How in the heck do I play a guitar riff?

The numbers in "tab" mean what fret and what string is to be played.

The numbers in "chord diagrams" mean which fingers to use.

This article, How do you read and write tab? should help you. Just scroll through and you will find many of your questions answered.

If you have anymore questions, fire away.

Welcome to GN! :D

I guess I can give you are partial answer. If you are talking about the numbers in a guitar tab those numbers represent what fret to finger on the string that the number is on. That's the easy part. The hard part is timing which a tab does not give you. Additionally you need to know what the different symbols (letters) mean like P for pull-off, H for hammer-on etc.

A good start would be to read the GN Tab Tutorial

Well, Tracker beat me to it as usual. He types faster.

Welcome to GN.

Thank you guys so much for your help!

Thank you guys so much for your help!
Your welcome.

Stick around and ask your questions and enjoy your stay.

Hey, Che Che, what type of music are you into?

What songs do you want to play?

Maybe we can help a little further on some of the techniques you should be concentrating on. They are ALL important, but if you run into barre chords, don't feel like you can't play because you "might" not be able to play them right away. It took me a year of playing (not playing barres all the time, only as much as my hand could take. Maybe 10 or 15 minutes a day) before I felt comfortable switching to them and playing them. Don't be afraid to put those songs aside for now.

We also have an “Easy Songs for Beginners” lessons featured on the home page. They are not all “easy”, but if you have some of the simple chord changes down and have a little grasp on the technical side of things they can be easy

Not trying to turn you off, just giving you a heads up on things to come.

Good luck, bud! Have fun because that is what it is all about!

Che Che

A riff is just a short recognizable melody that repeats really. Think of the intro to Come as You Are by Nirvana, that is a riff.

Some other famous riffs:

Smoke on the Water


e--------------------------------------------------------
b--------------------------------------------------------
g-------3---5---------3---6--5---------3---5-----3-------
d---5---3---5-----5---3---6--5-----5---3---5-----3---5---
a---5-------------5----------------5-----------------5---
e--------------------------------------------------------


The Ocean by Led Zeppelin


e------------------------------------------------
b------------------------------------------------
g------------------------------------------------
d----5h-7---5h-7---5-----------------------------
a---------------------7--------------------------
e------------------------8-----XXXX---XX--------

Whole Lotta Love by Led Zeppelin


e------------------------------------------------------------
b------------------------------------------------------------
g------------------------------------------------------------
d------------------9-----9----9----9-----9-----9---9---------
a-------5------5---7-----7----7----7-----7-----7---7-----5---
e---/7------7------0---000--000--000---000---000—000---00--7-


Jimmy Page is the Master of the Riff.

I know you didn't ask for all this, but it will give you an idea of what people mean by riffs, and a couple of great ones to work on. :D

Tracker,
I listen to mostly Christian Rock bands like Skillet.