Top 30 best guitar riffs of all time

[rockinredneck57]

Take out Kravitz as well, as much as I love Skynyrd, replace Free Bird with Sweet Home Alabama. It has a more catchy guitar riff. I'd like to see Heart's Barracuda in as well as The Allman Brothers Band and Whipping Post. Plus, Johnny B. Goode is the daddy of them all. Without it, the rest don't exist.

[Rihew]

The Trooper?

[ncbfThePrince]

eye of the tiger is pure bullshit , and get guns &n roses out

[silviot72]

joe satriani?

[Camboza11]

sunshine of your love is definitely the most catchy and i'm not a big cream fan at all

[RockerMetalera969]

QUE HACE METALLICA ANTES Q GUNS N' ROSES?!!! el solo de smoke on the water lo puede haccer hasta un niño de 9 años :(

[trouto101]

Michael Jackson above AC/DC, Sabbath and Zeppelin?

[yooo711]

Some more for consideration

Bring it on home

The Rover

When the Levee breaks

Rock n Roll

Immigrant Song

Moby Dick

The Ocean

[ajack2boys]

You apparently have not listened to very much music beyond your limited range of interest.

[interested239]

I was going to comment on how bad your taste is but I just read past comments and realized several people beat me to it. I'll just sum it up in one word, pathetic.

[HonzaArts]

you're an idiot - Layla is Eric Clapton's song.... some Queen song? - I Want It All??? - or Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven.....? Nothing....

[Pookiepup1]

zoothefly is right, got to be "money for nothing".

[EnjoyTheSilence331]

eye of the tiger???

Satisfaction is the most recognizable. Should be #1

[EnjoyTheSilence331]

eye of the tiger???

[dancinstarchild]

i would say, these are the most popular guitar riffs... paranoid should also be in the list, but... it´s a good list, thanks... ;)

[immortal291]

wtf no megadeth!!!? this is a shitty list

[mihe01]

where is angus young?

[riverman7]

@mihe01 #8

[GuitarBlues3]

Mannish Boy, One Way Out, Dust My Broom, and many others aren't in here. It is therefore worthless. So let it be written, so let it be done.

[screw66]

everything is ok, but... only that suck are Kinks and Beatles...

[cootamundra123]

@screw66 you sir,  Are a cunt.

[screw66]

@cootamundra123 aaaaaaaaaallrighty then!!!!

[ShowmanFromSerbia]

Everythings super!!! But "money for nothing" must be here

[QwertyGuitarTime]

Right before I clicked this I thought to myself "This better have Whole Lotta Love, Heartbreaker, and Black Dog...THANK YOU

[SpiritusOfVita]

Anyone else notice Pretty Woman and Day Tripper so real similar?

[alexlocurto]

@SpiritusOfVita IKR!?

[lachlanmornard]

Paranoid is a better riff than Iron Man

[raysonntag]

maybe it should be called "Classic riffs of all time"

[flip12U2]

...you need to expand your music library....some of the selections are from "Wish I could play guitar 101."...no class ....dismissed.

[ScottJ794]

no WHO??

[contrastej]

where's QUEEN???

[SpiritusOfVita]

@contrastej At the #1 spot on the list of "Gayest bands/most songs that make no sense ever" list.

[zoothefly]

where is "money for nothing" ?

[ShortStack2091]

eye of the tiger? really?

[FugWugInAMug]

Muse - Plug In Baby is one of the greatest riffs ever, if you havent heard it, listen to it you cant help but smile

[Hamburgare16]

smoke on the water is defenataly the best riff EVER but what happened to Thunderstruck?

[2009johnnydee]

Foir me the one all-time greatest guitar riff is the Tony Peluso solo on the Carpenters "Goodbye to Love." Once heard, never forgotten. Even if you are not into Carpenters, get to hear that Peluso solo. Boy, does he make it sing!!

[STimo95]

if you put in wild thing, you might have aswell put in louie louie, or the game of love

[rhpositive2002]

You forgot Jessica by Dickey Betts(Allman Bros)

[opalasattic]

WHAT??? NO "BROWN SUGAR"???

[gimme2utah1]

This list is impossible to narrow down to 30. Christ Led Zep alone has more than 30..Ted Nugent,Rush, Pink Floyd, ELP,Aerosmith,Peter Frampton,Heart all have had great guitar riffs.......And sweet baby jesus, how could you forget "Won't get fooled again" by The Who!!

[igouroum]

how can you even give all those riffs an order?

its figgin impossible :P

[jewcrew102]

i will admit there were a few songs missing and there were some bad choices but overall a pretty damn good list

[Penge70]

Pretty Woman???!!! LOL!

[especialRUS]

Back in black??? Wtf?? And where is Stairway to heaven?

[andrewparker111]

the greatest riffs thats just your opinion.

opinions are like assholes everyone has got one

[INSIPIDxST4TE]

@andrewparker111

Coincidentally, people exploiting their opinions are assholes....

[rowler21]

Voodoo Child is the greatest!!!!!

[colie577]

More like top 30 most famous riffs.

[HeavyHenkke96]

Dude, Dream Theater?

Iron Maiden?

KISS?!

[hyperthaddeus]

shit countdown

[Deebemc]

Kansas??? No....Santana's Europa, nope,..Iron Butterfly, good grief. Top marks for the Kinks, though....and the Doors Roadhouse Blues. Ozzy Osbourne, stretching things.....Guns n Roses, yup for sure.Metallica ahead of Hendrix and Cream, I think not. Good video splicing. The top ones are indeed the memorable one! Good stuff.

[MasterOfSparks]

No Louie Louie? No Gloria?

[12gn12]

Really? Have you never heard of Les Paul, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Albert King, BB King, Brian Setzer, Buddy Guy, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, ZZ Top and on and on... maybe you should look up some of these artist on youtube before you put out this list, if Michael Jackson were still alive he'd slap you with his glove for putting him on the list.

[tombeaudreau]

How come I don't see anything by Heart in there?

[Jdarley4964]

@tombeaudreau  because theyre shit!

[tombeaudreau]

@Jdarley4964 You have issues!

[AlexisGuitar94]

@tombeaudreau I agree Heart should be there. Nancy Wilson wrote some kick ass riffs.

[tombeaudreau]

@AlexisGuitar94 Thank You Alexis!

[VicodinES]

You can't please everyone.Might have been easier by decade,but good effort.

[cjseabass]

This is a pretty gay list. How do the Police make it in between Hendrix and the Doors, or even on the list? How do you put YES over Randy Rhodes? That's insulting. Where's Shook Me All Night long, Where's Money For Nothing,Running Down A dream, New Orleans is Sinking? TubeSucke, how old are you? 8 or 9?we're talking "riffs here" In Tubesucke's defence, he picked electric tunes, so Stairway would be out but Bad to the Bone beats the Police, where's Sweet Home Alabama? How about Zakk Wilde?

[tonykonig]

nice list but it's impossible ... so many badass blues riffs pre-dating video... also, to put them in order is equally impossible... taste is a huge factor... many like myself would completely disagree with this ordering... still, nice idea to compile favorites

[fallen1one7]

where the fuck is stairway to heaven?!

[sharrer2]

@fallen1one7 Stairway to heaven is not a riff....

[XFireRoosterX]

There are a lot of modern songs that have good riffs. And some from the 90's that you missed. How about Man In The Box, or more recently, The Dark Eternal Night?

[dieguixd]

Umm i cant explain by the who? but still good choices

[amoswt]

wheres Duane Eddys rebel rouser?It only sold 9 millon bass guitars in the late50s.

[slwdsm]

A riff is not the intro to the song, or any specific number of notes. Its a repeating theme or trend thats repeated in a song. It can be a chord progression, a simple pattern of notes, or a simple refrain. Its often designed to be catchy and ends up sticking in the listeners head but it really just a small piece of the song.

-

The rolling stones were the first to be notorious for a guitar riffs, and really solidified them into rock & roll music.

-

There is nothing wrong with this list...

[slwdsm]

@slwdsm

--

Oh, except that eddie van halen didnt play the riff in michael jacksons "beat it" @ #5 -- eddie just laid down the amazing solo... its a first take too.

[GhostauraYamil8]

this is the worst set up for a "top 30 best riffs" i have ever heard......... theres no way that smok eon the water can ever beat something like stairway to heaven or something like mr. crowley....but u know wut ever just sayin

[LoLGoD8o8]

the riff is the intro of the song, also the most catchy part about a song. most songs r based around a good riff

[longun5]

a riff is when i think you have three notes and play them in a sequance

[deionc]

so what exactly is a riff? like a song intro?

[turbodash9]

fuck gnr ozzy is number 1

[slownoman]

Tough to narrow it down. But, no Motown or Memphis (My Girl ID's the song in six notes) or Green Onions? No Allman Bros. (One Way Out or You Don't love Me? No Delta Blues (like say, Dust My Broom)? The Beatles are on here, but wrote more hooks than anyone, ever. The intro to "In My Life" sets that unmatchable mood in ten seconds. It ain't all about flash. No Scotty Moore or James Burton? I don't think so, Tim. But a very nice start. Well done.

[SuperGamer87]

It's a relative list, y'all! Make your own list!

[SuperGamer87]

@SuperGamer87 John Mayer's "Good Love Is On The Way" has an awesome riff that at least deserves to be number 30.

[skateallday96]

WHeres the Maiden?

[meercatzz]

smoke on the water hell yea... man, i was expecting some iron maiden riffs too.

[winfield5815]

Slow down...Owner of a lonely heart? Eye of the tiger? and NOTHING FROM PHISH? Trey is a top 5 player. They have 100 riffs better than half of these weaklings. Rock with Chalkdust, Bathtub Gin, First Tube, Stash....too many to list. Get on it!

[jaypitcherthe2nd]

22 sucks! seriously?

[Benne9999]

First place was so clear :D

But what about la grange from ZZ-Top or did i missed it? :oo

[zarnack21]

Listen to Ministrys cover of roadhouse blues, its pretty thrashy

[TL250Rider]

What about Crossroads Cream?  Highway Starr Deep Purple

[maltcrispy]

should have had Edwyn Collins in there as well as Whole Lotta Rosie...IMO

[eventhisnameistaken9]

Excellent selections! I could nitpick about the order or excluded pieces, but I'm just impressed with the overall quality as well as the fact that you managed to find video for each riff. Well done!

[morozko69]

Holy crap! "Bad to the Bone" deserves to be in the top 30!

[firefox335]

I would have exchanged "Roadhouse Blues", which to me is a pretty "generic" sounding boogie riff with "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits.

[corzocl]

nice choice

[trafficsignal101]

try YYZ by rush for best

[Irrlicht192]

nice choice dude^^

[ozzihaka]

oh btw where's the evidence to show he touched kids? There's a lot of heresay but as for evidence there's nothing... don't judge a man by what others say till he's proven guilty

[ozzihaka]

Where's Thunderstruck?

[flyingelbow79]

suxxxxx

[imnotahippy1]

degodly

it is voodoo child.he duz a different song, its voodoo chile. . .

[janlesdotcom]

smoke on the water

nooooooooo

[MenaPaws21]

@DOAO666 its Voodo Chile!!

[degodly]

Oh sorry i ment, Michael Jackson was a pedo when he was alive, now that he's dead he's the best singer of all time and never touched a boy.

[emphaticleech]

@degodly

To be quite honest...if he really did touch those kids, wouldn't the parents have dealt with him themselves rather than settled out of court? I'm sorry, but my child's innocence is worth more than money. I'm pretty sure the parents just wanted money. I'm no fan of MJ in any way (except, Off the Wall was a good, solid album) so I'm not just defending him.

[r2Delta77]

dude the #1 song should be how high the moon by less paul

[degodly]

Lawl Freebird ain't a riff.

The Heartbreaker video is from Stairway to Heaven live

It's voodoo chile, not child...

Michael Jackson was a pedophile

Smoke on the Water is overrated as shit.

[nerdflanders8710]

@degodly  whats a chile then you fucked asshole ?

[ElSunDanceKid]

A couple of those were keepers but most of this list was bs. I love Nirvana and smells like teen spirit's a great song but the 10th greatest riff of all time?

[ripzoneify]

no rage?

[kyledashit]

i would have put in les paul how high the moon or thunderstruck by acdc

[sircharliesavior]

i would had in either alive or even flow on that list from pearl. and either scar tissue or cant stop from the chili peppers. overall a pretty good list

[2CarGarage1]

Fun stuff would add Over Under Sideways Down by Yardbirds / bJeff beck

[alekandamek]

cool vid!!! i just don't agree on seeing "Europa" as a riff, that's a melody, as well as in the Lynyrd Skynyrd's song. I don't know if "sweet child of mine" is a proper riff and i'd have chosen "paranoid" for black sabbath :D

[JeffBeckJunior]

no sweet child o mine is a riff. i agree on europa. i would have put voodoo child in the top 5 at least. same with crazy train. and sweet child o mine.black dog should have been in top 10. but i have to disagree with paranoid. i think iron man is better. would have put layla in top 5. and no.1 smoke on the water. oh yes.

[rockabillycat1954]

A few more worth considering...

Watch Your Step - Bobby Parker

Mystery Train - Elvis Presley (Scotty Moore guitarist)

Eruption - Van Halen

Sweet Home Chicago - Robert Johnson

I Put A Spell On You - C.C.R.

[catwallop]

For devastating, string bending guitar work, try Jeff Beck's 'Led Boots'.

[geneR8or]

Thanks for posting the list! Silly to discuss what is better or worse, it's a matter of taste. Just make sure it is a guitar classic. Favorite comments are the ones nominating more for the list. Stones - Brown Sugar, Berry - Roll Over Beethoven (is Berry the inventor of the classic rock riff?), Clapton - Crossroads, Allman Brothers - Midnight Rider, Ramblin' Man, Gary Moore - Still Got The Blues, Satriani - Satch Boogie, Clash - Should I Stay or Should I Go, so many more... Keep 'em coming!

[1xzop1]

no van halen?

[realitities]

i cant explain by the who...revolution instead of day tripper even tho day trippers good...should i stay or should i go..under the bridge..maybe some u2...fortunate son by CCR....a little bit too much hair in this list but pretty good overall

[DMcGorry530]

No one will ever agree on ANY best guitarist list. Fun stuff though! Thanks for putting it together.

[slowperson97]

jimi should be #1

[livetoriga]

Cool footage, but your list blows.

[harleypiper]

god dam does it ever.

he knows some ...but hes way off

[cablonde320]

Missed "Long Cool Woman In a Black Dress" by the Hollies..

[par4par72]

Your not even in the ball park...but thanks for playing!

[catwallop]

You missed Les Paul's "How high the moon" and the Carpenters solo riff by Tony Peluso on the back end of "goodbye to love". Top 10 for sure!

Thanks for the vid.

[harleypiper]

I love how high the moon.

thats a masterpiece

[ikotoka11]

Sweet child o' mine is 1st

[willwkrueger]

first of all fuck smoke on the water. second, No Who?? c'mon!

[kenp3L]

It's a nice list, but there were several duds mixed in. Why don't you just call it your 30 favorite songs? Many of the songs, while excellent overall, do not display outstanding guitar virtuosity.

[topografer]

number 2 and number 1 couldn't have been in another place

[ghagertyqb]

can't stop by the peppers should be up there.

[monkface]

@sprtn117c Otis Redding covered satisfaction by the stones! It's not his original song. But that's ok.

[sprtn117c]

Oh really? Dang, you learn somthing new every day!

[sprtn117c]

imo johnny b. goode should be somewhere closer to the top!

[dudethecheif123]

most of these songs are up there on best licks... BUT WHERE THE FUCK WAS STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN cmon man haha overall great video

[benjaminmv]

I don´t understand smell like teen spirit?

[ixcaliber]

i would have picked ride the lightning over enter sandman.

[topografer]

but enter sandman is more known

[19elgato46]

Claptons' Layla really got the crowd going. I beleive Clapton commented that it scared him some times. Has anyone else heard that ?

[19elgato46]

I'll

[CandMExperience]

If ya'll wanna hear some real raw and orginal riffs....check out the hard rock blues band, The Black Keys....especially their songs "Strange Times","Your Touch", and "Just Gotta Be", and "Thickfreakness"

[FirstBookOfMike]

Eye of the tigar??? LMFAO!!! :DDDDD

[FirstBookOfMike]

Kinks You Really Got Me. Ohkay.......stop the vid!!!

NNNNNNNEEEEXT.

[imashomer]

You have some "best riffs" in your list but most are just catchy.....Bo Diddley invented a great hook and should have been included....

[metalhead326]

nothing by Iron Maiden or Metallica? for real?

[YOFLUMEZ]

well when people get a guitar and want to learn a song, they mostly learn SOTW...

[NoStarPower]

Sick and tired of seeing Smoke on the Water as the best riff of all time in every list.

[billybobjoe1997]

wheres stairway to heaven!?!?!?

[bohden]

black dog is better

[gabifromhell]

wow man i cannnot believe there is not ONE fucking single riff written by the greatest riff player of ALL TIME, Mr Dimebag Darrell RIP. Goddamn

[steffsweet45]

whole lotta love is #1

[stofer02]

smoke on the water is #1 cause its the first song everyone learns on the guitar, everyone knows it, and it is easy to play. but i wouldnt think of it as #1 they're to many good riffs, these are all great but really how do u pick a #1.

[jph3660]

Good list, but you should have included Bill Haley's 'Rock Around the Clock.'

[TheDatanet]

smoke on the water is really easy to play, so why 1.?

[goodygoody23]

because it is the most recognizable riff EVER

[TheDatanet]

is a riff good because of it's very recognizable?

[goodygoody23]

well, if its very recognizable there must be something good about it

in Smoke on the Water its the accent note on the second part of the riff

[stonecoldcrazy546]

hard dosn't exactly mean good, my friend.

[TheDatanet]

tell me about one hard guitar riff that are not good

[stonecoldcrazy546]

every dragonforce riff

[TheDatanet]

imo they aren't that bad

[stonecoldcrazy546]

they speed up their guitars and write by throwing darts at magic the gathering cards...they are that bad

but fury of the storm is okay

[apchs]

so..... this isnt the top 30 hardest guitar riffs... duh!!!!!

[sgcVlad]

A lot of good ones but how can you not put anything by Les Paul?!

[Gibmeister7000]

All guitarists repeat after me:

Hard is not the same as good

Easy is not the same as bad

A decent classic rock based list apart from the glaring omission in this category of AC/DC

[Klyons92]

but that's pretty much why it was so influencial. The song is awesome man, and you can't deny that only based on its difficulty. I'd agree with the list in general

[blackberrydude1]

Randy rhoads is the greatest

[Klyons92]

agreed :) Why I play guitar

[luclehordeux]

a lot fo the song that you put in that vid suck man ...

[skatafario]

fUCK YOU.....sunshine of your love 27???

thats a crap....boy

[ilovenuggets]

"smoke on the water" the best, man??????

FUCK YOU , it'll never be the best, it's only the easer riffto play. SWEET CHILD O' MINE IS THE FUCKIN' BEST!!!

[L3sP4ulftw]

dude its not about how hard it is to play the riff - most of those riffs are fucking easy - its the sound! ....

But I agree not n1 smoke on the water in top 10 yeh but not n1 - but then again its the most famous riff!!!

[ilovenuggets]

yeah I think so

[willyschoonover]

you included most of the best (johny be goode, crazy train, sweet child of mine, satisfaction, etc.)

[djdman111]

this is pretty good but i got some disagrements =P

[daleknath]

in the video of MJ singing beat it that was actualy slash playin then :P

[D0nn13w1n73r]

That´d be Van halen

[daleknath]

NO Van halen recorded it SLash toured with MJ and did it, the video u see on this video happens to be one whilst slash was playin

[D0nn13w1n73r]

Shit, yeah, you´re right, got my facts all mixed up, sorry!

[tdn34746]

Is neil young too old ?

denindiaan

[RBcaddiehopper7]

No aerosmith!??

[MrCockSlut]

dont agree with 29 or 26 and 3 led zep songs? i think jimmy page is a bit over rated