gtop

Might I also add B.B. King ...............

You might, rabbit, you might . . .

B.B. King is and will always be my main man, but don't forget Albert King, too . . .

Albert King, "Laundromat Blues"

Albert King, "Personal Manager"

Albert King, "Born Under a Bad Sign"

Mantis · 05-30-2012, 06:42 PM

e|----------------
B|----------------
G|----------------
D|-------5--------
A|---------7~-----
E|--5-7-----------

Thumpalumpacus · 05-30-2012, 07:14 PM

I don't bother learning licks from other guitarists, most of the time, except if I'm getting a solo note-for-note.

Riffs I learn for either a gig with a band, or personal growth.

Decide what you want to play, and learn that.

Slasher · 06-02-2012, 02:19 AM

Thanks again to everyone who has replied!

I'll have a look at all of these riffs and see which ones I like

Guitarbob123, I have able to play for 7 years thanks to free guitar lessons in school, but they weren't.. great, we did a few songs and scales, so I didn't really start playing till about a year and a half ago, self-taught so I can play songs, but still have no clue about theory or technique, lol. easyace- I can honestly say i haven't heard of Albert King

I've got a lot to learn..

Also thank you mantis, for your short and catchy one

and thank you thumpalumpacus, for your wise advice, I will definitely keep this in mind

slapshot · 06-02-2012, 06:48 AM

riffs?as in pickup a gat and just start ripping out riffs here and there?
ac dc - back in black/thunderstruck intro
aerosmith - walk this way
guns - sweet child
johnny be goode

gypsyseven · 06-02-2012, 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toris93

i would add the famous beano record with eric clapton and the bluesbreakers as a great "lick" record..

+1

Weird Uncle Roy · 06-02-2012, 01:09 PM

Boogie Chillun - John lee hooker. - YouTube

Howlin' Wolf - Smokestack Lightnin' (Original) - YouTube

Junior Wells - You Don't Love Me, Baby - YouTube

EasyAce · 06-02-2012, 04:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slasher

easybob- I can honestly say i haven't heard of Albert King

I've got a lot to learn..

You'll get there, Slashalumpacus . . .

deepblue · 06-02-2012, 04:25 PM

One of the forum members here posted all of Peter Greens old songs.
I have had alot of fun trying to learn the licks.
Very kind of him.

Slasher · 06-03-2012, 11:04 AM

Thanks Slapshot, I have since learnt those

and thanks to weird uncle roy, I enjoyed those clips

and to easyace,

I'm so sorry! i must have got mixed up

I'm such an idiot

also thanks deep blue, I'll have a look

JDB 1696 · 06-03-2012, 07:16 PM

Riff...Smells Like Teen Spirit

EasyAce · 06-03-2012, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slasher

. . . and to easyace,

I'm so sorry! i must have got mixed up

Relax, friend . . . I've been called worse. (And it only begins with "Sleazy Ace" . . . LOL) For no hard feelings . . .

Albert King, "I'll Play the Blues for You"

Albert King, "Born Under a Bad Sign"

Albert King, "Breaking Up Somebody's Home"

05-29-2012, 03:33 PM	#1 (permalink)
Slasher Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 239 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Must know licks and riffs Hey everyone, wondering what you all consider to be 'must know' riffs and such? like smoke on the water seems to be a favourite and a first for most some fairly easy/intermediate stuff to learn would be great too? thanks

05-29-2012, 03:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
bsruther Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Northern Kentucky Posts: 444 Thanks: 2 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Must know licks and riffs There are a lot of licks that are repeated over and over in hundreds of different songs by many different artists. Each player adds their own little nuance to the lick to make it sound slightly different. For example, Chuck Berry licks have been used extensively throughout rock history, but sometimes they are hard to distinguish. I've noticed that Nugent leaned heavily on Berry in a lot of his solos, as well as many other players. You can find a lot of basic licks on youtube. Search them out and take it from there.

05-29-2012, 03:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
AngryHatter Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 13,338 Thanks: 40 Thanked 107 Times in 44 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Machine Man, hudpucker and Thumpalumpacus like this.

05-29-2012, 03:58 PM	#4 (permalink)
Slasher Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 239 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Cheers bsruther and angryhatter, I'll definitely have a look on youtube and google and the like, sometimes it seems like if youtube doesnt know something, no one does and thanks for the sheet music angryhatter, i'll translate that tomorrow, still not fluent at reading music

05-29-2012, 07:03 PM	#6 (permalink)
AngryHatter Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 13,338 Thanks: 40 Thanked 107 Times in 44 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs The really hard part is looking at the sheet and transposing it to the fretboard...without looking back and forth a lot. The rest is easy. SteveGangi and 7gtop like this.

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05-29-2012, 07:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
7gtop Bartlett Retrospec Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 7,865 Thanks: 504 Thanked 21 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Always try to learn music properly as AngryHatter has shown above. I was lazy and now years later, I do regret not following the language. Whole Lotta Love , Dazed and Confused , How Many More Times .......... If you're a ZEPP fan .............. Excellent starters for great feel ............both in rhythm and lead . SteveGangi likes this. __________________ "over-under-sideways-down, sooo much more than square 'n round"

05-29-2012, 07:10 PM	#8 (permalink)
River Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Rural Colorado, USA Posts: 55,026 Thanks: 753 Thanked 985 Times in 79 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Every riff John Lee Hooker ever recorded. BillB1960, guitarbob123, AngryHatter and 6 others like this. __________________ River Bottom Blues Band - Music Home of the River Bottom Blues Band

05-29-2012, 07:13 PM	#9 (permalink)
7gtop Bartlett Retrospec Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 7,865 Thanks: 504 Thanked 21 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Might I also add B.B. King ............... River and EasyAce like this. __________________ "over-under-sideways-down, sooo much more than square 'n round"

05-29-2012, 07:24 PM	#12 (permalink)
River Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Rural Colorado, USA Posts: 55,026 Thanks: 753 Thanked 985 Times in 79 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Oh, "The Lemon Song". Every bit of it. The riff is nasty, JLH stuff. The licks are, believe it or not, major Country being played over nasty pentatonic minor bass lines and rhythm guitar. Hot shit. bscenefilms, Malikon, Mantis and 4 others like this. __________________ River Bottom Blues Band - Music Home of the River Bottom Blues Band

05-30-2012, 01:11 AM	#13 (permalink)
Slasher Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 239 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Thank you for all the tips everyone, they've been really helpful and 7gtop, no I'm not particularly a zepp fan but i'm willing to play anything that sounds good John Lee Hooker and BB King I'll look up when I get home from school Thanks again to all the posters above River likes this.

05-30-2012, 01:20 AM	#15 (permalink)
mdubya Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 6,117 Thanks: 484 Thanked 271 Times in 87 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Every song on Highway to Hell, Back In Black, and Powerage. And Black Sabbath. Paranoid might take a bit longer. Toris93, guitarbob123, GammyBird and 3 others like this. __________________ I'm down with the pappy wap.

05-30-2012, 10:20 AM	#17 (permalink)
Slasher Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 239 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Cheers you guys! I'll try to look at everything mentioned

05-30-2012, 04:00 PM	#18 (permalink)
guitarbob123 Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Birmingham, England Posts: 3,712 Thanks: 203 Thanked 17 Times in 8 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Everything off AFD by Guns N Roses, one of those albums where every song has at least one killer riff in it. Another couple of great Hard Rock ones would be Blizzard of Ozz by Ozzy Osbourne and Montrose's self-titled album. Both are killer. Rock Bottom by UFO and Just Got Paid by ZZ Top have great riffs in but can get annoying if your alternate picking isn't up-to-scratch.. ^All this stuff is a bit harder by the way, a bit of a challenge if you've not been playing long. Look for Led Zeppelin stuff, Deep Purple's Machine Head album, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Cream and Hendrix's stuff all have brilliant riffs. Listen and learn! __________________ Equipment: 2011 Gibson Les Paul Custom 68RI (Ebony) 2008 Epiphone G-400 Marshall JVM410h Marshall 1960A Cab Check out Brett at Eddie's Guitars if you're looking to buy! They're a great place and Brett is the best! PM him for some amazing deals, you'll be surprised!!!

05-30-2012, 06:42 PM	#20 (permalink)
Mantis Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 4,021 Thanks: 12 Thanked 236 Times in 95 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs e\|---------------- B\|---------------- G\|---------------- D\|-------5-------- A\|---------7~----- E\|--5-7----------- 180gROC and dfwadjuster like this. __________________ "This is Rocco, He's a pole dancer..."~BCR Greg "I had a date with the super-hot blonde from Pizza Hut"(from a fezz post) "You think highschoolers are mean? This is the internet." ~C.O.C.

05-30-2012, 07:14 PM	#21 (permalink)
Thumpalumpacus Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 54,744 Thanks: 1,222 Thanked 689 Times in 80 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs I don't bother learning licks from other guitarists, most of the time, except if I'm getting a solo note-for-note. Riffs I learn for either a gig with a band, or personal growth. Decide what you want to play, and learn that. SteveGangi and Slasher like this.

06-02-2012, 02:19 AM	#22 (permalink)
Slasher Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 239 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Thanks again to everyone who has replied! I'll have a look at all of these riffs and see which ones I like Guitarbob123, I have able to play for 7 years thanks to free guitar lessons in school, but they weren't.. great, we did a few songs and scales, so I didn't really start playing till about a year and a half ago, self-taught so I can play songs, but still have no clue about theory or technique, lol. easyace- I can honestly say i haven't heard of Albert King I've got a lot to learn.. Also thank you mantis, for your short and catchy one and thank you thumpalumpacus, for your wise advice, I will definitely keep this in mind Thumpalumpacus likes this. Last edited by Slasher; 06-03-2012 at 11:04 AM.

06-02-2012, 06:48 AM	#23 (permalink)
slapshot Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Fishing.it's like yoga but I get to kill something Posts: 18,174 Thanks: 227 Thanked 68 Times in 32 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs riffs?as in pickup a gat and just start ripping out riffs here and there? ac dc - back in black/thunderstruck intro aerosmith - walk this way guns - sweet child johnny be goode __________________ Notes From The Workshop

06-02-2012, 04:25 PM	#27 (permalink)
deepblue Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,688 Thanks: 195 Thanked 134 Times in 47 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs One of the forum members here posted all of Peter Greens old songs. I have had alot of fun trying to learn the licks. Very kind of him. EasyAce likes this. __________________ __________________________________________________ _______________________________________

06-03-2012, 11:04 AM	#28 (permalink)
Slasher Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Posts: 239 Thanks: 6 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Thanks Slapshot, I have since learnt those and thanks to weird uncle roy, I enjoyed those clips and to easyace, I'm so sorry! i must have got mixed up I'm such an idiot also thanks deep blue, I'll have a look

06-03-2012, 07:16 PM	#29 (permalink)
JDB 1696 Banned Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Assgard Posts: 459 Thanks: 9 Thanked 13 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Must know licks and riffs Riff...Smells Like Teen Spirit

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