Common guitar riffs and licks - the "building blocks of rock"

The most common riffs and licks in classic rock are found in more than one song, just like chords. And like chords, they can be shown as simple shapes.
If you're tired of just strumming chords and practicing scales, take the next step, by learning a few of these basic riffs and licks. This video will show you how to use my free web app for guitarists, "The Building Blocks of Rock", a visual library of hundreds of the most common riff, lick, and chord shapes. I'll also talk about how we learned these things back in the old days (the early 1970's), before computers, videos, even tab.
You can find the app here:
guitarviz.com/bbr.html
It's not an app like you download from the Apple app store or Android Play. It's just a web page, so all you have to do is open it.
Please leave comments or questions!
cheers, Kevin
0:00 intro
1:22 riff and lick examples
2:51 learning guitar in the 1970s
4:15 problem: learning common riffs and licks
5:05 solution: build an app
7:04 riffs, and how to use the app
10:08 chords
12:51 music theory
14:12 licks
18:03 scales
18:50 coda and more info

[@Michael-cj9uo]

'It's free, it's just a web page, you don't need to sign up for anything. Its a labour of love I've been work on for many years.' Instant subscribe, you're the man.

[@julianmorrisco]

Agreed. I’ve been playing for only 44 years but I’m really looking forward to heading to the website when I get home. I am always learning, I only came across triads as a formalised concept a few years ago. Yes. I’ve been using them forever but having it laid out as a concept refreshed my writing and playing when I was definitely getting stale. I’m hoping this approach will too. And yes, I also know people are trying to make a buck but it’s incredibly refreshing to not have to at least hand over my precious data to get something I may only look at once. I hope YT sees fit to reward this chap, at least.

[@Noel_K.]

TRULY, HE IS THE GENTLEMAN....

[@emilio1142]

Yep

[@EatThisLSDick]

This man loves Rock N Roll. He's helping Zoomers not play that Math rock shit

[@lauramcfarland6734]

the long suffering daughter is very proud!!! ❤️

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

Awww.... :)

[@user-uo9cy2ep2h]

His approach I think, is the camera angle on the neck and explanation. Monkey see, monkey do... and it's brilliant!

[@soulknight5330]

The fact that your doing all of this for free is a testament of the kindness of the older generation. A true musical veteran.

[@dan_kay]

After watching "do this to improve your soloing", "do that to become faster", "this scale is all you need" for years, this video is what I was looking for, waiting for, longing for. Thank you very much!

[@tryptaminus]

Man I'm a programmer and there's just something so heartwarming about someone passionate making a cool web page about something they love, I can tell gathering and putting together all that info took a ton of time, kudos to you. Really informative video too, and I love the insights beyond just the strictly technical stuff. Rock on man.

[@alegutierrezmusic]

This is what the real school of rock looks like, Thanks good content.

[@andy100hp]

I can't believe you give it to us for free. A saint

[@MaineVid]

I starting guitar at 52 and been playing everyday for two year. Needless to say, there's a lot of ground to make up. Your web app is a massive game changer for me. I just wanted to pass along a sincere thank you for sharing your years of knowledge with this old guy.

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

from one old guy to another! lol

[@mrfuriouser]

I'm 52 now and just beginning myself... to say this endeavor can be overwhelming would be an understatement! But... this looks doable!

[@lawncuttingplusdelta]

I’m 57 … started at 25 … played on and off …. I always reach for an acoustic guitar and try to play 10-15 minutes a day . best advice I ever got was , to trust that lights will come on as you progress…. shapes of chords will connect and trust that there are only 12 notes and they repeat up and down a string and across the neck … for some people like me and brian may and mark knoepler lol , we look at the intervals as a little math !! …. I base it from C where there are no sharps or flats , then in other keys you will see how the tone tone semi tone , tone tone tone semi tone … start to make sense….and sharps and flats are simply just like a measurement on a tape measure for example …. I used to be so intimidated by theory and now I just visualize shapes and chords and practice .

[@austinsatterfield6792]

My uncle started Banjo at about the same age and one thing he said that stuck with me was: "Old people think they can't learn new things as we get older but they forget we have the time experience, we just lost the kids in us that makes new things exciting to learn. Never lose the kid in ya." Or something like that lol.

[@dgperforms1]

Awesome! Thanks man!!

[@1xZAKx1]

I will do everything I can to make your name be remembered as long as guitat exists. That's how much i'm grateful for your work

[@jakebot9000]

This is just what I needed to start connecting some guitar concepts that I've been stuck on

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

haha, thanks JAKE(bot)!

[@wernervanderwalt8541]

You have filled a void in the guitar teaching community. Many teach but very few actually show how to incorporate what you see and learn into proper licks and riffs. Most people have to try and figure that out. Subscribed. Thanks

[@renzeldayrit1943]

You can say that this video is made with heart.

[@danielpark4028]

Wow dude, so glad I came across this, doing this and putting it out for free, makes you a real guitar legend in my book, thanks man!

[@MusicManMisha]

I’m a guitar teacher myself. This has to be of the greatest resources ever created. Definitely going to be sharing with my students!

[@ethane7733]

You are a saint among men, thank you.

[@stgirat]

WTF?!? Holy mother of Rock n'Roll, you are unbelievable! A biggest thank you from your 100th subscriber!

[@cappeca]

LOVED the camera position! Finally someone understood!

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

thanks! yeah there's a few other YT channels showing this viewpoint, but for whatever reason they don't seem to have gotten much traction. But yeah, its kinda hard watching a guitarist and having to flip it around in your mind, especially if you're trying to relate it to an underlying shape or chord.

[@oxossidomorro1056]

Man, you should put a "sort by player" option, then we could learn the vocabulary of an specific player! This is truly gold.

[@beepbleepboop]

huge idea

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

i hear you :) a search function, also being able to hear audio examples, look like they're the most requested features

[@commemorative]

Youre so cool for doing this for free! I love that. I know not everyone can do these things for free but I really think that type of labour of love is what the internet is all about.

[@aksaya_bd]

It's been 6 minutes and I stopped the video to say: This information was what I always wanted to learn about 20 years ago, when I began to immerse myself in the songs of the Rolling Stones and their intertwined guitars. I was fascinated by the work of rhythm guitars. THANK YOU!

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

If I could have one rock and roll wish granted to me it would be access to the original multitrack recording of Jumpin' Jack Flash, to be able to listen to all those different guitar parts. Fascinating!

[@francisswift6535]

Just wanted to say here that what you have achieved here is fantastic, and hands down the most valuable tool I've found online whilst being completely free. I have notebooks full of scale, chord and mode fretboard diagrams I've drawn and coloured by hand from formula derivation, but riffs and licks, as you say, is the vocabulary picked up usually from watching others play. So a massive thankyou from me, plus a congratulations on being the first I've seen to create a riff typography like a musical archaeology doctorate. If you ever set up a tip-jar or anything like that, I'd love to buy you at least a coffee or a beer! All the best!

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

"musical archeology", I like that :) Sometimes it feels like an archeologist when trying to dig down through layered guitar parts and figuring out what exactly they were playing

[@francisswift6535]

@@theBuildingBlocksOfRock My girlfriend is an archaeologist and was as excited to see this as I was, because you've captured that idea of things having a shared genealogy but no terms as such for them...and set to work on grouping or differentiating them by going through 'historical records', and yes, digging down into it to create a typology....much like the Oakeshott Typology for historic swords for example. Please note it is not a comment about age or music being out of date, very much complimentary and not insulting. Again, thankyou so much, absolutely wonderful, have already been using it today to learn things myself as well as teach a new guitar player.

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

interesting, I was trying to think of other genres where things have no name but there are definite relationships between them. I have a new appreciation for the word "typeology"! (never knew what it meant until you mentioned it, looked it up just now :)

[@Man_of_Oil]

Absolute legend, this may finally be what takes me out of my "campfire guitarist" phase. I feel like you covered everything ive ever wanted to know but felt like nobody would tell me!

[@Met_Ethio]

Kevin's simple web app is undoubtedly the finest guitar-playing resource available. I'm confident in declaring this because Kevin truly understands that all music consists of common, boilerplate elements with sprinkles of uniqueness. Not only does Kevin name and categorize these boilerplate components, but he also provides references to songs that incorporate them. You're the man Kevin!

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

Thanks! The app is a constant work in progress, with several limitations (ex: can't display > 5 frets), housed in a primitive web page, populated with licks and riffs that are just my subjective take on things. But I'm glad you like it!

[@OptimisticMansion-yl1wq]

This is why so much ancient wisdom has been lost throughout history - people didn’t give things names or categorize information. His website is a valuable piece of cultural knowledge.

[@akshatbhagat]

Gained more knowledge from this video in 10 minutes than I have in the last ten years 🙏🏻

[@troystevens575]

I'm a new player over 50. This is great! Stuck on chords and a few easy scales. Played around with the app for about 10 minutes so far and got a compliment from my 15 year old on how "cool" I sound. Thank you for putting in this effort!

[@maxcarr6266]

Same..now to apply!

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

:)

[@BusyMEOW]

Hey Kevin 👋😺 Thanks for the free tutorial, too many people try to force a data harvesting app on the unknowing majority. I appreciate you giving us a website that I can view in incognito mode with cookies disabled and adblockers enabled. Takes a kind-hearted, passionate person like you to pass on this knowledge for free, thankyou very much. Music is life ❤

[@naMnivraM]

Omg on 2nd watch this is exactly how we did it growing up! I was born 75'. I know you're giving this away, but you should charge something small like $5 for the app before this blows up. Because it will. Anyone who knows about this stuff will spread the word and share. $5 is affordable and reasonable. You deserve something for all this hard work putting this together. What a gem this is!!! Consider a few bucks for the app... You deserve it! I think of all the people who shell out a few hundred for a guitar course that's confusing. This is how to do it! Learn some stuff and let the theory makes sense as you learn more. I can't praise this system enough!

[@ultimatefunktimegroovystan7885]

Been looking for this kind of thing forever, as someone who is self taught I always felt like I was missing crucial foundational stuff

[@eagles_s]

Ive never seen playing riffs over chord changes explained in such a concise manner: (9:44). And with context no less.This is how guitar parts are recored in studio, baby chords, triads, etc. Welcome to youtube!

[@hitesh_blues2353]

This is an excellent lesson. It's like you time travelled from the 70s to teach hands on guitar in 2024. Subscribed and liked. The old school way of learning music by watching and the ear. Thank you so much!!!

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

haha, thanks! dinosaur time travelling :)

[@HForever]

Ive been looking for something exactly like this for so long! Thank god for the internet letting young bucks like me get to hear wisdom from the masters !

[@maxcarr6266]

Thx!! Stuck 62 yr old..played as young man along with drums and kept playing drums until arthritis introduced itself to me.. now back to guitar. TYGB!!

[@greyjund7782]

21 and learning guitar since I was about 16; this is the best guitar lesson I’ve ever seen for free in ages, kudos to you dude rock on

[@jasonharris2291]

Great way of teaching. I have about 20 beginner guitar students and I'm always looking for resources.

[@dawryb]

I'm gratefull God gave us You! You're the best I was looking for some licks to learn... And here I am! Rock on🤘 and hope you get the views you deserve.

[@chilldude30]

It's not often these days that youtube will recommend me a video from a small channel I've never heard of before. But thankfully it recommended your video! Great idea, the 'blind spot' riffs/licks have in our guitar vocabulary is something I've definitely I've felt, almost on the tip of my tongue, but never really articulated as it just seemed the natural way of things. You've done a great job articulating it and I will certainly be checking out the app and subscribing to your channell!

[@wesst.422]

This is a brilliant little lesson! I would've loved to have more videos demonstrating small licks and embellishments like this growing up, I wouldn't learn most of those licks until I was already 2 or 3 years into playing.

[@luisreyes6063]

You're a genius. What a great method to learn!

[@HeyManItsJoe]

When the student is ready, the teacher appears. Thank you friend this is just what I needed!

[@rafa_guitar]

Hey Kevin, what an amazing surprise to find your channel, I like and share your point of view, and I already know a lot of theory, but I like to make music, learn vocabulary and songs, I think it is the best way. I think your channel will grown up to the moon, best wishes, I will follow very interested. I can see you have a huge acknolegment in music and you did a huge work to classify/find all these material in songs, chords, voicings, riffs, scales.... I am very impressed! Congratulations and thank you very much for sharing Kevin! (sorry for my english, I am from south of Spain)

[@theBuildingBlocksOfRock]

¡muchimas gracias, rafa_guitar! (un poco tarde, dispensame :)

[@squadgeman3247]

I wish I could hang out with you for 6 months. You are an incredible wealth of knowledge and information. You make everything seem so easy.

[@nathanmantle7128]

The concept of making everything more visual for guitar students is something important to me, so thanks for making this!

[@StellarShrapnel]

this is the most usefull video i have ever watched after learning some music theory

[@AdrianOlivas_]

I'm blown away. No one else on KZbin has phrased guitar learning this way. The learning grammar before words thing really blew me away. Also, your app is looks to be an awesome tool for learning. Thank you for your generosity in giving this to us for free, very grateful for it. Subscribed!

[@coreyh2772]

What a cool concept! I appreciate all your hard work to create such a useful resource for learning guitar!

[@user-dt1zr3or2o]

Great resource, this is what the internet (should be) all about. Thank you!

[@AndrewTimberlake13]

This is fantastic. Thanks for building this. Thanks for being so generous!

[@Hibiol-of-my-decay]

The teacher that I needed in my whole life. ❤

[@thecarloschannel2013]

You're the best. Thanks for sharing this with us! This is huge! This is easily one of, if not the most musicaly important and comprehensive guitar lessons I've ever seen on the internet and from any guitar player.

[@romie233]

That chart you have at 6:45 was exactly the route I used to learn a lot of my acoustic guitar. I wish I had this app's information while I was doing it - its laid out SO well. This is really something you got here, it makes so much sense to use and explore. Thank you for making this. I'm going to go and explore as much as I can.

[@Emir-dq8rk]

I've been playing for 2 years and this is what i have been looking for since the beginning.Thank you!

[@avtomatkalashnikov9701]

This is the single best resource for guitar i've seen in a while. An app, simple tutorial- and its free! Thank you so much.

[@SegNode]

Great material, great teaching style, great editing, great diagrams, great examples, great script/talking, great pacing, great playing. Amazing video!

[@hyghhopes]

Brother... I Love your App! I just found your channel, and I wish it could've been possible to see this 20 years ago. You laid out exactly how I learned guitar. I'm actually still learning, but I started at like 16, way back in 1993 or something. I progressed very slowly, as I didn't practice every day, plus I was alone in it. I sat with friends every once in a while. I put the guitar away when I had kids - around 2001, which gave me about 7 years of kinda playing. Fast forward to 2018, and I picked it up again. I remembered pretty much everything from before, but I sucked at implementing it. This time, I practiced every day, and the last 7 years I learned a whole lot more than I did the first 7 years, thanks to KZbin! But, if I had your App, I would've probably cut most of that time. For me, this is the most intuitive way to learn how to find a voice on the guitar by learning how to combine chords with scales and modes... "The Building Blocks of Rock!" Thank you, Kevin!

[@MRBEP1000]

Man this is such a refreshing take on guitar learning. Probably the best guitar video i have seen in years. No BS approach, this is extremely cool

[@cosmicbro1973]

Extremely innovative and organized. I love this. I’m not a beginner anymore but this is a beginners dream!

[@TheKingofGoldstone]

This gave me more insight on how to be a better guitarist in twenty minutes than the ten years of noodling before that. Thanks a ton, and please keep creating new content!!! It’s all super useful!

[@TheQuietRiot]

So happy i found this channel. Really fantastic take on riffs and licks and the web app is great! Thanks a ton for makng the guitar jouney for so many others so much easier than you had it

[@user-dc7up5fw7w]

Absolutely love this and your app! As a programmer and guitar player I am 100% loving this!

[@_SmiIe_]

Simply brilliant. This will undoubtedly help anyone that stumbles upon it in the right stage of their guitar journey. The way you matched the riffs and licks to caged positions is the genius aspect to me. Thank you for the work you put into this!

[@NickMcC]

This is so cool. I can tell it's taken a lot of love and labor to make this app. And the fact that you're offering it for free is just over the top cool. I'd gladly have paid for this back in the day. Heck, I'd pay of now! I'm showing this to everybody!

[@disgruntledfaerie]

I've been playing music for just about 40 years now. Sax, bass, keys. Played a little guitar, could do open chords and barre shapes, but have been feeling stuck in terms of guitar vocabulary. And this is exactly what I needed. And at just the right time, too. Subscribed! Thanks!

[@TurttleFrost]

You are a truly good man for sharing this with us purely for the joy of helping others. The world is a better place for people like you. Thank you sir!

[@EverythingFades]

Thanks, mate. Releasing this for free is incredible. How information is displayed defines its usefulness. Many online resources are nearly useless due to their linear formats (hours long linear video series, pdfs etc). Learning is very rarely a linear experience. True teachers would do well to spend the time like you have to create learning tools, not mammoth books people will read once and forget most of.

[@cruzer1473]

My new favorite channel, So much more useful !!!!!!! Thanks Pal

[@Cooper1]

This is a fantastic piece of work. What an effort. Should be one of the greatest guitar learning tools available. Well done, sir!

[@jettspyder]

had to pause the video halfway through because one of the riffs you showed off inspired me to write something. wonderful thing you've made here

[@kamenstrider9289]

Thank you, you're very kind for offering this service for free, especially as a hands on/visual learner

[@je7098]

For "our" (I learned by ear and friend too) type of learning, your visual approach is a great way to go, thank you for helping me to get the old axe out of its bag.

[@Gradiusfan]

Thanks! 😀I've been learning lots of songs the hard way, but not until I've started playing lots of Chuck Berry my learning curve took off due to all licks that you can improvise and mix and match. So, lick-based learning seems to fit me like a glove.

[@BattleTheory]

Sir, thank you. This is right up my alley on how I tend to learn best. It's refreshing and you're a legend. Your methodology and making it a simple no sign up web app is incredible.

[@xyz-zyx]

INCREDIBLE APP! Thank you so much for this in-depth explanation

[@crow_john]

Really great video and information, Kevin. Will check out the app and your other vids. Rock on ✌

[@craigmitchell8892]

what an incredible recourse. I come from a hiphop jazz/bedroom producer/piano background but I've been learning guitar the past few weeks and this level of detail is so useful to me. I've never even went near the classic rock sound in my music but this info is so valuable either way. Big Thank you!

[@ethanmessinger4798]

This is so awesome!!! Thank you so much for making this free and so well thought out! So excited to try it

[@colingray2033]

Well Kevin, you are absolutely right. Back in "OUR" days, it was all about listen and watch. Your explanations and straight forward directions are excellent. Well done, thank you

[@gojoe36]

You nailed it. Not only what to do but the repeated licks in many rock songs. When you start playing this would have been so helpful. Took me years to figure it out.

[@fazz]

This is an excellent approach to rock guitar. I've been playing for 20 years, and this would've saved me a lot of time!

[@PT4918]

Absolute legend! The sheer simplicity and elegance of the way you explain these concepts are a breath of fresh air! You got yourself a subscriber!

[@dutchmcfadyen5867]

This is exactly how I want to expand my guitar skills. I'm following you're website. Your channel/site is now part of my daily practice regimen. Thank you!

[@blur3d]

I just started learning and this looks really useful as I get the basics sorted. Thanks!

[@user-mv1de2kw5i]

Excellent resource! Thanks!

[@robincolson1346]

What the heck!? This literally and figuratively rocks! Thank you so much Kev!

[@GeneB-ok1pd]

Wow....what a great way to breakdown each section. Your teaching technique is one of the best I've ever seen. Thanks you.

[@aeroprof]

I have learned more from you in 20 minutes than I thought possible! Your app is amazing!

[@himax000]

Best guitar instructions I got thus far was from the Bert Weedon’s book Play in a Day. And then I found this. This is best. Much love for sharing your knowledge and taking such effort to present in such a fantastic way❤

[@MrSindala]

Man, this is what I've been hoping to find for years! I've been playing for a long time now but there are so many basic licks I still don't know how to play. (And was too lazy to figure out by myself.) This is gold man! Your work of love is much appreciated and will be by many! I can't imagine how much of your time went into this. I am sincerely grayeful. To your wife also, for sharing her husbands time and attention with a bunch of guitar geeks from around the world. I feel inspired already, and I haven't opened the app yet!

[@larryhagman3543]

Absolutely brilliant. Easy to see that this has occupied you for many many months. Thanks so much for your efforts.

[@nguyentuankiet8534]

How fortunate I am to discover your channel and see your app. I am on my way to really learn how to play instead of looking at tabs all day and not understanding anything. Have a lot to learn but thankfully your knowledge is here to help. Let's get your channel going strong!

[@drvanon]

This is absolutely brilliant. I haven't started using it yet, but just the sheer idea of this is helping me anchor my ideas that had been a little detached.

[@wund3rful]

Really great. I'm on board and looking forward to your next vids!

[@homeofcreation]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge and for your time and effort to building the app and share it for free. This is so much appreciated.

[@owenmac3788]

You are putting in so much effort to help everyone else... and its working!! thank you!!!

[@ivar637]

Awesome man, been looking for something like this. Subbed immediatly!

[@douwkuhn8930]

I was a programmer in my day job and a looong time musician, so I know how much effort went into this! Thank you.

[@pablodana1512]

So many years in YT and your video is the first one that I've seen for those who wanna play guitar for real.

[@amyhardy6784]

I am very excited to find this resource! Very good!

[@skowog]

I really like this approach! Subscribed, looking forward to more to come!

[@fp.chattanooga]

This is absolutely brilliant!