So what the hell is a riff anyway? There are numerous definitions out there, but most are along these lines: "a short rhythmic musical phrase which may be repeated often during a piece."
Through the decades as folk begat blues, blues got rhythm then spawned rock 'n' roll and its many bastard offspring, the guitar riff became king, sometimes even usurping the vocal melody as a song's main calling card.
Whole careers have been built on killer guitar riffs, so it's fitting that as another decade winds down we celebrate the most unforgettable air guitar anthems of all time. Yup, this week on MusicRadar it's Riff Week.
Interviews, features, video
Not only will we be counting down the top 50 guitar riffs of all time as voted for by you, but we'll also feature a dazzling array of A-listers from Slash to Brian May, Billy Gibbons, Rivers Cuomo, Jeff Beck and Joe Satriani.
These guitar stars know a thing or two about riffs, so we asked them to nominate their favourites and tell us what they think makes a great guitar riff.
We'll also be charting the evolution of the riff in the history of popular music and even offering non-guitarists the chance to get in on the act by giving away hundreds of pro-quality heavy metal guitar samples. For free.
Features
The Top 50 Guitar Riffs Of All Time: Part One (50-26)
The greatest riffs ever, as voted for by you!
The Top 50 Guitar Riffs Of All Time: Part Two (25-1)
We have a winner!
9 guitar heroes pick their favourite riffs
Joe Perry, Tony Iommi, Billy Gibbons, Jeff Beck and more!
The alternative 10 greatest riffs of all time
Your favourites as you've never heard them before
The evolution of the guitar riff
Charting the riff from Howlin' Wolf to Jack White
SampleRadar: 400 free heavy metal guitar samples
Celebrate Riff Week with these crunchy free sounds
Interviews
VIDEO: Slash picks his favourite riffs
Plus riff-writing tips from the GN'R and Velvet Revolver star
VIDEO: Queen's Brian May picks his favourite riffs
The Kinks, Black Sabbath and The Beatles all feature
“There’s three of us playing guitar in Foo Fighters… A lot of tone details can get lost, which is what drew me to the Cleaver – that P-90 cut”: Chris Shiflett on how he found his weapon of choice with his Fender Cleaver Telecaster Deluxe
“People have used it as their wedding song. I often think, ‘Hey, did you listen to the lyrics?’”: The classic number one hit with a sting in its tail
“There’s three of us playing guitar in Foo Fighters… A lot of tone details can get lost, which is what drew me to the Cleaver – that P-90 cut”: Chris Shiflett on how he found his weapon of choice with his Fender Cleaver Telecaster Deluxe
“People have used it as their wedding song. I often think, ‘Hey, did you listen to the lyrics?’”: The classic number one hit with a sting in its tail
