10 Rock Songs Written Completely By Accident

For every guitarist tuning into this list, the '90s were the almighty era of Drop D tuning. By tuning the thickest string down a little bit, you get this meaty tone that sounds so much more menacing when you're playing riffs. Soundgarden always used it, Deftones made their career out of it, and Tom Morello created one of the greatest protest songs by just noodling around with it.

As he was coming up in Rage Against the Machine, Morello was relegated to doing the one job every guitarist finds themselves doing on the side: teaching guitar lessons. When a new student came by to learn some heavier stuff, Morello started to introduce the world of Drop D to his pupil by showing him some riffs. While most of them were straight gibberish, Morello eventually came up with the Killing in the Name riff on a whim, almost cutting the lesson short so he could record it onto his cassette recorder.

Ever since, this has practically become the default that most guitarists looking to expand their horizons go to for music that's just a little bit out of their comfort zone. For as many people know this song for its vehement protests against racist cops, it still manages to be the gift that keeps on giving for budding musicians.