Learn a Classic Riff – I Love Rock N Roll
This power chord riff is a punk rock classic, and it’s a lot of fun to play. It seems pretty simple on the surface, but it does have a few tricky moments as you’ll find out.
The first bar of the riff is made up of an E5 power chord played twice on the first beat, and twice on the third beat with a short rest between. The final beat of the bar is a muted note followed by a quarter tone bend on the 3rd fret of the low E string. Check out the linked video for tips on the timing of this as it has a slightly rushed feel.
The second bar is the same rhythm, but instead of the E5 chord you’re using an A5 on the first beat and a B5 on the third.
The third bar is the same as the first.
The fourth bar is where it starts to get a little trickier. This bar is actually a bar of 3/4 rather than 4/4. Play the E5 twice on the first beat, and rest. On the third beat, play the B5 straight to the A5 before hitting the E5 twice on the next beat, which just happens to be the first beat of a new bar of 4/4.
This section can take a little while to get comfortable navigating.
Now that you’re back in 4/4 you only play on the first beat of the fifth bar and then rest for the remainder of the bar.
The final bar starts off with an E5 played twice on the first beat before moving up the neck to start a short lead line on the third beat. The lead line comes from the E Minor Pentatonic scale. It starts with a full step bend on the 15th fret of the B which you bend and release before pulling off to the 12th in one motion.
Then end the run by playing the 14 then 12 on the G.
This riff is meant to have some swagger and attitude so don’t worry about it being super tight. Have some fun with it, it’s punk rock!
If you enjoyed this riff, check out the other Classic Riff lessons on the Blackstar Youtube channel.