Learn to play three fun and easy guitar riffs by Motley Cure with Guitar Control instructor Darrin Goodman, aka Uncle D. Be sure to get the free tabs to go along with the step by step video instruction and you will be rockin’ these classic Crue tunes tonight!
Introduction
How’s it going everybody? This is Darrin with GuitarControl.com bringing you this video lesson and today I’ve got three fun and easy riffs for you from Motley Crue.
Guitar Control is giving away a free chord chart. It’s a free download, there’s a link down in the description. It’s in PDF format with every chord that you could ever need all neatly compiled into one sheet. So you can download it, print it off, throw it in your gig bag, put it wherever you practice; any chord you could ever need at a glance.
So be sure to click on the link in the description for the tabs and let’s get close up and take a look at these.
Tuning
All right so first thing for all three of these riffs we’re actually tuned down an entire whole step. So your low E string down to a D, you’re gonna tune your A string down to a G, your D string down to a C, your G string down to an F, your B string down to an A and your high E string down to a D. Now these riffs all can be played in standard tuning just the way that they’re written in the tab, but you won’t be in the same key, so to be in the same key you need to you need to tune down a whole step.
Motley Crue Riff-1 – Take Me To The Top
All right so the first one I’m going to look at is Take Me To The Top. So this one’s fairly simple, we’ve got just a couple of chord shapes. We have a regular power chord you know, a fifth shape. So the first one we’re starting here we’re on the seventh fret of the D string with your first finger in the ninth fret of the G string with your third finger and we’re going to play the open A string twice… and then we’re going to take that chord shape and move it down a whole step so now your first finger is on the fifth fret and your third finger is on the seventh fret… now this has got this kind of a swing thing to it… then the open A string again and now we’re going to do the same the same G5 here where we’re on the fifth fret of the D string and the seventh fret of the G string and then we’re going to just basically switch these fingers so our first finger will move from the fifth fret of the D string to the fifth fret of the G string and your third finger will move from the seventh fret of the G string to the seventh fret of the D string and that’s our first measure… All right so then on the second measure this last chord we played there is tied to the downbeat of the second measure so that’s ringing and then we hit the A string again and now we’re going to take this chord shape and play it again and then switch it back to how it was before; so first finger will move down a string third finger up a string and then at the end of it here we hit the open D string, then the open A string and hammer-on to the fifth fret with your first finger and then to the seventh fret with your third finger and that’s a triplet so it takes care of beat four… so the whole thing…
Motley Crue Riff-2 – Live Wire
All right so the next one we’re going to look at is the riff from a Live Wire. So this one’s here is really simple, so we’re going to take our first finger and we’re just gonna barre it at the fifth fret so it goes across the D and the G string and then we’re gonna be pedaling the open A string. So we’ve got this shape here and then in a minute we’re going to move it up a whole step to the seventh fret of the D and the G string. So this starts off on the first measure, we rest and then we come in on the and of four here; so it’s one two three four and then that’s tied to the downbeat of one or actually all of beat one for the second measure and then that’s where it begins with repeat. So you got and then starting on beat two we’re gonna pedal the open A string two and three and four, and then on the and of four that again… so that’s the first three measures or excuse me the first four measures. So on that third measure we’re on our third time hitting this chord. So the first measure one two three four and one two and three and four and one two and three and four and one two and three and four and, so that fourth measure is a little bit different. And then on the fifth measure we’re at the fifth fret and it’s one and two and so we have two mute strums then to the seventh fret for three and the downbeat of four is a mute and then on the and of four we hit that five and then that’s tied and that’s where the repeat and that’s where it goes back to the beginning to repeat on the second measure…
Motley Crue Riff-3 – Too Fast For Love
All right and then the last we’re going to look at is a riff from Too Fast For Love. So this one here is a riff sequence that’s all on just the G string and then it’s repeated on the D string and then it’s repeated on the A string and it’s repeated on the low E string. So we start off we’re going to play the words the first one going to do is on the G string; so we got the string open and it’s a quarter note so it’s one and then on the downbeat of two we’re gonna go to the second fret. So this is two and then on the and of two we pull off to the open string so one two and, and then on beat three we just move our first finger up now so we’re on the third fret three… and the downbeat of four is the open string and before as we hammer to the fourth fret and that’s our first measure… Okay so when we do that hammer, we hammer to four on the and of four and then that’s tied to the downbeat of one on the second measure and then starting on the and of one it’s the open string and down beat of two we go to the fifth fret two and pull-off. And then on the downbeat of three we’re at the sixth fret with our first finger and we’re going to pick and hammer to the seventh fret twice for three and four and… So that’s basically the riff and it’s two measures long, that’s measure one and two and then measures three and four are the same and then when we get to measure five and six, it’s going to be the same sequence but played on the D string, but it’s the same frets and that’s all the further I’ve tabbed it, just those two strings, but if you listen to the song it just it just keeps repeating like I said across all of those strings; so pretty easy to play and I just only need to use just the two fingers, but for the most but you’re just going to use your one finger.
Conclusion
All right so there you have it a three not two terribly difficult riffs from Motley Crue. So if you like this lesson be sure to give me a thumbs up and leave a comment down below if you have any questions about this or other guitar related topics. If you’ve not already done so please subscribe to the channel and hit that notification bell so you don’t miss any of the content that we upload throughout the week. Well that is all I have for you today. Thanks for watching and have a great day.
