The TOP 20 HARDEST ROCK SONGS to Play on Guitar (according to WatchMojo)
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- Опубліковано 23 січ 2023
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I think it’s time you put together a top 10 hardest songs to play. Ones that you yourself find difficult or had a very hard time mastering!
He kinda already has I think it’s a cool watch you should check it out
Would love to see if one of them would be Afterlife by A7x. Took me 2 years to be able to play it. He should definitely attempt it. It’s gotta be one of the hardest.
I think he already did that
@@nocapongod4255 I’ll do a search for it. Thanks for the heads up!
@@Domanda896 as soon as you said A7X I thought of the Scream solo lol
As a MASSIVE Rush fan I'm actually really glad La Villa Strangiato is on the list because it is my personal favorite Rush song and more people should know about it because it kicks ass.
Its also way harder than YYZ ;) and not even the hardest Rush song to play either.
@@Skarmillion definitely way harder than YYZ
It's funny as I find it easier than YYZ! I love Rush and Alex has probably influenced me more than any other guitar player, but I don't think his stuff is as technically difficult as most on this list.
YYZ has the meter changes, but this miles harder.
That 7/8 solo... Perfection! As a drummer, obviously Neil Peart kills the part, but it serves only to compliment the solo
La Villa Strangiato was Rush's stated attempt to compose the most complicated thing they could and still play it live. This during a time when their music was at it's most complicated too. They probably could have come up with even harder stuff; but were committed to being able to play anything they recorded live.
And the craziest part is their live version from Exit Stage Left is arguably even better than the studio version
According to the BTLS documentary, they were determined to record it all in one take, but ultimately had to admit defeat and record it in three parts. That’s how ridiculous that song was for their own talent level.
I remember that Geddy semi jokingly mentioned in some interview that it was challenging for themselves to play when they wrote it. And that they had to work on their chops to be able to pull it off. Of course, they made it look like child's play on stage.
Thats kinda corny ngl
I saw that interview, in fact he said that they took weeks to get one perfect recording of that and they almost give it up trying
I'm fairly certain that Eddie always maintained that Eruption wasn't hard and encouraged people to learn it as an intro to tapping.
Sultans of Swing is difficult to note for note but it's easy to wing it. The way Mark lays out his lines and varies his approach every time he runs through each section of the song really lends to just going dealers choice the whole song through.
Yeah, you can get the general vibe of Sultans relatively easily, but nailing all of Knopfler’s subtleties is a bitch. I love how the iconic sixteenth-note riff in the outro solo is about as metal as clean-tone classic rock gets.
La Villa definitely deserves the spot. Lifeson does this really weird flamenco influenced guitar solo that lasts for like 2 minutes, on top of all the weird time signatures. Geddy even confirms in an interview that it's the hardest song in their discography to perform in its entirety.
Agreed. I play bass so I can only speak for it, but La Villa is a bit harder because its about twice as long and it changes a lot. YYZ is really hard to get down but once you do it has a lot of the same riffs. There are a lot of deceptively hard sections in La Villa for bass though, not to mention the bass solo. One of the key things with it is being able to not get lost in the tempo.
I was surprised but glad La Villa Strangiato made the list. I think its way harder than YYZ, the first solo itself is just out of this world. One of my favorite Rush songs
It hurts my soul how much Mr. Govan is underappreciated. He is without question the best guitar player on the entire planet. He can do literally any genre as good as anyone else.
He doesn’t have any songs.
@@demokraatti “Wonderful Slippery Thing”, “Waves”, I can go on.
Mr. Govan s definitely great, but not really "the". He isn't underappreciated, it's just that his music is pretty niche like modal jazz, with improvisations and shredding-for-no-reason thingy taking priority over cohesive melody. Those don't spell "wide recognition", however good the musician is.
Speaking of "underrated". Have you heard of the dude Plini?
He is great, and i know he is excellent in different styles, but i don’t think he would be as good at deathcore/djent/prog metal shred as Jason richardson would be, or as good at thrash riffs and solos as Dave mustaine or marty Friedman would be, but who knows, his deathcore ep could be the best thing for the sub genre since suicide silence dropped the cleansing 🤣🤣🤘🎸🔥
@@artyomloukashov636 Plini is more widely known than Govan, there's no doubt about it. What i think people mean by saying that he's underrated is that he doesn't like to post online and only offers his talent live or through OSTs.
It is unfortunate, but that's just the way he likes to share his music. As for his "lack of cohesive melodies", you just haven't listened to enough of his stuff if you think there are no cohesive melodies in his music. The Outsider is the best example of this imo. It just so happens that he doesn't play the same song in the same way evertime he plays. Improvisation is his strong suit and naturally many times it may not please every ear. "Wide recognition" doesn't always equate to good guitarist, and at the end of the day we all have our preferences and idols and styles of music that we particularly like.
FraKctured by King Crimson is definitely the hardest song to play. The combination of New Standard Tuning, unusual fingerings, whole tone scales and brutal speed is just death.
Absolutely. There are very few people in the world that can play that and Fracture perfectly all the way through.
i got a transcription of fracture in guitar techniques (transcribed by guthrie goven) in the late 90s and even slowly its just a monster especially to memorise.
surprised to see this mentioned but have to agree
In my mind Bleed definitely belongs on the list not just because of its impact, but also it bloody (pun intended) difficult to play. While in 4/4 the rhythm of the guitar bounces and the accents don't align making it very difficult to find the 1. Unlike other Meshuggah songs Bleed has a high tempo, which makes keeping time even harder. Also considering the song is 7 minutes long, the riff not aligning with the 4/4 makes very difficult to remember where you are in the song, that means you have to focus the whole time on two things 1) not falling into 4/4 and 2) where exactly you are in the song. Again considering the song is 7 minutes is very fast, does not have much breaks for the guitar it is physically straining for you picking hand while also keeping you on the edge mentally the whole time. I might be relatively easy to the initial riff one time, playing the whole song correctly is truly tough and next to impossible if you don't have a superb Drummer
Bleed is a fucking endurance test. It is designed to cripple wrists and forearms
IFYKYK
I was about to say, he did Meshuggah reeeally dirty. The endurance, memorising all the patterns is nothing to underestimate. And If you count in the solo, it is even more definetly one of the hardest songs out there.
Thank you!! Yeah I feel that he should do an honest take on it after that pitiful clip. I bet he would give it the respect it deserves after actually trying. He didn’t even play those 3 seconds correct… Don’t get me wrong I do like his channel and most of the videos, but that almost seemed humiliating to the genius band that is meshuggah.
@@the_Kiwi666 Yeah he's on the cork sniffer phase of his career. Along with rhett shull
I can tell you that, for me, La Villa Strangiato is tougher to play than YYZ. Plus Alex’s solo (the first one, in 7) is one of the most amazing pieces of musical expression ever written.
I agree, it's also like .. what.. 12 mins long. 1st time I heard it I was amazed that a song could talk to me so well and not have a word of voice in it.
Hold up, he's never heard of La Villa Strangiato? It's a fantastic song, and legend has it it took them a month to record it all in one take. It along with other songs on Hemispheres made them not want to make quite as difficult songs anymore since they were really difficult to play live and in general. Learning La Villa Strangiato and other Rush songs really made me a much better bassist.
I believe Mojo defines rock loosely as guitar-based music with a drum & bass rhythm section. That works for me.
I am so happy that you gave Vinnie Moore a shout-out. He’s been one of my favorites for decades! I’ve worn out copies of Time Odyssey on several different formats through the years.
Glad to see more people give Vinnie Moore the respect he deserves, very underrated player.
Absolutely love these videos. It's always great to hear from someone who know what they're talking about. I love that your critiques are never done in a mean way as well.
Glad I'm not the only one with singular video deafitus, but honestly these are some of my favorite videos you do
You need to check out "La Villa Strangiato" by Rush, particularly the "Exit Stage Left" version. It's absolutely bonkers. Definitely much more technically demanding than YYZ, as much as I love that song.
Agreed!
The guitar solo on the Exit Stage Left version is in its own league. It’s insane
Yes it is way harder than YYZ, the intro of La villa strangiato is very difficult and the solo too especially the live version on Exit stage left
I think my favorite is the Rush in Rio version. Alex is just dripping in sweat…awesome…and the most insane crowd I’ve ever seen on a live performance…just bonkers…
@@alex241 Yes! Pure raw emotion.
Always love your reactions to mojo lists! And thank you for putting Super System together. I don’t even bother trying to teach guitar anymore- I just point new players to your app!
So happy that you mentioned Vinnie Moore's Meltdown, I was addicted to it on my 16s
Love these. Would love to see a video where you and your community create a list most of us can agree on lol
Sultans absolutely belongs on the list. I have been playing for decades and started butchering this song pretty much from the start. Granted, the type of playing I generally gravitate to is more the stylings of EVH, Nuno and Satriani. But I constantly return to this tune, having never truly mastered the phrasing note for note. It is like golf. Easy to start but a lifetime to master
Can't believe they didn't include (insert name here) from the album (insert name here) by (insert name here)! It's one of the all time legendary guitar songs!
I know right! (insert name here) is the greatest guitarist of all time.
Tyler, please look at la villa Strangiato. It’s more than the intro you had on this vid. Intricate guitar playing, dynamic shift, time changes, effects use, and pure genius at work.
Omg your rock tone is kicking ass!!!! 🤘🎸🤘
Trust me my guy.. Give La Villa Strangiato a listen.
But listen to the studio version, not the music video version. Both are good, but I prefer the studio one. Good stuff as always Tyler!
Your watchmojo series is always fun to watch!
Minds Eye my favorite VM song had his vhs tape back in the day. Mr born in 89. Love this and your channel
I love how suddenly a bunch of youtubers give Guthrie govan the respect he deserves. Everyone should know he is the one above all
I was going to comment exactly the same thing. Guys like tyler and rick beato do have a big influence on the guitar scene and guthrie deserves the attention
Not enough for Shawn Lane tho
Shawn Lane
I wish he would put more stuff on streaming. There's only a few albums and nothing within like the last 10 years. It's just hard to find his music.
Shawn Lane was pretty amazing, but I don't think he can touch Guthrie.
Just my opinion.
Thank you so much for mentioning Guthrie!!! He definitely would have been a deserved number 1 spot! Best wishes from Berlin
Sultans of Swing definitely deserves to be on the list. I had to completely change the way I play guitar to play that song correctly.
Dire straits are dope as fuck.
Mark Knoppler is a different breed.
Definitely not, it is nowhere near as hard as the other songs on the list. A very mid guitarist such as me can play it the whole way through (imperfectly, hitting all the right notes but not flawlessly) but not even come close to playing the other things on the list
@@minigungaming5915 I'm trying to learn how to play like MK for 15 years, and so far got around 1% of his playing. So yes, definitely "Sultans Of Swing" deserves the spot. Just "playing through" and serving the song properly are two completely different things.
@@PavelFomenkov Especially the Alchemy live version.
@@PavelFomenkov I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit, your playing is fantastic and definitely serves the song imo
In in love with that Ibanez
Cult of Personality by Living Color is a tough one all the way through. That solo is just so wild and almost out of time.
The remake with Steve Vai is insane
Vernon Reid is a highly underrated and under appreciated guitarist.
Tyler has always been of my favorites fue to his healthy balance of technique, knowledge, and comedy without being over the top. Now, the fact that he name-dropped Guthrie solidified him as my favorite. Guthrie is incredible and still doesnt get the notoriety he deserves outside of the guitar community. Such an incredible musician.
Baffles me why he is not more well noted or respected. He is the best guitarist in the world, but generally overlooked! Really pleased Tyler has even heard of him, let alone mentioned him in this context.😀My respect for Tyler has just increased 100%
I'm glad u mention Vinnie Moore, love his Melodic Neoclasical guitar instrumental
Besides La Villa Strangiato as a Rush fan being one of the most difficult guitar parts to practice, might I also mention both Fracture & it's updated version FraKctured by King Crimson? Robert Fripp ain't no pushover, he's truly at the limit of his discipline right there, it's hard on the fretting hands and dealing with a new standard tuning on the updated one especially is crazy!
Sultans of swing - YES due to nuance. It’s not the notes, it’s how they are played. 😊
True.
I did not think you would say Guthrie. That makes me feel so much better. I’m learning his stuff and it I frustratingly hard. Love your videos.
@@Fernando00992 what’s up
Love your vids lots of love from nepal❤❤
You are one of about 5 people on earth who can make me laugh (as opposed to snicker, chortle smile etc) . Love the watchmojo vids
Never heard La Villa Strangiato?!?!?!!? I wouldn't consider it the hardest Rush song- probably either YYZ or Freewill are harder. In any case, the Hemispheres album is probably Rush's height of their story-telling prog rock era.
Wish Cult of Personality was on the list. Extremely underrated song.
The live version of sultans of swing definitely would deserve a spot on that list, alchemy 1983 is probably one of the greatest live performances ever
100%
I have been waiting for this
Hey Tyler, been watching your channel for a while now. Rarely miss your content. I'd love, love, love to see you you learn and play " La Villa Strangiato". I was surprised you weren't familiar with it. Pre-Motion Pictures Rush rocks! 🎸🎸🎸🎸🎸
no audio my guy
Life force , daydream the entire minds eye album is just pure guitar heaven, vinnie Moore has been one of my biggest idols
I'm enjoying these real guitarist vs watch mojo videos. I might have an idea for you for a video, but it would require a visit to Japan. I'm in Tokyo these days and I like to visit the thrift stores like Hard-off. Recently, I got a casio EG-5, a squier strat (CY 2000 year build), and a Yamaha SLG110S all for under $600. That made me think, what is the best guitar you can get from a thrift store in Japan? (I'm not sure how the thrift stores are where you are, but maybe it is applicable where you are). Keep up the great work. Your videos got me back into regular guitar practice.
I was surprised to see wings of the storm. Great song! One song I thought might be on it was: love is on the way, Saigon kick.
YOUR HEART IS PUMPIN’ ❤
What did you do?
It's incredible that there were so little rock songs in a list of rock songs
I love your in-depth explanation of agreement with Eric Johnson’s “Cliffs of Dover”. Yep
spot on insert there on Vinne Moore...thank you very much Tyler
Not only do we learn the top 20 hardest songs to play, we relearn Joe satriani's name
When he said it so much it started to sound like it wasn't even a real word
Just for clarity, Sultans of Swing belongs on here!! Marks playing is some of the most emotive I've heard. This and Brothers in Arms are just beautiful, but Sultans is hard!
It's so nice to know someone in the uni. Verse . Is also fascina ted with geetars
Glad to see so many people speaking up on La Villa Strangiato, which is a beast. I also thought he glossed over The Noonward Race.
I could many guitarists playing a basic version of Sultans of Swing, but good luck getting anything close to the feel of the original.
Sounds so good only elite guitar players would be able to hear it.
Dire Straits is my favorite band and has been for a long time and will continue to be for a long time. I think Sultans is difficult but the one I have most trouble playing is single handed sailor.
Single Handed Sailor is my all-time favourite Dire Straits song! So happy that someone else here knows it lol.
i have been watching your channel for a few days now and i decided to subscribe. i love your content. but i wonder. what would the greatest guitarists historically sound like if they had the most modern technologies and equipment. just a thought.
La Villa Strangiato’s guitar and drums are magic.
Wings Of The Storm is great. Slip Of The Tongue is an absolute beast of Vai goodness. Special mention to Sailing Ships the album closer. What a goddamn powerhouse of a song. Epic playing by Vai... Go check it out.
I honestly agree with every single word I heard Tyler say here.
Let’s go! I’ve been waiting for this vid
Brother thank you for acknowledging Mike Dawes and Andy McKee in this video! I’ve been playing for 20 years on (and mostly) off, but just had a huge calling to come back into playing, and have been watching a lot of your videos. Kudos to you for all your content as you are honestly my most watched guitar related channel. Thank you for all of time and effort, but to get back to Mike Dawes (in my opinion arguably the best acoustic guitarist alive today (double parentheses to apologize for the slightly morbid connotation of saying “alive today” rather than all time; but I haven’t been alive for all time…),) the guy of incredible. Andy McKee is also a huge influence of mine that I learned about 15+ years ago around the dawn of my internet exposure (around the time of limewire) where I first saw hit Rat Records video filmed in high grain with wooden walls playing Drifting. Then I heard Art of Motion and both wanted to put down my guitar forever and pick it back up and play ‘till I was able to play that song… still can’t play it but every so often I play those grainy Rat Record videos for a dose of serotonin. Absolutely amazing! Thank you again and keep bringing the amazing content!!
Couldnt agree more how can you miss Gutherie one of the most versatile, insanely good at any genre and mimicing any style while also having a his own unique sound
Hangar 18 absolutely belongs on this list, right near the top. Face melting solos from start to finish. ALSO Guthrie was my initial assumption for #1, so have to agree with you there.
Love the I’m the one pick of yours. Always thought that has the best licks of any VH song
Agree on Meltdown, good stuff. Got lil Pantera vibes during intro.
LMAO that "Nerd Alert" part! 😆
La Villa is the song that you played for someone that thought YYZ was good but hadn't heard much Rush.
how did you not know la villa strangiato!!!! no way! saw this live a little while back. was life changing.
Wings of the storm solo is my fav of all time!!! Amazed that watch mojo found it
I learned both YYZ and La Villa Strangiato (la vee-ah stran-jiato). The latter was much harder, for me that is.
Vinnnie Moore's NNY is also great, perpetuating the theme of tune titles of three letters.
I think its time you put together a top 10 of Guthrie Govan licks and learn them!
Hey Tyler,
Been a fan for a good while now and I tried your Guitar Super System. As someone who started a year ago I have to say that the app is difficult to follow. It’s broken into parts but I feel like it’s missing the very bare essentials and if they are there then they’re not easy to find. There are good things, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like the app is more for the average guitar player as opposed to a beginner.
LOVE VINNIE MOORE!!! Awesome that you included him!
Sultans of Swing definitely belongs to this list. But I would say the hardest Dire Straits Riff is the outro of Lady Writer...
Yep!
No audio?
Willie the Pimp was the song that got me to learn to play the guitar, I love that it's here
Takes deep breath..... first of all, I can't believe you've never heard LA Villa!! Wow... give it a listen sometime.. I think you'll change your mind... great vid as always!!
OMG! I've never heard of Guthrie Goven (sounds like a dirty folk singer) so I just checked out "Fives" on your suggestion. My mind is blown, all my favourite prog/fusion sounds in one song, and definitely harder than most things on this list. I know what I'll be listening to for the rest of the day.
Regret #9 solo. But literally anything with him in it. He is the best living guitar player, hands down the most versatile. He can do ANY genre amazingly well.
check out the whole erotic cakes album. Waves is my favorite
Yes, waves is pretty amazing !
His work with Steven Wilson is amazing, and frankly if you're good enough for Hans Zimmer, you're doing something right.
I envy you and anyone else at the 'just discovering Guthrie' stage.
Sultans of Swing…….💯 YES!!
Sure people can play the notes, but the sound of that song is more than just notes. Knopfler makes the guitar sing on that one!
Bruh I remember struggling with cliffs of dover on guitar hero on expert for a WHILE. Sheeeeeesh brought back some memories from 10 years ago. And never finished through the fire and flames on expert so.
We used to open the night with Flyin'.... I remember having to transpose the acoustic, tuned to C to Std tuning...was a finger bender...lol. Killer toon live...no singer, house gets sound together, does lead vocals next song...the night kicks ass from there. Rock on...
Tyler, as the great poet Lemmy once said. “It’s all rock n’ roll”
This must be so good that only a select few may hear it
I can hear it on the computer but not my phone
My dog seems to like it.
Hi love your content excellent player as well you do justice to all styles of play by the way did you actually engineer periphery 2?
Holy shit he did someone reuploaded the studio updates they did on Facebook and he’s in the first one
Dude yes Vinnie Moore so glad you mentioned him!
Why all the no audio comments? I can hear it fine
Because there is no audio, Duh
@@paularnold4411the audio’s there
@@cadence_wav2423 there isn't any sound for me
I definitely agree that “I’m the one” by Van Halen should’ve been on this, or maybe any other VH song that’s not eruption😂
got my first electric guitar yesterday, hopefully I can get to be good enough to play any of these well.
Glad they but Rush’s La Villa. Please listen to it, the time signatures makes this song special. Love your work, 😊
Hey man there's no audio lol
There is no volume
Oh good my phone isn't broken
I thought my headphones were fuckin up
That sounds like a you problem 🙃
@@TrumpetGuy26 🖕🏿
@@bernardoconnor5512 chill I was joking
I liked this only for the fact that you played I'm the one on that guitar. That was badass!! Oh and the Vinnie Moore shoutout, did not know someone your age even knew who he was.
My favorite solo from Petrucci is in When the water Breaks from Liquid Tension Experiment. His phrasing is otherwordly. I'd love to see you learn that one!
YES!!! Also The Best of Times, The Shattered Fortress, and Voices are some amazing Petrucci solos to check out if you don't already know of them!
BTW YYZ by Rush is named after the airport code for Toronto International... The morse code pattern for Y Y Z is the opening rhythm in that great Rush tune... A hard ROCK song to play for sure
It still amazes me that Master of Puppets and Eruption are so low, plus I’m especially shocked that there was no mention of any songs from Polyphia or Buckethead
Bro, M.O.P and Eruption are mad easy 💀. As for no Polyphia tho, I agree. I feel like they didn’t put them on here because pretty much all of their songs would make the list.
Buckethead could fill this list himself.
@@ricksanchezito8972 Maybe not the hardest stuff, but definitely some of the best guitar committed to record 👌
@@montythemetalman idk man, he has some pretty hard ones. A lot of speed, crazy stretches and funky chords. It's all subjective though. What's hard to one isn't necessarily hard to everyone, but it is to me lol hope you're having a good day/night 🤘
Throw in Periphery, Mastodon and Nevermore...so many good but technically complex songs from each.
Can you please do an updated guitar collection video
Great callout for Vinnie Moore and Meltdown. My choice for Vinnie would be "Pieces of a Picture" but it is a bit more rock-fusion. Love that song.