Famous Riffs for Practice

[Sascrotch]

Can anyone recommend some good riffs from bands that are somewhat famous?

[FeTiS]

nirvana - lounge act
red hot chili peppers - otherside(bridge)
creed - my own prison
limp bizkit - my way
our lady peace - life

theres a couple good riffs. not all that hard, but sound good.

[SuperDuck]

No offense, but that's like asking "Does anyone know of a book that has words that people have heard of?" There are countless songs by countless people that have recognizable riffs. Are you looking for a specific genre or band?

By the way, questions like this would get the most responses from the "Recordings" forum.

[akajuve400g]

I say rearranged...not hard but it is probably the most recognizable bass riff in pop music today....limp bizkit is pop (rock/metal/pop)

[alx564]

Originally posted by akajuve400g
I say rearranged...not hard but it is probably the most recognizable bass riff in pop music today....limp bizkit is pop (rock/metal/pop)

I second that notion. Man that was like the second riff I ever learned and I played it for weeks non-stop. Still do.

[Boplicity]

Is it metal you want? These songs have well known, easily recognizable riffs.

For Whom the Bell Tolls...Metallica
Enter Sandman...Metallica
Theme from Mission Impossible...Limp Bizkit version
My Way...Limp Bizkit
Break Stuff...Limp Bizkit
Patience...Guns n Roses
Paradise City...Guns n Roses
Walk...Pantera
Iron Man...Black Sabbath
War Pigs...Black Sabbath
Man in the Box...Alice in Chains
Rooster...Alice in Chains
Smack My B**** Up...Prodigy
The Number of the Beast...Iron Maiden
Fear of the Dark...Iron Maiden
Dr. Feel Good...Motley Crew
Back in Black...AC/DC
Fight for Our Right to Party...Beastie Boys
Rock and Roll All Night...Kiss


That's just for starters.

JO

[Stu]

Sabbath are always good for riffs, like, N.I.B, Children of the Grave, Symptom of the Universe, Dirty Women etc..

Stu

[ikickuintheballs]

Originally posted by Stu
Sabbath are always good for riffs, like, N.I.B, Children of the Grave, Symptom of the Universe, Dirty Women etc..

Stu

NIB!!!! hehe

[MJB]

Cream-Sunshine of your love, Badge, Politician

Hendrix-Fire, Hey Joe

Queen-Another one bites the dust

Sonny & Cher The beat goes on

Temptations-Papa was a rolling stone, My Girl

When you have all those down, anything by Jaco.

[Dave Castelo]

Cream - Sunshine of your love is definetely an easy yet cool riff... the whole song is cool too.

i would add Radiohead - National Anthem if you want to make good impression in the college radio listeners. and is easy and impresive (more with effects)

and if you happen to have (and like) distortion, use it in:

Blur - Song 2... very cool track! i like to play the guitar strumming intro-verse on bass and then crank the distortion for the chorus-bridge-solo thing.

[Boplicity]

Les Claypool, you remind me of two songs with excellent riffs.

Jerry, The Race Car Driver...Primus
Tommy The Cat...Primus

jo

[BaroqueBass]

I would like to nominate the mountain song by jane's addiction

[duff_hodges]

Welcome To The Jungle - Guns N Roses
Paradise City - Guns N Roses
Eat The Rich - Aerosmith
Living On The Edge - Aerosmith
Living On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
In These Arms - Bon Jovi
Whole Lot Of Rosie - AC/DC
Born To Be Wild - Steppenwolf
Alright Now - Free
Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor

Try any stuff buy Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Some brilliant bass lines but not to everyones taste!)

[FLEABITE]

Longview by greenday is a cool bass riff everyone knows.

[Dave Castelo]

Originally posted by JasonOldsted
Les Claypool, you remind me of two songs with excellent riffs.

Jerry, The Race Car Driver...Primus
Tommy The Cat...Primus

jo

are those riffs for beginners?

yeah they are kind of easy... but better try these ones first, then those:

Too many Puppies (strumming 101)
DMV (tapping 101)
My name is mud
Groundhog´s day
Spegetti western
Those damn blue collar tweekers
Air is getting slippery (too easy )
most Antipop album

[Dave Castelo]

Originally posted by FLEABITE
Longview by greenday is a cool bass riff everyone knows.

Longview, Money (Pink Floyd) and Guerrilla Radio (RATM) were my first riffs ...

BTW: anything from RATM is fairly easy and funky!
I finally learned ALL the self titled album, it´s pretty good practice!

has:
Slow Riffs: like settle for nothing
medium riffs: Freedom, Bombtrack...
Fast Riffs: the second part of Bullet in the head
Slap Riff: take the power back
Slide riffs: fistfull of steel
mixed riffs: Know your enemy...love that song...starts with slap, continues with normal fingering, ends with distorted bass... love it, love it

[Alvaro Martín Gómez A.]

Another cool one is "Black dog" by Zeppelin.

[JimK]

...I was wonderin' when Led Zep would show up!
In addition to "Black Dog", there's "Heartbreaker", "Living Loving Maid", "Four Sticks"(in 5/8 time), "Misty Mountain Hop", "The Crunge"(in 5/4 time), "The Ocean", "The Wanton Song", etc.

[JimK]

Here's one that just came to me-
Living Colour's "Cult Of Personality"(it even has a bar of 3/4 in there admidst all the 4/4 bars). Check it out...it can put your fretting hand into a twisted mess!

[Cambass]

The verse riff from Midnight Oil's 'Stand in Line' is quite good.