Rockers Play the First Riffs They Ever Wrote

Even the greatest guitarists had to start somewhere. Check out this collection of rockers playing us the first riffs they ever wrote, whether in their lives or with their best-known bands.
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Music: Riffs Two by Alexander Nakarada (www.serpentsoundstudios.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons BY Attribution 4.0 License
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[@RobinSijtsma]

50% of the video: Plays the crappiest teenage riff ever Other 50%: First riff ever was our number one song to date

[@jyejye1077]

A lot of them Like Satchel, Ben Bruce, and Michael Paget got asked what was the first Riff they wrote for their Band.

[@upstating]

"...jealous of all the kids on the subway, and shit." I felt that.

[@mattc8723]

The 'Cold Beer' riff is a solid banger tho.

[@andrewpappas9311]

That riff does go hard though

[@DaP84]

Just a chromatic walk down. Similar to Green Day's "Brain Stew".

[@RobotronSage]

@@DaP84 Yeah no shit did you read the title of the video? It's called ''guitarists play their first riff''

[@DaP84]

@@RobotronSage yeah, but I countered op calling it a banger. Somithing that rudimentary isn't a banger, it's at most a noob exercise lol. Green Day gave it finesse, made it a riff by combining it with that rhythm

[@XtremeKillah101]

Jim root mic quality sounds like he’s calling from Mars

[@BetinaRad]

\m/ 0:09 Lzzy Hale 1:20 Satchel 2:18 Jim Root 3:23 Mark Tremonti & Myles Kennedy 4:39 William Duvall 5:14 Ben Bruce 6:15 Michael Paget 7:13 Mark Morton 7:54 Bill Kelliher 8:31 Buzz Osborne 9:25 Kenny Hickey 9:50 Kirk Windstein

[@X66966]

Thank You. 🤝

[@k7l3rworkman97]

You rock 🤘🏼♥️⚡️

[@layjahlove]

I knew that was Lizzy hale i used to live here when i was in HS

[@nicolausteslaus]

Lzzy Hale is a really shitty guitar player

[@KaninTuzi]

4:39 William Duvall was probably the only one who actually showed the real first one. The rest of them just chose early riffs.

[@seste87]

Shows a lack of ego and comfort with oneself.

[@bray2424]

in reality they've been doing it so long they probably don't remember the exact first riff they wrote. I don't know the first riff I wrote. I don't think many people do

[@Speckhuggarn]

I was just trying to remember my actual first off, there's just no way to remember.

[@CoffeeStain-Music]

@@bray2424 If they don't remember, they sure had some elaborate, detailed backstories to go with their supposed "first riff".

[@tunizra]

@@seste87 which side is insecure? cause the aic guy is not

[@Vicaralus]

Mark Tremonti writing With Arms Wide Open as one of his first riffs is just amazing.

[@cainealexander-mccord2805]

A lead-off home run. That *is* amazing.

[@the_ch3mist]

lol beyond horrible song

[@SkitchOnGuitar]

@@the_ch3mistanother creed hater

[@the_ch3mist]

@@SkitchOnGuitar Who doesn’t hate creed 😂 One of the worst bands ever

[@halesbythabale2873]

@@the_ch3mistsuch a butt opinion

[@toxiccat0988]

7:33 "i play it till it sounds cool and then i see if i can do it again" thats cold

[@bigol9223]

Way it goes

[@JasonKB]

My first riff was 3 power chords right next to each other into a bad groove. I called it a song, “Smut.” It totally sucked. But I was just so happy I could make some kind of sound come out of my guitar. A start. I was on my way.

[@noahmusicstuff]

Lmao

[@BaldTorment]

Mine was three chromatic power chords at on the first three frets, I was in drop tuning trying to copy the slam part from Liege of Inveracity by Suffocation, it was ass.

[@noahmusicstuff]

@@BaldTorment Lmfao

[@ravenelder7325]

COLD BEER! 💚🖤🤘

[@andrewpappas9311]

That riff does go hard though

[@louisl7788]

That's like when Spinal Tap say their early stuff was rubbish and it sounds better than what they're doing now 😅🙃

[@burritosupreme333]

My kinda song🤘

[@aidananderson6043]

"Cold Beer" did not disappiont. Validation. We are Kenny.

[@DirtyDirkDiggler]

In reality, pretty much nobody (myself included) remembers the first riff they ever wrote.

[@Big_betty2]

I actually do because I happened to catch a video of it and I never got it. It’s so basic though

[@ejiggle]

idk man, I for sure remember the first few I wrote and the first few I learned lol. That shit is burrned into my brain because it's all I could play and I just played it over and over

[@earlenglish4674]

@@Big_betty2I feel like mines probably so basic you probably couldn’t even call it a riff lol

[@Mariooo57]

I only remember because I transcribed it on Guitar Pro back in the day, otherwise I probably wouldn't!

[@matturner6890]

No way, I definitely remember mine.

[@xirrantos]

"not much has changed," LOL

[@DenisBeskov]

yeah, this way you can tell TypOs had a lot of irony besides grim image

[@RobotronSage]

yea lmao

[@jamiemacdonald436]

I saw Crowbar open up for Pantera on the Vulgar Display tour. I wasn't familiar with them when I walked in, but I was an instantly a fan.

[@dethkon]

Type O Negative guy with “COLD BEER!” wins so far

[@cainealexander-mccord2805]

2:53 I understand Randy Rhoads was exactly the same way. He used to snarl at his, apparently. RIP RR.

[@oriontikkit]

i remember the first riff i wrote. no fucking clue how i used to be able to down pick that fast lmao.

[@mushafasa]

I feel that, my arm cramps so bad when I try to play some of the stuff the same way I used to 15 years ago lol

[@stevesharts361]

I was watching this video and then my neighbor came and we watched it together. He said that this video changed his life and touched his heart. I then went and rented a projector in a big field and all my neighbors watched it and it changed their lives too. We all are so grateful. Thank You for this video…

[@beanzburriton4263]

your neighbor is worthless and he used you

[@lucasguillaneux7240]

What the hell 😂

[@StacheBigote]

You can tell who is being honest and who isn’t.

[@johnnyRandomadness]

Like who?

[@chayseferrier3793]

@@johnnyRandomadness Duvall was pretty honest

[@notedcorpse]

im kinda autistic so can you help me out

[@alexion2001]

I don't know if it's honesty or they just misunderstood the question, cause a few of them said "the first riff I wrote for bandname" meaning it's probably not the first riff they ever came up with.

[@ianspeckmaier9565]

Lmao. You're absolutely right.

[@cainealexander-mccord2805]

DuVall makes me think Lenny Kravits and Phil Lynott had a kid.

[@yootoob1001001]

His was my favorite story.

[@rustyshackleford1]

hahaha when I first saw him in this video for a brief second I was like Lenny Kravits? 🤣🤣

[@cainealexander-mccord2805]

@@rustyshackleford1 So it's not just me!

[@rustyshackleford1]

@@cainealexander-mccord2805 haha definitely not 😅

[@benwasilewski]

Kirk Windstein with the most honest answer on this video lol

[@figdestroyer]

Cold Beer is a hit!!!🤘

[@dmitryowens]

So William Duvall wrote Paint It Black by The Rolling Stones - got it 😎

[@michaelespinosa9168]

1:50 gotta keep en separated into the pit

[@mrfleisch1636]

Mark Morton seems to be such a sweetheart !! 😊 His riff is great btw ❤

[@TheAwfulWaffle95]

I think it’s interesting that a lot of guitarists when playing or demonstrating, they will shorten the empty space almost as if skipping a beat. Probably just to not bore people and to get to the point. Cool video.

[@NonnyStrikes]

This video needs to gain ground! Underrated! I still remember the first song my drummer and I wrote. Open string Dtuning, harmonic 3, 3rd fret to 1st fret ha. Epic.

[@texasrebel210.]

It’s crazy hearing some famous musicians home setups 🤘🏼

[@mikeschaeffer530]

I've been playing for a little over 20 years and I'll be damned if I can remember the first riff I LEARNED let alone the first riff I WROTE...

[@WitchSmeller74]

Cold Beer is the best one. Rocks!

[@coryhoff6997]

Cold Beer!!!

[@eric-.]

Cold Beer is exactly the kind of song I have been searching out lately. I want that whole song, and some other slow but heavy stuff like that.

[@ankhor9252]

Thank you LDub. This is good stuff.

[@Bumbaskida]

3:01, damn that's how i feel. I have always been able to just get it, the problem is i will be doing a riff and not have any idea what i am playing. Its like being able to read different language and pronounce every world perfectly, yet you have no idea what any of the worlds mean.

[@HonzoNebro]

As always, the firsts things a band makes is what defines it.

[@lyanzo768]

Cold beer sounds like the riff from 'Simulation' by Avenged Sevenfold

[@andrewpappas9311]

I remember the first riff I wrote was back in 2017 when I was 18 was to a song that I called Inhuman and thought that it sounded really cool with this melodic droning tone over it, but it didn't take me until a couple years later to realize that I just took the main riff (and subsequently the main chord progression) from Pictures of Matchstick Men by Status Quo

[@sundaetheguitar]

Damn

[@PirminZemp2731]

Very Metal Riff Awesome

[@noahmusicstuff]

Which one?

[@randomrob2221]

Imagine writing your very first riff as a band, and it was the final episode, that song was mind blowing back in the day

[@mariuscervantes3845]

7:46 when you try to play foxy lady for first time.

[@davidg1612]

Was Jim Root underwater or something? Lmao

[@mikeanderson1370]

The first riff I can remember writing was based on the idea that "hey, I can basically due what Chet Atkins did, except in rock" and I basically was playing a bass line while picking a melody. Everything I ever wrote before that was just strumming chords..basic strumming patterns. I showed off that riff tons of times, over the years, but never really used it until a good decade later, when it ended up on a band's album.

[@user-py3cl5el4i]

Moral of the story. Jim root and mark tremonti are naturals.

[@ab4246]

Same assignment, interesting how some folks go back to the beginning & others only go back as far as their egos allow them too.

[@ragberkotobuki41]

The boy is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And he is still absolutely broken

[@gotohellaaron]

That "It's Not You" thing is cool and I don't even know the song.

[@Bryman5000]

I remember mine. It was one string. In fact I’m gonna record it as a song for fun

[@GibsonVienna]

I don't know why, but now I need a cold Beer.

[@samtheman7066]

I'm not myself no musician or have any skills or doesn't understand a lot of playing guitar but my riff wasn't ever that good but it was heavy. Only grabbing the guitar from up the neck and playing the first two strings and maybe using only one chord? And my friend back then said "Wow, just wow" and I said "Sounds shit, right?". Think I was 13 years old and started to think that I'll never be a guitarist or rock star whatsoever so I only wanted to smash my acoustic to the floor. Never did, tho. And still my head is running full of riffs like it used to be back when I was teenager. But hey, I love that COLD BEER!

[@RowanCowley-nt5fb]

Wow, I had no idea William Duvall wrote the Up & Go protein jingle.

[@dmitryowens]

I thought it was Paint It Black.

[@sashenzee3779]

Buzz ozbornes camera is straight out of 90s xd

[@dmitryowens]

Jim Root's as well.

[@FeuerUngeheuer-ö]

1:50 Sounds to me like Johnny Blade from Sabbath 😈

[@maxzubic]

I came for Lzzy Hale.

[@CaseyWinehouse]

Gross. Didn’t need to know that, man.

[@maxzubic]

@@CaseyWinehouse "Came" as in watched the video because she was in the thumbnail. Y'all have such dirty minds. 🤦‍♂️

[@haydenmlundgreen]

@@maxzubic”gullible” backwards spells elbillug

[@CharlieWielowski]

​@@CaseyWinehouse For Fs sake 😂😭

[@noahmusicstuff]

@@maxzubicLmaoooo

[@franciscocabezas5976]

It would be great make an album with all first riff songs from these people.

[@bobhope4949]

lol I found a tape from highschool that had a song I completely forgot I wrote, whole band in my parents garage lol it was pretty solid, I was like damn…….. I was a lot better back then, sounded like zeppelin mixed with sabbath guitar wise, vocals were incubus and not poppy incubus but aggressive incubus, lol still hang out with the drummer and showed him the tape and he forgot about it too lol

[@krisfrederick5001]

I still remember the first riff I ever wrote and it was only two chords. I guess that makes it memorable! It sounded flamenco yet I had never heard that style. Music is about feeling and spirit not what makes sense. Some times it Smells Like Teen Spirit.

[@ChaosPootato]

Crazy how many musicians don't have the most basic setup for recording in their PC

[@mushafasa]

I don't expect a lot of them to know that much about recording, not really a requirement to playing. Most of them probably only ever recorded on a 4 track themselves.

[@ianspeckmaier9565]

Satchel definitely almost said "get girls".

[@vladv5126]

Not gonna lie, Cold Beer is an absolute banger.

[@l8tapex]

yep Cold Beer simple works

[@_ukhammers]

very humble guitar players :)

[@AlexCantTalk]

I have no clue what the first riff I wrote was but I remember liking it lmao

[@aaronhaynes3067]

was Jim Root a part of JSOC? couldn't find any relation in my searches. spotted the blackbeard on his wall and its not very common to come across as a decorative piece in someone's home.

[@vinylated]

I'm stealing COLD BEER. I highly suggest you all do the same too 😁👍

[@stephandarnutzer5622]

We should all make a pact to play "Cold Beer" at open mic nights.

[@mushafasa]

I hide mine in the crisper drawer and it doesn't get stolen as often.

[@TailicaiCorporation]

I can do that cuz I still play it to this day… nothing fantastic but it was when I first was learning and I wrote it in 6/8. It’s kind of an entire song but no lyrics behind it just what I played on guitar. Really minor and I was in my emo phase musically (no skinny jeans or anything, just mcr and what not ) I wish I could play it, but I kind of want my band to use it at some point.

[@sideshowblob]

The only one's I believe are Kenny Hickey and Kirk Windstein

[@FixNewsPlease]

You should have talked to Dany Villarreal

[@tractorgt]

I ran sound for that crowbar guy. 🤘

[@joeknowles3721]

The only one being honest is the guy from crowbar. The rest are like oh yeah I remember the first time I touched a guitar I picked it up and instantly played this (plays epic tapping van haylen solo)

[@aaronfeller141]

Isn't it about the first one they wrote and not about the first song they played? A lot of em also say "yeah, the first song I wrote for (Band name)

[@Dhanijel1]

I also believe Kenny, the second to last.

[@vuri3798]

I don't know William Duvall doesn't sound that unrealistic either 🤣 But honestly half of them are playing the first riff they wrote with their band, not litteraly first one ever. As for the more "complicated" ones, I'd argue that's how they sound today but I'm sure there were a lot of wrong notes in between back in the days.

[@KTF0]

Hard to remember tho. I'm below average/mediocre, and I don't remember the first riff I wrote.

[@guitarplayer1495]

the tapping section of the EVH solo is really easy. like beginner level... tapping is not difficult.

[@user-ft4jo8ev1v]

Kirk's Tonight song is a total hit!!! Ramones style

[@SLENDRBOI]

The first lady holds the guitar and plays it like she's 3 weeks in... Question is, why?

[@BudderTak0]

the alter bridge riff sounded like dust in the wind by kansas

[@seanriley2534]

William Duvall accidentally writing alternate universe Paint it Black is hilarious lol

[@TheOnlyGuitarFather]

The first riff I ever wrote gets better each time I play it

[@ChloeBrown-wn7yy]

Why are some of these guys filming on a webcam from 2007?

[@thefacelessmist]

COLD BEER!!

[@pedromarques5682]

The first riff that Jim Root wrote it sounds like old school Megadeth!!! It almost seems it belongs on Killing is my business... or in Peace Sells!!!!!

[@LaurieValdez-zk3dy]

Everybody is their own worst critic😂

[@beanzburriton4263]

you can tell buzz is like 'this is how good i was, i showed kurt everything" lol. his attitude has always stank

[@taylormay9938]

Michael Paget reminds me so much of Ser Davos from GoT... 😂

[@philipwilson3430]

After hearing most of that shite I don't feel so bad about myself.

[@Castlevi3w]

tHOUGHT IT WAS jUSTIN hAWKINS IN THE THUMBNAIL

[@impoopnrightnow906]

Cool video but I don't believe for a second that the first riff Mark Tremonti ever wrote was Arms Wide Opoooown.

[@forestsnow6508]

Accirding to RB, Thank Roger Glover for Smoke on the Water riff.

[@stephandarnutzer5622]

Im just gonna put 9:25 here so everyone can have quick access to "Cold Beer"😂

[@Guitarplayer724]

Isn’t Satchel Ben Stiller with a wig?!

[@SaulG88]

That last riff from Kirk Windstein doesn't sound so bad actually..

[@InkedMisfit]

Lizzy ❤ a hometown hero

[@SirHashi]

So William Duval just made "Paint in Black"ish intro

[@fromhereon]

Kenny rules

[@valinhorn42]

From the thumbnail, I thought that was Justin Hawkins holding the white Firebird

[@dmitryowens]

Justin rocks!

[@valinhorn42]

@@dmitryowens I agree, and his ramblings are fun to listen to.

[@dmitryowens]

@valinhorn42 He's a cool dude. A little arrogant, but most lead singers are.

[@valinhorn42]

@@dmitryowens He's entertaining doing it, and he does play it for laughs. Plus I like the music of The Darkness. But you have to admit he can look like a lady at a distance or in a small thumbnail 😂

[@Endo-uu8mo]

Paget is a beast

[@canplxl6563]

cold beer 9:25

[@DieNetaDie]

Cold Beer

[@xpapakahn94]

shoulda got Tim or Scotty on here

[@davidraber-radakovits1572]

The setup on Myles' guitar is all over the place - what's going on?

[@bryanvickers]

So Kurt Cobain really did jisy rip off the Melvins...sounded exactly like the chorus of Nirvana's "Blew" and also "Aneurysm"

[@evilotis01]

idk, i'm kinda down with "Cold Beer"

[@BataraKado]

duvall with that lame ass riff is soo realistic of when guitarists learn and try to improve there skills, you dont start out as a rockstar.. also king buzzo always is the goat... same with kenny hickey, fuckin COLD BEER!!

[@russell33313]

cool