Learning any musical instrument is hard work, especially in the beginning. While you struggle to produce a barely comprehensible note, thoughts of someday eliciting a musically valid passage from it seem as far off as pleasant weather seems to be in most parts of the country these days.

As you continue your education, it’s important to balance practising exercises, scales and chords with learning songs (or, at least, parts from songs) to keep your interest from flagging and to give you something to show when those pesky, but well-meaning, friends or family members ask you to “play something”. If your chosen instrument is the guitar, this article and accompanying video will show you how to play five simple, widely recognized and instantly memorable guitar riffs.

https://youtu.be/U1s8tTVHdQU

The riffs appear in the video in chronological order, not in order of difficulty, so feel free to start with the one you find easiest. It may be best to learn the Metallica and Nirvana ones first and then move on to the others. All parts are played here at a standard tempo of 120 BPM (beats per minute) to maintain continuity across the video, though the tempos differ slightly from song to song.

Learning these riffs requires knowledge of reading tablature. Reading tabs is extremely easy; if you don’t know how to, watch this video (courtesy the excellent www.justinguitar.com)

RIFF 1

Source: Kingofwallpapers.com

Song: SMOKE ON THE WATER
Band: Deep Purple
Guitarist: Ritchie Blackmore
Album: Machine Head (1972)

e|-----------------|---------------|----------------|------------------|
B|-----------------|---------------|----------------|------------------|
G|------3---5------|---3---6--5----|-----3---5----3-|------------------|
D|--5---3---5----5-|---3---6--5----|-5---3---5----3-|---5--------------|
A|--5------------5-|---------------|-5--------------|---5--------------|
E|-----------------|---------------|----------------|------------------|
    G5 Bb5  C5   G5   Bb5 C#5 C5     G5  Bb5 C5   Bb5   G5

This classic Deep Purple riff has become the bane of guitar store employees the world over because they’ve had to listen to it played literally dozens of times each day by enthusiastic customers. Its simplicity lies in the fact that there is only one two-string shape (known as an inverted power chord) you need to learn to be able to play it. Watch out for the syncopated rhythm in measures 2 and 4; syncopation is a complicated-sounding term that essentially means something very simple in concept – accenting the off-beats by playing notes/chords in-between where the beats are. If this sounds too tricky to grasp, just listen to the original riff a few times to get a feel for the rhythm. Also, take care to mute the guitar at appropriate moments – those little “holes of silence” are what give this riff its power and rhythmic thrust.

RIFF 2

Source: Image Coders

Song: HIGHWAY TO HELL
Band: AC/DC
Guitarists: Angus and Malcolm Young
Album: Highway to Hell (1979)

e|------------|------------|------------|-----------------|------------|
B|------------|------------|------------|-----------------|------------|
G|------------|------------|------------|-----------------|------------|
D|------------|------------|------------|-----------------|------------|
A|---7--7--7--|---5--5--5--|---5--5--5--|-5--5--5---5--7--|-7----------|
E|---5--5--5--|---2--2--3--|---2--2--3--|-2--2--3---2--5--|-5----------|
     A5           D     G5     D     G5   D     G5  D  A5

From inverted power chords, we move on to the more common root position power chords via this catchy AC/DC riff. Syncopation is, once more, the key element here as most measures start in-between beats 3 and 4 (also referred to as the “and” of 3; a simple 4-beat and its off-beats are often counted out loud as 1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and). Once again, silence is a vital element in making it sound just right. Remember to hit hard with your right hand, to start with, and learn to clean up any resulting noise as you practise further.

RIFF 3

Source: bp.blogspot.com

Song: ENTER SANDMAN
Band: Metallica
Guitarists: Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield
Album: Metallica (1991)

e|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
G|--------------0-------------------|--------------0-------------------|
D|---------2-------------------2----|---------2-------------------2----|
A|-------------------1----0---------|-------------------1----0---------|
E|----0-----------------------------|----0-----------------------------|
      Em

This simple, clean riff kicks off Metallica’s biggest-selling album, popularly known as ‘The Black Album’. The presence of the Bb (the 4th note in the measure) adds just the right touch of “evil” to this musical phrase that frames a song that would fit perfectly in a horror movie. Let the notes ring as much as possible and carefully execute the string-skips between the 6th and 4th strings.

RIFF 4

Source: toomanyblogs.co.uk

Song: COME AS YOU ARE
Band: Nirvana
Guitarist: Kurt Cobain
Album: Nevermind (1991)

e|-------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
B|-------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------|
G|-------------|*------------------------|----------------------------*|
D|-------------|*------------------------|----------------------------*|
A|-------------|-------0-----0-----------|------2---------2------------|
E|----0--0--1--|---2------2-----2--2--1--|--0------0---0------0---1----|
                  F#m

This hypnotic-sounding riff was originally played in D standard (a guitar tuned one whole step below standard tuning) but has been played here in E standard tuning to maintain continuity across the video. So, don’t be alarmed if you try playing it with the original and it sounds off. Letting the notes ring is again an important element in getting it to sound right. The final double-asterisk merely means, repeat the riff from where you see the previous double-asterisk (beginning of the 2nd measure).

RIFF 5

Source: i.ytimg.com

Song: SEVEN NATION ARMY
Band: The White Stripes
Guitarist: Jack White
Album: Elephant (2003)

e|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
B|---9---9--/12--9--7--5---4----|---9---9--/12--9--7--5--/7--/5---4----|
G|---9---9--/12--9--7--5---4----|---9---9--/12--9--7--5--/7--/5---4----|
D|---9---9--/12--9--7--5---4----|---9---9--/12--9--7--5--/7--/5---4----|
A|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
     E       G   E  D  C   B        E       G   E  D  C   D   C   B

This is the only riff in this article that’s not an intro riff (i.e., right at the beginning of the song). Instead, this passage appears during the chorus of The white Stripes’ incendiary hit from 2003. It’s possible – and indeed, recommended – to play all the chords using a single finger as a “barre” across the 2nd, 3rd and 4th strings. The slashes denote slides from the previous chord, so instead of picking the chord following the slashes, just slide (drag your finger across the fretboard) into it from the last one.

For more exciting and continuous musical advances, check out guitar lessons at home from UrbanClap!