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

[@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 :)

[@PedroFrusciante]

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.

[@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

[@rubenmeijerink4266]

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

[@seanm3933]

Goose is the bands name and they are cool af. Polyphia is the name of the song, it is also cool af. Goose had nothing to do with the copyright claim.

[@rubenmeijerink4266]

@seanm3933 Polyphia is the bands name for sure, but they are cool yea

[@seanm3933]

@@rubenmeijerink4266 that is the first time I've ever been wrong on the internet....oops

[@bobfrediii2131]

The fact that song 2 was the first song 😤

[@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 ☺️

[@szymondudzinski6661]

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

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, both guitars together sound amazing 😁

[@psychovini6613]

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

[@nikolagugoski]

Yeah, one of my favorite chon riffs :)

[@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

[@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.

[@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!

[@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

[@ТатьянаАндриянова-о3я]

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

[@DigitalBath306]

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

[@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

[@joelmacy9558]

Always happy to see you upload 🤘🤘

[@nikolagugoski]

Every Sunday at the same time 😜

[@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!

[@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!

[@rebbelic6876]

Yo you’re legendary for tabbing these bro

[@0stre]

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

[@nikolagugoski]

Happy to hear that 😊

[@philflynn9161]

Great video and awesome playing❤

[@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.

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

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

[@THE-CRT]

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

[@rohanjani9055]

This list would have never been complete without snow hey oh

[@19bo84maryshore]

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

[@juliangomez2102]

Great video man

[@klassen978]

Отлично, спасибо, Никола, как всегда - лучший!

[@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 🤘🏽❤️

[@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.

[@HeliosXII]

Copyright strike... FOR SHARING TABS??

[@RuiSilvinha1997]

Great video!! Your Ibanez is so Beautiful!!

[@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

[@matthewchunk3689]

Great list. Thanks!

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you! Glad you liked it ☺️

[@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.

[@shoogerkane]

love that last riff! Nice!

[@smitsonavane6278]

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

[@Targuz]

4:38 Classic

[@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 🙂

[@nighteyes27v]

excellent Chon Covet and Polyphia: huge artists

[@Master_Pich]

Such beautiful tones..

[@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.

[@asedcopf]

incredibly clean and smooth picking 0.0

[@definitelynotsolidsnake]

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

[@joseenriquesanchezreche6393]

Just great!

[@Matt-mu6ml]

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

[@joseandresnavaperez]

Gran video bro. Saludos desde México 👏🤘🤘

[@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

[@pokecuzes]

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

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you! Glad you liked this one 🙂

[@kashv.k2797]

CHON is such a dope band

[@nikolagugoski]

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

[@devonmoody5517]

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

[@clementinetaxi2693]

Thank you ❤️

[@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.

[@Trohawkk]

Belief is one of the greatest songs

[@diegomino9939]

bravo! Thanx!

[@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

[@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

[@matguerra333]

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

[@HarshvardhanKanthode]

Amazed that you put Polyphia in this 👏

[@Petr0010]

Great!!👌👌👌

[@nikolagugoski]

Thank you Petr! Glad you liked it 🙂

[@aung1406]

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

[@nikolagugoski]

True!

[@lomobster]

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

[@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!!

[@todddavis5433]

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

[@serene7289]

5:15

[@SchecterIsKING]

WHOO HOOO!!!

[@ClosedForChange]

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

[@ffck6848]

Awesome

[@lucasalmeida5022]

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

[@brabbit7815]

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

[@sebasmasbien]

More Hendrix please👏👏👏👏👏

[@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.

[@BREAKocean]

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

[@Tonatiuth]

You should try some Dream Theater, you are very talented

[@cofiddle]

WOO HOO!!

[@illuminatiCorgi]

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

[@cameronravenhilltv7778]

That song 2 part caught my off guard

[@buckbumble]

Are you playing a J Mascis Jazzmaster with a tortoiseshell pickguard bro? Beautiful sounds.

[@nikolagugoski]

No, this is Classic Vibe 60s Jazzmaster 🙂 thanks for watching

[@buckbumble]

@@nikolagugoski oh sweet! I’ve heard excellent things about those. I’ve had the CV Mustang and it surprised me a whole lot. I have the JMJM myself and it plays like a £1000 guitar

[@вотбызвехфуззфакторидааа]

Никола вы потрясающий 😏❗❗❗❗

[@gustavodamasceno6559]

Didnt expect never meant lol suggestion: top Hendrix hardest riffs

[@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

[@lilszech2333]

I’m currently in the process of learning surf rider

[@YariAzQuran]

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

[@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

[@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 😂

[@tyastsani6659]

I'm not sure that metalica riffs in description 😅

[@MrGrizzlyy]

I love how goose was like 60% speed lol

[@codenamenot47]

Getting copyright strikes for tabs is crazy

[@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 :)

[@burnsZY85]

Sisters by steve vai another gret one.

[@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 🙏

[@zdodin]

2:32 3:32

[@chriswitek9455]

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

[@rockguru123]

Wait did you also record the second part of Never Meant? Or are you just that talented that you can make one part sound like both of them?

[@nikolagugoski]

Yes, I recorded the second guitar too. It sounded nice with both guitars 😁

[@rockguru123]

@@nikolagugoski agreed man, you killed it! Great video.

[@redash873]

Would love to hear some Jyocho tabs from you!

[@paulaungiers8734]

Do you do requests? I am looking for a fingerstyle version of Angel Baby by Rosie and The Originals, please?

[@Gui_Mio]

Where's pantera floods riff? Until yesterday it was in the video.

[@nikolagugoski]

Got a copyright claim for it and I trimmed it instead of muting it

[@Gui_Mio]

@@nikolagugoski WOW, that's a shame, I was trying to learn the riff because I love that song and always wanted to play it. Thanks for sharing the tabs anyway.

[@nikolagugoski]

@@Gui_Mio my tab was in a different tunning than the original. I'm sure there are other videos that show it correctly. Thank you for watching though 🙂