Heavy Metal Style - The Basics II

This lesson will teach you how to become the next Kerry King or Mick Thompson! Here we go. Heavy metal involves alot of distortion and fast fingering so this could be a tough one to learn for poeple who have just started guitar. Here are the points we will be looking at in this lesson:

1. Tuning
2. Powerchords
3. Palm Muting
4. Hard Hitting Riffs
5. Fast Solos

All the tunes on this lesson must be played with distortion.

1. Tuning.
If you want to play Heavy Metal you need the correct tuing or it will sound shite. Here are the main Heavy Metal tunings:

Drop C
Drop B
Normal tuning down a tone

(P.S you will need a electronic tuner because getting to these tuning by ear is hard!)

2. Powerchords.

Heavy Metal is based upon heavy sounding powerchords. Once youve got youre guitar tuned try some of these tunes:

1)
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|--0-0-0-3-3-3-6-6-6--|
|--0-0-0-3-3-3-6-6-6--|

2)
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|--12-12--11-11--15-15-14-14------0-0-1-1--|
|--12-12--11-11--15-15-14-14------0-0-1-1--|

3)
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------------------------|
|----------7-----5--------2--|
|--0-0--5--0-0-3-0-0--0------|
|--0-0-----0-0---0-0---------|

Try learning Slipknot: Duality for some really awesome powerchords.

3. Palm Muting.

To palm mute you must place your palm near the bridge. If you slightly touch the stings that is light palm mutiing (pm) and if you push down hard (not to hard) that is heavy palm muting (PM). Try these exercises to get your palm muting up to scrath.

1)
|-------------|
|-------------|
|-------------|
|--5-5-2-2-2--|
|--5-3-0-0-0--|
|-------------|
pm . . . . .

2)
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|---------------------|
|--0-0-1-1-4-5-0-0-0--|
|--0-0-1-1-4-5-0-0-0--|
PM . . . . . . . . .

4. Riffs

Heavy Metal guitar riffs are so cool so I wanted to teach you some! Usually a heavy metal guitar riff is very fast and complicated. Kerry King from Slayer is the heavy metal riff master. Try learning Reign In Blood.

1)
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------|
|---------------5-------------6-----------0--|
|--0-0-0-0-0----1-1-1-1-1-----0-0-0-0-0------|

2)
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------5-5-5--------------|
|------------------0-0-0-0-0----------------------|
|--7-7-7-7-7-7-------------------------0-0-0-0-0--|

5. Fast Solos.

Solos are what make guitar so cool. Do do fast solos you need fast fingers. There are lots of types of fast soloing:

1. Speed Picking
2. Apreggio
3. 3 finger apreggio (and so on)

Hammer ons and pull offs are also very important

1)
|--3-2-0-3-2-0-3-2-0-3-2-0--|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|

2)
|--5-h3--------5-h3------------|
|-------h5-0-------------h5-0--|
|------------------------------|
|------------------------------|
|------------------------------|
|------------------------------| x as many times as you want

This may not of been a good lesson but I'm hungry so I stop here.

Comments

[billac/dc]

ha first was pretty alright not great.
A pity you got hungry

[Guitarist9]

overall it wasn't helpful.

[Phat Idiot]

yeah, not too helpful

[altronataku]

you dont need to down tune that low, Eb tuning is common enough

[battleofla]

Eb is standard metal tuning, this is nu-metal style the basics, and advanced.

Not a good article at all mate, sorry.

^ Agreed, metal tuning is generally NOT dropped.

I wish my puke smiley would work in lessons. :puke:

[me(n)tal man]

?

[heggazz]

over all pretty shit you didnt teach anythin just showed a few riffs

[4-string-4-eva]

erm...your powerchords arent powerchords. a powerchord is a note, its 5th and octave

[IlIkE2plygUItAr]

worse than Bush tryin to give a speech.

[glennx]

But, no this wasn't helpful.

[rjc_15]

Who in the hell needs drop tuning to play metal? It's a matter of opinion, but Megadeth didn't need it. For the most part, neither did Metallica. They were heavy as hell. Some of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal use this, and I guess it's ok, but it's not necessary. I mean, come on, think a bit more.

[super666fender]

not very good. for one, u diont show power chords only barre cords. 2, those tuning are for nu metal

[b.c.richman]

what about the F tuning

[Cobain_Of_God]

slip plays in drop b but i hate that tuning it takes to long to go by ear

[Maverick77]

Those werent power chords... and Slipknot does drop tune. Metallica doesnt for most songs and uses power chords in most of their songs with a hard hitting solo by Kirk Hammet. Check out their versatility

[dan123]

coulda said how to tune to those different tunings

[Braden]

For rjc_15 metallica only used 1 song in dropped tuning which is The Thing That Should Not Be but personally its one of the best from MOP. and I know that Devils Dance is in dropped d but you dont count Load or Reload as heavy metal.

[master_gupi]

nah....its toosimple

[Subterfuge]

to make this lesson better put in the scales in different tunnings and how to transpose that your fast picking part of the lesson sucked you needed to show flat picking if im not mistakin like using the blade end of your pic if any 1 has any ?? drop me a line [e-mail]

[korn-man2]

Hey funeral666fire Enter Sandman is in normal tuning

[technocheese]

i just play in E or Eb tuning..... u can stil make standard tuning sound heavy

[bin69er]

Um Well im New to this but that was simple... Andeven i know that its mostly Drop D And Try Some Scales Dude!

[weiya]

I dunno about this lesson but slipknot is a nu-metal band and slayer a thrash metal one,:
anyway,nu-metal guitars have the standard tuning cgcfad but most bands tune their guitars to drop d

[SelfImmolation]

Yes. I have to agree. This "lesson" was nothing but a selection of favorite licks thrown toghether. It reminded me of a cheesy mix Cd. No educational value what so ever. Furthermore it made the whole metal community look like a bunch of inbred retards.

If we are to ever change the stereo type of metal heads being no account, low life, $hit for brains losers... Then we better start thinking more.

Some side notes to conclude. Metallica's Enter Sandman is most definately not played in Dropped D tuning. I have seen them play it live personally and on television. Never have I ever heard or seen in played any way than in standard open E tuning.

--- My Oppinions ---

Slipknot... Is gay.

Nu-Metal... Is not cool.

Alternate tunings... Can be useful but are definately not necessary.

That is all. Thank you.

[askurmoran]

i mickael you need to know your stuff fisrt Eb, and standard are the main metal tunnings and drop C and drop B are not they can be use but they are not really heavy metal its pretty much only used by nu-metal bands like slipknot and stuff and the really heavy bands that do double dropped but mostly nu-metal

[fendermalmsteen]

1. Slipknot is not metal (like that hasn't been stated yet...)

2. I you're gonna say anythink about solos, put more than two shitty licks.

[racistbassist16]

god ***ing damn, you people are idiots, the whole thing is a matter of opinion, now yes its has been every ones opinion that this "lesson" sucked more balls than a $10 hooker.

Now with all the tuning arguement. I myself dont know the diff between Nu-Metal and all that shit, its just music, if it sounds good it kicks ass, if it doesnt it doesnt, oh well dont listen to it. You cant say that a band that has been signed to a record label has no talent and sucks, because apparently they have more talent than you do.

I listen to all forms of rock, but metal is my favorite for the fact of the guitar riffs ans solos. But it doesnt ***ing matter what tuning a band uses, you can make the same sound in n e tuning you want it may just be a bit more difficult. Whether or not the so called Nu-Metal or heavy metal use a certain tuning it doesnt ***ing matter, they can get the same sound doing it with another tuning but they, like everyone else in the world, would like to do everything the easy way, so they change their tuning to do it.

If someone would list the diffences between all the different forms of metal i would appreciate it, and also some bands that go with each one, so i might be able to tell the difference. The reason i dont know the difference it because i dont give a *** i just enjoy listening to people play, but that way i can hold a conversation with someone and prove to them that it makes no ***ing difference. gracias punto

[starchaos]

I listen to everything from
Classic Rock (The Animals etc)
To Nu-Metal,Metal,Death/Black-Metal and even some Hardcore and Industrial.

I change genres depending on my mood. One day i'll be listening to Orgy the next it will be the Vines or even Metallica.

When someone calls Mudvayne,Slipknot Metal it doesent really bother me, why should it you? Not everyone has the handbook.

I even learn songs by each genre and some of these I gotta use my guitar in Drop-C. And i'll use my drop-C guitar in the band because it sounds good with our singers voice.

I would also like to add some to this lesson. Just so no one gets upset because there strings start sticking to there pickups, when they try and play a godsmack riff.

1st you'll need to get some heavier strings. Since the C/B tuning is so much lower than the standard E tuning, the thicker strings will allow more tension. If you try it with regular gauge strings, they will be floppy, loose and not hold their tune very well. The heavier the strings the better. Several companies offer large gauge strings. The string gauge should be at least a .012 - .056 gauge and you want the 3rd string to be wound as opposed to plain steel. Some companies even make strings that are made to be tuned low. Find a set you like, and you?re on your way. I personally use the Ernie Ball (Not Even Slinky) on my drop-c tuned guitar.

Now this is very important, a lot of nuts (the thing at the top of the guitar where the strings sit) are not made for thick strings. You will need to have the nut filed in order to fit the larger string gauge. Otherwise you will try and force the string into a hole that is too small and when tension gets put on the string ? BAM! It?ll crack your nut. Not good.

You will also need the string height or ?action? adjusted since the strings will now be much higher off the fret board. And most importantly the truss rod (a metal rod inside the guitars neck) will need to be adjusted to compensate for the new strings and the different tension. Only try to do these things if you really know what you are doing. If you don't the best thing that can happen is your guitar will play terribly. The worst is you will need a new guitar, especially if you mess with the truss rod. Too many wrong turns and you will literally shatter the neck. Your best bet is to take it to a professional guitar repairman and ask for a set up.

In closing id like to say. Please respect everyones taste in music and dont abuse anyone because they dont know what genre a band they like is.

There is alot of them and some people have conflicts on what genres bands are. Its pointless really.

[mitchell_5150]

ur strings must be like rubber bands
drop b?
come on dude

spam deleted

[stratman1030]

Pantera used drop D(some of you said no drop tunings in metal) and yes the Eb tuning is use a hell of alot in metal!!

[stratman1030]

Comments



fendermalmsteen:
1. Slipknot is not metal (like that hasn't been stated yet...)

MY ASS!!!..

[lost_it_again]

a bit of common theory for constructing metal riffs would have been very helpful

[ibanez666]

wow, that was pitiful.

[mortiis999]

this wasnt a lesson in metal it was a lesson in numetal, not the same

[Camdon]

Slipknot has the talent of my 2 year old twin brothers, I'm sure if I gave the 2 of them guitars, and tuned every string down half-step then they could atleast play some open chords.... Plus Slipknot is pointless... Lets figure what some GOOD bands talk about

Slayer- Mostly political problems, portrayed through death
Metallica- Media twisting the minds of youth (Master of putppets ringin any bells?)
Linkin Park- The lies told in modern day rap (Don't even ask me why they partenered with j-z)


Slipknot-.... Killing yourself? Killing others? why not just blow up the world?..



My point being, Slipknot is repetitive, pointless, and overall useless....

[Schrinzo]

The sad thing of your comment is that you talk about GOOD bands and mention Linkin Park in it..
But yes, this lesson is bad. It's just a redo of your first Heavy Metal lesson which was way better. 3 points..

[StoneRusty]

you guys are ****en *******s, if this guy showed this to your face and asked you what you thot you wouldnt be such dicks about it to his face. thats the power of the internet, it lets losers feel big about themselves and lets them make fun of people constantly. **** you give the guys some tips and ideas to make it better, or better yet, make your own ****in forum and then people can make fun of your cock suckingness

[Bilzzard_of_Ozz]

This is horrible. Truly horrible. Metal is 99% of the time (except Nile) Drop tuned. Aweful "lesson". One star.

[mat3305]

no im sorry but that sucked it didnt help at all buti understand (you wre hungry)

[destroy_hiphop]

i like spontaneas human cumbustion.....dont you

[destroy_hiphop]

i like to kill

[destroy_hiphop]

Korn,slipknot,pantera,sou
lfly,slayer,judaspriest,s
taticx.
..... the metal list goes on man!

[Realm of Metal]

Okay peoples, We all know this was not the best lesson here and it's easy to be critical about someones attempt at teaching. But give him a break! He had the munchies man!

[14GreenDay]

metal sucks, when the singers "sing", they make low,grunting, retarded sounds that suck

[Ripptyde]

Well you like Green Day, you have no say in this.

[14GreenDay]

greenday is punk, not metal, plus i only like their old songs, American idiot sucks and the songs are overplayed

[metalhorse]

I don`t really understand why you call this shit a heavy metal lesson , so you think that playing power chords is playing metal , hey dude did you get the chance to hear Yngwye, Petrucci , Michael romeo and so on..your advice can be just fine for a ramone fanatic

[Brad204]

If anyone has stated this yet, i apologize, but here: slipknot is metal, and they arent just random playing(listen to the blister exists) anyone who acually listened to metal would know that. also, he was showing powerchords, but in drop tunings, a powerchord is made from a bar chord. and furthermore, if you were dissing slipknot and went to this lesson anyway, you listen to pretty light stuff, and im gonna have to call you a pussy

[Brad204]

heres some other things:

StoneR
usty wrote:

you guys are ****en *****s, if this guy showed this to your face and asked you what you thot you wouldnt be such dicks about it to his face. thats the power of the internet, it lets losers feel big about themselves and lets them make fun of people constantly. **** you give the guys some tips and ideas to make it better, or better yet, make your own ****in forum and then people can make fun of your cock suckingness

i like that word...cock suckingness... its my new word. Thanks for having morals Stone Rusty.

14GreenDay wrote:

greenday is punk, not metal, plus i only like their old songs, American idiot sucks and the songs are overplayed

okay..greenday isnt bad, but its not really punk, its like emo-folk. and if your a guitarist, look at the tab for a greenday song, then look at the tab for a slipknot song. whats the difference with the slipknot song? MORE NUMBERS AND RIFFS. anyway greenday pisses me off sometimes when fags like you get on metal forums

[SGdude452]

Try learning Slipknot: Duality for some really awesome powerchords.

Powerchords come in handy and are used all the fricken time, but "really awesome powerchords" are 3 words that shouldn't go together

met
alhorse wrote:

I don`t really understand why you call this shit a heavy metal lesson , so you think that playing power chords is playing metal , hey dude did you get the chance to hear Yngwye, Petrucci , Michael romeo and so on..your advice can be just fine for a ramone fanatic

I agree with what he said

[fingersofflame]

i am sorry to say that that was really crappy...it really wasn't all that helpful...but i am not all that good a writing lessons anyway...

[TI-Tiko]

racistbassist16 wrote:

god ***ing damn, you people are idiots, the whole thing is a matter of opinion, now yes its has been every ones opinion that this "lesson" sucked more balls than a $10 hooker.

Now with all the tuning arguement. I myself dont know the diff between Nu-Metal and all that shit, its just music, if it sounds good it kicks ass, if it doesnt it doesnt, oh well dont listen to it. You cant say that a band that has been signed to a record label has no talent and sucks, because apparently they have more talent than you do.

I listen to all forms of rock, but metal is my favorite for the fact of the guitar riffs ans solos. But it doesnt ***ing matter what tuning a band uses, you can make the same sound in n e tuning you want it may just be a bit more difficult. Whether or not the so called Nu-Metal or heavy metal use a certain tuning it doesnt ***ing matter, they can get the same sound doing it with another tuning but they, like everyone else in the world, would like to do everything the easy way, so they change their tuning to do it.

If someone would list the diffences between all the different forms of metal i would appreciate it, and also some bands that go with each one, so i might be able to tell the difference. The reason i dont know the difference it because i dont give a *** i just enjoy listening to people play, but that way i can hold a conversation with someone and prove to them that it makes no ***ing difference. gracias punto

wtf are you doing posting on this site, you obviously cant play guitar and don't know the difference between tunings because you can definitly not play the same notes from Standard E to drop anything due to the fact its dropped you farkin ars

[Talented Noob]

is this lesson actually finished? dude eat something and get on with it! the others are great, im disspointed now . BTW everyone drop d is the only down tuning i've used in any metal not that much. But riffs i havent played just heard about have all been drop d, by far the easiest to use. WHats the point in tuning down to c or something ridiculous? just makes it HARDER to play. I want to know what scales to use for metal soos, sure everyone SAYS blues minor and natural minor, but it sounds crap when i play it! help please!

[fonzicus]

y'see standard tuning is for pussies who can't be bothered to take the time to figure everything out a different way, or think "ok, i'm 1 1/2 steps down from drop d, so i move down three frets, ok, that was easy enough"

[Mustaine 4 Prez]

Dude, this lesson was WEAK. You don't need to tune don't 850 steps to sound heavy. Listen to Megadeth or something like that and tell me you can't sound heavy in standard. All these clowns who have to tune down to sound heavy are just ****ing weak. If your tuning down to explore new territories, it's fine, but holy ****, to say you need to tune down to sound heavy is ****ing bullshit. This is not how to play metal. It's how to play trendy nu metal. Better off to learn a few Megadeth, Pantera, Slayer, and old Metallica tunes, which will make you 10x the guitar player this guy is.

[Gman400]

That sucked.

[Sl@yer2021]

^agreed. Power Chords are actually like this
-3-----
-3-----
-1-----
The lesson was on nu-metal, and the lesson just was not informative at all

[ns2max]

u dont NEEEEED dropped tuningz to play METAL DUDE

[SOAD_GOD]

RIGHT... thats it!

1. Slipknot is metal and they do have talent. its a fact: you just havent seen mick thompson shred. i have.

2. About drop tunings: sure, you don't need them, but when you drop tune you have a much larger bass response therefore your guitar tone sounds more dark and evil. so in a sense, it makes the songs sound more heavy (if the vocals and drums are also heavy).
about the megadeth comment: listen to Fear Factory then Megadeth. Fear factory's guitar sound is MUCH heavier, because they droptune!
also, drop D,C and B mean that you can play a power chord all on the same fret. on the 3 lower strings, which makes it much easier to play.

3. this dude is making an effort and all you guys do is say "this sucked balls" like the bastard that you really are. it is quite informative on how to play metal heavily, but is incomplete. also, these techniques that he has pointed out are used in every subgenre of metal, so dont just shout at him.

4. about that comment on Malmsteen and petrucci:
you dont have to shred to be a metal player! Hetfield doesn't shred, Hammet does, and hetfield is an awesome rhythm player!

5. drop tunings are not just for nu metal!!!!! Pantera, some metallica, shadows fall, opeth, all use drop tunings and are not nu metal!!!!

6. Metallica. their heaviest song is Sad But True. it uses drop tuning.

[ckyrockes]

wow... u guys dont have to be ass holoes to the writer ervyone like there own thing and everyone has differnt thoughts so if u like cool if u dont go find something u do like

[SOAD_GOD]

ckyrockes wrote:

wow... u guys dont have to be ass holoes to the writer ervyone like there own thing and everyone has differnt thoughts so if u like cool if u dont go find something u do like

I AGREE. if you don't like it, instead of saying how much it sucks, go and find a lesson you like instead.

It shows the basics well, and you are saying that it is crap.... THATS BECAUSE IT'S THE BASICS YOU IDIOTS! the very basics of metal. if you sat my Dad (a Blues and Rockabilly player) in front of it (i would have to bribe him though, he hates metal!), he would have learned the basics of metal, and learned a few riffs. although i must say that the tabs are not very good, but that's not to say they are crap, just slightly poorly done. also, i would recommend adding in a Speed Picking section, i might add one myself sometime.
I also like his recommendations: Slayer Reign In Blood is a classic Metal song that everyone should know.

So think twice about thoughtlessly insulting this guy, i'm sure he would feel bad about it. I know I would if i wrote a section. in fact, i'm going to write a couple now: one on speed picking, and one on how to get a good metal tone.

[VelvetAlley411]

Not a good lesson and some of you children need to grow up

[guitarmania93]

first of all, too many typos, and second, you need to go into depth

[cataclysm07]

14GreenDay :
greenday is punk, not metal, plus i only like their old songs, American idiot sucks and the songs are overplayed

Since when did punk bands sell out to labels? Punk is still underground and on independant labels man Wake Up.

[i am a guitar]

wow you guys really know it all, but wait why are you looking up guitar lessons online, homos, wait why am i, oh no i was looking up really whiny bitchy bloggers are found you. you guys are probably 2 year rookies who's fingers are still sore hahahaha, but me.....I am rock and roll

[Metal101]

This was a terrible lesson.

[godlovesslayer]

Come on guys, we all make mistakes sometimes, Like the guy who said you could shatter your neck by over-turning the truss rod? What the hell were you thinking? Anyway this dude was just trying to help, and one other. What some of you are calling "metal" is actually NWOBH and if you do not know what that is just google it and expand your mind. All of the bands listed here are metal, metal is general label put on this kind of music, it wasn't untill the mid 90's when all of the differen't labels were put on it. Just kick a@# and keep playing what the fu#$ does it matter what label you put on it

[joshgiesbrecht]

Getting the correct tunings by ear.. Ain't that hard.. And another common metal tuning is Drop D.. Dumbass.. Soooo many metal bands use that.. But obviously you don't know what your talking about so...

[darkfire221]

First of all this is a "BASIC" lesson so all you F*** tards that say this sucks that's because its a....."""BASIC"""" lesson if you couldn't read the title so lay of the guy (how many people have to make this clear so all you idiots understand) . Plus he didn't put a lot of time in it if you couldn't understand the part about being hungry. Another thing why the bloody f*** is there a GreenDay fag in a metal forum...seriously

[joshgiesbrecht]

Settle down there you ****ing skitz

[guitar_freakgr]

i am sorry to say but this lesson sucks bad . i know one lesson too check this out.

-----
-----
-----
-----
----5----7----5h7---you suck-----
---0--0-----0-----0-----
play that

[kerguitar08]

Yea some of the most technical and not crap metal is played in standard tuning, dropped D, or Eb tunings. But I have to state that B and drop C are sometimes good tunings to use if you're playing death metal style (such as Morbid Angel), Melodic Death Metal (At the Gates is dropped to B and uses some of the techniques Metallica uses), and industrial metal bands like Fear Factory and Strapping Young Lad OR if your name is Fredrik Thordendal. Those bands have a more darker and heavier sound (heavy does not equal technicality though. ex: Slipknot) but still present some technical riffs.

P.S. if your definition of metal is Slipknot, then you fail.