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WHAT IS YOUR FAV RIFF TO PLAY IN A GUITAR SHOP (show off?!?)

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(@2u4ubyu)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 2
Topic starter  

8) So you are in a guitar shop checking out the latest gear - you sling on an axe and what do you play? What is your fav riff and how can we learn it?!?

Thanks
2u - St. Catharines, ON CANADA


   
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(@anonymous)
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Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 8184
 

Welcome to Guitar Noise 2u4ubyu.
I play whatever I feel like but I try to play up and down the neck and play the style I expect to be playing if I would buy that particular guitar.
Keep in mind, I am there for one reason only. I am looking to buy a guitar.
I am not there to entertain anyone or show off.
Some people say don't play Stairway to Heaven. I will if it gives me a feel for the guitar.
PS: could you please adjust the size of your avatar?


   
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(@dan-t)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5044
 

How about "Over the Hills and Far Away"? It's fun to play, and easy to learn:
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/l/led_zeppelin/over_the_hills_and_far_away_tab.htm
Plus it's by Jimmy Page, (but it's not "Stairway", so you won't get kicked out!).

"The only way I know that guarantees no mistakes is not to play and that's simply not an option". David Hodge


   
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(@ignar-hillstrom)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 5349
 

Usually no riff. I just noodle around so I can check out whatever I feel like checking out without someone saying I should play it differently.


   
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(@pilot)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 180
 

That's a really big avatar.


   
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(@chris-c)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 3454
 

Geez, it is big isn't it - it distorts the thread shape for me. Any chance of editing the size down a bit mate?

To the question...

No show off riffs from me. :wink: Mostly because I don't know enough yet..

I tend to noodle a bit and then spend a bit of time checking out individual notes to see how they sound up and down the neck. Ditto for a few chords and so on. Plus a fair bit of general eyeballing.

I'm really trying to pick up on any flaws or weaknesses there might be, and get a general feel for the sound and 'feel' characteristics, and so on.

I always encourage the sales person to show off for me though, as it can be quite revealing to listen carefully to what comes across, good and bad, when someone else has a bash at it. :D


   
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(@alangreen)
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Joined: 22 years ago
Posts: 5342
 

Stairway To Heaven, Smoke On The Water and Smells Like Teen Armpits are banned in most guitar shops these days.

I have a fingerstyle blues piece I wrote myself (and used for a couple of lessons here). It usually goes down quite nicely. When I try out classicals, I usually go for some renaissance dance music.

Best,

A :-)

"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk


   
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(@lee-n)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 142
 

Stairway To Heaven, Smoke On The Water and Smells Like Teen Armpits are banned in most guitar shops these days.

In that case I'll do Blackbird. :D

Lee


   
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(@gnease)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5038
 

* LaGrange -- ZZ Top
* Rollin' Tumblin' -- RL Burnside slide version (gotta bring a slide!)
* She Makes Me Feel Good -- Lyle Lovitt, countryish pop
* Mystery Train -- That simple rhythm sounds so good
* Random jazzy chords interspersed with single line and octaved runs
* Improvised lead of any style if I can lure someone into playing good rhythm or trading licks
* Improv over what someone else is playing nearby
* A percussive (tapped harmonics, slapped bass line, slapped body) piece I wrote, esp good for acoustic

and of course, just random noodles

-=tension & release=-


   
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(@yoyo286)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 1681
 

Stairway To Heaven, Smoke On The Water and Smells Like Teen Armpits are banned in most guitar shops these days.

"No Stairway? Denied!" :lol:

Don't forget any nu metal (Which half of the time people play it anyway, it gives me a headache... :? ) , Enter Sandman, cheesy 80's riffs, etc...

Oh, and Purple Haze! That song is turning into the new Stairway, I swear!

Stairway to Freebird!


   
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(@ricochet)
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Joined: 21 years ago
Posts: 7833
 

* LaGrange -- ZZ Top
* Rollin' Tumblin' -- RL Burnside slide version (gotta bring a slide!)I've got to bring a slide, because bottleneck stuff's about all I play.

BTW, I closely watched Billy Gibbons playing LaGrange a year and a half or so ago. He seemed to be tuned in Open A. The main riff was played with his index and ring fingers fretting the third and fifth frets (along with the open strings, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-3-5), and he played the solo mainly with a red glass slide on his middle finger. So bring your slide for that one, too.
:P

"A cheerful heart is good medicine."


   
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(@gnease)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 5038
 

BTW, I closely watched Billy Gibbons playing LaGrange a year and a half or so ago. He seemed to be tuned in Open A. The main riff was played with his index and ring fingers fretting the third and fifth frets (along with the open strings, 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-3-5), and he played the solo mainly with a red glass slide on his middle finger. So bring your slide for that one, too.
:P

You are correct, though I can finesse an approximation of the lead san slide. Love that rhythm riff ... "Ow, ow, owwwww ..."

-=tension & release=-


   
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(@rockerman)
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Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 219
 

dude, if you walk into a guitar shop to buy a guitar, play whatever you want, you are the paying customer :wink:


   
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(@Anonymous)
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Stairway To Heaven, Smoke On The Water and Smells Like Teen Armpits are banned in most guitar shops these days.

So why the heck am I busting my butt trying to learn Stairway to Heaven if I can't play it at Guitar Center! 8) Just think of all the needless suffering I could have prevented!

If you're lost you might need to read this thread: My Stairway Thread


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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Joined: 20 years ago
Posts: 10264
 

I usually play riffs or solos from my own songs....if I was to buy another guitar (I already have 10, so don't think that's likely in the foreseeable future...the Mrs would kill me!) the first thing I'd want to know would be "how do my songs sound on this?"

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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