100 Guitar Riffs? This Man Deserves A Better Job…

If you were asked how many different guitar riffs you could play back-to-back in a single take, what would you say? 10? Maybe 25? Over 100? If so, I challenge you to record yourself doing so. That’s the only way I, and most others, will believe that you beat the simply amazing playing of Alex Chadwick, a Chicago Music Exchange employee. Chadwick recently recorded himself playing 100 guitar riffs from different songs, all in chronological order which you can see below.

The idea for this came about when Chadwick, a Sales Manager for Chicago Music Exchange, pitched it to his manager. Loving the idea, the two quickly got to work compiling an insane setlist for the skilled musician to perform. The setlist featured guitar riffs collected from songs topping the Billboards spanning from 1953 to 2011. The songs ranging from Johnny Cash to Smashing Pumpkins to Santana. He covers a broad span of genres to say the least.

I believe what impresses me most about what Chadwick does in this video is his transitions. He does an excellent job matching the ending keys together to make the songs move from one to the next almost seamlessly. While watching I only noticed a handful of guitar riffs that felt out of place at first. Regardless, doing as well as he did is a true pain in the ass to accomplish. When asked how many attempts it took him to complete the recording, Chadwick explained he really didn’t know. Stating that he and his manager spent an entire afternoon working on it and shooting it. The man’s fingers must’ve been bleeding by the end of it! or maybe he’s just been playing so much that he’s got calluses of steel on his fingertips. Who knows?

[quote author=”- Alex Chadiwck”]It’s pretty amazing how many sounds you can get on it.[/quote]

I’m also amazed by how close he got the sound to match each of the 100 guitar riffs. I always knew that the Fender Strat was an excellent guitar for many reasons, one of which being it’s very warm, crisp, bluesy tone. However, I had no idea just how versatile the guitar really is. No doubt he’s using pedals in the demonstration, the fact still holds that the tone from the pedals can only be so good if not matched or beaten by the guitar. The guitar in the video is a vintage ’58 Stratocaster and man is it beautiful. I’ve always been a sucker for sunbursts… Chadwick also touched on the versatility of the ax saying, “I’m a Strat guy…. It’s pretty amazing how many sounds you can get on it.”

What are your thoughts on this? Would you have liked to have heard some different songs in the mix? I was actually pretty happy to hear Black Sabbath in there… Leave your thoughts below.When asked what was next for the guitarist, perhaps a sequel to the feat, Chadwick gave an expected response. He told us that he plans to just take a break for a little while.. Take it easy. Honestly, who could blame him? To ask him to do more in anyway is just selfish! Haha, I kid.. Really though, non-musician spectators may not understand fully, but playing 100 guitar riffs back-to-back, in chronological order, in one take, is really damn hard. I’d like to see them give it a shot..