HELP!! riffs

Hey all,
I am new to playing guitar. I was wondering how could I lean to play a riff? I hear them in music and I look at the tabs for the songs then i play them, and they sound nothing like the song! Can anyone help me in learning how to play riffs? thanks.
-Rock On.

Persistance my man persistance......oh yeah and practice lots of that too. Make sure you listen to the music naturally not straining your ear to hear how it goes, sooner or later you'll nail it.

The problem with tab is that there is no information about the timing of the piece. Ergo, you have to listen to the piece again and again in order to play it right.

This takes some training of the ear and a lot of practice.

yeah thanks for the tips but I meen do I play the riff like all the other notes or is there a special way to play it? Any advice would be great!

Maybe you should be a little more specific.

ok i read the tabs and it says "RIFF 1" I play it like other notes and it sounds nothing like the song. What am I doing wrong?

There is multiple riffs in songs make sure your playing the right one.......and make sure your in the same tuning

ok thanks but it still doesn't sound like the song am i doing something wrong?

You might be getting a bad tab (their are lots) or you just might be tab-illiterate! j/k, i did'nt have any trouble with tabs but one of my friends did, just keep at it, start with simple songs, i did papa roaches (ca'nt remember the song, first hit song??) after about a week of playing, try it. If you try to play some pantera or metallica you'll just get frusterated because you have to sertan skills to play fast: alternate picking, palm-muting, fast string skipping, etc