Rock

If you don’t know the blues… there’s no point in picking up the guitar and playing rock and roll or any other form of popular music. Keith Richards

The solid-body electric guitar is by far the most popular instrument for rock music. Still, the acoustic steel-string guitar shows up a lot too, in rock ballads as well as heavier songs. And a guitarist like Ted Nugent manages to play serious rock on the jazz guitar!

The history of rock in 100 riffs:
  1. Mr. Sandman – Chet Atkins
  2. Folsom Prison Blues – Johnny Cash
  3. Words of Love – Buddy Holly
  4. Johnny B Goode – Chuck Berry
  5. Rumble – Link Wray
  6. Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran
  7. Pipeline – The Chantays
  8. Miserlou – Dick Dale
  9. Wipeout – Surfaris
  10. Daytripper – The Beatles
  11. Can’t Explain – The Who
  12. Satisfaction – The Rolling Stones
  13. Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
  14. Black Magic Woman – Santana
  15. Helter Skelter – The Beatles
  16. Oh Well – Fleetwood Mac
  17. Crossroads – Cream
  18. Communication Breakdown – Led Zeppelin
  19. Paranoid – Black Sabbath
  20. Fortunate Son – Creedence Clearwater Revival
  21. Funk 49 – James Gang
  22. Immigrant Song – Led Zeppelin
  23. Bitch – Rolling Stones
  24. Layla – Derek and the Dominos
  25. School’s Out – Alice Cooper
  26. Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
  27. Money – Pink Floyd
  28. Jessica – Allman Brothers
  29. La Grange – ZZ Top
  30. 20th Century Boy – T. Rex
  31. Scarlet Begonias – Grateful Dead
  32. Sweet Home Alabama – Lynyrd Skynyrd
  33. Walk This Way – Aerosmith
  34. Bohemian Rhapsody – Queen
  35. Stranglehold – Ted Nugent
  36. Boys Are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy
  37. Don’t Fear the Reaper – Blue Oyster Cult
  38. Carry on My Wayward Son – Kansas
  39. Blitzkreig Bop – The Ramones
  40. Barracuda – Heart
  41. Runnin’ with the Devil – Van Halen
  42. Sultans of Swing – Dire Straits
  43. Message in a Bottle – The Police
  44. Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) – Neil Young
  45. Back in Black – AC/DC
  46. Crazy Train – Ozzy Osbourne
  47. Spirit of Radio – Rush
  48. Pride and Joy – Stevie Ray Vaughan
  49. Owner of a Lonely Heart – Yes
  50. Holy Diver – Dio
  51. Beat It – Michael Jackson
  52. Hot For Teacher – Van Halen
  53. What Difference Does It Make – The Smiths
  54. Glory Days – Bruce Springsteen
  55. Money For Nothing – Dire Straits
  56. You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi
  57. The One I Love – REM
  58. Where the Streets Have No Name – U2
  59. Welcome to the Jungle – Guns N’ Roses
  60. Sweet Child ‘O Mine – Guns N’ Roses
  61. Girls, Girls, Girls – Motley Crue
  62. Cult of Personality – Living Colour
  63. Kickstart My Heart – Motley Crue
  64. Running Down a Dream – Tom Petty
  65. Pictures of Matchstick Men – Camper Van Beethoven
  66. Thunderstruck – AC/DC
  67. Twice as Hard – Black Crowes
  68. Cliffs of Dover – Eric Johnson
  69. Enter Sandman – Metallica
  70. Man in the Box – Alice in Chains
  71. Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
  72. Give it Away – Red Hot Chili Peppers
  73. Even Flow – Pearl Jam
  74. Outshined – Soundgarden
  75. Killing in the Name – Rage Against the Machine
  76. Stone Temple Pilots
  77. Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz
  78. Welcome to Paradise – Green Day
  79. Possum Kingdom – Toadies
  80. Say it Ain’t So – Weezer
  81. Zero – Smashing Pumpkins
  82. Monkey Wrench – Foo Fighters
  83. Marcy Playground
  84. Smooth – Santana
  85. Scar Tissue – Red Hot Chili Peppers
  86. Short Skirt, Long Jacket – Cake
  87. Turn a Square – The Shins
  88. Seven Nation Army – White Stripes
  89. Hysteria – Muse
  90. I Believe in a Thing Called Love – The Darkness
  91. Blood and Thunder – Mastadon
  92. Are You Gonna Be My Girl – Jet
  93. Reptilia – The Strokes
  94. Take Me Out – Franz Ferdinand
  95. Float On – Modest Mouse
  96. Blue Orchid – White Stripes
  97. Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day
  98. Steady As She Goes – The Raconteurs
  99. I Got Mine – Black Keys
  100. Cruel – St. Vincent

Greats to listen to