what are some challenging rock songs to play

[luke42719]

im luke, and ive gotta learn some more songs for my year 11 music exams. could any one give me ideas.

ive been playing guitar for 5 years and i mainly listen to blues and rock from the 70's and 80's

so anything in that style would be cool. gibson4000@hotmail.com

[ImThatGuyToo]

Where to start? I've been playing about 4 years now, and I listen to blues and classic rock as well. I think it'd be better for me to post artists to focus on rather than songs, but I can't help myself. Remember not to limit yourself to these songs, these are just my favorite songs to play by some important artists.

Led Zeppelin - You Shook Me, Over The Hills & Far Away

Jimi Hendrix - Purple Haze, Wind Cries Mary

Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood

Robert Johnson - Walkin' Blues, Dust My Broom

Eric Clapton - Have You Ever Loved A Woman, Layla Unplugged

I think any of these guys are a good place to be if you want to learn songs to play.

[Batman]

This list of songs I can partly play, but not all the way through, so I'd say they are pretty challenging

Hendrix - Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Hendrix - Little Wing

Cream - White Room (the problem isn't that it's hard to play, it's just hard to remember the entire wah-wah solo)

Led Zeppelin - Over the Hills and Far Away

[jman14141414]

I'm not sure how hard these songs are to play but here are some I thought off the top of my head...

The Thrill Is Gone-BB King

Johnny B. Goode-Chuck Berry

Since I've Been Loving You-Led Zeppelin

Red House-Hendrix

[Harguitay]

Allman Bros' Pony Boy

[johnnyguitar]

If you are going for guitar instrumentals then....

Sylvia (Focus)

Scuttle Buttlin' (Stevie Ray Vaughan)

Always With You Always With Me (Satriani)

Should get you an 'A'

[nobody_home]

Hey Luke, since you've been playing guitar for awhile I imagine you know at least some of the basics (Clapton, Page, Gilmore, Stevie, Eddie, Beck, Hendrix, etc...)

Here's some recommended albums for guitar players:

Albert Collins ~ "Ice Pickin'"

The Allman Brothers ~ "The Fillmore Concerts"

Jimi Hendrix ~ "Band of Gypsys"

Television ~ "Marquee Moon"

Buddy Guy ~ "The Complete Chess Studio Sessions"

Frank Zappa ~ "Hot Rats"

Jeff Beck ~ "Beckology"

Ten Years After ~ "Ssssh"

[johnnyguitar]

Top list there....I saw Alvin Lee a few weeks ago and he still knocks out a storming version of 'I'm going Home'...he was supporting Edgar Winter, who knocks out a BETTER version of 'Frankenstein' these days. Rick Derringer did the original studio guitar methinks and Ronnie Montrose played in the early live bands....now, there's a tune to go away and woodshed! :guitar: :guitar:

[luke42719]

thanks u guys,

i can play a few SRV songs and Clapton, i started to play Victory by eric johnson, but the solo's to impossible. i find it hard to move my hands at 100k/ph

[Ken]

thanks u guys,

i can play a few SRV songs and Clapton, i started to play Victory by eric johnson, but the solo's to impossible. i find it hard to move my hands at 100k/ph

Why bother with solos? The Ramones generally never did. And Johnny's concrete 4X4 guitar rescued rock, at least for a little while.

Ken.

[nobody_home]

Top list there....I saw Alvin Lee a few weeks ago and he still knocks out a storming version of 'I'm going Home'...he was supporting Edgar Winter, who knocks out a BETTER version of 'Frankenstein' these days. Rick Derringer did the original studio guitar methinks and Ronnie Montrose played in the early live bands....now, there's a tune to go away and woodshed! :guitar: :guitar:

That's a :guitar: song to play if you've got a keyboard/synthesizer player like Edgar Winter. I've always wondered if that's his real name (Johnny's too) or just a cruel irony.

[Alexsy]

try zeppelin's "heartbreaker." the main riff isn't that tough (it's exceedingly cool, however.) but the bridge/solo is another story.

[_Jayson_]

Eric Johnson - Cliffs of Dover

Living Colour - Cult of Personality

Jaco Pastorius - Teen Town (a friggin hard bass song by the best bassist ever)

Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun (I can't even find the complete tabs)

Van Halen - Hot for Teacher (depends on your tapping skills, I've been playing for 3 years and I've got this one down pretty good)

Frank Zappa - Willie the Pimp

SRV's version of Little Wing is also pretty tough.

[Batman]

Why bother with solos? The Ramones generally never did. And Johnny's concrete 4X4 guitar rescued rock, at least for a little while.

Ken.

I doubt they'd enjoy punk rock on a year 11 music exam!

I think a good blues rock song to do would be Crossroads by Cream. The introduction and verses are pretty easy, the solos are tricky though. Another good blues rock song to do would be "Cradle Rock" by Rory Gallagher.

[cvor]

I've played guitar for 15 years. If you are looking for challenging stuff from the 70s and 80s, here are my suggestions:

Eruption (Van Halen) - there is some good phrasing and some quick runs that would give just about anyone trouble

Al Dimeola - he does jazz fusion. Since you like blues, this is somewhat related and would greatly help your technique. He does some really amazing picking and arpeggios.

Anything from Steve Vai - the guy is insane. He has several versions of his guitar workout that are amazing if you can follow thru with it. He covers just about every technique you would want to learn. Highly recommended but very hard to make the commitment.

Someone mentioned Cliffs of Dover and that is definetly a good one to learn as well.

Good luck. The best advice I can give is to focus on accuracy before speed. It's very easy to lose focus because it is fun to play fast. Some people say you don't need to play solos, but my belief is that the more you learn, the more you have at your disposal to create. It's like an artist that has more colors to work with.

[Danielj]

To get better, get someone to play rhythm and make your own. So much more exciting and MUCH more challenging.

[Dappled]

Jeff's Boogie from the Yardbirds' Over, Under, Sideways, Down album.

[johnnyguitar]

try zeppelin's "heartbreaker." the main riff isn't that tough (it's exceedingly cool, however.) but the bridge/solo is another story.

The riff's terriff...but totally non-standard tuning (if I remember it well)...nowhere near the same if you flail about in standard tuning...might just be the precursor riff to the grungers and metaller's predillection for dropped 'D's and five and six stringed bass....?

JMHO