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So you want to play heavy metal do you?
Right then, I’ll show you all the hidden traps and the misconceptions that I’ve encountered as I’ve performed as a heavy metal guitarist live numerous times before now. I will give you some examples and pointers on Guitar theory that will help you get the sounds you are looking for as well. Don’t worry if this seems a little bit complicated, as I will be explaining everything as simply as possible so that there’s as little chance of getting confused as possible.
First up is the obvious stuff: Down-tuning
Down-tuning was first introduced by the world’s first heavy metal band Black Sabbath, as after an accident involving sheet-metal at his work-place, Tony Iommi lost the tips of some of his fingers, so he had to loosen the strings to be able to keep on playing, as lower gauge strings weren’t available yet. This gave him a much more bass-ey sound than other guitarist of the time as a result.
However, there is a difference between the down-tuning that Tony Iommi used, and still uses live, and the drop-tunings that modern metal-guitarists seem to like using a lot. The essence of the two is very similar, as the strings are loosened so that the guitar is still in tune but it is producing lower notes than it would do in a regular ‘standard E’ tuning (this means that a regular tuner will show the notes E-A-G-D-B-E as the open notes of the strings, and it’s the tuning that most guitar tuition books are written in). If you tune your guitar up using a regular tuner, it should put your guitar in standard E unless it’s been set up to do otherwise.
The difference is in the thickest string, what some of you will call the ‘low E’ string. Tony Iommi would detune all the strings so he would keep the exact same tuning but with all the notes lowered, for example he would lower all the strings 3 notes so that the guitar was in “standard C#”, with both of the top and bottom strings being tuned to C# rather than E. This allowed him to still play all of the different kinds of chords that he needed while keeping that darker sound.
Modern guitarists, like Zakk Wylde or Synyster gates, use drop-tunings, where the thickest string is actually tuned down to a lower note than the others. For example, Drop D, which is the simplest drop tuning, only has one string tuned differently than the others; the thickest string is tuned down to a D instead of an E, so the order of the open notes is D-A-D-G-B-E. This means that three note power chords can be played using only one finger laid across all three strings, which makes playing heavy chords much easier and therefore much faster. However, this makes it impossible to play some open chords as the open tuning of the guitar has been changed; in other words, the notes you start from are different, so chords that use the thickest string will have to be changed as the notes have been moved around on the fret-board due to the different tuning.
Keep this in mind when you are deciding what tuning to use: in terms of lead playing there is little difference between using a drop-tuning or a down-tuning, but a down tuning will make some chords much easier while making others no longer possible.
Now onto the next step: what kind of metal are you going to be playing?
This is important as different styles of metal use different theory and techniques, and the last thing you want to do is spend months practicing something that you are never going to use again. So make sure that this doesn’t get to complicated I’m going to split this into three groups of metal: classic metal, death metal, and neo-classical metal. All types of metal use amplifiers with a lot of gain on the overdrive channels as well, as this is what gives the music it’s “powerful” feel.
Classic metal is bands like Black Sabbath, Metallica, Megadeth, Testament, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Saxon amongst others; 80’s and earlier metal if you like. These bands used quite similar approaches during the 80’s but Black Sabbath really were the starting point for all the rest. All of these bands used two scales quite often, the minor pentatonic scale, and the natural minor scale (which is also called the Aeolian mode, which I have already written a lesson on Aeolian mode if you want more details on it). They do use other scales obviously, but these two are the most commonly used.
In terms of techniques, alternate picking is obviously one that goes in the lead playing of virtually every style of metal there is, but classic metal musicians generally kept things relatively simply but punchy. For example, the main riff of electric funeral only has 5 notes, and the scary sounding opening riff of the song ‘angry again’ by Megadeth is just one phrase being moved up 3 notes each times so it sounds deliberately out of place. The best method for trying to get this style of music written in my opinion is to just listen to it non-stop and remember to put the sound you’re after before the theory, E.g. if you play a line that sounds good but doesn’t follow a particular scale, then go with it. Most of the time these metal bands were working by experimentation, so don’t get to down-hearted if this doesn’t come straight away as it’s just a case of learning what sound you are after. A perfect example is the opening riff of “master of puppets” which I’ve put below:
Intro:
*Let last chord ring*
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|-9--------7---6---5-------------|
|-9--------7---6---5-------------|
|-7--------5---4---3-------------|
|-0------------------------------|
*4*Play Four Times*4*
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------7---6---5---------------------------------------|
|--------------------7---6---5---------------------------------------|
|-----7-----6--------5---4---3---------------------------------------|
|-0-0---0-0---0-0---------------------0-0-7-0-0-6-0-0-5-0-4-0-3-0-2--|
This section is barely following any scale at all but it still sounds like the dogs balls. Just focus on what you want to hear, and then look into how you get that sound. These metal bands also didn’t use drop tunings except on very rare occasions.
Death metal: Easily the most aggressive type of metal, which encompasses bands such as Trivium, Slipknot, Stone sour, Bullet for My Valentine, Brain Drill and so on.
Speed is almost in as much demand in death metal as curvy 19 year-old girls are backstage. Because of this, drop-tuning is pretty much always used to allow much faster playing than normal tunings, and to make sure they can play heavy chords as fast as possible to. In terms of theory, there is more use of a mode/scale called the Phrygian mode, which sounds tenser than some other scales; making the music sound more brooding (I also have a lesson on Phrygian mode if you need more details on it). Also, alternate picking is used a lot more in this genre than in classic metal.
Death Metal is pure pent up aggression fired through an input jack, so if you want to become good at Death metal then it goes without saying that you really need to understand how to get anger across in you music. Simply finding something to get angry about might help inspire you, and while this may sound a little scary to some, I’m afraid that death metal is a scary genre of music. It’s about vengeance and disaster, not happiness and hope, so looking into how to make your playing sound more mournful and aggressive is an absolute must. Palm muting is also used constantly, along with little triplets known as galloping phrases named so because they sound like a horse galloping.
Here is the interlude section from Slipknot’s song “duality” so you can see what I mean.
INTERLUDE
Gtr. 1 and 2
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/---0--0--0----0--0----0--0--0----0--1--0--3--3*------------------/
/---0--0--0----0--0----0--0--0----0--1--0--3----------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/-----------------------------------------------------------------/
/---0--0--0----0--0----0--0--0----0--1--0--6\---------------------/
/---0--0--0----0--0----0--0--0----0--1--0--6\--1*-----------------/
Now, the song has both guitarists tuned all the way down to drop b. This is a drop tuning with the lowest string lowered by 5 notes, and because of this the guitars sound much, much darker than they usually would. This is also why these chords would not be possible with a guitar tuned to regular E standard, as the notes are simply too low. You can instantly tell though that the bulk of the impact from this song is simply from the powerful sound that the guitars are producing, which is a lot more bass-ey than other styles of music would use.
Neo-Classical metal: The hardest metal to play because of the sheer amount of theory behind it. Neo-classical metal is basically classical musicians playing through a heavy-metal band’s equipment. They have learnt all of the lessons on things such as chord inversions, counter-point harmonizing as well as all the scales and the arpeggios. If you want to play neo-classical metal, then I recommend that you play as much as possible to build your strength up and you learn as much theory as possible. Remember however, that you do not want to confuse yourself, so only learn a piece of theory if you understand what it is used for, e.g. you learn a scale because it makes your playing sound happy, not just because it’s another scale you will know. Two handed tapping is really used a lot more in Neo classical metal to emulate some of the large octave jumps that piano plays use. Arpeggios knowledge is a must for people wanting to play this style.
Harmonizing is used frequently in this genre in order to emulate the vocal and/or violin harmonies that orchestras use a lot to get a sense of theatre and drama. Because the theory is so complex, it is often the case that neo-classical metal has less spontaneous moments than other styles of metal, because the music is so complex that there is very little room to move. Almost everything is written down note for note. Drop-tunings are sometimes used, Symphony X are a classic example, but other bands, such as Blind guardian prefer down tunings as it still allows them to get all the chords they need without having to think about the differences in guitar tuning. They already have enough to think about.
Here is a section from an acoustic song from a neo classical band called “Blind Guardian”, the song is called “the bard’s song”.
Intro a: first end 2nd end
E||--0------------------------------------------|---------Triols|---||
B||------3---1---0---0---1---0-------0----------|-1---3---1-0-1-|---||
G||------------------------------0-------2---0--|---------------|-2-||
D||---------------------------------------------|---------------|---||
A||--0------------------------------------------|-0-------------|-0-||
E||------------------3---------------0----------|---------------|---||
first end 2nd end
E||--0------------------------------------------|---------Triols|-------||
B||------3---1---0---0---1---0-------0----------|-1---3---1-0-1-|-1-----||
G||------------------------------0-------2---0--|---------------|---2-0-||
D||---------------------------------------------|---------------|-------||
A||--0------------------------------------------|-0-------------|-0-----||
E||------------------3---------------0----------|---------------|-------||
gtr.2 first end
E||--8--10---8--10---7-------------------7---8--|-7---8--10-----|
B||---------------------10---8---8--10----------|---------------|
G||---------------------------------------------|---------------|
D||---------------------------------------------|---------------|
A||---------------------------------------------|---------------|
E||---------------------------------------------|---------------|
second end
E||----------7-8/12-||
B||--8--10---Triols-||
Notice how this song sounds almost medieval? This is because the musicians have listened very carefully to how older instruments like lutes have been played and have managed to emulate that style of playing on the guitar. There are all manners of different scales and chords involved in this kind of music, and it will most likely demand that you research it more than other styles. I would strongly recommend really listening closely to a lot of this kind of music before trying to write in this style, because it’s a very distinct yet hard to achieve tone that’s being produced here, and you will need to be aware of what you are writing. I am pretty sure that a lot of these songs are actually originally written on manuscript paper as well so that the musicians are aware of what effect notes will have on the music.
I may be wrong, but this is the most advanced style of metal by far, and requires an advanced player to perform it. Be prepared for a lot of hard practice if you are deciding to play this style.
What settings should I use for my guitar to get the best sound?
It depends, classic metal usually needs a guitar sound with a powerful mid-range, Death metal usually needs a guitar sound with a lot of bass and neo-classical metal usually needs a guitar sound with a lot of treble in it. This is because the guitarist is playing a slightly different role in each band. Neo-classical metal bands need the guitarist to act like the high octave instruments like violins or flutes, and get the high notes that the other members can’t reach, whereas the death metal bands need a huge sound so they need to put as much effort into getting a lot of bass sound as possible.
Dimebag Darrel (rest in peace) was probably one of the heaviest guitarists around, but he actually had very little bass in his guitar sound. His guitar tone is almost the exact opposite of Zakk Wylde, who is one of the heaviest guitarists today, but both have managed to write very heavy sounding music despite them having completely different tones. It all comes down to what you are doing in a band, and what you have to do to achieve the sound you’re after.
My guitar hero uses heavier strings, does that mean I should?
No. There is the myth that all heavy metal guitarists use heavier strings to get a better sound, but there is actually a slightly less cool truth to this. Normal strings get quite loose when they are tuned down and may start to rattle as a result, which stops the guitar from producing clear notes. This is because there isn’t enough tension left in the strings, and the only way to counter-act this is to use heavier strings, which exert more tension. They do sound heavier, this much is true, but they are also harder to bend as there is more metal there, and this will show in how much your fingers hurt after playing. You should always try to go with the lightest strings you can possibly use without changing your guitar tone or causing the strings to rattle as you are playing.
I want to do that cool squealing noise all the heavy metal guitars do, but I don’t know how.
This is called a pinched harmonic, and it’s something you really need to be shown in person, but I can describe exactly how it should work. You have to hold you pick so that it just barely extends from your hand, with your thumb right behind it. As you pluck the string, the pick should strike the string, instantly followed by the meat of your thumb, which should produce that high-pitched squealing sound that you’re after. The things to focus on are to make sure that you are holding the pick so that it doesn’t extend too much or too little from your hand, and that you hit the strings so that your thumb touches the string instantly after you have plucked it. This technique requires a lot of practice to get right, and a lot of the professionals don’t get it right all the time. It’s simply quite a hit-and-miss technique.
That’s pretty much it for this lesson, but I hope that this has been able to help some of you out there.
Take care guys and I’ll see you next time!
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