The relationship between electric guitar and Bollywood music is not strange. In Fact, the use of electric guitar in Bollywood songs dates back to as early as the 1950s. Yes! You heard that right. The first Bollywood electric guitar song that can be easily recognised is called ‘Chal Badalon se Aage’, which was recorded and released in 1956 for the movie called CID.
This song can be credited in defining the role of electric guitar and other western instrument’s integration in Bollywood music. Today, there are a number of Hindi songs on electric guitar which can be easily identified because of their popularity and influence.
In this blog we will look at top 10 popular Hindi songs to play on electric guitar. This list will feature famous Hindi songs with electric guitar riffs, electric guitar solos in Hindi songs, bollywood electric guitar songs and more.
The Keyword here is electric guitar, hence you won’t find songs like Pani da, Challa, Give me some sunshine, etc.
There are some obvious songs here plus some hidden gems so read until the end to be surprised.
Let’s get right into our list!
Rock On
| Film: Rock On |
| Year: 2008 |
| Singer: Farhan Akhtar, Caralisa Monteiro |
| Music Director: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
Rating Top 10 electric guitar Hindi songs and not having this song on the list is a crime. This is the movie which revolutionized Bollywood music for good. A movie about a Rock Band, their struggles and accolades. The riff alone is such a powerful riff that every single person in India will give you this name (Rock On) if asked for a rock song.
The legendary trio Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy has created a great soundtrack for the movie, every single song from the album is a total masterpiece, may it be a Rock and Groovy number like this one or a slow beautiful ballad like ‘Ye tumhari meri baatien’ .
You will see more songs from the movie in this list. While the riffs in this song are not very complex to play, the guitar solo in this song will definitely give any other rock band a run for its money.
Alvida
| Film: Life in a mirror |
| Year: 2007 |
| Singer: James |
| Music Director: Pritam |
A truly underrated and a masterpiece, from beautiful and expressive guitar solos to calming yet haunting arpeggios to scale changes, this song is a definition of a very well constructed song. It truly is a gem in all aspects.
If you are looking to upskill your guitar game, cover this song and try to match all the nuances and the emotions and you will know how thoughtfully created this song is. While this is not the easiest song to play from this list but once you learn it, it will certainly take your guitar level one up.
Sunn Raha Hai Na Tu
| Film: Aashiqui 2 |
| Year: 2013 |
| Singer: Ankit Tiwari |
| Music Director: Ankit Tiwari |
It’s an emotional power ballad which was a soundtrack to a lot of people’s lives, especially when this movie was released, it was an instant hit and the music played a big and crucial role in this movie’s success. The riffs and solos in this song are superb and is a testament to the depth that electric guitar adds to any piece of music.
Another great Hindi electric guitar song that you can add to your guitar vocabulary.
Zinda
| Film: Bhag Milkha Bhag |
| Year: 2013 |
| Singer: Siddharth Mahadevan |
| Music Director: Shankar-Ehsan-Loy |
The song features a high power rock anthem, full of energy and uptempo vibe. The electric guitar opening riff establishes the tone of the song which goes into distorted power chords section with upbeat tempo and high energy singing. If you want to include a fast paced and powerful rock anthem to your list then you can never go wrong with this song.
This song can easily be considered one the best electric Hindi guitar songs to have ever released. Just listening to the first few seconds of the song gets you pumped up and ready to run in the Olympics (If you have not seen the movie yet then you might not get this reference But it is a powerful track nonetheless).
Bhag DK Bose
| Film: Delhi Belly |
| Year: 2011 |
| Singer: Ram Sampath |
| Music Director: Ram Sampath |
While talking about top electric Hindi songs Bhag DK Bose gets overlooked a lot but in our list it definitely will get a mention. This quirky and catchy song is a great representation of the movie and life in Delhi, back in 2011.
It is a high energy and uptempo song with a lot of Punk influenced Power chords and rapid chords changing and strumming. The song offers sections for acoustic guitar and electric guitar equally, the strumming patterns and a middle section featuring steel guitar like solos are really interesting to play.
There is an intense and fast electric solo too which uses techniques like two hands tapping, strings bending and fast shredding. Overall, very underrated track but really fun to play on guitar. This song is as close to Heavy Metal/Punk Rock as Bollywood gets.
It shows the potential and diversity that we have in Bollywood music and Hindi music in general, genres like Folk, Sufi, Jazz and even Punk rock has a place in the Indian music scene.
Pichle Saat Dino Mein
| Film: Rock On |
| Year: 2008 |
| Singer: Farhan Akhtar |
| Music Director: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
Like we said, you will find more than one Rock On song in this list. The fact is all the songs from this album are fantastic to play on electric guitar. From Hard rock high energy numbers to soft ballads, it’s got it all. You can learn the fantastic riffs, guitar solos and arpeggios if you decide to learn songs from this epic album.
While the songs like, ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, ‘Zehreeley’, ‘Socha hai’ or ‘Ye tumhari meri baatein’ could have easily made the list but we decided to keep the two most recognised songs from the movie/album.
If you are in your 20s, chances are you must have heard at least one of these songs at your college festival, every college band back in the days played this song live. And rightfully so, the iconic riff, lyrics and guitar solos are truly ahead of its time as far as rock music in bollywood is considered.
Sadda Haq
| Film: Rockstar |
| Year: 2011 |
| Singer: Mohit Chauhan |
| Music Director: A.R.Rahman |
This song has used electric guitar as its main voice and expression. The opening riff is raw, full of emotions and matches perfectly with the rebellious vibe of the song. The guitar gets more intense as the song goes on, representing the protagonist’s (Ranbir Kapoor) inner fury and resistance.
A worldwide rock flavor never previously heard in Bollywood music was added by Orianthi’s guitar solo in the middle of the song. It was among the first instances of a worldwide rock artist working together so prominently on a Hindi movie song.
Did You Know?
The iconic guitar riff reminiscent of the James Bond theme in “Jab Andhera Hota Hai” (Raja Rani, 1973) was performed by the legendary Bollywood guitarist Anthony Gonsalves, who was one of the pioneers in incorporating electric guitar into Hindi film music.
After the movie Rock On, Rockstar was the movie which took Rock music fusion in bollywood to its peak. And like the songs from Rock on, the songs from Rockstar could be heard in almost every College cultural Festivals. Every new or budding musician wanted to be Jordan.
You can learn this song on your electric guitar and experience the “Rockstar” feeling in real time.
Did You Know?
Indeed, the same Anthony Gonsalves that inspired Amitabh Bachchan’s famous line “My name is Anthony Gonsalves…” in Amar Akbar Anthony (1977) was a real individual and a trailblazer in Bollywood’s musical landscape!
Ek Hasina thi
| Film: Karz |
| Year: 1980 |
| Singer: Kishore Kumar, Asha Bhosle |
| Music Director: Laxmikant-Pyarelal |
Bet you didn’t see this one coming. A song from the 1980s? Well yes!
If soundtracks from Rock On & Rockstar are our generation’s Rock music infatuation then this soundtrack from Laxmikant-Pyarelal was equivalent to that of our Parent’s generation.
The electric guitar is used extensively in the song, which greatly adds to its dynamic and modern feel. This fusion of contemporary instrumentation and traditional Indian melodies was a novel use of Western musical components at the time.The song’s combination of rock features with Indian music distinguished it from modern tracks and also opened the door for future innovations in Bollywood music, impacting composers and artists in subsequent years.
This song is thoroughly infused with electric guitar — from the eerie opening riffs to the intense interludes and solos. The guitar not only supports the vocals — it propels the emotion, especially throughout Kishore Kumar’s profound, expressive lines and Lata Mangeshkar’s enchanting replies.
The guitar riffs, along with theatrical orchestration and synthetic components, produced a rock-opera feel — quite uncommon for Bollywood during that period.
This song (along with the Karz soundtrack overall) opened doors for greater rock influences in Hindi film music.
Fun Fact : Laxmikant–Pyarelal & Electric Guitar
Though frequently recalled for their rich string compositions and grand melodies, Laxmikant–Pyarelal were pioneers among Bollywood composers in incorporating the electric guitar, particularly in action and suspense films of the late ’60s and ’70s.
Bekhayali
| Film: Kabir Singh |
| Year: 2019 |
| Singer: Sachet Tandon |
| Music Director: Sachet-Parampara |
Bekhayali is notable for its combination of acoustic and electric guitars, which amplify its emotional richness. The song’s structure shifts from a gentle, melodic start to an intense crescendo, mirroring the main character’s troubled feelings. The electric guitar, specifically, enhances the intensity, reflecting the character’s internal conflict.
“Bekhayali” turned into a hit, connecting with listeners through its emotional lyrics and captivating music. It was lauded for its capacity to express intricate feelings, making it one of the highlight songs of 2019.
Bekhayali serves as an excellent contemporary illustration of the use of electric guitar in Bollywood to heighten emotional impact. It’s more than just a background element — the electric guitar in this song drives the emotional intensity. The sharp guitar riffs enter during the chorus, adding an edgy rock ballad feel to the heartbreak.
The distortion and sustain reflect the character’s (Kabir Singh) mental turmoil, conveying the anguish of love and loss more effectively than just words.
This is one of those songs where the electric guitar serves as the expression of the unspoken.
Dil Dhadakne Do
| Film: Zindagi na milegi dobara |
| Year: 2011 |
| Singer: Suraj Jagan, Joi Barua, Shankar Mahadevan |
| Music Director: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy |
We told you that you might find some underrated track in this list and this song is one of them.
This song is an often overlooked song by the electric guitar use standards but it can not go unnoticed in our list. This song is a vibrant blend of Rock and Fusion, the catchy distorted electric guitar rhythm and excellent high pitched vocal performance makes this song memorable.
The composition and production of the song were praised for their captivating and energetic quality, enhancing the film’s lively ambiance.
The electric guitar is crucial in defining the song’s lively and defiant nature. Ehsaan Noorani’s guitar performance is pivotal to the song’s rhythm and vitality, creating a robust base that enhances the vocals and additional instruments. The arrangement of the song features vibrant guitar chords and interludes that amplify its lively and youthful energy.
Iktara
| Film: Wake up Sid |
| Year: 2009 |
| Singer: Kavita Seth |
| Music Director: Amit Trivedi |
While Distortion, Riffs, Power Chords, Powerful Vocals and Loud Percussions are the words that we might search for in a list where we are counting down Top 10 Electric Guitar Songs in Bollywood, this song is an expectation and for all the right reasons.
The track “Iktara” from the 2009 movie Wake Up Sid is marked by its soft acoustic composition, with the guitar playing a key part in creating the song’s contemplative atmosphere. The song includes vocals from Kavita Seth and Amitabh Bhattacharya, with music created by Amit Trivedi.
The lyrics to this song, like many others in this list, are written by the great Javed Akhtar.
The term “Iktara” denotes a classic one-stringed instrument, representing the gentle voice of the heart amid the clamor of thoughts and feelings. This fits perfectly in the movie and plays a crucial role in moving the storyline forward. The interlude clean guitar solo is deep, meaningful and expressive.
You can learn this song on electric guitar and acoustic guitar too but the solo better translates on an electric guitar with a clean guitar tone with subtle hints of reverb and delay.
Closing thoughts
Well, there you go folks! The Top 10 Electric Guitar songs in Bollywood according to us.
This is not a criticism or review of the songs, but a list to help our readers understand about the electric guitar use in bollywood songs. There are many artists, bands and movie albums which feature electric guitars as the primary instrument or the main voice of the song but not all songs become hits and hence can get lost in the sea of songs but we tried digging in deep the bollywood hole.
We have decided not to include the songs/albums or releases from Independent Hindi artists or bands because then we would have to make a top 100 list. There are far too many independent talented artists who have blessed us with their beautiful music, electric guitar or otherwise but that is a story for another time. You can easily find the tutorials, tabs and lessons for the above mentioned songs on the internet. Or You can simply book a lesson with us here by clicking this Musicmaster.
FAQs
Which Bollywood songs have famous electric guitar solos?
There are far too many songs with electric guitar solos. Movie albums like Rock on, Aashiqui 2 and Rockstar have the most number of memorable electric guitar solos.
How to learn electric guitar for Bollywood songs?
The learning curve remains the same, listen to the song many times, recognise all the nuances, major shifts etc in the song. Figure out the scale of that particular song, then the basic chords, strumming pattern and or any other rhythmic patterns.
Practice it slowly and part wise, like learn the intro first then the verse then the chorus, instead of learning the entire song in a single stretch.
Practice slowly with a metronome and then increase the speed gradually, you can also try to play with the song or a backing track after you have learnt the entire song.
You can book lessons with us here to learn your favourite songs - Musicmaster
How to play Hindi songs on electric guitar?
The fundamentals or the basics of playing does not change whether it is an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. The main difference is the ease of playing one thing on electric and the other thing on acoustic. For eg: Playing a guitar solo is much easier on an electric guitar because of the ease of accessible notes because the fretboard built is different than an acoustic.
Similarly, playing Chords with strummings seem much easier on an acoustic guitar because of the different built in acoustic guitars.
That being said, your technique does not change entirely.
The other main difference is the sound, acoustic guitar sounds different than an electric guitar where you have the liberty to add effects and tweak the sound according to your taste.
Are there any electric guitar tutorials for Hindi songs?
Absolutely! You can find many tutorials on the internet to learn electric guitar.
Or you can simply book lessons with us for easy and fast learning.
Who are the best electric guitarists in Bollywood?
Bollywood has been blessed with a variety of musicians, some of most recognised electric guitar players in bollywood are- Ehsan Noorani, Keba Jeremiah, Gorakh Sharma and many more.
Related Blog: 5 guitar amps for beginners
