The Led Zeppelin Riff Nobody Can Play Correctly

0:00 - Was Led Zeppelin prog?
2:23 - Guitar Scripture
3:50 - The Riff
5:40 - What nobody gets quite right

[christopher]

Page isn't sloppy, He's just the proggest guitarist alive

[ShredmasterScott]

We all need to hear this message more: Music isn't about perfection....it's about making people feel sh!t. Stop listening to hyper nerd critics who are locked in ego 🍆 measuring contests. This will ruin your songs. Tyler's ending rant is TRUTH

[dustinsutton]

Bonham played behind the beat a lot, it's part of what made them groove. I read once that he was a Sinatra fan and always loved that Sinatra sang behind the beat, and he incorporated that into his drums.

[dontsaythetruthytwillkillu]

Led Zeppelin is its own genre. It is an encyclopedia of styles and creativity. They took from the buffet of all music types and made their own brand. They forged new genres while climbing to the pinnacle of existing styles.

Funk
Blues
Reggae
Punk
Metal
Prog
Folk
Country
Pop
Old school rock (1950's)
Eastern

[mburtondavis]

I put classic rock radio on from Spotify and rage against the machine came on. I’ve never felt so old.

[victorancelmo]

That late snare and kick doesnt mess up the count, it just adds more groove and flavor to it.

[SilverParatrooper]

This breakdown just proves their musical genius. Many bands have tried but there will only be one Led Zepplin. The true kings of Rock!

[alexanderlyon]

That little section always sounded loose and late to me on the record. It may have all been deliberately played like that but I remember it catching my attention almost every time I heard it for about 5 years straight.

[ImnotgoingSideways]

For as long as I can remember, I loved trying to perfect this riff. The notes are so overly simple yet the timing is so perfectly imperfect. Practicing it both justifies and defies the use of a metronome and makes for a very good lesson in 'feel'.

[WolfusZero]

So you mean to tell me that by playing out of time I've been playing correctly this entire time?!

[Peter-dfhd]

As a product of the 70's I grew up listening to LZ but never realized until now just how complex their music was. Thanks for your analysis!

[CreativeMindsAudio]

oh for sure! I've always seen Led Zeppelin as a classic prog rock/metal band with a heavy blues influence. I don't know how anyone thought other wise. I feel like back then things weren't as defined and bands did their own thing more.

Also a talented drummer knows exactly when to rush and when to drag. That's what gives a song its feel.

[craigday]

Great video. In “ black dog “ when you go threw the riff in A and you you let it ring out in A . Well instead of let the A string ring out…grab the G note on the low E string and bend a whole step & hold . That note your holding in A . You be amazed

[volitilegc]

Black Dog was my Dad’s favorite song and it always sounded off to me when I was a kid. It took me a while to “get it” but that’s what I love about LZ. They played precisely sloppy sometimes to add tension and a dgaf attitude. So good.

[kl]

When the Black Dog riff is about to change back to the implied Em chord it doesn't have three E's in a row like you're playing 6:33 . The notes are E, D, E.

I initially thought I might have had it wrong all this time, but I looked up the song plus a couple live version and that's definitely what he's playing.

[stevebuffington]

FYI: Every time I saw Page play "Black Dog" live, he would end the riff on the chord "A" like you do, BUT - he ALWAYS immediately (within the time slot/measure) hit 
the A chord again while bending the low A flat on the low E string and would bend it up to the note A while the A chord rang out. Watched him do it 5 times. I stopped listening to Zeppelin after '72 as page got so drunk or "whatever" he almost fell off the stage once in Seattle and the last time I saw them at the Forum. Broke my heart, my hero had trouble playing the easiest chords to their most simple songs. When I saw them in 'May '69 I was pretty sure they were actual Gods. So all respect to Zeppelin, no hate mail needed. I know how you feel. I love your channel MIWin and am blown away watching you learn things so fast off the top of your head. That Eric Johnson episode was beautiful. OK, Thanks. Steve Buffington

[jspilly]

Im so glad you brought up this song. I listen to that out of time drum beat every time I hear it and wonder if it was done deliberately or its just the way it was recorded. Its still cool how they catch each other and get back in time. with all the time changes recording albums must have been a nightmare

[retinalcircus]

John Paul Jones claims he wrote the riff on an organ. In the early 2000s UK's Total Guitar Magazine published a full tab JPJ himself actually wrote in the following month and corrected a few measures of the riff and explained how he came to make it in the first place and how unorthodox the timing was due to the drums. I remember that vividly. Great video 😊

[motorteeth]

I recently watched a video from Rick Beato about the differences between 90's music (specifically grunge) and today... basically the music industry used to just record them playing, tweaked some things and set it loose. He showed how the beat and time would change with how the band was playing (and feeling) the music in a song. Now it's all trim and perfect which takes a bit away from the delivery. I'd say that was a big part of how Led Zeppelin (and many others) crafted their sound and feel, likely without even realizing it... don't get me wrong, there is tons of great music today but I do see what he means about it all.

[AgentJayZ]

I first head that song in 1977. My whole life, I have always just thought they left a little mistake in the recording. It's more than noticeable; to me it's jarring.
But it gets your attention!