Fundamentals Of Metal

Table Of Contents
1.Introduction
2.Influence
3.Technique:
-Power Chords
-Slides
-Fill ins
-Hammering
-Palm Muting
-Check Lesson Pages for more techniques
4.Warm-Ups
5.Style

1.Introduction.
There's a reason that you picked this lesson and it is so that you can learn Metal, heavy metal, classic metal, nu-metal, death metal, techno metal anything mixed with metal!

2. Influence.
First of all, any particular Metal bands that influence you? Do not say anything like KoRn or Limp Bizkit because thats hard rock. I'm talking about Metal bands. First of all, go ask some friends if they have any good Metal CD's. Listen to them, try to play their songs, try to also find out what are the influences of that band too! Bands that influence my band called "Masokist" are Meshuggah, Megadeth, Slayer, and Old Skool Metallica. Though I don't use a seven string guitar I think Meshuggah is my big influence, because if you heard "Choirs Of Devastation" the song proves that Meshuggah has alot of talent, the solo just lifts your soul to heaven (not really so don't be listening to it thinking you're goin to heaven). Though I sometimes don't play Lead, I once in a while do make some solos too. And if you're a beginner, please don' start off in a band, wait a couple of years or months (depends how much you practice everyday) then you can start your band.

3. Technique Section.
- Power Chords.
First of all, power chords are very common in Metal. I can think of any metal band that don't use power chords (If you know any who don't please E-mail me at [e-mail]). Now here is the Intro of "Expendable Youth" by Slayer

|----------------------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------------------
|--------9----10-----8---------9-----12----10--------
|--------7-----8-----6---------7-----10-----8--------
|-0-0--0---0-0---0-0----0-0--0---0-0----0-0----------
pm. .  .   . .   . .    . .  .   . .    . .

|----------------------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------------------
|----------------------------------------------------
|------9-----10------8---------9---------------------
|------7------8------6---------7--------5------4-----
|0-0-0----0-0----0-0----0-0--0-----0-0--3--0-0-2-----
pm. ..    . .    . .    . .  .     . .     . .

Note: That this tab may be wrong, but I figured it out like this, and it sounds just like the actual version.

- Slides.
Ever heard that riff that almost evryone would know, ever heard of Black Sabbath "IRON MAN"

|-----------------------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------------------
|-----------------------------------------------------
|-4-4-/7--7-7-7-/9-9--12-/11--12-/11-12-/11--12-/11---
|-2-2-/5--5-5-5-/7-7--10-/-9--10-/-9-10-/-9--10-/-9---
|-----------------------------------------------------

|-------------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------------
|--7-7-/9--9--------------------------------
|--5-5-/7--7--------------------------------
|-------------------------------------------

Or also Slayer "PostMortem" Tuning: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb eb

Intro:
l-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------l
l-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------l
l--9------10/9----9/10-----13/12-------10/9-----9/10-----13/12-------10/9-----9/10--l
l--9------10/9----9/10-----13/12-------10/9-----9/10-----13/12-------10/9-----7/10--l
l--7-------8/7----7/ 8-----11/10--------8/7-----7/ 8-----11/10--------8/7-----7/ 8--l
l--0--000-------0-------0---------000--------0--------0---------000--------0--------l
     pm...     pm       pm       pm...       pm      pm        pm...      pm


l---------------------l
l--8--8---------------1
l--8--8---------------l
l--6--6---8-6---6-5---l
l-------------7-----7-l

- Fill Ins.
Though there is nothing to tab here, Fill Ins are very important in metal. Ever heard Meshuggah's "Choirs Of Devastation" where one guitarist is playing a palm muting part meanwhile the other one makes an ambient sound using Volume pedals and multiple distortions on to produce feedback. Fill ins are one of the fundamentals of metal providing heavier sound and quality... (I mean who likes to hear Heavy Metal without having 2 guitarists playing in the same time, its like having another guitarist for no fucking reason. And through my opinion any metal should have 2 guitarists, so if you're forming a band; also try to bring a friend along.

- Hammering.
Masokist "Satan'as Ungerus'sa" Translation in Armenian: "Satan is my friend." Tuning: Bb Eb Ab Db Gb Bb. Play 3x

Bb|--------------------------------
Gb|--------------------------------
Db|--------------------------------
Ab|--------3p2-------3h3-----------
Eb|-0-0-0--1p0--0-0-0-0h1----------
Bb|--------------------------------
pm. . . pm . . .
Then after that
Bb|--------------------------------
Gb|--------------------------------
Db|-------------------------3~-----
Ab|----3h3----3h3----3h3----x------
Eb|----0h1----0h1----0h1----1------
Bb|-0-------0------0------0--------

This is the third songs me and the band made, we released it to MP3. com so people can hear us. People say our songs sound more like Meshuggah than all the other bands we claimed influence to us. Check us out at: Http//:ourband20.tripod.com.

- Palm Muting.
Well in here there is nothing to tab, because palm muting is already shown on the tabs, but here's a cool Palm Muting Riff Metallica "Master OF Puppets" Palm Muting Riff also AKA "Spider Part" This whole riff is done by palm muting

|-----------------------------------
|-----------------------------------
|-----------------------------------
|-----------------------------------
|-----2-----3-----4-----3-----2-2---
|-0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1-------
pm_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

|--------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------------
|--------------------------------------------
|-----2-----3-----4-----3-5/4----5/4---5/4---
|-0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1---3/2-0--3/2-0-3/2---
pm_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

|---------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------
|--------------------------4~-----------------
|-----2-----3-----4-----3--2~-----------------
|-0-1---0-1---0-1---0-1-----------------------
pm_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

This riff is known as "Spider Part" because if you look at yourself on the mirror playing this riff its looks like if your left hand is crawling like a spider. And if you wanna impress someone who is really good, play this riff. Most people have problems using their pinkies, so this is also a good riff to strenghthen your fingers.

- Warm Ups.
Though I do this one all the time before I start playing and before performing:

|------------------------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------------------------
|------------------------------------------------------------------
|-------------------------------------------5h9p5h9p5h9p5h9p5h9p5--
|-----------3h5---------3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3--------------------------
|-0-1-2-3-4-----4-5-6-7--------------------------------------------

the 5h9p5 is done by the index and pinky, so don't be using your third finger for all cheaters, cuz if you do it with the index and third; you will never gain anything. Check the lessons site at http://gro.wxs.org for info on warm ups.

Well I pratically used all time precious time making this and I hope you enjoyed it. E-mail me if you have questions, comments, or for information about my band Masokist; my e-mail address is: [e-mail].

Comments

[Oswald]

Good Article. What does MASOKIST means, anyway?

[Bones98]

ok, this is the Rockinarmo guy, and for that person who asked what Masokist meant? It means
Masochist in Armenian or in other languages such as latin. Masochist is someone who abuses himself for pleasure. And as far as the pinch harmonics go, that technique is my favorite, I was gonna add it to my Fundamentals Of Metal 2 but I quit writing that stuff and now I'm just focusing on my bands right now. Also my band has changed the URL to Http://www.masokist.tk

[short circut]

i think you should have starteed with plalm muting first. but other wise good

[chemicalsolutio]

Nice article, I tried going on the website Http//:ourband20.tripod.c
om, but the page doesn't even exist. Did you mispell your adress?

[Oswald]

Yes, I have tried it to!

[sneak]

i just learned i'm a masochist!

[Kill em all89]

this is a pretty good article. Thanks i needed it

[theTHORNwithin]

yeah, nice article man, coulda added sum more but its all good...not really everything just the article *for all you literal people*

[eleventeen]

You know, I LOVE your site, it has been a great help. Just a word i'd thought i'd put in- KoRn is metal... they were the first Nu-Metal band, followed by Coal Chamber. But I also agree, when people who "want to play metal" just try to play "hard rock..." that gets to me.

[Psykotik]

KoRn is metal...

You're funny

[Nemesis_x]

You know, I LOVE your site, it has been a great help. Just a word i'd thought i'd put in- KoRn is metal... they were the first Nu-Metal band, followed by Coal Chamber. But I also agree, when people who "want to play metal" just try to play "hard rock..." that gets to me.

Actually, Helmet were the first nu-metal band ever. Besides, nu-metal is the dirty, commercialised, greed-tainted, talentless underbelly of the genre we call metal. It would be better if we did not refer to it as metal at all.

[CK1]

Im a magnet drawn to metal

[washburn085]

ya ya ya, bunch of 15 yr old "metalheads," jonathan davis' mom is more metal than all yall. korn is considered alt metal or nu metal, whatever the genre classification puts it. "comercialized metal". better be glad metal bands are getting money, and able to bring you more music, but a bunch a 15 yr old kids tryin to go against the grain wouldnt understand. people need to make a living, even metal acts...you'll understand when your mommies stop buying your pull-ups.

[megadeth69]

this retard is so wrong, his tab for iron man is all wrong!

[lost harmonics]

will some one make an article on blues solos, thats where it all started, if u didnt have blues u wouldnt be reading the article. i think stevie ray vaughan and kirk hammett made some of the best riffs of all time and there are a few one hit wonders that were good to

[Metal Daze]

have nothing to say but very good lesson! ...and KoRn sucks hard!

[GLADIATOR]

Wake up ladies. KORN is in Nu-metal.

[GLADIATOR]

I think Nu-metal is not for baby girls like Nemesis.

[yeller56]

Here is a non biased reason why koRn sucks.

(I mean who likes to hear Heavy Metal without
having 2 guitarists playing in the same time, its like having another
guitarist for no ***ing reason. And through my opinion ANY metal
should have 2 guitarists, so if you're forming a band; also try to
bring a friend along.

koRn has two guitarists but hey they play at the same time and have no cool sounding fill-ins go listen to Avenged Sevenfold dude.

[psychoclown1911]

Yo Don't bomb on satanist's. I am a satanist if you have something to say, say it to me. I am a tradtionalist. I listen to some of KoRns stuff. But I am more for stuff like, Lamb of God, Dying Fetus, As I Lay Dying and Bury Your Dead and any Death Metal.

[Guitarist9]

hey dude As I Lay Dying is a christian Metalcore band.

[Camdon]

When I searched your bands website on google it brought me back to this page.... *sweat*

[flame843]

THat "Spider Part" you mentioned from MoP is so hard for me...I can paly the entire rest of the song (including the solos) with no major problems, but I can't get that part down! I get my fingers in knots...

Good article, by the way.

[metal_man696]

,!,,

[pimpinmetal]

masokist is the most horrible, suck ass band I have ever had the displeasure of listening to.Learn how to play *******s.

[Punk Rocker]

Thanx man it really helped.

[the.iron.maiden]

great article. good luck w/ the band.

[The Spoon]

Good article. I wanna be a metal guitarist.

[hammetfan86]

hey, im new to the site, i love to play metal, my favorite is old skool 'tallica but, i dont see how u can play the solos in MoP flame but u cant play the spider part. your just a crazy guy =P, but yes, that is a bitch song to play, so fast, so hard, talk about hand cramps

[Ingvullen]

This was a really godd articel.

\,,/^_^\,,/ Injection Darkness \,,/^_^\,,/

[authoritarian]

I thought KoRn were nu-metal?!

[slipknot91111]

they are and why are we even discussing KoRn

[slipknot91111]

o by the way the lesson was sic

[ShowNoMercy616]

korn is metal douches.
learn your shit.
theyre nu metal, deal with it.

[4utumn]

Korn is Nu metal...
and Nu metal is for those fat 15yr old kids who wear the gay ass rave pants and have no idea what a blastbeat,speedpicking, or pig squeal is. They and thier music deserve to rot in hell for their lack of talent and lack of knowledge.

[c_brice]

KoRn is Nu Metal, and one of the first. They are legends and have been around 4 ages so if you hav a problem go deal with it!

[AllwoodGuitars]

this was completly useless...

[Thrasher720]

Pretty good. Goes over the fundamentals.

AllwoodGuitars wrote:

this was completly useless...

You probally thought i was useless because, you were expecting to learn to play metal, this lessons tells fundamentals. Eithger that our you aren't cultured enough to understand that these fundamentals are what make metal.

[gunfiend]

dear lord why are all the nu-metal kids posting on this lesson? everyone knows korn sucks, ALL nu-metal sucks. multi-million dollar pussies with no musical talent whatsoever. ^ read what 4utumn said ^

REAL metal isn't about wearing stupid masks, your teenage angst, or how many chains you can wear at once. ****ing kindergoths make me sick.

[singer_johnny90]

okay, so why the hell is everyone talking about korn? you douchebags talk more about the bands you hate than about the article! WHO THE F*** CARES!?!? i personally like Korn, but you are all entitled to your own opinions. well, except that dick that dogged the writer's band. it's fine not to like something, but at least be civilized about it!

i also happen to be 16, and take no offence to the talk about "kinder-goths". it's all true. i do, however, take offence to these douches thinking they're the sh*t just because they can play some distorted riffs and dress in black.

good article, by the way, and hope your band does well!

[jesusgonewrong]

REAL metal isn't about wearing stupid masks, your teenage angst, or how many chains you can wear at once. ****ing kindergoths make me sick.

I might be wrong, but I was under the impression metal can mean different things to different people.

[Finger]

Just keep metal real and simple. Fuck. Like insomnium and lamb of god pure metal guitars with no heavy sound effects, that's the way shit should be.

[Kestral]

awesome lesson, helped me alot.

[VelvetAlley411]

Good lesson,some of you children need to grow up.

[narahafzhou]

pimpinmetal wrote:

masokist is the most horrible, suck ass band I have ever had the displeasure of listening to.Learn how to play *****s.

...f**k you man. a**holes like you should get rundown by double-decker buses. where's YOUR band page with all your mad-skilled music on it? you seemed to have forgotten to post a link. oh, wait. maybe that was on purpose? of course. completely vindicated there. mhmm. yeah anyway how I see it, if someone's a lot better off than you, you shouldn't be talking s**t about them. same thing with the whole Korn issue. amazingly you expounded upon the very molecular structure of Korn's "suck-age" to such an alarmingly degree that now my sarcasm has obtained the tone of a pansy scientist. thanks a f**king lot. now i have to put my sarcasm on hold until it regulates. ah well. eh, don't listen to me I'm all f**ked up anyhow. ^_^ yeah the music is nice though. sometimes nothing can get it done quite like the heavy tone of metal. stress-relieving a lot of it. all of it pisses off my neighbors. which is great unless they shoot me which they're probably on the verge of for recording some of my own band's material at top volume. lock my door at night. scary s**t man, never know when imma wake up dead.....

[narahafzhou]

wow i probably should have space it into two paragraphs or something so it was easier on the eyes. my bad.

[narahafzhou]

spaced* sorry i write too much.

[warlockking]

great article, but the tab for ironman was all wrong. As for Korn, i like twisted transistor, kinda. I can play the spider riff to MOP, but none of the solos.

[Angel Of Sin]

Everyone shut up about Korn. It sucks

[AEnemia]

yeller56 wrote:

Here is a non biased reason why koRn sucks.

(I mean who likes to hear Heavy Metal without
having 2 guitarists playing in the same time, its like having another
guitarist for no ***ing reason. And through my opinion ANY metal
should have 2 guitarists, so if you're forming a band; also try to
bring a friend along.

koRn has two guitarists but hey they play at the same time and have no cool sounding fill-ins go listen to Avenged Sevenfold dude.

Trying to say Korn isn't metal and saying Avenged Sevenfold IS in the same post is just retarded.

[AEnemia]

Finger wrote:

Just keep metal real and simple. Fuck. Like insomnium and lamb of god pure metal guitars with no heavy sound effects, that's the way shit should be.

Insomnium is ****ing awesome! Wish I saw more tabs for them on UG. I'd love to try to learn Mortal Share (even though I'd fail miserably).

[demonsqueeky]

Korn were the first band in Nu-Metal as in they created that genre? so stating nu-metal as a metal genre up there then turning around and giving your personal opinion on a band as if it's a devout fact just makes you well ignorant doesn't it?
good article but learn to keep opinion separated from fact especially when trying to teach.

[demonsqueeky]

yeller56 wrote:

Here is a non biased reason why koRn sucks.

(I mean who likes to hear Heavy Metal without
having 2 guitarists playing in the same time, its like having another
guitarist for no ***ing reason. And through my opinion ANY metal
should have 2 guitarists, so if you're forming a band; also try to
bring a friend along.

koRn has two guitarists but hey they play at the same time and have no cool sounding fill-ins go listen to Avenged Sevenfold dude.

Non-Biased? oh i see you must mean the non-biased like a kkk member or a neo nazi

[gothboy666]

korn rok

[Letlev]

Lol lets face it korn isn't even metal anymore(not like it sounded like it in the first place more alt rock then anything)... yea i like some of their stuff but the first and real Korn fans left when "see you on the other side hit the shelves", now all that's left of korn is an empty shell of what they were. Brian "head" welch left and found Christ Johnathan is going on a solo tour, face it Korn is over and only the main stream wannabe headbangers listen to their new stuff. And don't call me a korn hater or tell me i don't know what im talking about.. i have been listening to korn for almost 8 years and it's time to admit korn is going downhill, so listen to the few good songs korn made and move on.

[Letlev]

Here is a non biased reason why koRn sucks.

(I mean who likes to hear Heavy Metal without
having 2 guitarists playing in the same time, its like having another
guitarist for no ***ing reason. And through my opinion ANY metal
should have 2 guitarists, so if you're forming a band; also try to
bring a friend along.

koRn has two guitarists but hey they play at the same time and have no cool sounding fill-ins go listen to Avenged Sevenfold dude.

Trying to say Korn isn't metal and saying Avenged Sevenfold IS in the same post is just retarded.

HAHA owned...

[adognamedsally]

hmm... thats all well and good... but... i really wish people would stop calling metallica and ac/dc metal... times have changed. check out necrophagist, decapitation, disembowelment, car bomb, carcass, beneath the massacre, or between the buried and me. i never said that metallica wasn't good, but i really wish that people would stop imitating them.

[adognamedsally]

oh yeah, and this is a very unnecessary lesson. if i wanted tabs, i would look them up

[Elegy4Exile]

good lesson. Try and keep the comments about the lesson than about Different types of metal bands, if u want to talk about that stuff just post it on forums..

[Shread_6009]

the iron man riff is really two parts
intro
A|-7-12-12/14-14-17-16-17-12/14
E|-9-10-10/12 -12-15-14-15-10/12
verse:
D|-----5p4-5p4-5p4-----
A|---5- -5h7-7-----5h7-7
E|-7-----

[rebofthetemple]

Good lesson, and while I agree Korn is not metal no more, you have to admit both their first self titled release and TALITM were pretty "metal". Im a traditionalist/purist as well, but I still listen to nu-metal, nothing wrong with it, all depends on taste, and in my opinion, sounds a lot better than a lot of the screamo we have going on nowadays. Don't bash people for their opinions, it's a free world and you are allowed to listen to whatever you want. If you don't like what someone is listening to, go listen to your own music.

[sonnyboy_95]

you forgot rammestein....and Lamb Of God....

[distorted_666]

hmm... thats all well and good... but... i really wish people would stop calling metallica and ac/dc metal...

man these are the bands that invented metal, thats really an insult to say otherwise

[distorted_666]

hmm... thats all well and good... but... i really wish people would stop calling metallica and ac/dc metal...

man these are the bands who invented metal, indeed the genre has changed, but it would be an insult to disclude them

[TheSoother]

megadeth69 :
this retard is so wrong, his tab for iron man is all wrong!

its not wrong, just played a different way. i.e.

4 and 9 are the same
2 7
2

[TheSoother]

that didnt turn out quite right.

[Gromlich]

Korn is rap metal

[slashe50]

adognamedsally wrote:

hmm... thats all well and good... but... i really wish people would stop calling metallica and ac/dc metal... times have changed. check out necrophagist, decapitation, disembowelment, car bomb, carcass, beneath the massacre, or between the buried and me. i never said that metallica wasn't good, but i really wish that people would stop imitating them.

Are you kidding? Of course Metallica is metal. They can be just as heavy as any of your metalcore.

Of course, I can agree with you on AC/DC.

People imitate Metallica because they were so influential in their time. And people want to bring that style back.

[slashe50]

adognamedsally wrote:

hmm... thats all well and good... but... i really wish people would stop calling metallica and ac/dc metal... times have changed. check out necrophagist, decapitation, disembowelment, car bomb, carcass, beneath the massacre, or between the buried and me. i never said that metallica wasn't good, but i really wish that people would stop imitating them.

Are you kidding? Of course Metallica is metal. They can be just as heavy as any of your metalcore.

Of course, I can agree with you on AC/DC.

People imitate Metallica because they were so influential in their time. And people want to bring that style back.