What guitar riffs do you play to warm up or just because they're fun to play?

'Same Old Song and Dance' by Aerosmith is a riff that tends to roll off the fingers these days - not my favourite A-Smith jam by a long shot, but the mind works in mysterious ways.

'Supernaut', 'Dragonaut', 'El Diablo' and 'Molten Universe' have filled that slot at various points.

working man

I tend to play generic, bluesy classic rock without thinking as soon as I plug in a guitar. Like a stock riff or Back in Black. It's subconscious. I don't frequently listen to the genre.

Have never had a go-to warm-up riff or really seen the need to warm up or practice.

Mainly kidding with this next thought, but part of me has always kind of seen it like, "oh I always drive my car for three hours every Sunday, so that when I need to drive 'for real' during the work week I'm at the top of my game." Like OK man??

My favourite first thing to do when I pick up a guitar is place my fretting hand somewhere random and less familiar, not any real shape just haphazard, and see where that takes me.

An established good "Test A Crunchy Amp" riff from the inaccessible old board was Joel RL Phelps' "Then Slowly Turn," which I think was a Tallchris contribution.

Mason wrote: Have never had a go-to warm-up riff or really seen the need to warm up or practice.

True for drums, too? No practice or warm up?

My favourite first thing to do when I pick up a guitar is place my fretting hand somewhere random and less familiar, not any real shape just haphazard, and see where that takes me.

I like this, and it's easy for me to spend time just fucking around trying to find good sounds, but I only started playing electric again recently after a multi-decade hiatus. I need skills! I'm glad not everyone rips through the same Zeppelin/AC/DC riffs when they pick up a guitar though.

Good JRLP tune. Maybe I'll try to learn it.

A tune with a neat opening melody on Jan Garbarek's It's OK to Listen to the Gray Voice. On guitar, it's across multiple strings and I do it slow, then fast for a few minutes. Then I'll do a few Pixies riffs.

'Lola' by the Kinks.

I usually start with something simple, like this:

Can't say I ever intentionally warm up for guitar, but my muscle memory goes to two Funkadelic thing almost instantly:

Alice in my Fantasies:

and the bass/key parts at the end of Cholly:


With bass it's often some Peter Hook riffs like Dead Souls/Transmission/Age of Consent.
Lately I pick up bass I find myself the bassline from Silly Love Songs or something by the the Stranglers:


Just holding an acoustic it's like I have different hands altogether.