Guitar Shop Riffs

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monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
edited December 2013 in Technique tFB Trader
I've always played guitar to play in bands and when I'm not learning songs for them I tend to noodle about rather than play anything in particular. 

As a result I don't know enough "Guitar Shop Riffs", you know the kind of thing that Andy, Gearmandude, and Chappers are always busting out all over the place. Twisty rocking riffs from well known songs that are fun to play and sound impressive. 

Cos I've just got me a JS1000 I'm learning Satch Boogie at the moment (not the solos I might add)

What else should I be learning to play?
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  • stedsted Frets: 259
    Smoke on the water, stairway, sweet child of mine.....

    I do it just to see the look on the staffs faces, I even play them badly on purpose...honestly....
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  • mike_lmike_l Frets: 5700

    Enter Sandman

    first couple of riffs from Master of Puppets

    Ain't talkin 'bout love

    Ringleader of the Cambridge cartel, pedal champ and king of the dirt boxes (down to 21) 

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  • monquixotemonquixote Frets: 17485
    tFB Trader
    Keep em coming. 

    I should probably mention that I'm thinking more of fun showoff riffs from songs rather than cliche guitar shop riffs. 
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  • octatonicoctatonic Frets: 33725
    You don't want anything too obvious, but also nothing too obscure.

    I play "I'm Buzzed" by Mike Landau or 'Revelation' by Robben Ford.
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  • Tuneless blues widdle in A works for me.
    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • EricTheWearyEricTheWeary Frets: 16253
    edited December 2013
    Fecking accidental double post that I can't delete but can edit to write pointless gibberish instead of just showing the same thing twice even though my original post was actually little more than gibberish posted whilst watching Worlds Strongest Man in the hope my morning coffee will work its way to my bowels so I can go have a nice poo and go to the hell on earth that is last minute Xmas food shopping with a nice empty feeling in my stomach, you know that happy moment of not feeling quite so fat but not yet feeling hungry which is how I imagine it must be like to be slim and fit pretty much all the time although I suppose having a collection of neuroses about your body and hang ups about minor mental states is not reserved for those of us of a portly nature.

    Tipton is a small fishing village in the borough of Sandwell. 
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  • He Man Woman Hater (only if I'm totally warmed up and feeling particularly confident)
    Get The Funk Out
    Bark at the Moon
    Enter Sandman, as already mentioned
    Cowboys From Hell
    Hysteria (Muse) - works equally well on bass, BTW
    Know Your Enemy

    All good fun. You'll note that there's nothing clean there... ;)
    <space for hire>
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  • cruxiformcruxiform Frets: 2533
    edited December 2013
    Back in the 90's after a couple of pints a friend and I went into a guitar shop in Denmark Street and I picked up a Gibson Les Paul, then plucked the high e string every 5 seconds for about 20 minutes.We were pissing ourselves. Everytime  the assistant tried to intervene I'd say 'do you want me to buy this guitar or what? 

    These days I always like to go through the guitar shop classics and as said earlier, played badly. I laugh at those who take themselves too seriously.
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  • TTonyTTony Frets: 27345

    I'm not a huge Clapton fan, but Layla & Tears in Heaven?

    Go Insane (Lindsey Buckingham)

    Any AC/DC (done properly) or ZZ Top (Heard it on the X - I can never get that right enough for long enough!)

    Pinball Wizard

    UFO - Rock Bottom or the intro part from DrDr

    Message in a bottle

    Sweet home Alabama (almost as obligatory as Smoke on the Water & SCoM)

    Loads of Zep stuff - I like 10years gone.

     

    Let me know when you've cracked that lot.  So, probably tomorrow.

    Having trouble posting images here?  This might help.
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  • DeadmanDeadman Frets: 3852
    Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

    Search and destroy - Stooges

    New Rose - The Damned

    When you're young - The Jam

    Roxanne - The Police

    usuals for me.
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  • All of these?  :P



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  • Without reading the rest(sorry for any repeats), not all rock, but that axe can cover lots of ground.

    Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear
    Cult - She Sells Sea Shells
    Ram Jam - Black Betty
    Crowded House - Don't Dream it's Over (play an abridged version of the whole damn song, solo is a beauty too)
    Police - Walking on the Moon
    Sabbath - Neon Knights
    Laura Branigan - Self Control (possibly one of the greatest and simplest guitar riffs ever)


    Any Piccies, MQ?


    Only a Fool Would Say That.
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  • mellowsunmellowsun Frets: 2422
    I can tell you what I used to play in my guitar shop riff repertoire

    Waterfall - Stone Roses
    The Boy with the Thorn in His Side - Smiths
    There She Goes - The La's
    Run to you - Bryan Adams
    Bad - U2

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  • cruxiformcruxiform Frets: 2533
    Deadman said:
    Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

    Search and destroy - Stooges

    New Rose - The Damned

    When you're young - The Jam

    Roxanne - The Police

    usuals for me.
    Nice selection. The riff from Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk To Fuck also sounds cool.
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  • cruxiformcruxiform Frets: 2533
    All of these?  :P



    Now THAT is cool.
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  • DeadmanDeadman Frets: 3852
    cruxiform said:
    Deadman said:
    Under the bridge - Red hot chili peppers

    Search and destroy - Stooges

    New Rose - The Damned

    When you're young - The Jam

    Roxanne - The Police

    usuals for me.
    Nice selection. The riff from Dead Kennedy's Too Drunk To Fuck also sounds cool.
    I dig Dead Kennedys. Never tried to play any of their stuff but will now.
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  • This is an interesting thread...I work for Dawsons and we're looking to put some PR out about people's most hated songs in music shops. My own personal votes for most annoying would be Californication or Everlong... 


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  • Anything by Pantera ;)

    I normally play my own riffs.  That way, they don't know if I cock up :)

    Maybe some Alter Bridge to get big chord clarity and Protest the Hero to decide how much the guitar or amp likes things going a bit quicker and percussive. 

    Ain't talkin' bout love it the best, though. Or Supersonic Sex Machine - honestly, proper good guitar shop riff!
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  • BucketBucket Frets: 7751
    edited December 2013
    Keep em coming. 

    I should probably mention that I'm thinking more of fun showoff riffs from songs rather than cliche guitar shop riffs. 
    The perfect twisty, cool show-off riff - Decadence Dance by Extreme (the intro especially, all the other riffs are fucking great too). Cupid's Dead is also good fun. Sometimes the solo from "Get the Funk Out" if I'm feeling exceptionally brave. Others I like:

    Black Shuck by the Darkness - my first port of call for testing out something like a Tele with distortion. Listen and you might hear why.

    Digi's suggestion of Bark at the Moon is right on the money - the riff after the second chorus in particular is awesome.

    Where big chords are needed, try out Stone in Love by Journey. Something more complex that works well for chord clarity etc. is the intro to All New Materials by Periphery, that's a fantastic riff but also a real test of how clear a distorted tone is. One day I hope to be good enough to get the verse riff from Insomnia by Periphery down, that'd be the ultimate guitar shop riff!

    The second riff in the intro of Tornado of Souls by Megadeth, perhaps? Lots of good riffs on Rust in Peace. And the main riff from Battery by Metallica, while you're at it. Jesus Christ, that's a riff and a half.

    If you want some classic, twisty metal riffage that isn't quite so thrashy, one of the best has to be Get Away by Loudness. And also Run For Your Life, which is a lot harder - weird time signature, odd position shifts. Mad.

    If you want a twisty, technical metal riff then the main riff from Sea of Lies by Symphony X is good. I think I can do about the first minute, the rest is just impossible. The solos are mind-blowing to listen to, but literally impossible to play. Im-fucking-possible.

    I want to one day be good enough to attempt Green Tinted Sixties Mind by Mr. Big in a guitar shop. That's fucking hard. Another good Paul Gilbert riff is to be found 50 seconds into The Curse of Castle Dragon... that's a toughie as well. Sounds great though.

    I also want to work out The Animal by Steve Vai, that riff is monstrous - doesn't sound too complex but really, really fucking good.


    Anyway, got carried away - again. Just learn Decadence Dance, it will serve you well.
    - "I'm going to write a very stiff letter. A VERY stiff letter. On cardboard."
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  • Bucket said:
    The perfect twisty, cool show-off riff - Decadence Dance by Extreme (the intro especially, all the other riffs are fucking great too). Cupid's Dead is also good fun. Sometimes the solo from "Get the Funk Out" if I'm feeling exceptionally brave. 
    Yes. I keep meaning to learn Decadence Dance, but I generally make a point of not learning too much stuff by people I fanboy over, because it's just a lesson in frustration.

    Then again....the solo in Get the Funk Out, while requiring large amounts of bravery (I actually played it on stage a few times), is actually the easiest one on the album. I've had seven or eight distinct attempts to learn the one from Lil Jack Horny, and failed utterly every time.
    <space for hire>
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