Marty Friedman Plays His Favorite Riffs

We’re thrilled to welcome Marty Friedman as a guest on Loudwire’s Gear Factor series, with the guitar great sharing the riffs and bands that made him want to pick up the guitar, some valuable (and not so valuable) advice he picked up from his guitar teacher and reflecting on some of his own favorite riffs from his music.

This comes as Friedman is promoting his latest album, Drama, taking listeners on an epic fantasy thrill ride in the process.

What Made Marty Friedman Pick Up the Guitar

While the exact origin is a bit fuzzy, Friedman can narrow down his love for guitar to Ace Frehley’s playing on the classic KISS Alive! album. In the video, Friedman performs two of the licks from the albums that stood out to him, explaining, “Just the way he put those [licks] into the songs and they repeated so many times, it just felt so fun.”

Another early influence on the young guitarist was punk icons Ramones. While sharing a bit of “I Don’t Want to Go Down to the Basement,” he recalled, “I really really liked all the Ramones song and I played the first song to the last song on every Ramones record that I had. I really developed the stamina and the chords at the really early stages of my playing.”

What Advice He Learned (And Later Unlearned) From His Guitar Teacher

When reflecting on his beginnings, he shouted out his one time guitar teacher Tim Brooks, recalling two pieces of advice that stuck with him.

“Every time you get an exercise done, every time you play it correctly, give yourself a reward by doing a bong hit. That was his advice,” Friedman recalled. “I took that advice very seriously for some time and then I realized that all I really succeeded in doing was eating a lot of Cheetos and stuff like that. It didn’t really help my guitar playing too much.”

But one piece of advice did stick and has stuck with him to this day. “The other advice which I will never forget was that I came into my guitar lesson wearing a ring and it was a ruby ring, a real visual looking ring. All of a sudden he looks at me and ‘Dude what the hell are you doing? It looks like you raided your mother’s jewelry box.’ I was so incredibly embarrassed because he was right, I took it right out of my mother’s jewelry box. And from then on I had a very strict policy – no rings, no bracelets, none of that. It was because of him, so Tim Brooks, thank you for that.”

What Are Marty Friedman’s Favorite Riffs?

Friedman, who has enjoyed an illustrious solo career and, of course, is known for his time in Megadeth, was kind enough to share some of his favorite all-time riffs. As you might expect, KISS has one of them with Friedman breaking off a bit of “Mr. Speed.” He also shared his early love for Blue Oyster Cult, showcasing his talents on “Cities on Flame [of Rock ‘n’ Roll].”

Within the discussion, he also dropped the first solo he ever attempted to learn, thanks to a high school instructor. Admittedly, Friedman didn’t think it was cool at the time, but has since grown an appreciation for Boston‘s “More Than a Feeling.”

As for his own works, Friedman readily admits he’s more about melodies than riffs, but showcased some of his own favorites such as “Hyper Doom,” “Stigmata Addiction” and “Forbidden City.” And for those interested, Friedman takes us back in time to his very first band and revealed the first riff he ever created when he was in the group Deuce.

Check out the latest edition of Gear Factor with Marty Friedman below and don’t forget to pick up his latest album, Drama, which is currently available.