Beginners Guide To Playing Black Metal

Myself I am not the best black metal guitarist, and suppose I never will be, I don't know a lot about the style either, I mean, things like history and stuff, but I can give you a good start. We'll start out with Venom.

Venom
Venom, the band that is said to have brought the expression black metal into being by naming a song "Black Metal," is one of the most important bands in the history of black metal. They were one of the first bands to bring the real evil into the metal genre. They did this, using a lot of already used, common metal techniques, as with most other old school black betal bands (Merciful Fate, Bathory etc). Venom's music sounded a lot like thrash though, and they are sometimes accused of starting that scene to, together with Metallica and Slayer of course. I'll give you two riffs from their early history:

"Welcome to hell"
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|--------5-------5------5--------5---7^-|
|--------5-------5------5--------5---7^-|
|-0--0-----0--0---0--0----0--0----------|
|---------------------------------------|


"Black Metal"
|---------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------|
|-5-------4--------3------------------9-|
|-5-------4--------3------5--2-------9--|
|-3--0"---2--0"---1--0"--5--2-------7---|
|--------------------------3--0--0"-----|

Note that " means tremolo picking (in case you don't know what tremolo picking is, we'll discuss that later), or here, just to repeat the note for a while. Do also note that Venom always use the guitars tuned down one and a half step (C#, F#, B, E, G#, C#).

Look at the first one. Is it evil? No it isn't. It's still traditional metal. The other one? Is that evil? Well, today it isn't, but back then I guess it was. And the lyrics on that song. And the drill in the beginning. That is/was evil. Wish I could write something more educational here, but I think the riffs actually should be enough. Let's go on to the next book in our darker and darker bible.

Mayhem
If you asked anyone who listens to black metal to mention two bands, he/she would probably mention Venom and Mayhem. That's why I'll do that to.

Mayhem were the one band who started what is often called the second wave of black metal -- a wave of really evil bands in the early '90s of which most were from Norway (and they say that Norway has the highest living standard in the world).

I won't go into their story, it's to easy to find, like, everywhere, but I'll introduce a very useful (and sometimes overused) technicue, called tremolo picking and give you some Mayhem riffs. So, tremolo picking. That means, to repeat the same note (fast) for a while, often just to change it and play a new one for a while. This technique is often used on the banjo in Irish folkmusic, but I have no idea how it came into black metal from there. I guess It's just a coincidence.

If you want to call yourself a black metal guitarist, you should practise this technique a lot. And, remember, a slower but tight tremolo picked riff sounds faster then a fast and uneven one. Never do it too fast, unless your practising were noone can hear you! Perhaps it should be mentioned than, when tremolopicking a whole chord, not all strings have to be tremolopicked. Just do it to the one where the root of the chord is located.

"De Mysteries Dom Sathanas"
|----------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|
|----------------------------------|
|--------9"--10"--9"-10"--9"-------|
|-----7"------------------------7"-|
|-0"-------------------------------|


"Symbols of Bloodswords:
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------2"---3"--------2"--------2"----------------2"--1"----------|
|--------------------------------------------------------2"---------------|
|-0"---1"-0"----------2"--3"-------0"---------0"---3"-------------4"---0"-|

Burzum
Burzum sometimes uses another way to play black metal, wich I have chosen to call strange chords. I'll discuss some good-to-use chords in the next chapter, but in this one I will give you, guess. But just one this time!

"Nakkel Til Dar"
|--------------------------------|
|------------------------0-----0-|
|---0-9-0----0-9-0---5-5---7-7---|
|--8------8-8------8-6---6-8---8-|
|-7--------7---------7-----9-----|
|--------------------------------|

Scales 'n' Stuff

Most black metal songs don't follow any particular scales. And if they do, they really don't follow the major scale. Either use a minor or harmonic minor. Or, one of these (*** is chort for "I don't have a clue what it is called"):

***: E F G G# Bb C# D 

***: E F G# A C C#

Dim: E G A# C#

If you're interested in that strange chords-style I mentioned, here are some good ones (remember that they must be perfectly fitted together if you want tem to sound evil):

 Bbmin-5 (not sure about the name)
|-0-|
|-2-|
|-3-|
|-3-|
|-1-|
|---|

 Bb5-9add-5 (not sure about the name)
|-0-|
|-0-|
|-3-|
|-3-|
|-1-|
|---|

 C7add-5 (not sure about the name)
|-0-|
|-0-|
|-0-|
|-4-|
|-3-|
|---|

 Emin-5/C# (not sure about the name)
|-0-|
|-0-|
|-3-|
|-5-|
|-4-|
|---|

Now, you should be able to find your own evil chords. Pick them with much distortion and you will hold the powers of hell in your fingertops! Avoid using jazzysounding combinations by the way. I'm sure Lucifer doesn't pay attention to big bands. To hear some good combinations of strange chords, listen to Hrafn or Burzum. Do also listen to Ozzy Osbourne's "Diary Of A Madman," though it's not black metal.

Mixed Licks

I'm gonna end this lesson with some riffs and licks of a bunch of different black metal bands. Although there is much missing in this tutorial, I hope you have learned something. If you want to learn about the history of black metal, it seems to be a good one at http://www.historyofblackmetal.com/, though it is mostly speaking about english black metal (and it's calling CoF black).

Magog "Follow Me"
|---------------2h3-------------------------------|
|----4h5-------------------4h5--------------------|
|---------4h5-------4h5--------4h5--------5--5--5-|
|-2-----------2----------2-----------(2)--5--5--5-|
|-2-----------2----------2-----------(2)--3--3--3-|
|-0-----------0----------0-----------(0)----------|


Dark Funeral "Satanic Blood" (the whole song)!
|------------|
|------------| 
|------------|
|-9"---------| 
|-7"--8"-9"--|
|-----6"-7"--|


Dark Funeral "My Dark Desires"

|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9"--8"-------8"--9"--8"-------8"---------------------------------------|
|---------10"--------------10"------10"--9"---------9"--10"--9"-------9"-|
|-----------------------------------------------11"---------------11"----|
 

Darkthrone "Transilvanian Hunger"
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|-12"---10"-----9"----10"---10"----9"----10"----9"-|
|-0"----0"-----0"----0"-----7"-----7"----7"-----7"-|
|--------------------------------------------------|

Comments

[FLESH_INTO_GEAR]

Terrible article. Way too vague, spelling mistakes and you lack the knowledge needed of this area of metal to create a good enough article about it.

[johnmalkin]

^^ wow your a cool guy.


Don't listen to the guys on here who try to bring you down (theres a hell of a lot of them).

The article was ok, but I kind of get the feeling it was done in a rush. Next time, write it out, then leave it to sit for a couple of days and then read it. Does it sound good? Informative? Then if it doesn't, redo it.

Remember, these articles are on here forever, so whats a few days difference going to do?

[RobG&D]

I agree ^ I haven't seen any other articles on black metal techniques, so it was something else. Just keep working on it, a bit more elaboration and i should be pretty good.

[LightningboltX]

You should do another one only in solos and scale in black metal.

[UraniYum]

i like it, it doesn't **** about with stupis names and shit, and it introduced me to some cool riffs

[Philipp Sobecki]

Yeah, thats a quite nice and useful article! =)

[patmann3]

did that lesson hav a point to it!?!

Checked

[Night_Lights]

ugh, that wasent a good lesson at all

[Andre151]

I got something out of it, so thanks.

[darkthrone0666]

I found it helpful seeing that there isnt much out there in the way black metal is transcribed or played.As i am a beginer i found it easier to understand than siting next to the cd player and scratching my head and wondering wats going on, so many thanx and keep up the good riffs.....

[lamb-of-god-666]

That could be the worst article ever submitted. There was absolutly no point to it.

[lamb-of-god-666]

Also I've been playing for a long time and if you are a beginner don't listen to this. It's no good.

[Instrumetal]

Burzum sometimes uses another way to play black metal, wich I have chosen to call strange chords.[/quote]

lol.

[quote]Most black metal songs don't follow any particular scales.

rofl.

Now, you should be able to find your own evil chords. Pick them with much distortion and you will hold the powers of hell in your fingertops! Avoid using jazzysounding combinations by the way. I'm sure Lucifer doesn't pay attention to big bands.

lmao.

wow, I don't even like Black Metal and I know not to take this seriously. Seriously man get your facts straight. "Evil Chords"? Tremolo picking on almost every riff?

K, it needs to be said, but really fast riffs based on single note picking does not mean its tremolo picking. Search an article on it if you must, I'm not explaining it.

And evil chords? Give me a break. Not jazzy? One of Black Sabbath's eeriest songs "Planet Caravan" is completely jazzy.

You seem to be the type to be reading these, not writing them.

[cusic]

you got told bitch :P

[skater762]

i Didnt read it but i liked playing the fiffs and stuff.... screw all you guy that said it sucked go catch yourself on fire, that was a freaking cool!!

[Forged-Alliance]

well hey guys...this article is definately lacking in specifics, and it has some erronously used terminology...

but to the guy two posts above me...Black Sabbath may have black in there name but they aren't Black Metal. I admit though it's semi relevant because they did have a part in influencing the start of the genre, however from what I gather and hear Black Metal only really borrowed much more from the aesthetic and imagery than anything else.

And I have to give the author kudos for at least sticking to Black Metal...except Venom, but that's understandable.

I also have a note on the instrumentation in Black Metal...I can assure you that most certifiable Black Metal bands wouldn't be using lots of music theory, they pride themselves on being anti-organizational and against the mainstream and therefore take pride in their "unrefined" musical composition.

From the typically horrible sounding production to the sometimes ultra-repatitive composition, typical Black Metal* stays away from whats considered "oorrect" by the outside commuities of the world. This due mainly to the fact that authentic (see *)Black Metal bands would consider their music career more of a means to an idealisitic end than a musical one.

* A typical Black Metal band (Gorgoroth, Buzrum, Emperor and Mayhem,Darkthrone...etc.) in the case of my discussion would be a foreign (usually Norweigan, and mostly always European) Black Metal bands whose memebers practice actual devil worship or at the very least misanthropy. However more and more, Black Metal bands are popping up that have nothing to do with the Black Metal ideal and simply enjoy the music, but these bands are (usually) fairly easy to pick out because more often than not the production on their music will sound noticably better than the aforementioned style of Black Metal.

(hell, there are even alot of Christian unBlack Metal bands coming out of Russia borrowing the musical style but glorifying god instead of vowing to destroy him!)

[Severed Carcass]

This is a very inaccurate article! One is because im a black metal fan and i know for a fact that this article was written in ignorance. Learn up on black metal before you write an article!

[Horvat]

Not a very good article at all. Very rushed and uninformed. You simply stuck some riff examples in there and called it a day. I don't know how some of you can call that a proper lesson. There was no elaboration present in it. While you did mention some black metal bands, you only vaguely talked about how they play. This lesson needs more substance I am afraid.

(PS: those strange chords you talk about are called dissonant chords)

[hdf]

Writing an article about Black Metal and only mentioning Bathory, truly a disgrace..

[MetalMikeGuitar]

It was an ok article, you should have included bands like Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost, and Bathory. You should delete this article and create a whole new one, because if you don't I will.

[Kory666]

I liked it tought me some things I didnt know

[luisd]

i dont know anything about this stuff...but thanks for informing dumb pips like me

[blackmeadow]

iam in a black metal band this stuff is alot of ways we play one thing to play black metal you forgot playing
power chords
9- 10----
7---

[SlipKnoT_M4660T]

This was good idk what all the other ppl are talking about...

[CaptainOfSmug]

Dude, this is a fairly decent article. Being as I am in a black metal band. People wanting scales and such? Black metal does not exist on scales it's basically getting a solid, "grim" tone. Also, it's what sounds good. It mainly uses tremolo pick and has broken up chords to give another evil tone. Overall it was fairly good, but I would try and get a bit more indepth next time.

[schecterboy3000]

who the f*** listens to black metal??

[bigwesut]

obviously not you schecterboy3000. way to keep your posts relevant.

[FinMayhem]

That was great lesson. Oh and you schecterboy3000 I listen Black Metal \,,/

[Jeff Manthei]

schecterboy3000 wrote:

who the f*** listens to black metal??

whats wrong with Black Metal?

[damm_punks]

schecterboy3000 :
who the f*** listens to black metal??

Probably most of the people lloking at this lesson idiot
good lesson showed some chords n that

[symbiotic]

if u want serious black metal listen Negura Bunget

[Stanimal]

I don't think you've quite got it, but it was a pretty good lesson

[blackmeadow]

schecterboy3000 if you hate black metal why the hell did you come here

[LakeboDom]

horrible

[mfkr511]

Bathory is ****ing brilliant

[virtualreality]

im new to guitar and this was just like a major lesson although i could only play the easy tabs being new anything i can play makes me feel better i think ill get into black metal cant thank you enough

[LeO76767]

hwi sis not good at all !!! ye didnt even mention powerchords! LOL!!! what a ****ing dumb***

[Woooguitar]

hahahahhaha the article is helpful and i definetly like black metal and stuff. but truth be told, i was having more fun reading the comments than playing the riffs =]

[Insanity207]

umm, black metal hmmm dont listen to much of it but i did get the riffs really wuick and the information i thought was just thrown in there i agree with most of the users that there should have been more time in this. over all its for people learning and there wasnt much info about the names, but not trying to dis or put it down because maybe this will introduce me to black metal so thnx and Rock On!!!! \,,/

[clown624715308]

ok this wasnt the greatest lesson ever posted but thats no reason to bite the kids head off. i've been a playing black metal and almost every other kind of metal for about 4 years, and i have to admit that for a a metal lesson that was pretty good...\,,/ rock on metal dude\,,/

[VelvetAlley411]

Its not to bad of a lesson.You must know a little about the genre to mention Venom.Try to be more indepth next time and in less of a rush

[sikone]

I give him fair credit for STARTING with he's not the greatest Black Metal Player. He was just making an honest attempt at giving a general idea of the playing style involved in a rarely discussed form of metal. Which, by the way, I failed to see any OTHER articles done on...

It was a good first try, ZO, you'll do it better next time. And all of you naysayers, GO WRITE YOUR OWN and quit listing bands if you can't take the time to put up a lesson of your own! \,,/ Metal Is Forever \,,/

[I_Collect_Picks]

where's Dimmu?

[vamprocker]

thanks ineeeded more black metal warmups

[Silent_Scream1]

Where's Old Man's Child, Dimmu Borgir, Emperor, Immortal, and all the other good black metal bands?

On top of that this lesson was wack. Didnt help one bit. You have no basic knowledge to black metal what so ever.

[nickhell]

[quote/]
And evil chords? Give me a break. Not jazzy? One of Black Sabbath's eeriest songs "Planet Caravan" is completely jazzy.

You seem to be the type to be reading these, not writing them. [/quote]


thats because they started as a jazz band

[joeyramoney]

i loved the part where you just named random notes and chords without any helpful context.

"play these chords and scales whose names i don't know and it's black metal".

[turbojugend333]

as Silent_Scream1 said.. " Where is Dimmu Borgir... If someone else would like to dulge into the void of black metal and make some more rifts and stuff, please do, it would be much appriciated. Because there are very few " how to play metal " posts so Thx for the effort, although I would like to learn how to play a little bit of Emperor, and Dimmu Borgir myself.

[psycho66613]

pretty good article, it needed more and did look like it was rushed, it also needed mayhems deathcrush, the song is so simple yet sounds so sweet

[kailum]

terrible terrible lesson...how old are you 13?

[bpauers]

yes i agree....terrible lesson. you didnt mention too many bands, you werent elaborate, and most black metal bands dont even use scales. you didnt even mention power chords!!! black metal is not all fast either. some of it is, but some of it is played at a moderate speed, ive only recently been playing black metal maybe 2 months 3 months, and most of the stuff you said is completely contradictory to every other lesson ive seen. beginners, dont listen to this guy.

[slipknutt]

If you think you can do better than this then do it. Otherwise STFU and move on. If you're not into black metal then why are you even reading this? If you want a lesson that covers every band in the genre, keep dreaming or write it yourself. What the hell is wrong with people?

[slipknutt]

slipknutt wrote:

If you think you can do better than this,[quote]

then do it. Otherwise STFU and move on. If you're not into black metal then why are you even reading this? If you want a lesson that covers every band in the genre, keep dreaming or write it yourself. What the hell is wrong with people?[/quote]

[Lord_Mortirion]

How long have you been playing black metal??? or guitar for that matter???

kudos for trying, but you should at least know what your jibberjabbering on about before you submit articles...

[The Warpig]

I am not into Black Metal but I found the article informative. Sure grammar and spelling and all that stuff would have been better given some more attention.

The most important thing is that ZynasOrcah had a go.

All you arses who are bagging him out, have YOU posted an article. Has YOUR article received all positive comments.

No?

Well shut up then.

[Lord_Mortirion]

Im writing an article Mr Warpig, just making sure its correct... I might actually get the bloody thing finished soon.

[slash&angus]

Boo black metal

[Angel Of Sin]

I liked it i reckon that we need more people like this guy here.

[Nhex]

I hate one thing in english language native people youre not the kings of the world so if someone has some difficult to spell to speak and things like that you donte have to take that person down man its so good to at least know something from at least 2 languages

and by the way I bet the guy who made this article will make some sequels too

keep it going

[Nhex]

^ If i have some grammar erros I dont beg your pardon Im PORTUGUESE ahahaa

[disasterlife]

even the dark metal guitar needs to have scales to make that riffs with that progression so evil if some one knows how ****ing tell im driving crazy cause i dont know how

[Angel Of Sin]

Could you please make another black metal article!!!

[Angel Of Sin]

disasterlife wrote:

even the dark metal guitar needs to have scales to make that riffs with that progression so evil if some one knows how ****ing tell im driving crazy cause i dont know how

Try using diminished scales and minors that might help.

[hurricanenita]

Black metal is ****ing awesome and I liked learning some of these riffs that I didn't know... however I have to agree that the article didn't seem very coherent.

[kevinm4435]

If you need a guide to play black metal you're either ignorant or simply trying to hard to meet aesthetic expectations of the genre.

[nitro.vo]

thanks man. i learnt some shit from it. I had nfi how to play any black metal, but after playing some of those tabs i have an idea. cheers

[FightForApathy]

this artical really sucks ass, i just made a profile just to tell you that.

[ryx_wafu09]

nice!! it rocks!!

[oakidoki]

wow you people are so critical i minght post a lesson on how to be nice

[marino123]

use devils' scale :!!!!

[marino123]

you want to know how to play black metal? there's no rules!!! play whatever you want to... and - dont't forgrget to use P.M. and tremolo picking...

now you know how to play it!

just one more tip: make it evil!!!

[Angel Of Sin]

Use real scales and shit so you are a good guitarist, look at the difference between Emperor and Darkthrone. Use that stuff if you want to do leads or if you are using keyboards, coz you need to know what key the song is in if you are going to incorporate that stuff in your music.

[DEATHbyBLOOD]

yeah not many places to teach you black metal guitar, but don't listen to these a-holes on this stupid site. I agree with one of the guys though, this article may have been rushed, you know hyou can do better!!

[quicksilver101]

virtualreality wrote:

im new to guitar and this was just like a major lesson although i could only play the easy tabs being new anything i can play makes me feel better i think ill get into black metal cant thank you enough

mt thoughts exactly

[quicksilver101]

screwy key board

[kidwithaguitar]

well.....how about we all be nice to each other lol jk black metal is.....well there isnt a good way to describe black metal other than using basic classical styles in a really low tuning to give an evil sound


now stop reading and go play your damn guitar

[Depression]

thx, good one. thumbs up and 5 stars.

[Depression]

i mean 10. !!!

[siliconavatar0]

Really good article overall, though like you said it does have a few holes in it. I noticed you didn't touch on overall guitar tones used in black metal, something that easily makes up half of the genre. LOW lows, HIGH highs, and REVERB out the ass on rhythm parts... solid tremolo picking with a slight delay and plenty-0-reverb will tear the faces off of any crowd. Black metal also depends on layering octaves to achieve an atmospheric, sometimes droning effect. That evil tone wouldnt sound half as good if it weren't so thick and juicy most of the time! (darkthrone excluded...)

But great article good sir, and I look forward to the next!

[sonnyboy_95]

the guy way the hell up top....flesh into gear...shouldn't be allowed to read this.....Cky isn't black metal....duechbag^
^
^
^

[sean1784]

thnks i never quite understud what tremelo picking was but now i sort ov do i will search for more lessons on that thnks for that....

[!,,! (-.-) !,,!]

not blackmetal