# The SBHonline Community Daily > Music >  >  50 Greatest Guitar Riffs

## andynap

http://www.spinner.com/2011/01/13/rock-guitar-riffs/

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## MIke R

wow....I couldn't disagree more

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## Theresa

Neat stuff.

I was hoping "Sweet Jane" would be among them.

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## andynap

It is subjective but Spinner is pretty respected.

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## Theresa

Yes, any music fan will find something missing, but it's a pretty inclusive list.

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## MIke R

there is a LOT missing

Free Bird/Skynrd
High Tide Green Grass/Outlaws
Its All Over Now/Stones
Hotel California/Eagles
Still Got the Blues for You/Gary Moore
Black Magic Women/Gypsy Queen/ Santana

and the greatest guitar licks ever

I'm Goin Home/Ten Years After at Woodstock
Star Spangled Banner/Jimi


give all those a listen and get back to me

Good God Layla, as great a song as it is ...is all piano and slide guitar...no real guitar work there

if they are going to pick a great EC riff...go to Have You Ever Loved a Woman off the E.C. Was Here album

what about Comfortably Numb>>>>???are you serious?

also..terrible Led Zep pick.....uh....Stairway to Heaven???..Whole Lotta Love???...and their best guitar riff ever on "Since I've Been Lovin You"............seriously????

Stevie Ray Vaughn's Texas Flood????>.not in the top 100......really?

Neil Young "Down by the River"? instead of their Young choice in a heartbeat

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## MIke R

yeah this guy sucks...he shouldnt be in top 100


LOL


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFpfureaCVs

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## Theresa

I agree with his Neil Young choice.

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## MIke R

MONEY...Pink Floyd?

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## MIke R

and I guess no one ever heard Eddie Van Halens "Eruption"

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## MIke R

> I agree with his Neil Young choice.




actually I like Cowgirl in the Sand riff better than the both of them

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## MIke R

and Le Grange over Sharp Dressed Man....  everytime

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## Dennis

LA Grange, not LE Grange. 

It's in Texas, not France.

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## MIke R

LMAO.....good point....

I got culturally confused

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## Theresa

Yes, for sure La Grange beats the chosen ZZ Top entry.

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## andynap

It's all in the ear of the beholder.

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## Voosh

> It's all in the ear of the beholder.




Yep. 


(I've been asked to contribute to "greatest" music lists. I can't. I won't. Mostly because I'd change my mind seconds after compiling a list. Too much great stuff to stuff into a short list.)

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## Eddie

I'm with Theresa. Without Sweet Jane, the list is a fraud.

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## MIke R

> It's all in the ear of the beholder.




yes that is true, but as a life long guitar player I am listening to it from a point of view as to how difficult it is/was to play and how original it was......along that vein I can play Satisfaction in my sleep, and it is a basic  riff......but something like "I'm Going Home" by Ten Years After I couldn't play in this life or the next one, on my best day......

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## andynap

I just listened to I'm Going Home by Ten Years and Eddie Van Halen originated that guitar riff and the song is  basic 4 chords with no originality. Now whether you can play it or not should not be a deciding factor. I can't play it either. LOL

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## MIke R

when Alvin Lee played that song Eddie was in diapers..... so how did he originate it???

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## andynap

Not the video I saw and Van Halen is no young guy- 56 next week

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## MIke R

so you're a good piano player....when you listen to someone play a particularly difficult piano piece, doesnt that endear you to it more, and respect it more than someone playing a simple three chord progression over and over and over again?


I just think degree of difficulty should be a major criteria..
Satisfaction certainly  broke ground with the use of fuzz and distortion etc but it is a very very basic song with basic riffs....

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## MIke R

> Not the video I saw and Van Halen is no young guy- 56 next week




which would make Eddie 13 when Alvin played that song

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## andynap

No- I think the criteria they used was what remained memorable not what was difficult otherwise only guitar players would like the list or not.

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## andynap

> Originally Posted by Andynap
> 
> Not the video I saw and Van Halen is no young guy- 56 next week
> 
> 
> 
> 
> which would make Eddie 13 when Alvin played that song




Musical genius- LOL

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## MIke R

yes he is that.....

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## MIke R

> No- I think the criteria they used was what remained memorable not what was difficult otherwise only guitar players would like the list or not.




I hear  ya..

well listen to Layla....the piano was the lead instrument in the riff...with a slide guitar in the background....

great song...terrific piano playing...classic.....not worthy of a top 50 guitar song for sure

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## andynap

If your guy- whomever he is- invented that style Van Halen popularized it. I remember my son playing his guitar along with Van Halen day after day and night after night- Ohh my ears.

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## Voosh

Alternate version from Paris in 1974: 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc26EFI1_nw 


Maybe I'm biased. Dick Wagner, hometown boy here ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Wagner ) played a lot of that guitar. 


It's all incredible. IMHO.

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## MIke R

I got no beef with Eddie...I think he is top 5 best rock guitar players ever....and my parents share your  pain as I  tried playing Jimi over and over and over..to the point  that they forced me to play the Sunday "Folk Mass" ( remember that nonsense? ) to round out my playing experience...and then the priest fired me for putting too much of a rock beat into the songs....LOL

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## andynap

Well I can't complain- my son owns 3 music schools among other things. Folk Mass? You mean the guitar players at Sunday Mass? I saw that in Denver last year.

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## MIke R

yeah thats it..was a  very big thing in the late 60's..at least in my neck of the woods

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## Theresa

Andy is right.  The leading criteria here is whether the riff is memorable to the listening public.

You want difficult?  Listen to Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen, neither of whom are on the list.

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## Voosh

> yeah thats it..was a  very big thing in the late 60's..at least in my neck of the woods




Yeah. Here too. 

Jesuit high school included mass in the morning. It included our ID cards (in the 60s) being checked and noted. They went to once a week community mass whiile I was there. 

They introduced a folk-style guitar fellow student to play along in the masses. He sucked. Many of us were getting really involved in the music scene here. We just gave him props, since it was better than just sitting through mass in coat and tie. I suppose the "Jebbies" tried. Many of them left the order. One went on to open a very popular Irish pub with great music.

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## MIke R

> Andy is right.  The leading criteria here is whether the riff is memorable to the listening public.
> 
> You want difficult?  Listen to Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen, neither of whom are on the list.




I have and listen to Joe Satriana often

add Eric Johnson to that list

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## andynap

> You want difficult?  Listen to Joe Satriani or Yngwie Malmsteen, neither of whom are on the list.




Even I know them. 2 of my sons heroes.

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## MIke R

listen to Satch Boogie and Surfing With the Alien..

the guy is good

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## andynap

Yes- Satriani plays the Keswick here often.

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