7 Great Led Zeppelin Riffs No One Ever Mentions

Greetings! I’m Carl Baldassarre, a composer, musicologist, and a guitarist.

In this episode, I dig deep into Jimmy Page’s riffs which are often overlooked because they are not the primary riff of a song. These secondary riffs are so great and would be any other guitarist's primary riffs!!

I dug deep into the studio and live tracks to curate these riffs. They are amazing and fun to play as well.

Riff 1: Riff 1 is essentially found in two places! Version (a) is found at 2:43 during Over the Hills and Far Away – it’s the great post-solo riff. Version (b) is found at 0:57 during Good Times Bad Times. It’s very cool to see the similarity in these two F# chordal shapes. Jimmy must have liked it!

Riff 2: The Song Remains the Same (4:43) is right after the 3rd studio solo. It’s an amazingly fast and gorgeous figure. Jimmy Page brings a hint of country phrasing to the rock world. It’s also blazing fast!

Riff 3: What is and What Should Never Be (3:32). The great outro riff on the coda. A beautifully constructed binary phrase (Q&A) dialogue and a great rocking ending to this beautiful song.

Riff 4: Down by the Seaside (2:10). This is the rhythm guitar figure underneath the pedal steel-styled soloing Page employs. Another binary phrase with an A & B part. It’s simple elegance!!

Riff 5: Heartbreaker (~3:00). Everybody knows the great opening, iconic Heartbreaker riff, but this rhythm track figure underneath the 2nd guitar solo of is quintessential rock guitar using an open A. The shape of which foreshadows the iconic riff two albums later for the track “Rock & Roll”.

Riff 6: How Many More Times (6:08). I call this “The Hunter” riff (for obvious reasons – given the vocal). It’s a killer open E riff that would be the envy of any guitar player as a featured riff!

Riff 7: Dazed and Confused – live 1973 MSG (23:02). Here I go very deep to dig out one of the most ominous Jimmy Page riffs. It occurs during the post-violin bow jam where so many great riffs were worked out. Its tritone feel and hybrid picking are haunting and very cinematic. Ironically, this riff never became part of any other Zeppelin tracks that I’m aware of!

Thanks for watching! If you have any thoughts or video ideas, please leave them in the comments section. I love engaging with all of you!

#LedZeppelin
#JimmyPage
#CarlBaldassarre

[pjones]

My two all-time favorite Page riffs are "Out on the Tiles" (which really wasn't Pages riff. Bonham use to sing that, and Jimmy turned it into a riff). Then there is "Bring It on Home." When he kicks in full volume after the harmonic solo it is just pure heaven!

[boggeshzahim]

Your tone is out of this world man, so thick and satisfying

[simongaskill]

FINALLY! A GUITARIST ON YOUTUBE WHO KNOWS WHAT THEYRE TALKING ABOUT WHILE TALKING ABOUT PAGE

[daveyb]

The Rover is my favourite ever Jimmy Page riff. It has such a great groove to it.

[michaelsursa]

Ten years gone has been like 20 yrs making it into my zep repitoir, love the effects and vibe

[leokimvideo]

I'm glad you explored one of the live riff variations. Jimmy was never afraid to experiment playing live. There are some live songs Ive seen him play and you start to think can he get back to the core root of the song. As always Carl, incredible playing, explaining and perfect tone.

[KP]

Page has a plethora of brilliant and hooky works. But everything on Ten Years Gone is addicting! I every bit of that entire song and all the layers of masterpiece guitar work! Takes me right back to a yearning teen!

[whippin]

This is a random comment but you have an amazing speaking voice. One of those voices that puts the listener at ease

[thekeywitness]

Interesting choices, but I was hoping for something from "In the Light" -- a very underrated Zep song with fantastic ascending and descending passages.

[andylucyshyn]

Love that riff from Down by the Seaside. Underrated song overall!

[HostInTheMachine]

I know we're just talking riffs here, but I think Page's solo on "You Shook Me" is the best solo I've ever heard. Both the phrasing and the incorporation of echo are pure genius. To this day I still get shivers every time I listen to it.

[MJEvermore]

Carl, I don't even own a guitar or know how to play one, but Jimmy's playing grabbed me from the moment I first heard him.

Your videos are fantastic to watch and listen to, and even someone like me is always learning something from you. I might not be a player, but I've anyways known a damn good guitar riff/solo and player when I hear one.

No one can top Page. No, not Hendrix, Eddie, Clapton or even Jeff. None of them ever had what Page had in spades, IMO.

Can't explain it with words, but his playing can immediately take a person to an entirely different place in one's mind and soul like no one else ever could.... Especially during his live performances.

I really enjoy watching your vids such as this one. You are a brilliant teacher and you are great at articulating and explaining things regarding Page's work.
I got goosebumps when you pulled out the riff from D&C at MSG '73!

[stevesoufi]

Nice job Carl. Loved that "What Is And What Should Never Be" riff since I was 10 years old and I'm 60 now. One of the coolest riffs ever. Nice playing !

[wassupdoc]

Saw them live from the 6th row in Chicago in 77. What a dream to see my favorite band from that close. The best concert I ever saw!

[ivanhecimovic]

Love this, I can totally relate to these "hidden gem" riffs. This is another reason why Led Zep are one of those rare bands that people can't get enough of. There is so many great and interesting parts to their music that go beyond just the general structure or riff of the song.
Great job and love the tone of the Les Paul!

[DrCowinabox]

Down by the seaside has been one of my favorite Zeppelin songs for a long time because of that riff/ plant's vocal chops. good stuff

[bellycuda]

Firstly, great video, really good play! That Dazed and Confused riff 7:51 is my absolute favorite riff in any Zeppelin song. It's so emotive, sinister, and powerful, it oozes Jimmy Page. You can't hear it without imagining strutting on the stage. Man, I love music!

[JasonNation]

When Carl started playing that back end riff of "What Is..." I was hearing Bonham's gong in my head on the second measure. Great video, very enlightening!

[JCM-LedZeppelin-Stories]

Thank you for including MSG 1973...Dazed was their essence. That riff is METAL right there. This was based on MARS (Bringer of War). Page's fondness for classical composers shows in places like this :)

[shred]

I like how a lot of these riffs are non standard riffs but really make up the things that I really love about Jimmy Page.