The guitar phrasing that characterizes the classic Guns ‘n’ Roses “Sweet Child of Mine” It was chosen as the best riff in the history of rock, according to a survey of 1,500 people by the company Muse Group, publisher of the prestigious specialized magazine Ultimate Guitar and creator of software for musicians.
The survey yielded many surprises, among them that the emblematic “Smoke on the Water” by Deep Purple recently appeared in the 16th position, that a composition by King of Leon was cast among the first five places and that among the first ten songs chosen Jimi Hendrix, The Rolling Stones or AC/DC do not appear, to name just a few curiosities.
Second place went to “Eye of the Tiger”, an eighties classic that served as the curtain for the movie “Rocky III” performed by Survivor, a group that could join the so-called “one hit band”, a name for groups that only they are known for having only one big hit in their entire career.
In third place was a piece recognized for its bass line instead of its guitar riff and it is “Another One Bites the Dust”, by Queen; it was followed by “Sex on Fire” by King of Leon and closes the top 5 “Stairway to Heaven” by Le Zeppelin.
A riff is a phrase that serves as a musical motif throughout a song and gives a recognizable character to the composition.
The following is the list of the 30 riffs chosen in the survey conducted by Muse Group.
1) “Sweet Child of Mine”, Guns ‘n’ Roses.
2) “Eye of the Tiger”, Survivor.
3) “Another One Bites the Dust”, Queen.
4) “Sex on Fire”, King of Leon.
5) “Stairway to Heaven”, Led Zeppelin.
6) “Beat It”, Michael Jackson.
7) “Smells like Teen Spirit”, Nirvana.
8) “Sweet Home Alabama”, Lynyrd Skynyrd.
9) “Layla”, Eric Clapton.
10) “Money for Nothing”, Dire Straits.
11) “Purple Haze”, Jimi Hendrix.
12) “The Chain”, Fleetwood Mac.
13) “Back in Black”, AC/DC.
14) “The Ace of Spades”, Motorhead.
15) “Walk This Way”, Aerosmith.
16) “Smoke on the Water”, Deep Purple.
17) “You Really Got Me”, The Kinks.
18) “The Wall”, Pink Floyd.
19) “Ring of Fire”, Johnny Cash.
20) “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll”, Joan Jett.
21) “Voodoo Child”, Jimi Hendrix.
22) “Born to Be Wild”, Steppenwolf.
23) “Seven Nation Army”, The White Stripes.
24) “Satisfaction (I Can’t Get No)”, The Rolling Stones.
25) “Come as You Are”, Nirvana.
26) “Whole Lotta Love”, Led Zeppelin.
27) “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”, Arctic Monkeys.
28) “Message in a Bottle”, The Police.
29) “All Right Now”, Free.
30) “Brown Sugar”, The Rolling Stones.
