Consequence’s Guitar Week continues with our list of the Best Guitar Riffs of the 21st Century. For more licks, check out our 50 Greatest Basslines of All Time, and don’t miss our 100 Best Guitarists of All Time list. Tune in throughout the week for more lists, artist-driven content, games, and more.
Riffs are the succinct musical phrases by which can define how we remember songs. Since the dawn of pop and rock music, they have often served as the main hook — especially when played on guitar. But there are only so many notes in a scale and so many frets on the fretboard.
As the years go by, writing an iconic riff becomes that much harder. If some theorists suggest that everything you could think of has already been thought, this would be especially true for riff writing. The pitfalls of derivativeness loom larger with every new generation of guitarists.
A quarter of the way through the 21st century and in the midst of Guitar Week, it’s the perfect time to look back at the greatest riffs since the year 2000. The 70 riffs listed here — more than a few played by some of the greatest guitarists ever — managed to seep into the cultural consciousness with their originality, relevance to the musical trends of the time, and sheer catchiness. Some have become staples in sports arenas around the world, while others might get lodged in your head for days if heard even in passing. Either way, these riffs rip.
— Jon Hadusek,
Senior Staff Writer
Content shared from consequence.net.