Guitar Riffs

A Dragon




Poison - Alice Cooper

Light chorus then overdrive. Bridge Pickup. Do not let notes ring throughout.


||---------------------------------||
||.---------5---3-----------------.||
||------2-------------5-----5------||
||--0-0---0---0---4-5---4-5---2-0--||
||.-------------------------------.||
||---------------------------------||

                                                                                Artwork By Tarquin

Sweet Child Of Mine - Guns 'N' Roses

Clean overdrive. Reverb. Neck Pickup.

Intro Riff:
Do not let notes ring except very last.

||--------------15----14----------------15----14----|-------------15----14----------------15----14----|
||.----15----------------------15-------------------|----15----------------------15-------------------|
||--------14-12----14----14-------14-12----14----14-|-------14-12----14----14-------14-12----14----14-|
||--12----------------------12----------------------|-14----------------------14----------------------|
||.-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
||--------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|

                                                   1.2. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
|-------------15----14----------------15----14----|-------------15----14----------------15----14-----||
|----15----------------------15-------------------|----15----------------------15-------------------.||
|-12----14-12----14----14-12----14-12----14----14-|-------14-12----14----14-------14-12----14----14--||
|-------------------------------------------------|-12----------------------12-----------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------.||
|-------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------||

 3. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -|
|-12----------12----14----15----14----12----------||
|-------15----------------------------------15----||
|----14----14----14----14----14----14----14-------||
|-------------------------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------||
|-------------------------------------------------||

Chorus Riff:
Do not let notes ring except very last. L.SL. = Legato Slide


|-------------------------------------12----10----|-------------15----14----------------15----14----|
|----14-------15----14-------13-------------------|----15----------------------15-------------------|
|-------14-------14----14-------12-10----12----12-|-------14-12----14----14-------14-12----14----14-|
|-14-------14-------------12----------------------|-12----------------------12----------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------| 

|-------------------------------------12----10----|-------------------------------------------------|
|----14-------15----14-------13-------------------|-L.SL.-15----------------------------------------|
|-------14-------14----14-------12-10----12----12-|-12/14-------------------------------------------|
|-14-------14-------------12----------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|

History - Cast

Main Riff, variations throughout. This version is the most consistent.

Overdrive. Long, multiple delay. Bridge pickup. Palm mute.


||------------------------|----------------------------||
||.-----------------------|---------2-1-2-1-----1-----.||
||--3---------3-----3---3-|-1-1-1-1---------3-1---3-1--||
||----1-1-1-1---1-1---1---|----------------------------||
||.-----------------------|---------------------------.||
||------------------------|----------------------------||

Layla - Eric Clapton

High gain overdrive. Reverb. Bridge Pickup. ^ = Bend Up. v = Release Bend.


                         Full                                 Full
         H  P             ^ v                 H  P             ^ v 
---H---10-13-10-H--|-10--13--12----10---H---10-13-10-H--|-10--15--12----10-
-10-13----------13-|------------13----10-13----------13-|------------13----
-------------------|------------------------------------|------------------
-------------------|------------------------------------|------------------
-------------------|------------------------------------|------------------
-------------------|------------------------------------|------------------

Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love - Van Halen

Overdrive. Slow flange. 350 ms delay. Reverb. Neck Pickup.


   P.M. - - - - - - - - |
||----------0-1-----3----------------||
||.-----1-------1-----3-------------.||
||--------2-------2------------------||
||----2----------------------H-(P)---||
||.-0---------------------3-2-3-(2)-.||
||----------------------3------------||

Sleepflower (I think) - The Manic Street Preachers

Distortion of some kind, probably metal. This riff is mirrored by the bass guitar. If any of this info is wrong, sorry, but I was given the info by a friend in Uni.


||------------------------------------------------------||
||.---------P------------------------------------------.||
||---------3-2----------H-P-P----0----P-----------------||
||--0--0-0-----0-3-3-0-2-3-2-0-------3-2----------H-----||
||.----------------------------3---3-----3-1-1-0-1-3-3-.||
||------------------------------------------------------||

Captain Crash & The Beauty Queen From Mars - Bon Jovi

Overdrive and maybe reverb. Bridge pickup.

The intro.


                             Play 5 times (fade in on the first)
||-----------8-------------8----|----------8---------------------||
||.------------(8)-----------(8)|------------(8)----------H---8-.||
||------------------------------|------------------------9-10----||
||--10-10-10------10-10-10------|-10-10-10------10-10-10---------||
||.-----------------------------|-------------------------------.||
||------------------------------|--------------------------------||

                     Play 3 times
||-----------8-------------8-----||----------8--------------------|
||.------------(8)-----------(8).||------------(8)----------H---8-|
||-------------------------------||------------------------9-10---|
||--10-10-10------10-10-10-------||-10-10-10------10-10-10--------|
||.-----------------------------.||-------------------------------|
||-------------------------------||-------------------------------|

Over the top of the last bit:
|-----------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
|-------------H--5|~---------H--5|~----------H---|---------------|
|------------5-7--|---------5-7--|----------5-7-5|-4-4-4-5-7-----|
|-----------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
|-----------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|
|-----------------|--------------|---------------|---------------|

The riff just after the chorus. The notes in brackets are only played once near the end of the song.


|-12-------12----|-12-------12----|-13-------13----|---P--------P-------------(P)-------|
|----13-------13-|----13-------13-|----13----------|-13-12----13-12---------(6)-(5)-----|
|-------12-------|-------12-------|-------12-------|-------12-------12~-------------(5)-|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------------------------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------------------------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------------------------------|

Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Overdrive. Neck Pickup.

The bit that everyone headbangs to:


|---------------|--------------|---------------|------------------|-----------
|---------------|--------------|---------------|------------------|-----------
|---------------|--------------|---------------|------------------|-----------
|----------H-H--|--------------|----------H-H--|------------------|-----------
|-6-(H)---3-5-6-|-6-(H)--H-P---|-6-(H)---3-5-6-|-8-(H)--H--P---P--|-----------
|---3-4-6-------|---3-4-6-8-6--|---3-4-6-------|---5-6-8-10-8-6-5-|-6---------

Finetime - Cast

Overdive. Possible reverb. Bridge Pickup.

Chorus:


                      1. - - - - - - - - - - - -|2. - - - - - - - -|
||-------------------|-------------------------||------------------|
||.------------------|------------------------.||------------------|
||-------------------|-------------------------||------------------|
||------11-------9---|-----11----H--H----------||-----11-----------|
||.------------------|-9-9----9-9-11-13-11-13-.||-9-9----9---------|
||--9-9----9-7-7---7-|-------------------------||------------------|

Bridge:


                             1. - - - - - - - - - - - - - |2. - - - - - - - - - - - |
||----------------------9---|---------------------13-----||---------------------9---|
||.-------9------H--H-----9-|-------9------H--H------14-.||-------9------H--H-------|
||-----10------10-11-13-----|----10------10-11-13--------||----10------10-11-13-----|
||--11------11--------------|-11------11-----------------||-11------11--------------|
||.-------------------------|---------------------------.||-------------------------|
||--------------------------|----------------------------||-------------------------|

Estranged - Guns 'N' Roses

Overdrive. Reverb. Bridge Pickup.

Second Riff (I have decided that the first is not good enough to qualify to being allowed to appear on this page, but it is better than many things I could write):

L.SL. = Legato Slide. ^ = Bend Up. v = Release Bend. P^ = Pre-Bend Up. One transcription shows the fourth note as a second string, 15th fret. My version is easier for me.


|----------10-----||--------L.SL.-----P---|---P-----------------||(L.SL.)--------------|
|-----------------||.-------13/15---13-12-|-13-12-------15-----.||(15\)13--------------|
|-------12--------||-----12---------------|-------12------------||---------------------|
|----12-----------||--10------------------|----------12---------||---------------------|
|-10--------------||.---------------------|--------------------.||---------------------|
|-----------------||----------------------|---------------------||---------------------|

  Full Full
        _______
|-P^-v-^-------v-|------------------|------------------|
|-13-------------|-11------------P--|------------------|
|----------------|-------------15-14|12----------------|
|----------------|------------------|------------------|
|----------------|------------------|------------------|
|----------------|------------------|------------------|

Wake Up - Rage Against The Machine

Light overdrive then slight flange. Bridge Pickup. Or something like that. Try to pick over the bridge pickup to get the right twangy sound.

Main Riff (the one that does not have the verse over it), using dropped D tuning:


||-------------------------------||
||.-----------------------------.||
||-------------------------------||
||-------------H-----------------||
||.-------3---2-3-(0)-3-5-0-3-2-.||
||--0-0-0---0------0--3-5-0-3-2--||

Walk This Way - Aerosmith

Light overdrive. Bridge Pickup. Very slight reverb.

Main Riff (the one at the start of the Run DMC version)
(that character you can hardly make out is a ¼):

                                     ___________________________________ _________________________________
                                    |                                1. |                               2.|
||----------------------------------|----------------------------------||---------------------------------|
||.---------------------------------|---------------------------------.||---------------------------------|
||----------------------------------|----------------------------------||---------------------2-----------|
||---H-H--2----H-H--2---------------|--H-H--2----H-H--2----¼--2--------||--H-H--2----H-H--2---2-----------|
||.-0-1-2-----0-1-2-----------------|-0-1-2-----0-1-2------^----------.||-0-1-2-----0-1-2-----0-----------|
||----------------------0-----------|---------------------0------------||---------------------------------|

My Generation - Limp Bizkit

The bit played behind the 'Do you think we can fly' and the 'DJ Lethal, bring it on' bits. Tabbed as part of the full tab.

King Nothing - Metallica

Heavy overdrive. Bridge Pickup. I think . . .

Of course, I couldn't not put a riff by Metallica on here. They are after all the best band in the world . . ever!

Main Riff, played with guitars tuned down one semitone:

/ = Slide up.


|------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------|
|---------------5--------5-----8---7-|
|---5-6-7----/7---7---/7---7---------|
|-0-(let ring)---------------6---5---|

Master Of Puppets - Metallica

Metal / overdrive. Neck Pickup. I think . . .

Now this one's fast but easy after a bit of practice, but it looks impressive.

Second Riff:

L.SL. = Legato Slide.


|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|-----2-----3-----4-----3-----2-2-|-----2-----3-----4-----3-----2---|
|-0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1-----|-0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1-----|

|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|-----------------L.SL.-L.SL.-----|
|-----2-----3-----4-----3-----2-2-|-----2-----3-----5\4\--5\4\--5\4-|
|-0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1-----|-0-1---0-1---0-1-3\2\0-3\2\0-3\2-|

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