10 Perfect Rock Guitar Riffs
9. Sweet Child O Mine - Guns N Roses
Most people don't go into the songwriting room planning to write one of the most iconic riffs of all time. Hell, some people just try to write something that they pray will actually work and will keep them afloat in case the label decides to drop them. So how did one of the most essential riffs in the entire rock canon start off as Slash just screwing around in the rehearsal room?
Yes, even a riff as amazing as Sweet Child O Mine actually started off as an afterthought, with Slash just playing the song like a circus melody rather than an actual song idea. Once Steven Adler hopped behind the drums though, the puzzle pieces started to fall into place, as one musical layer start to fall on top of the other. Although this sounds like child's play on the surface, be warned if you actually try to play it.
Compared to the usual warm up exercises, there's a lot more thought that goes into this one, which involves everything from string skipping to making sure your fingers are just nimble off to get off the fretboard. While Slash has said publicly that he doesn't particularly like the song very much, it's been taking potential guitar heroes to school for the past 30 years.