You can often recognize a good guitar riff after just a few notes. These are the songs with an intro that has become so iconic you'll recognize it almost anywhere.
Vote for your favorite guitar intro and share your opinion!
Cast your vote - the ranking shifts live based on the votes.
Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns N' Roses)
Slash's recognizable, soaring guitar intro is one of the most iconic openings in rock history.
Smoke on the Water (Deep Purple)
This riff is one of the first that almost every beginning guitarist learns to play, and it remains instantly recognizable worldwide.
Skipped Smoke on the Water every single time I listened to this record.
Enter Sandman (Metallica)
This heavy, repeating riff opens one of the best-known metal songs ever and is still a fixture of Metallica's live shows.
What a vocal performance.
Back in Black (AC/DC)
This powerful, direct riff opens one of the best-selling rock albums ever and is instantly recognizable.
Hearing Back in Black live in concert with the crowd screaming every lyric was unforgettable.
Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)
Jimmy Page's heavy, bluesy riff is regarded as one of the most influential openings in rock history.
Log in to post a comment.
Sunshine of Your Love (Cream)
This heavy, hypnotic riff by Eric Clapton is seen as one of the first real 'hard rock' riffs.
Log in to post a comment.
Layla (Derek and the Dominos)
This recognizable guitar line by Eric Clapton opens one of the most celebrated rock songs of the 1970s.
Log in to post a comment.
Voodoo Child (Slight Return) (Jimi Hendrix)
Hendrix's explosive, wah-wah-driven intro is a textbook example of his revolutionary playing technique.
Log in to post a comment.
Money for Nothing (Dire Straits)
Mark Knopfler's recognizable guitar line, combined with synthesizers that were innovative at the time, made this one of the most recognizable intros of the 1980s.
Log in to post a comment.
Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes)
This simple but irresistible riff (actually played on a pitch-shifted guitar, not a bass) grew into a worldwide stadium phenomenon.
Log in to post a comment.
Missing an item in this list?
Log in or create a free account to add an item yourself.
Log in / create account
Slash's recognizable, soaring guitar intro is one of the most iconic openings in rock history.
Log in to post a comment.