20 Greatest Guitar Riffs Of All Time

[Sinnyser]

you need this war is ours(the guillotine part II) opening riff on there bro/lady!

[StoneageVultures]

im happy for clapton to be #1...but i bet my other 19 would be different.

[CWFpresentes]

another brick in the all , cadê essa porra, fail

[ThePsycheDelicious]

Layla-Duane Allman and Eric Clapton you should know that..

[DitisTom]

Funky Monks - RHCP has to be in there........

[DavidAttenlope]

I'll dispute Sad but true, I think Fuel's got a good shout.

[zrhinier]

No Quarter was a smart choice.

[lavasmokechile]

sweet home alabama is an AWESOME song, but it's not a RIFF, it's an chord progression played as an arpeggio.

[themadaboutmusic]

You guys should do a little reserch on Robert Johnson. What he did with his only guitar back in 1936 is the origin of all the great riffs you guys're talking about !

[Cincinnatus1869]

in reality 10 would be led Zeppelin riffs and the other 10 would be Black Sabbath riffs . Those bands had the riffs that all other have tried and failed to approach . I do like Rush alot too

[bcbcbcbcdc]

@Cincinnatus1869 Agreed.

[AlexanderHarpernc]

Ton classement n'est pas assez varié

[CantonezSpere]

beat it wasnt written b y van halen, he just wrote the solo

[305eddiec]

pretty gud list

[mrhoffame]

As far as just "RIFFS" go..where is Smoke On The Water. Like it or not (kind of a bit played out like Stairway To Heaven lol) It is probably the most classic riff in the history of music.

[CantonezSpere]

@mrhoffame it's on there

[mrhoffame]

@CantonezSpereReally? lol totally missed that.

[CantonezSpere]

@mrhoffame 2:54 mate :)

[mrhoffame]

@CantonezSpere LOL yeah. A lot of times I watch videos while I'm doing other things lol

[Asher08Eminem]

No Enter Sandman....?

[TheDeftonesVault]

@Asher08Eminem Fucking most overrated Metallica song. Damage, Inc. has a better riff.

[xstepvd]

you could have picked so many better hendrix songs that beat all of these house burning down, drone blues, trashman valleys of neptune version, you got me floating come on purple haze is the best riff he did? look at hey joe at witerland and im not trying to put you down im a huge hendrix fan too just purple haze really?

[9xarthurx9]

Bad Penny of Rory Gallagher should be here, or maybe Bullfrog Blues. And for hendrix's riff, I would rather put the riff of Pali Gap (but there are so much Hendrix riff's i would put, but it's just personnal taste).

[MikkelKelsoFrandsen]

EVH did not make the the riff to Beat It, He just played the solo on the track :D it is a common mistake that people think he made up the riff

[Aryslaw]

under the bridge !!!!

[nanwhite62]

Try Roy Buchanan's "when a Guitar l the Blues" or Roy's Bluz"

[twiztidlestat]

Why can't people EVER understand these videos are the opinion of the original poster, NOT a definitive ''Lets all agree'' list

[sedali3]

i think guttar riff and my mind jumps to the kinks' You Really Got Me. simple but driven

[HellaKool76]

Hey guys come on, be honest.....when you think about a riff, when the world thinks about a riff, it's Layla....

Sunshine of your love should be included, as should White Room....

Hmm..I guess this means that CLAPTON is God!

[westjt17]

@HellaKool76 no

[leodu92izi]

eddie van halen oly plays the solo, the riff is created by michael jackson and played by steve lukather

[WATERFOWL3R]

What about sunshine of your love

[Winterdenni]

You could fill pretty much the whole list with riffs by Iommi... & the one riff in here by him is not even close to his best.

[cowboy62255]

Duane Allman dominated Layla.

[mulefloyd]

Definitely a chili peppers fan. C'mon man!

[sharloable]

sweet home albama fucking awesome.

[YoyoyankeesfromRS]

ACDC #1

[09kittykatz09]

Excuse me? Where's Stevie Ray Vaughn..."Lenny"? or anything else by him.

[TheCopperchopper]

No Randy Rhodes or Stevie Ray Vaughn?

[barehardjeremy]

The Trooper by Iron Maiden?? IMHO it should've been well up there.

[16jigsaw]

stairway to heaven is good song but not a good riff

[TheAidenFace]

cowboys from hell

[boc234]

Only about half of these actually qualify as riffs, though you do have some good ones, like Day Tripper and anything by the Riff Meister, Tony Iommi.

[GMAN32901]

Gimme Shelter - Keith Richards - Rolling Stones

[ledeurf]

By the way, #16- Beat it.. the main guitar riff belongs to Steve Lukather , Eddy just did the f...... wonderful solo .

[Ronzula]

Money for nothing and purple haze FTW!

[Chyaman09]

@Ronzula i couldn't agree more

[hughbo52]

I'd like to addThe Hollies - Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress, Amboy Dukes (Ted Nugent) - Journey to the Center of Your Mind and I like Jo Jo Gunne - Run Run Run and you might as well throw in Mountain - Mississippi Queen and oh hell why not The Animals - House of Rising Sun.

The point is, if you don't like the list...make your own.

It's all about memories man...at the least the ones that stuck!

You had to have been there...

[heyjimmysmiles]

Did he mention that Duane Allman was the driving force on that song. Without Duane that song would have been totally different. I love Clapton but Duane should have also been mentioned,as he has most likely been number one in many polls. But thank you for the video..

[ninjakanen]

Hearing #1 made me happy. Nice compilation!

[manolo96052]

your list sucks my friend

[morningtonkid]

Unbelievable lack of rock music knowledge displayed here. There are so many great guitar riffs, and few of these stand up. This should read "Twenty greatest guitar riffs of all time that I've heard".

[eviltube1111]

@morningtonkid Exactly what I say to people, "of all time" or "best ever" is an atrocious thing to say. It's as if he's only listened to mainstream rock on the radio and judged that as all the music that exists.

[420Nelbone]

red hot chile peppers over hendrix?!?!?! your name has Hendrix in it

[hatake22A]

Eddie No escribio el riff de beat it, fue mack luckater de toto xd

[lapitis21]

u ever hear of Working Man by Rush

[Ixzr]

You left out the epic guitar solos from November Rain (Guns N Roses) and Stone in Love (Journey) :(

[mikecreed22]

Shouldn't under the bridge be classed as a bass/guitar riff as its well mostly bass with an underlying guitar arpeggio?? And urm Layla is nowhere near the greatest riff of all time. Plus you missed out some better ones like CCR (Lookin Out MY Back Door and Green River) not to mention Pink Floyd! Urm Wish You Were fucking Here maybe!?!?!

[popsicle628]

where's 'sunshine of you love"?

[svend1000]

I agree with #1 at least.

[allaroundDX]

NO QUARTER!! WUHUUUUU :D

[MrMisterMetalfreak]

How is Stairway a riff? I love the song, but I think Smoke on the Water should be first. EVERY self respecting guitarist knows it.

[popsicle628]

i agree!

[MrMisterMetalfreak]

@popsicle628 Thanks! =D

[mikecreed22]

@MrMisterMetalfreak Every self respecting BEGINNER knows it mate. Its a great, simple and effective riff but c'mon it's the first thing people learn right?! I know I did. Then Man Who Sold The World by Nirvana (Bowie)

[MrMisterMetalfreak]

@mikecreed22 WEll yeah, but it's a classic.

[ElTeaBill]

EVH only played the solo on "Beat It," not the rhythm guitar. That was Paul Jackson, Jr.

[ledzepp4321]

NO QUARTER!

[999N0t3str34k]

u put metallica #18? go 2 hell

[NosferatuRAGE]

list is shit

[benwety95]

great list but i also think

What About Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum

ohh and btw YEAHHHHH SKYNYRD!!!!!

[benwety95]

Back in black has to be top 10

[TNMinuteMan]

Dude out of all of Eddies material you picked Beat It?! Riff wise, I would've picked RWD, its catcthy, great sounding and easy!

[TheWallGuitar]

@TNMinuteMan Eddie only did the solo in beat it, he didn't even write it XD he should have done more research

[SirGinger76]

i like your favorite man. i been listening to that only a 100 times this week lol.

[zer0616]

Im 14 and even i know this list is wrong! It doesn't take someone from that era to realise that Kasmir......Jump.......Crazy train...... Immigrant song.......Foxy lady...... SMELLS LIKE TEEN SPIRIT............Black Dog........Sunshine of your love.......Walk this way.........ace of spades......Holiday (Greenday)! Just cause its not from the same era as bands like hendrix and zeppelin doesn't mean its not an amazing guitar riff! AND WHERE WAS IRON MAN!

[magic4matt]

Like a true researcher, list your 20 greatest guitar riffs in the notes column:

20. Smooth by Carlos Sanatana

19. etc

[deeen841]

master of puppets has to be in there!!!!!!

[Christianwwefan]

@deeen841 MASTER OF PUPPETS??? I MEAN, SERIOUSLY??? u dont know a shit bout music

[dd64954]

Why does everyone think that Van Halen did the main riff in Beat It? It was Lukather from Toto who wrote it and played it! Eddie "just" did the solo... :-)

[RockIsWhatsReal96]

Eddie has the coolest looking guitar ever!!!

[ZeldaGamingMan]

One of the most accurate lists I've ever seen.

[Tfrne]

Every riff on here should be by Led Zeppelin. You have no respect for what a riff even is.

[drummerdom5150]

im surprised he even managed to narrow it down to 20.. i woulda had to make top 200 haha

[ryuman757]

@drummerdom5150 I wouldnt even be able to make a "greatest" I would just make a list of "riffs that if u dont know, then u need to smoke a pole" rofl

[cboesch21]

it's number 12 dumb

[gaurav984504]

Randy Rhoads crazy train riff.....rename video to 21 greatest Guitar riffs of all time and move each riff one place back....22 year Randy fucking rules over all....

[rapidevolution]

Bad to the Bone really needs to be here.

[217trevino]

YOUR FUCKED

[MrAndrea2811]

how could u forget smell like teen spirit of nirvana?????? crazyyyyyyyyyyy

[385Productions]

WHERE WAS SPIRIT OF THE RADIO

[NissanSkyline666]

i really want to just reply to all the ones saying where is this?? or what ever saying another one is better... but i dont wanna be typing for the next 6 hrs

[ledzep468]

How the hell did Kashmir and Black Dog not make the list? Dont try to tell me that they cant make top 20.

[TRELOMILANEZOS25]

PARANOID MUST BE NUMBER ONE.........THE GOD OF RIFFS IS TONY IOMMI...

[RedTV8888]

i think sweet child o mine should be much higher

[RedTV8888]

BEAT IT?!?!

piss off

[MrStuuuupid]

Where is Whole Lotta Love?



[RedTV8888]

@MrStuuuupid THANK YOU

[strickkarl]

Thanks! Good list! We've all got different tastes; but, enjoyed!

[estabansucks]

ur missing sooo much...where the hell is smoke on the water

[NissanSkyline666]

@estabansucks u mustve wrote this b4 watching the full video Smoke on the water is #6

[ScottBitesScottWins]

Wheres Cult of Personality?

[29Xyron]

Where the hell is joker and the theif?!

[skatan22]

Sweet Child O' Mine is the most grating, irritating, nails on the chalk board song ever to a real guitar player.

[301b0y]

@skatan22 Bullshit.

[skatan22]

Lenny Kravitz? Are you f'n joking???

[superdonkeymafia36]

NO QUARTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[zeppelin25101980]

theres no riff to stairway

[TheHossy202]

Where the heck is Whole Lotta Love!!!!

[Herby701]

where's " long tall woman in a black dress", by the hollies?? that's where, for example, bryan adams stole his riffs from...

[MrCurran0027]

Steve Lukather wrote the main riff in "Beat It". EVH played the solo. Also, Duane Allman wrote the riff in "Layla", not Clapton. Clapton did everything else though.

[LTDGuitars420]

These are all simplistic guitar players. Why not have a little fuckin' variety.

[DrumsForRainforest]

i think "Back In Black" is not really the greatest guitar riff of AC/DC. --> "Rocker"

[djalexxx11]

wheres a7x's afterlife?

[mmcmil90]

@djalexxx11 trollolol

[mitchn8r]

@djalexxx11 in the trash where it belongs

[djalexxx11]

@mitchn8r oh u are mean

[Nigrinis2011]

ENTER SANDMAN?

[NuMetalfans]

it should be 20 greatest old riffs..

[Qjciak]

kinda strange list. For every artist there are imo 10 or more better songs for list of greatest riffs. I agree only with 3 or 4 songs. BUT you placed rhcp song here too and 2(!) songs of Jimi Hendrix, so... "great video, man!" : D

[Dontwant2thinkofuser]

Number 5 is mostly bass

[POKIEEEEEEE]

This list is just your opinion, lots of good choices...but only 2 hendrix when we all know there should be like 5 :)

but to be honest, and I believe most people would agree with me, Iron Man should make the top 3 of ANY list. It's probably the most recognized riff of all time.

[tomwise1us]

Deep Purple's Lazy should have been there instead of Smoke on the water. (It's sad that hat is what they are most remembered for) Frank Zappa should have made the list, and Badge or White Room was better than Layla,also hendrix' best would be eithe All along the Watchtower orVoodoo CHile slight retrun or Little Wing. Good job. I enjoyed listening to it.

[heartofamustang123]

why the heck is eddie van halen in the photos of michael jacksons beat it ?! first of all Eddie SHOULD be number one (: and thats not even his guitar playin.

[1962trex]

@heartofamustang123 yea it is :P slash came in after Evh

[heartofamustang123]

@1962trex that was eddie playin beat it ?

[TrevFredMotors]

I'm glad someone finally ranked layla as number one, but hendrix is still the best that ever lived.

[Stephenkahn1]

i think #2 should be #1

[000052950000052950]

November Rain, Mr Crowley, Voodo Child

[stevebassist16]

sab but true ? metallica have lots of greater riffs

[lotyczek]

tie your mother down....

[metallingus333]

where is megadeth's riffs ? they are the best ever.

[spikebat70]

No stairway..........denied.....

[ArmLiberty1975]

where are master of pappets, crazy train, smells like teen spirit, another brick in the wall, fear of the dark, chop suey????? and also why smoke on the water is not on the first place???

[squisheeman007]

@ArmLiberty1975 Smoke on the Water is not in the first place because this is not your list. Different tastes man, not everybody likes the music you like... ALTHOUGH, I have to say that I was expecting 1 or 2 songs by Deep Purple.

[ArmLiberty1975]

@squisheeman007 oh really? this not really my list?? thanks man i was confused. haha

[squisheeman007]

@ArmLiberty1975 You're welcome. Nice to know that you finally noticed that this is not your list, so not every song you like has to be here.

[ArmLiberty1975]

@squisheeman007 well thanks to inform me. u r workin well. i gotta raise your salary. keep it up. maybe i'll hold your position. hah

[squisheeman007]

@ArmLiberty1975 Booooring. You're the only one who's laughing about your jokes. So lame.

[ArmLiberty1975]

@squisheeman007 fuckin retard where r u know from how many people are laughing? you'd better go and throw yourself from the bridge. or have u already gone? and it was just your luck the bridge was under repair xD

[squisheeman007]

@ArmLiberty1975 Nice to know how retard are you. I thought I was talking to a child, but now I realize you're just retarded. Next time send me a private message, your stupid comment has nothing to do with the video. Again, the joke about bridges... BORING.

[ArmLiberty1975]

@squisheeman007 motherfuckin dumbass i have just two very wise sentences to tell you and each of them consists of two words. Here they are: Fuck you! Fuck off!

[rjwarrior5]

WHERE IS SEVEN NATION ARMY ?

[Bunar1993]

I disagree with this list, and every other list in the whole world, that doesn't put Sweet Child o' Mine as #1.

[bigvoicebigsong]

superb mate some real great old skool rock in there 100% agree with your choice

[bigvoicebigsong]

superb list//

[TheLazyDeath]

Orion-Metallica would have been very nice in that. Anything from Metallica actually.

[D1514S]

Wher is 'My Girl"?

[SamuraiBatgirl]

I was kind of expecting Whole Lotta Love or Heartbreaker on here. Pretty good list though.

[TheBerkus]

u really kiddin with us.

[karigemines]

claro que si. LAYLAAAAAAA....

[superslayerguy]

where the hell is YYZ?

[Matshoppahulle]

I love Clapton, prefer sunshine of your love (w. Cream)

Cocaine, JJ Cale or Claptons cover?

As mentioned Hendrix: Voodoo child (slight return)

And most of all: LED ZEPPELIN: KASHMIR!!!

[OoRastaChiefoO]

Voodoo Chile is diffinitely better than layla

[ZeppelinFan6980]

I still think Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) should be first, and instead of Crosstown Traffic you coulda used something like 1983, but still this is pretty fair.

Nice job, friend.

[glennandgem]

Wheres Oasis? hahahahaghahahahahaha!



[Diablo5554]

Led Zeppelin rulez!

[professionalgradefj]

i think walk this way shouldve made it somewhere on the list, but otherwise nice selection

[wildnbk]

omg i was thinking the whole time where the hell is layla!? Then i saw it was #1 :)

[dudeanator22]

Sweet Child O' Mine > Every other song here

[TheDoomPig]

Purple Haze > Layla.

[akolyte123]

im glad you had sad but true and crosstown traffic....two of my favourite riffs ever that arent there main songs that are always on lists like these

[stuntmasters007]

sweet child O' mine is definitely my favorite but thats just me :)

[GoodMetalFTW]

this is probably the best list i have seen on youtube. im sick of seeing back in black, smoke on the water, and stairway to heaven at number 1. those account for 99% of the number 1 spots on youtube.

[777markymark]

Great list!

[Hubbleknarf]

opinions you guys, opinions

[tjbauman1]

link wray, rumble

dick dale, miserlou

[Duvetlord]

No Enter Sandman?...WTF!!!

[Lordoftheflies234]

Never Satisfied, Hellrider and Freewheel Burning by Judas Priest are missing!!!!!!!!

[Pommespickel]

Ten years after - I`d love to change the world???

Where is it?

[Totomaniac6]

Steve Lukather did that Beat it riff, Van Halen did just the solo!