Skip to content
Notifications
Clear all

Rhythm Guitarist

4 Posts
4 Users
0 Likes
1,231 Views
(@hmingtea)
Active Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 3
Topic starter  

What type of practice and what are the things i need to learn to become a good rhythm guitarist like Jame Hetfield or Dave Mustaine... :D


   
Quote
(@adrianjmartin)
Estimable Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 76
 

Have a career playing guitar that's kept you near the top of your league for 30 years...and still going...


   
ReplyQuote
(@almann1979)
Noble Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 1281
 

well i am no expert, but how about just learning and analysing their rhythm guitar parts to some of their songs, then you can apply what they are doing to your own compositions?

Every time i learn a song i try to see how the guitar parts work i.e what scale are they using for certain licks over specific chords etc, and then i try to "steal" those ideas and use them in different situations.

"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)


   
ReplyQuote
 Ande
(@ande)
Prominent Member
Joined: 16 years ago
Posts: 652
 

Walk before you run, of course-

Start with the basics. Learn open chords. Learn the blues. Shuffle with the blues. Move the beat a little and change it into rock.

Then learn the things that make metal sound metal. Gallop rhythms. Harmonics. Palm Muting. LOTS of palm muting. Distortion. Play with NO distortion (to know you're hitting the notes clean and right) and with as much distortion as you can get (to know that you're controlling all the "extra" sounds you get.)

Work on speed. Work on it by starting slow. It's not what people think, but speed (and keeping solid rhythm when you're flying fast) counts more for rhythm guitar than lead, imo. USE A METRONOME. It can feel boring. Do it anyway. If you've got a song that is recorded at 160 BPM, you're probably gonna want to start at 80 bpm. Then add a bit. Then a bit more. Do your rhythm/speed exercises every day. When you can play it at 200 bpm for a while, you'll start to be really SOLID with it at 160. (A lot of metal guys will talk about "slowing down" to perform- this is what they mean. Get confident, and accurate, playing rhythms faster than you really want them, so you´re not struggling to maintain performance speed. When you´re playing as fast as you can, you really can´t stay accurate. So work to make your maximum somewhat faster than you really need.)

And...if you're into metallica and megadeth, learn their songs. Just my opinion, though: I don´t know how long you´ve been at this, but a lot of their stuff isn´t really the place to start. If you like metal, I´d stard with Iron Maiden or Black Sabbath.

Best,
Ande


   
ReplyQuote