They've become some of the most popular YouTube personalities while gracing your screen with their guitar mastery, but what are the riffs that helped define the playing of the online heroes?

Loudwire reached out to several top YouTube guitarists and got the lowdown on the songs that first inspired them to play guitar, the first riffs that they actually learned to play and some of their favorite tracks to perform.

Among them were Jared Dines, who revealed, "It all really started with Eddie Van Halen for me," as he then demonstrated the famous tapping from the song "Eruption." Dines shared some P.O.D., Lynyrd Skynyrd and AC/DC favorites as well.

Nik Nokturnal revealed that it was video gaming that actually piqued his guitar interest, immediately picking up Guns N' Roses' "Sweet Child O' Mine" as a result.

There's also insights from Justin Whang, Andrew Baena, Mike the Music Snob and Bradley Hall, who each take turns sharing the music that shaped (and continues to shape) their playing.

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Gallery Credit: Loudwire Staff

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