20 Great Clean Guitar Riffs Ranked From Easy to Hard (with TAB)

A list of 20 clean guitar riffs ranked from easy to hard
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0:00 Chapters
0:03 Blur - Song 2
0:18 Nirvana - Heart Shaped Box
0:41 The Ventures - Wipe Out
1:00 Pink Floyd - Money
1:20 The Beatles - Dig A Pony
1:33 The Police - Message In A Bottle
1:48 The Lively Ones - Surf Rider
2:16 Metallica - Master Of Puppets
2:38 John Mayer - Belief
2:58 Jimi Hendrix - Wait Until Tomorrow
3:15 Scorpions - Still Loving You
3:34 Jimi Hendrix - Hey Joe
3:58 American Football - Never Meant
4:19 Jimi Hendrix - Castles Made of Sand
4:30 RHCP - Snow
4:50 Polyphia - Goose
5:15 CHON - But
5:36 Covet - Shibuya
6:01 Patrons who support the channel

[@nikolagugoski]

I underestimated the last few riffs thinking I could play them at the original tempo :)

[@reservoirfrog1]

Haha. Even legends have their struggles!

[@nikolagugoski]

I definitely need to practice more haha 😂

[@ilijalazevski5656]

Браво Гуго, одлично! 👏😁

[@nikolagugoski]

@@ilijalazevski5656 Фала Илија! Баш ми е мило што ти се свиѓа видеово :)

[@pedrolucassilvadeoliveira2449]

That's only a matter of time... Soon you'll be able to do It.

[@gabrielbazzomartins3825]

It's ridiculous that a band can strike you for just playing their riff. They should see this as a tribute and feel proud.

[@mrdrprofsteve506]

I'm surprised that it was striked. Tim henson, one of the guitarists, has tutorials on how to play some their songs, and guides about how he creates his songs. Makes me thing it has more to do with the record label and not the band

[@fatpad00]

@@mrdrprofsteve506 it's almost always the label, not the band. Rick Beato has multiple videos talking about copyright on KZbin

[@nikolagugoski]

Actually the strike came from Polyphia's tab publishing company. I don't think the band has anything to do with that. They were claiming that I'm not allowed to share something for free that they are making money off of. I wrote the tabs myself (even some of them were incorrect) but they didn't really care about that

[@Mango-rn7gy]

Not from the riff its from the tabs. They sel the tabs for it. Its not a bad thing that they stuck the video for the

[@witekd.1021]

@@nikolagugoski it's crazy... 🤦

[@TellEveryoneRecords]

So glad to see the American Football shout out. They're an all-timer.

[@Hunter_S_]

That one and the Polyphia/Chon/Covet ones were my favs.

[@Cl0v3rComics]

Heart Shaped Box was the first ever clean riff I learned. 2 days after picking my first acoustic.

[@galaxybrian8039]

can't hear Never Meant without getting goosebumps, especially played so clean. the tone was perfect as well, amazing

[@galaxybrian8039]

oh shit i wasnt ready for you to hit us with some Yvette Young at the end! incredible

[@phbobadilha7295]

I would love to see a "No surprises" tutorial made by you. It would be incredible. Astonishing work as always nikola

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you! I've done a few Radiohead riffs and they are all getting claimed

[@moncore6099]

why cant i hear it

[@nikolagugoski]

@@moncore6099 it got a copyright claim and I muted it

[@ptwotwo2055]

Make music for the fans but don't want the fans to be inspired by playing their music, if no one passes on knowledge then we're screwed 😂😂

[@tehjargonz0r]

@@ptwotwo2055 pretty sure it's the labels doing not, not the actual musicians. except for Polyphia, they strike everything because they want you to buy tabs from their website

[@OliverGottberg]

castles made of sand is really good, also love the rhcp vearsion. you even threw in some polyphia in this one, love that

[@nikolagugoski]

Thanks for watching Oliver! Glad you liked this one ☺️

[@psychovini6613]

This part of "But" is SO good... Great playing!

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, one of my favorite chon riffs :)

[@jaredzook5713]

Awesome video, not many people play Snow right! I'm normally not a stickler in general but for Floods it is actually C standard tuning, the further they went with albums the lower Dimebag wanted his tuning lol

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you Jared! Glad you liked it 🙂 couldn't tune lower for Floods. I use 10s gauge and all strings were very floppy 🤣

[@alfrodmcc1903]

I’m sorry, floods is in D standard and down one quarter step.

[@jaredzook5713]

@@alfrodmcc1903 Yeah you're totally right, I always get that mixed up lol

[@user-lk1qg4vm5s]

@@theedgera2877 i always thought it was in a Db Standard

[@increincreincre]

So fun to see that one of the first riffs i tried to lern in my guitar path was in the middle of your list. :) After one year guitar playing i learned Covet's song - Shibuya by one of your videos. I said it few times, but i'll said it again: Thank you very much Nikola for your work, your vids UNBELIVIEBLY helped me with my guitar hobby. Keep it up!

[@nikolagugoski]

That's awesome man! Really glad to hear that my videos help 😊 thanks for watching

[@jacklong5158]

i love how you put Jimi hendrix and pink Floyd and all these greats in there and then there's Never Meant by American Football. I swear that song will live beyond time and I'm here for it always

[@szymondudzinski6661]

Never meant has one of the best guitar riffs ever written. My God

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, both guitars together sound amazing 😁

[@hb15577]

You nailed the song choices here all of these riffs sound great, and they all somewhat at a level where an intermediate player should be able to play along with given enough time.

[@tomastruchly9484]

Snow from RHCP is beautiful, but truly a difficult riff

[@artojhannula]

True.

[@witekd.1021]

While this riff is quite fast, it is schematic. It is not very difficult.

[@nocosa]

play it slow and then speed it up.

[@Mustaine1ify]

​@@witekd.1021It's the stamina that kills you on that riff.

[@0stre]

You inspired me with this collection to dust off my guitar. Thanks! 🤘

[@nikolagugoski]

Happy to hear that 😊

[@rubenmeijerink4266]

Polyphia indeed sounds like a band that would be this humorless to copyright tabs lol

[@Pewtooyou]

I'm surprised that you had Message in a Bottle so low down on the list... That arpeggio stretch can be real tough for players with smaller hands.... Great job none the less!

[@DigitalBath306]

god, that chon "but" riff is beautiful, gotta learn it instantly

[@nunolance23]

One detail: on the But riff by Chon, the sliding up at 6:04 should be 15 on the high E and 15 on the B string, and same for 6:15

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, I keep messing up these tabs 😂

[@nunolance23]

@@nikolagugoski its hard not to mess up something when you do so many! keep blessing us with these bro!

[@yobrethren]

Wait, wut, how is sharing tabs gets you a copyright strike? Am i missing something? Anyways, nice playing, Frusciante's Snow is really nothing to scoff at

[@jakethornton7]

I think it's because Polyphia currently sells official tab books, while the others don't.

[@yobrethren]

@@jakethornton7 ah, i see Fair enough

[@nickterry4487]

Yeah you can't find their tabs on Ultimate Guitar either because they were forced to be pulled down. Polyphia wants you to purchase their sheet music off of their website.

[@yobrethren]

@@nickterry4487 that makes sense) didn't think about it long enough

[@nickterry4487]

I feel yah. I was a bit confused when I first found that out too. I don’t know any other artist that copyright claims tabs like polyphia does. Not hating on them though, it’s their music and they’ve gotta eat like the rest of us.

[@rohanjani9055]

This list would have never been complete without snow hey oh

[@rheanjunebermudorj]

But - sounds so relaxing at a slow pace I love it!!

[@jackarcher_]

If anything this list just shows you have great taste in music!

[@SenouyBoss]

I love it when everytime I discover a new song, your next upload will help me learn it or part of it, as if you read my mind 😁🤘🏽

[@nikolagugoski]

Which song did you discover? 😁

[@SenouyBoss]

@@nikolagugoski I recently discovered song 2 by blur and there you have it as the first riff 😁 also I really love all the frusciante stuff man keep it rocking 🤘🏽❤️

[@rebbelic6876]

Yo you’re legendary for tabbing these bro

[@bobfrediii2131]

The fact that song 2 was the first song 😤

[@StayMadLmfao]

I remember like 5 months into guitar I showed my homie l,who gave me my first guitar and showed me the basics, Snow(Hey Oh) I still remember because at the time I didn’t realize it was a hard song but I got the main riff down

[@trent3902]

I love that you're playing a squire. Not bad guitars at all, unlike what elitist nerds say

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, I don't care much about equipment. People are just looking for excuses to not play haha :D

[@meyou9655]

@@nikolagugoski you're absolutely right. Pick up your guitar and play it again. Anyone of us out here could be playing like this after work and dedication. Cheers from Miramichi.

[@klassen978]

Отлично, спасибо, Никола, как всегда - лучший!

[@smitsonavane6278]

The riff from Moonlight Shadow by Mike Oldfield is so clean and beautiful

[@Blkac-pill-Black-Life]

5 minutes in i started worrying that no rhcp is gonna be in here lol and man hendrix is just special as well as you are!

[@nighteyes27v]

excellent Chon Covet and Polyphia: huge artists

[@19bo84maryshore]

I think i‘m gonna learn Hey Joe next. Looks fun to play. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@joelmacy9558]

Always happy to see you upload 🤘🤘

[@nikolagugoski]

Every Sunday at the same time 😜

[@chloelalonde6687]

I love your videos! It really makes my day and my fingers sore when you post one! Thank you so much for the great content!!❤️

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you for watching Chloe! Really glad these videos make you practice :)

[@falconc9727]

I love that the first song is literally song 2.

[@juliangomez2102]

Great video man

[@THE-CRT]

Kurt cobain and Tim Henson in the same thumbnail? Never thought I’d see that

[@BotsHateMe]

The fact that you couldn't even play shibuya at full speed earned it the top spot. Great song choice throughout the video as well.

[@pokecuzes]

Amazing video. Love slowing these down and trying to play along :)

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you! Glad you liked this one 🙂

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

Have you ever listened to Plini? He has amazing guitar instrumentals. He might be my favourite modern guitar virtuoso

[@fuk671]

Atleast i can still look at ur finger placement for the polyphia riff , hats off to you sir👍

[@matguerra333]

t's funny Chad and John actually started playing wipeout in Orlando a week or so ago...bc it was pouring. really cool.

[@filipvelkov6829]

Chon!! Love it, nice list.

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you Filip! Glad you liked it 🙂

[@matthewchunk3689]

Great list. Thanks!

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you! Glad you liked it ☺️

[@shoogerkane]

love that last riff! Nice!

[@MasterPich310]

Such beautiful tones..

[@RuiSilvinha1997]

Great video!! Your Ibanez is so Beautiful!!

[@Shadowster23]

This kind of video is great! Always get to discover new riffs and songs I love! gotta trust your tastes in music i guess 😁

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you! Glad you liked it 🙂

[@thornil2231]

I noticed you play a Squire. I recently bought an Epiphone Les Paul special that I love. Is there a new trend in "cheap" subsidiaries of the big name being as good as the original? Nice little run down by the way. Quick sweet and to the point.

[@nikolagugoski]

Honestly I would play any brand at this point 😁 I don't think there are guitars made in the recent years that are not playable. All of these "budget" brands are getting better and better. I don't understand people on the internet wanting to pay 2000-3000$ for a guitar and play covers with it in their room 🤷

[@thornil2231]

@@nikolagugoski I have expressive guitars. But I wanted this guitar. The Gibson one was $7000. Watched a bunch videos on comparing the Gibson and the Epiphone, and the reviews were great (Maybe paid by Epiphone... LOL) I saw some Squire basses that are really tempting. In am thinking of the 53 PBass with the tele kinda neck. Yes that was the point of my original post, they are getting better. Also if you gig, it is eless painfull to have a $400 guitar stolen or damaged than a $7000 one.

[@Capta1nSni9er1]

@@thornil2231 epiphone is owned by gibson. Nowadays cheap guitars are pretty much indistinguishable from their more expensive counterparts in my opinion

[@thornil2231]

@@Capta1nSni9er1 Epiphone has been owned by Gibson for decades. And I think they used it as very low end. Anyway in the 70's 80's everything was trash. Guitars, cars, you name it.

[@Mustaine1ify]

​@@nikolagugoskiI totally agree. That said, people work hard and I guess can spend their money on what they want.

[@aung1406]

One thing about clean riffs is it could be played on an acoustic.

[@nikolagugoski]

True!

[@Trohawkk]

Belief is one of the greatest songs

[@jacksonstacey8472]

This video tripped me out. I have that vintage squire jazz and the Ibanez RG. Was strange seeing them back to back haha

[@nikolagugoski]

Wait, we have same guitars? Haha that's awesome 😁 I guess we have same taste

[@SaurianSoul]

Awesome video! Just pointing out the tab for 'But' has a small mistake. You have that Fmaj7 arpeggio sliding up to a descending Gb-Db-Ab off the 14th fret of the E string but you and the song play G-D-A. :)

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, I messed up the tab on that part :) sorry

[@todddavis5433]

Great playing man!! Some Mark Tremonti cleans with tabs would awesome!!

[@YariAzQuran]

It's funny I can play Snow by RHCP easily but Hendrix is another level of difficulty for me.

[@junberg]

furthest i could go is snow, afterwards its wtf i give up

[@nikolagugoski]

I think that would be the case for most people including me haha 😂

[@Matt-mu6ml]

I love the fact that a riff of covet is on the list

[@senord2429]

you caught by surprise with never meant, didnt expect it to be here, great that you are also aware of midwest emo

[@nikolagugoski]

A list of clean riffs without a mathrock riff is a bad list haha 😁 glad you liked it

[@definitelynotsolidsnake]

don't know much about that band/artist at 1:50 but im definitely going to learn that

[@canal1212]

Kurt era um grande compositor,olha como esse riff é bonito e simples,mas ao mesmo tempo ele pensava diferente pra criar e soava bem interessante!!

[@joseandresnavaperez]

Gran video bro. Saludos desde México 👏🤘🤘

[@lomobster]

Well there's no surprises with No Surprises, KZbin at it's finest.

[@kashv.k2797]

CHON is such a dope band

[@nikolagugoski]

And it's just sad they are not releasing any new music soon

[@burnsZY85]

Sisters by steve vai another gret one.

[@devonmoody5517]

I’m glad to see a pantera riff in here❤️

[@wkk222]

that covet one is simply awesome..well done man.

[@asedcopf]

incredibly clean and smooth picking 0.0

[@CaffeineInjected]

Great!!

[@Matt-tw3oz]

i am not too surprised about the Polyphia copyright thing. shame you got dinged. although i figured this might fall under the "for teaching purposes" category (because tabs), which i thought relaxed the copyright rules. but i'm not a lawyer. this was a great vid. and thanks for the American Football referral. i hadn't heard of them, and they are really cool. also, us guitar nerds wanna know about your gear.

[@nikolagugoski]

Thanks Matt! I also thought it was fair use, but I guess I was wrong. For the gear I use only Guitar rig 5 through audio interface. No real amps or pedals

[@Matt-tw3oz]

@@nikolagugoski cool. thanks for the info. i haven't used newer versions of guitar rig. i've checked out some vids of guitar rig 6 and am fairly impressed, especially for the price.

[@joseenriquesanchezreche6393]

Just great!

[@MrGrizzlyy]

I love how goose was like 60% speed lol

[@Tonatiuth]

You should try some Dream Theater, you are very talented

[@lilszech2333]

I’m currently in the process of learning surf rider

[@clementinetaxi2693]

Thank you ❤️

[@HarshvardhanKanthode]

Amazed that you put Polyphia in this 👏

[@markbader4942]

Money, you’re playing the bass line. Says the guy who can play almost none of the other songs in this list, except the bass line for Money, which I do on reg guitar, like, daily. Ask anyone, it’s excruciating.

[@diegomino9939]

bravo! Thanx!

[@cameronravenhilltv7778]

That song 2 part caught my off guard

[@lucasalmeida5022]

Like for having Polyphia, Chon and Covet on the list, really cool video!

[@ffck6848]

Awesome

[@pesvids6673]

in 1 month in and im gonna learn the last piece even if it takes a lifetime

[@nikolagugoski]

Good luck man! Don't give up :)

[@sebasmasbien]

More Hendrix please👏👏👏👏👏

[@gustavodamasceno6559]

Didnt expect never meant lol suggestion: top Hendrix hardest riffs

[@serene7289]

5:15

[@illuminatiCorgi]

Yeah. Polyphia are really protective of their tabs. I ended up just buying them. That's probably why 😅 Great video!

[@jqp7354]

Bro you should do a full cover of american football

[@arhvn]

Never Meant is honestly pretty simple to play, compared to some of the other riffs in this video! What can be pretty challenging is trying to play both guitar parts with someone else lmaooo

[@chriswitek9455]

i was really hoping for wonderwall at the end with a capo on fret 2 =p

[@explosion5022]

Nice vid, I suggest you try covering riffs by ichika nito, illusory sense is my favorite of his, but to play quite a challenge imo

[@thelostsound2253]

Heart shaped was the coolest first songs to learn besides crazy train and highway to hell

[@zdodin]

2:32 3:32

[@Petr0010]

Great!!👌👌👌

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you Petr! Glad you liked it 🙂

[@Targuz]

4:38 Classic

[@Red_Claw_Zodd]

Still loving you is sooo hard for me to get down lol , upsetting bc I can play Solos yet I struggle so hard with this one.visual learner but without the telling me wat to do I suck

[@cofiddle]

WOO HOO!!

[@user-ey8st9is2r]

Никола вы потрясающий 😏❗❗❗❗

[@brabbit7815]

My biggest flex is being able to play Never Meant using a pick instead of fingering

[@BREAKocean]

*listens to prog metal* "I bet this who list is gonna be easy" *sees Tim henson* *leaves youtube comment instead*

[@wutangclams9936]

I was very surprised to see Never Meant here!

[@nikolagugoski]

Was it a good pick? 😁

[@wutangclams9936]

@@nikolagugoski it was perfect!

[@nikolagugoski]

@@wutangclams9936 thank you for watching 🙏