1.8 million blog hits - Celebration post - The all time top ten guitar riffs

To celebrate reaching passing 1,800,000 blog hits, we've compiled a list of the all time top ten guitar riffs. Here's our list. Do you agree? We followed a couple of simple rules. Only one entry per artist, must be a riff we've heard blasted out on numerous occasions in the studios and must kick ass. We asked our studio staff and customers over the weekend for input and we've gone for a list that goes through the history of rock and roll. These are the riffs that built the world of Rock !

Counting down...

10 - The Sex Pistols - Pretty Vacant intro. Beautifully simple. Launched a new wave of punk guitarists. Easy enough to play, but a bit harder to get the perfect overdriven crunchy tone.
 

 9. Rage Against the Machine - Killing in the name. An absolute killer riff. Fair to say that if you don't like this riff, you don't like rock and roll.




 8. Johnny Kidd & The Pirates - Shakin' All Over - One of the Riffs that defined what Rock and Roll was all about. Must be one of the first riffs every guitarist learns.




 7. Run DMC/AeroSmith - Walk this Way - Perhaps the only riff that both rockers and rappers get off on ! Sounds great whatever way you do it !




6. T Rex - 20th Century Boy. An absolute killer. This is a riff that just screams out to be played. Makes you want to blast the guitar up to 11, stand in front of the mirror and give real attitude when you hit the strings.





5. Guns and Roses - Sweet Child of mine. A truly great riff. Rock and roll at it's absolute finest.






 4. Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze. The genius of Jimi, One of the riffs that define the sound of rock.




 3. Cream - Sunshine of your love. Owners of rehearsal studios everywhere know just how important this riff is.

 

2. Deep Purple - Smoke on the water. The ultimate brain bug riff. Just mention the name of it and you'll be humming it all day

 


1. Led Zeppelin - Black Dog. Zeppelin launched a whole generation of guitarists. We could have picked any of a long list of their songs but finally settled on Black Dog.  

Do you agree? What is your top ten?