Ryan "Fluff" Bruce's Rifflist: the YouTube star reveals his grunge roots as he plays his first riff, favorite solo and more

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Get the lowdown on your favorite artists' favorite riffs in this brand-new Guitar World video series

Welcome to Rifflist - a brand-new Guitar World video series in which your favorite guitarists play the riffs that shaped them into the players they are today. We'll be asking them about the first riff they ever learned, their warm-up routine and loads more.

Our first guest is none other than Ryan "Fluff" Bruce - you may know him from a little YouTube channel called Riffs, Beards & Gear and as rhythm guitarist in metal band Dragged Under.

In the video, we dig deep to Bruce's roots as a grunge kid growing up in Seattle in the early '90s - accordingly, his first riff was Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit. He joins legions of budding six-stringers in learning this one first, no doubt...

The guitarist's affinity for grunge carries through to several of his picks, as he reveals his favorite riff (and solo) of all time - both from Alice In Chains' landmark 1992 album Dirt.

And the electric guitar sitting on the resplendently bearded shredder's lap? Why, it's the Sterling by Music Man signature model for fellow YouTuber Jared Dines. Stay tuned for more Rifflists coming soon!

Sam Roche
Sam Roche

Sam was Staff Writer at GuitarWorld.com from 2019 to 2023, and also created content for Total Guitar, Guitarist and Guitar Player. He has well over 15 years of guitar playing under his belt, as well as a degree in Music Technology (Mixing and Mastering). He's a metalhead through and through, but has a thorough appreciation for all genres of music. In his spare time, Sam creates point-of-view guitar lesson videos on YouTube under the name Sightline Guitar.

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