Five songs that are instantly recognisable after three notes
In his book, Dilla Time, author Dan Charnas writes about the importance of the second note in music. No matter what the genre you’re listening to, whether it’s rock, indie, metal, or rap, they all abide by this rule.
He wrote, “One sound, whether the bang of a drum or a note struck on a piano or a bird’s chirp, doesn’t become music until a second sound occurs; either at the same time, called harmony; or another moment in time, called melody; the ordered spacing of those sounds in time called rhythm.”
Given music begins on the second note, it’s important that artists make it count, and it seems no one knows that better than those who write riffs. They understand that the best way to hook a listener is to ensure those first few notes are instantly recognisable, and as a result, there are some songs where you only need to hear the first three notes before immediately knowing what it is you’re listening to.
So, with that in mind, it’s time to shine a light on some of the amazing songs which people recognise after just the first few notes.
Songs that are instantly recognisable after a few notes:
Guns N’ Roses – ‘Sweet Child O Mine’
It’s hard to believe that Slash was purposely trying to sabotage the song when he originally wrote the riff for ‘Sweet Child O Mine’, given how iconic it was. He wasn’t a fan of the track, deeming it too light for what was supposed to be a hard rock album, and so he decided, if he wrote a bad opening riff, the band would grow tired of the song and opt to leave it on the cutting room floor. Instead, he wound up creating one of the greatest rock openers in the history of the genre.
“All of us were living in this one house. It was completely a shell of a house. We parted this house on the ground,” said Slash when discussing how the song came together, “We were sitting on the floor in the living room because we didn’t have any furniture. I was playing this riff, and Izzy [Stradlin] started playing some chord changes behind it, and that’s where [it] started. Then Axl [Rose] was in the house, and he was listening from upstairs. So a couple days later, we had a pre-production rehearsal, and we’re playing.”
Deep Purple – ‘Smoke on the Water’
There are a lot of people out there who will have tried their hand at the guitar, and chances are, they will start their playing journey with this song. It’s equal parts cool and simple, and that makes for the perfect starting point for a plethora of budding musicians. Straddling that line perfectly, this is a riff which is instantly recognisable and that connects with people around the world.
“There’s so many, but the first one that comes to mind is ‘Smoke on the Water’,” said John Petrucci when asked what the best riff of all time is, adding, “It’s so simple and everybody recognises it. There’s nothing technical about it, nothing like the modern riffs that are coming out nowadays. But that riff says it all. I wish I would’ve thought of it!”
Jimi Hendrix – ‘Foxy Lady’
You don’t have to look far into Jimi Hendrix’s discography to find riffs which are instantly recognisable, but perhaps the only song of his which will be picked up within the first three notes is ‘Foxy Lady’. This is one of the greatest riffs in the history of rock, and was one of the songs that helped introduce the world to Hendrix.
Two hits on the second fret of the A string, followed by one powerful punch on the B and E strings on the fifth fret, it’s perfect in every sense of the word, simple and yet undeniably Hendrix. He wasn’t a guitar player who tended to take the simple route with a lot of his songs, and yet, with this track, he stripped his style of playing back and was still able to do something exceptional in the process.
Heart – ‘Barracuda’
The three notes which I’m referring to as recognisable on this song are all the same: open E, second fret on the A, three times, with no variation except a slight change in time signature, and yet, despite this overwhelming simplicity, ‘Barracuda’ is one of the most noteworthy rock riffs of all time. Heart was always pushing the boat out with the music they made, so much so that it feels somewhat ironic that one of their most iconic guitar lines is so simple.
Despite the range of great songs Ann and Nancy Wilson wrote together, this is the one that resonates the most with listeners. It once again straddles that line between being simple and yet exciting and energetic, the perfect formula for a great riff, but it’s not something that every artist can nail down.
AC/DC – ‘Back in Black’
You don’t even need three notes to recognise this track, just the one will do it. Never has an E chord been played with as much vigour, with the passion in that chord, the use of distortion, the reluctance to let the sound ring, all coming together and making just less than a second of music which is recognisable around the world.
Angus Young knew they had a hit riff the moment they finished the song, and still attests that it’s one of the best in rock. “I love playing ‘Back in Black‘, it’s like my wife said to me once about songs, you know,” he explained, “Instantly, if you hear The [Rolling] Stones, you hear ‘Satisfaction’, and I said, ‘Well, we got one better, we got one’. [Laughs] And you know exactly who it is.”
