anyone can play guitar but few can
master it welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’ll be counting down our picks
for the top 10 hardest rock songs to
play on the guitar
for this list we’ll be looking at the
songs that guitarists find difficult to
play whether the songs require increased
focus dexterity technique or just have a
difficult or unusual group to maintain
low to endure or complex structure to
cope with
to be considered for this list songs
must have particular challenges for even
the most virtuosic of guitarists
throughout not just the solo no matter
how a motive or majestic it may be
number 10 this charming man the Smiths
sure there may be flashy or tabular
songs around but pick up your Telecaster
or Rickenbacker if someone shooting a
video around you and see if you can nail
this chances are you can’t
while the song does feature multiple
guitars it’s the main electric jangle
pop riffs that carry it live or in
studio written by a guitarist Johnny
Marr in the key of a major this charming
man uses a raised f-sharp tuning and
sees Marge handling African highlife
music
as such the song makes constant use of
arpeggios and a lopsided clave rhythm
with only occasional chord stabs it may
offer a slick counter melody to Marcy’s
vocals but it also has a serious risk of
crippling your fretting hand somewhere
there is a left hand that never gives
out
number nine little wing the Jimi Hendrix
Experience although known for raging sax
wawas and fuzz phases James Marshall
Hendrix has his subtle moments as well
Jimi sets aside his usual Furies playing
for little wing and instead ships into
Curtis Mayfield mode offering gentle
slides jazz like chord melodies and
discrete whammy use don’t let it slow
tempo fool you however as little wing
will occasionally switch from 4/4 time
to 2/4 feature loads of unusual
suspended two chords continual
hammer-ons and pull-offs even while
gripping chords and will require you to
bring in your fretting hand thumb to
balance out the workload
you
you can borrow your church’s Leslie
speaker to help you get the right tone
but as for getting the notes right only
practice and patience can help you there
number eight snow hey OH
Red Hot Chili Peppers
picture it you’ve locked your pointer
finger down as a makeshift capo got your
fingers to pull off and hammer on just
right you’ve got a grip on the alternate
picking pattern and you’ve even managed
to maneuver the groove but then the riff
moves
this is what
sure your fretting hand basically does
the same motions all the way through
snow but then that’s the problem
it’s like skipping rope on a trampoline
while riding a horse under water
but alas you see a glimpse of freedom
with the bridge on the horizon only to
discover the chords are weird bar chords
based around a D chord and half muted
harmonizing chords based round John
Frusciante s unique relationship with
the world around him
at least the solo offers some relief in
short it’s about as difficult as your
standard FLE baseline
number seven Master of Puppets Metallica
puppets may feature two guitars but
either path you choose will lead to
hardship following rhythm an james
hetfield may seem like the easy route
but when you’re done obeying your down
strokes they’re synchronized arpeggios
and too even a solo waiting for you if
you’ve taken the path of Kirk Hammett
you get the workload of James Plus solos
rife with alternate picking tremolo
picking pinch harmonies and a splash of
Blues alongside arpeggios and other
general riff äj–
throw in a two hundred beats per minutes
plus tempo and multiple time signatures
and you’ve got your hands full
number six seen seven one the dance of
eternity Dream Theater with over 100
time changes and a complex highly
orchestrated composition the dance of
eternity is difficult to play on any
instrument
you
played on a seven string by John
Petrucci the instrumental piece uses an
entire smorgasbord of advanced
techniques alternate picking sweet
picking in addition to arpeggios and
intricate melodic passages that are
often synced and linked with the bass
and keys all while locked into wacky
time signatures
there’s no room here for anything
resembling traditional classic rock
guitar playing so delicate and precise
is a dance of eternity that a single bum
note could derail the whole thing
number five do the fire and flames
Dragonforce
no wins money there were rumors that
through the fire and flames was actually
recorded at a slow tempo and sped up in
post but that sounds like the talk of
someone who tried to play themselves and
failed
ironically the tracks weirder sounds may
be the easiest to get a handle on the
pac-man noises scratch the tip of your
whammy bar across your fingers
with the gimmick sorted all that’s left
are some intense legato and staccato
licks over the neck tapping guitar
harmonies and a down-and-dirty guitar
duel
meanwhile simultaneous wah-wah and
whammy pedal work means even your feet
get called into action
number four CAFO animals as leaders
given tosin Abasi x’ penchant for his
eight-string ibanez time 10 raising the
$1,800 list price may be your first
challenge
if you opted to settle for whatever
7-string you have lying around make sure
to tune your LOI down to D and watch as
the struggle begins
from there on the song has nothing for
you but a barrage of taps alternate
picking
taps tapped chords tap double stops taps
sweet picking sweep taps bass style
slaps and taps with bars of eight four
and nine for time for good measure
number three Sultans of Swing dire
straits
there may not be any taps or video game
noises and it may be moderately temp
owed and in 4/4 time but that doesn’t
make Sultans of Swing an easy ride
grab your strat switch on the middle and
bridge pickups and be prepared to learn
a lot of D minor
the first major challenge will be
figuring out Mark Knopfler’s unique
picking style which uses the thumb
pointer and middle fingers in place of a
traditional pick the second challenge is
his fretting hat which we’ll see him
take partial Barre cord grips and create
a constant stream of riffs loaded with
hammer-ons pull-offs slides and vibrato
while the fills throughout are
challenging enough Knopfler saves it up
for the solos especially the second solo
and the infamous quickfire triplet riffs
that bring the song to a close
number two cliffs of Dover Eric Johnson
apart from the dizzying string skipping
intro this track isn’t the fastest on
the list but cliffs of Dover will take
most of your focus and a lot of your
stamina to make it to the end Eric
Johnson himself took nearly eight years
before communicate to tape with a lot of
that time dedicated to learning a
classical threading style for maximum
clarity
even then he wasn’t happy with his
performance and a sharp ear will hear
Johnson switch from a Gibson 335 to a
Fender Stratocaster to redo parts he
felt weren’t up to par but even if you
don’t hold your playing to Johnson
standards you’ll still have to work your
way through a lot of string skipping and
hybrid picking passages or your trip to
Dover isn’t going too far before we
unveil our number one pick here are a
few honorable mentions
number one eruption
van Halen had been around long before
the release of Van Halen’s debut album
but it was eruption that put them firmly
in the mainstream played an a-flat on
his homemade friken strat Andy Van Halen
claimed the piece was influenced by Led
Zeppelin’s heartbreaker which oddly
enough doesn’t have taps parts of the
composition meanwhile are based on let
me swim by cactus
aside from the game-changing two-hand
tabs the solo is loaded with whammy
dives legato and tremolo picking which
combined make this a difficult piece to
play at a high speed
even van Halen himself claims to have
botched the job on the recorded version
which leaves little hope for the rest of
us
so do you agree with our list
what rock song do you find the most
challenging to play
for more humbucking top tens published
daily be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
master it welcome to watchmojo.com and
today we’ll be counting down our picks
for the top 10 hardest rock songs to
play on the guitar
for this list we’ll be looking at the
songs that guitarists find difficult to
play whether the songs require increased
focus dexterity technique or just have a
difficult or unusual group to maintain
low to endure or complex structure to
cope with
to be considered for this list songs
must have particular challenges for even
the most virtuosic of guitarists
throughout not just the solo no matter
how a motive or majestic it may be
number 10 this charming man the Smiths
sure there may be flashy or tabular
songs around but pick up your Telecaster
or Rickenbacker if someone shooting a
video around you and see if you can nail
this chances are you can’t
while the song does feature multiple
guitars it’s the main electric jangle
pop riffs that carry it live or in
studio written by a guitarist Johnny
Marr in the key of a major this charming
man uses a raised f-sharp tuning and
sees Marge handling African highlife
music
as such the song makes constant use of
arpeggios and a lopsided clave rhythm
with only occasional chord stabs it may
offer a slick counter melody to Marcy’s
vocals but it also has a serious risk of
crippling your fretting hand somewhere
there is a left hand that never gives
out
number nine little wing the Jimi Hendrix
Experience although known for raging sax
wawas and fuzz phases James Marshall
Hendrix has his subtle moments as well
Jimi sets aside his usual Furies playing
for little wing and instead ships into
Curtis Mayfield mode offering gentle
slides jazz like chord melodies and
discrete whammy use don’t let it slow
tempo fool you however as little wing
will occasionally switch from 4/4 time
to 2/4 feature loads of unusual
suspended two chords continual
hammer-ons and pull-offs even while
gripping chords and will require you to
bring in your fretting hand thumb to
balance out the workload
you
you can borrow your church’s Leslie
speaker to help you get the right tone
but as for getting the notes right only
practice and patience can help you there
number eight snow hey OH
Red Hot Chili Peppers
picture it you’ve locked your pointer
finger down as a makeshift capo got your
fingers to pull off and hammer on just
right you’ve got a grip on the alternate
picking pattern and you’ve even managed
to maneuver the groove but then the riff
moves
this is what
sure your fretting hand basically does
the same motions all the way through
snow but then that’s the problem
it’s like skipping rope on a trampoline
while riding a horse under water
but alas you see a glimpse of freedom
with the bridge on the horizon only to
discover the chords are weird bar chords
based around a D chord and half muted
harmonizing chords based round John
Frusciante s unique relationship with
the world around him
at least the solo offers some relief in
short it’s about as difficult as your
standard FLE baseline
number seven Master of Puppets Metallica
puppets may feature two guitars but
either path you choose will lead to
hardship following rhythm an james
hetfield may seem like the easy route
but when you’re done obeying your down
strokes they’re synchronized arpeggios
and too even a solo waiting for you if
you’ve taken the path of Kirk Hammett
you get the workload of James Plus solos
rife with alternate picking tremolo
picking pinch harmonies and a splash of
Blues alongside arpeggios and other
general riff äj–
throw in a two hundred beats per minutes
plus tempo and multiple time signatures
and you’ve got your hands full
number six seen seven one the dance of
eternity Dream Theater with over 100
time changes and a complex highly
orchestrated composition the dance of
eternity is difficult to play on any
instrument
you
played on a seven string by John
Petrucci the instrumental piece uses an
entire smorgasbord of advanced
techniques alternate picking sweet
picking in addition to arpeggios and
intricate melodic passages that are
often synced and linked with the bass
and keys all while locked into wacky
time signatures
there’s no room here for anything
resembling traditional classic rock
guitar playing so delicate and precise
is a dance of eternity that a single bum
note could derail the whole thing
number five do the fire and flames
Dragonforce
no wins money there were rumors that
through the fire and flames was actually
recorded at a slow tempo and sped up in
post but that sounds like the talk of
someone who tried to play themselves and
failed
ironically the tracks weirder sounds may
be the easiest to get a handle on the
pac-man noises scratch the tip of your
whammy bar across your fingers
with the gimmick sorted all that’s left
are some intense legato and staccato
licks over the neck tapping guitar
harmonies and a down-and-dirty guitar
duel
meanwhile simultaneous wah-wah and
whammy pedal work means even your feet
get called into action
number four CAFO animals as leaders
given tosin Abasi x’ penchant for his
eight-string ibanez time 10 raising the
$1,800 list price may be your first
challenge
if you opted to settle for whatever
7-string you have lying around make sure
to tune your LOI down to D and watch as
the struggle begins
from there on the song has nothing for
you but a barrage of taps alternate
picking
taps tapped chords tap double stops taps
sweet picking sweep taps bass style
slaps and taps with bars of eight four
and nine for time for good measure
number three Sultans of Swing dire
straits
there may not be any taps or video game
noises and it may be moderately temp
owed and in 4/4 time but that doesn’t
make Sultans of Swing an easy ride
grab your strat switch on the middle and
bridge pickups and be prepared to learn
a lot of D minor
the first major challenge will be
figuring out Mark Knopfler’s unique
picking style which uses the thumb
pointer and middle fingers in place of a
traditional pick the second challenge is
his fretting hat which we’ll see him
take partial Barre cord grips and create
a constant stream of riffs loaded with
hammer-ons pull-offs slides and vibrato
while the fills throughout are
challenging enough Knopfler saves it up
for the solos especially the second solo
and the infamous quickfire triplet riffs
that bring the song to a close
number two cliffs of Dover Eric Johnson
apart from the dizzying string skipping
intro this track isn’t the fastest on
the list but cliffs of Dover will take
most of your focus and a lot of your
stamina to make it to the end Eric
Johnson himself took nearly eight years
before communicate to tape with a lot of
that time dedicated to learning a
classical threading style for maximum
clarity
even then he wasn’t happy with his
performance and a sharp ear will hear
Johnson switch from a Gibson 335 to a
Fender Stratocaster to redo parts he
felt weren’t up to par but even if you
don’t hold your playing to Johnson
standards you’ll still have to work your
way through a lot of string skipping and
hybrid picking passages or your trip to
Dover isn’t going too far before we
unveil our number one pick here are a
few honorable mentions
number one eruption
van Halen had been around long before
the release of Van Halen’s debut album
but it was eruption that put them firmly
in the mainstream played an a-flat on
his homemade friken strat Andy Van Halen
claimed the piece was influenced by Led
Zeppelin’s heartbreaker which oddly
enough doesn’t have taps parts of the
composition meanwhile are based on let
me swim by cactus
aside from the game-changing two-hand
tabs the solo is loaded with whammy
dives legato and tremolo picking which
combined make this a difficult piece to
play at a high speed
even van Halen himself claims to have
botched the job on the recorded version
which leaves little hope for the rest of
us
so do you agree with our list
what rock song do you find the most
challenging to play
for more humbucking top tens published
daily be sure to subscribe to
watchmojo.com
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