Straight Up Rock Songs to Learn.

What are some good straight up rock songs to learn? No subgenres, no nothing. Just some good rock songs.

The one problem is anything I've tried to learn (the Stones, the Beatles, AC/DC) isn't riffy enough. Can someone recommend me a band or a song that's very riffy, but also straight up rock?

Thanks.

Ozzy Osbourne? Rainbow? Dio? Deep Purple? Van Halen? UFO?

just take anything from 1976 to 1989

This post has been edited by seljer on Dec 30 2008, 04:36 PM

...WAT?

back in black

go to a chain music store and see how music is labeled there

Rock/pop, R&B/Gospel, Jazz/World, Misc/soundtracks, occasionially depending on size of store heavy metal/hardrock

Stop caring about what something is labeled when it comes to rock and metal and just play guitar man. Not to mention if you can't think of a song to learn than that song isn't worth enough to learn anyways. If you aren't going to write your own material I'd suggest spending more time studying theory and technique. And if you really want to learn a cover learn songs which use guitar as the main instrument rather than one which focuses on the voice. Learn Jazz (well admitedly most isn't meant for guitar but you can always transpose horn melodies and then add the chords to make a nice chordal melody), learn classical as nearly all classical music for guitar is only for solo instrument or as an accompiant. I'd higly suggest Sor, Tarreaga, as well as some vionlin composers like Nicolo Paganini or Montraverdi. If you want to learn something with a harder edge learn Dream Theatre (intense soloing along with extremely well written riffs that have quite a melodic content), Jason Becker (a master of technical melodies), Jeff Loomis (Insane technical abilities and a lot of great melodies. Loves diminished scales and arrpeggios a ton), Jeff Beck (nuff said), Steve Vai (who I would classify as rock as a lot of his stuff is fairly rock based), Joe Satriani (whose more blues playing with jazz melodies and chordal structures).

All those types of music I listed above are all music which not only will increase your skill but your ability as a musician. Sure learning covers of your favorite bands and musicians is great. I always suggest learning pieces that are important to you. But to learn a random "rock" cover is simply a waste of time imo.

This post has been edited by BulletbassMan on Dec 30 2008, 09:34 PM

I do write my own music. In fact I'm sitting here with my lead vocalist and we've been composing today.

Don't you remember my demo I posted on here? I'm just taking a break because I'm waiting to get my guitar modded so I can have a humbucker to record with. I'm learning more songs to get better.

And rock is not a subgenre. There's no good rock around these days, since it's all mainstream drop d crap. Although selj made a good point, I don't know why I didn't remember Van Halen.

no good modern rock?



you brought questions ....


I give you

The Answer!

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=OEPjMnWz_DI

not to mention

alter-bridge
the foo fighters

oh and in the up and coming side of things look out for a band called Plan Nine
http://www.myspace.com/plannineband

+1

also more classic rock stuff, stuff like led zep (whole lotta love, black dog, heartbreaker), deep purple (smoke on the water, black night), thin lizzy (jailbreak, don't believe a word), that type of stuff would work. EDIT: also, more than a feeling by boston just for the awesomeness. bad company is pretty good too, and free. i also just realised that selj already mentioned deep purple

This post has been edited by dave_mc on Jan 1 2009, 08:32 AM

There is plenty of good rock bands out there. And many of them which aren't mainstream. Not to mention those classic rock band's are about as mainstream as it gets.

Led Zeppelin 4 is one of the most marketable albums of all time.
ACDC has made the same album over and over again since Back in Black came out
Van Halen was so mainstream for it's time it's not even funny

but above all you didn't see my point. Learning a random "rock and only rock" song doesn't really make you a better musician. And if your taking a break what's the point in learning a song that has no value to you.

There is plenty of good rock bands out there. And many of them which aren't mainstream. Not to mention those classic rock band's are about as mainstream as it gets.

Led Zeppelin 4 is one of the most marketable albums of all time.
ACDC has made the same album over and over again since Back in Black came out
Van Halen was so mainstream for it's time it's not even funny

but above all you didn't see my point. Learning a random "rock and only rock" song doesn't really make you a better musician. And if your taking a break what's the point in learning a song that has no value to you.

It has value to me. I'm taking a break from writing my own music, so I'm going to learn a new song.

I've been learning Limb from Limb, which is obviously a metal song. So actually it will help my musicianship, becuase I really haven't learned many rock songs, just metal ones.

And Tommy that The Answer is a really cool band.

learning a random rock song that you can't even think of is valueless. I've only learned a few covers of anything other than songs strictly for practice and melodic purposes my entire time playing music. All of which were songs that I chose to learn because they were very important to me. Honestly if you can't think of a song to learn what's the point in learning it when you can learn something that will push you both as a guitarist and a musician.

That's what I'm trying to discover, but in a different genre. Protest the Hero has me wrapped up otherwise.

I'd suggest expanding your horizons Arla. Learning a "rock and only rock" song only teaches you how to play well rock. A few years back that "Classic rock revival scene" got real big for a year or two. Band's like Silvertide and Jet played that basically rock ripoff and got huge for a year or so and see where they are now. They lack originality. Classic Rock in the terms of a melodic and harmonic view is pretty basic for the most part. The vast majority of solos are technically rather easy as well.

Jazz is genre which teaches you as a musician more than nearly any other genre. Firstly it's one of the few genres where only bad cover is one which is exactly the same. It's basic principle is to take something which is standard and make it your own. For a guitarist you have even more options for it. Immediately you have the choice of either playing the chords or mimicing the melody (or mimicing the harmony). But a great player does both. The chordal melody is something that requires great musician ship as well as allows for your own individual style to shine. You can follow the melody and play the chords using different fingerings and alterations and at some points only follow the melody or the harmony. A great example is Wes Montgomery's While we were young. An absolutely brilliant piece. It shows fantastic a great guideline as combining the chordal and melodic personalities of guitar. Also it has many oppurtunities for improvisation.

Classical teaches you the opposite of jazz. It concentrates on technical ability (yes there are millions of insanely technical jazz pieces). It teaches you that a unmarked change in tempo is just as bad as a mistake in the melody. And while rthym is just as important in jazz improvisition in classical is nearly unheard of unless you have an incredible amount of respect and recoginition. (Segovia arranges music, Williams arranges music, you play the music as it's written). But even more than it teaches you to play harder than any other genre that I've ever known it says that you play what your given don't matter how difficult it is. If you aren't talented enough it say's you practice it till you are not you change the piece slightly to make it easier like Jazz or rock allows. And since most composers don't play the instruments they write for (or you as a guitarist will play pieces that aren't written for guitar) it makes for some extremely difficult stretches and fingerings.
Above that it teaches you as a composer. It first teaches you structure and how music is supposed to be written. And then it teaches you how to write music. Few composers follow the book word for word but they still read the book is a analogy i suppose. It teaches you what is consanant and what is dissonant and how to use those to write music. It also shows how to write an implied harmony with only a single melody. Something which is extremely important for the aspect of soloing and harmonizing with those solos.
Anything by Nicolo paganini at even half speed (well for most of his pieces) is challenging (especially if you are fingerpicking). Yet even in his caprices (except those only meant for practice such as the first) you'll find great melodies and thier implied harmonies. How to move in and out of key yet still remain centered.

Some of the best to check out

Sor: Amazing composer. Is the master of writing arrpegiated chords as melodies. many pieces have both major and minor parts which is always a plus. Makes you focus on using tone and dynamics to bring a piece alive

Tareaga (spelling no fucking clue): Great composer as well. Has a lot more single note melodies combined with harmonic support. (however not as chordal as sor) Doesn't rely as much on the player to bring a piece alive but very inspiring none the less.

Bach: He is the man when it comes to writing melodies and harmonizing with them. A fugue is basically a single melody which is repeated 3 times much like a round but when repeated it is at a different interval than originally. This is ideal to study when it comes to writing harmonized solos.

Paganini: The master of technical accomplishments. Anything I've learned of his is always extremely challenging even at much slower speeds. Only a very few can learn his works note for note at full speed. (I can't) The fifth caprice is my favorite caprice easily. It requires a lot of huge stretches and string skips. It also has a lot of moving in positions. So that also requires a lot of practice. Not to mention it has some of the most badass riffs of all time.

Richard Strauss: Not really much for the guitarist. But his work is badass as hell and he's one of my favorite composers. Check him out.

While we were young tab I made if interested. I don't think I have any improvs in there and it's just the straight version. Not absolutely positive though.

Thanks. Do you recommend starting on classical pieces or jazz pieces? And what exact songs would you recommend?

Other than what you posted obviously, the chord changes are a little tough for me, I'd have to work up to it.