The 16 Greatest Guitar Riffs of All Time

Four notes can outlive a whole catalogue. Some of these were written in a hotel room, one by accident in a studio.

1

Smoke on the Water

Deep Purple's four-note 1972 riff, the first thing millions of guitarists ever learn.

1000pts

2

Sweet Child o' Mine

Slash's circular 1987 exercise-turned-intro that opened Guns N' Roses to radio.

1000pts

3

Money for Nothing

Mark Knopfler's 1985 Dire Straits tone, half riff and half studio accident.

742pts

4

Purple Haze

Jimi Hendrix's 1967 opening, tritone and all, that reset what a guitar could sound like.

742pts

5

Iron Man

Tony Iommi's plodding 1970 Black Sabbath line, often called the birth cry of heavy metal.

621pts

6

Smells Like Teen Spirit

Kurt Cobain's four-chord 1991 figure that ended the hair-metal decade overnight.

548pts

7

Walk This Way

Joe Perry's 1975 Aerosmith strut, later the bridge between rock and hip-hop.

548pts

8

Back in Black

Angus Young's 1980 AC/DC riff, written weeks after the band nearly ended.

464pts

9

Whole Lotta Love

Jimmy Page's swaggering 1969 Led Zeppelin figure, built on a descending blues push.

464pts

10

Seven Nation Army

Jack White's 2003 bass-octave line, now sung by football crowds worldwide.

464pts

11

Enter Sandman

Metallica's 1991 clean-to-heavy build, the riff that carried metal onto daytime radio.

365pts

12

Sunshine of Your Love

Cream's 1967 riff, Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce trading a blues phrase in unison.

249pts

13

Master of Puppets

The 1986 Metallica title track's down-picked E-string gallop, thrash at full speed.

249pts

14

Crazy Train

Randy Rhoads' 1980 riff on Ozzy Osbourne's solo debut, neoclassical metal in miniature.

249pts

15

Layla

The 1970 Derek and the Dominos hook, Clapton and Duane Allman doubling the line.

249pts

16

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

Keith Richards' fuzzbox hook from 1965, reportedly written half-asleep in a hotel.

110pts