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i need help playing metal!

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(@classicshredder999)
Trusted Member
Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 42
Topic starter  

how do metal guitarist like dave mustaine, zakk wylde, alexi lahio get there "metal" sound its just that i cant figure it out i can play a few stuff but still not the same. im just what things do you need get a metal (thrashy) sound. is it the scales they use if so can you all tell me which ones or is something else? i need help.

heres some metal i have been playing lately

exodus- impaler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG7bK24eoIs

pantera-im broken http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRMqPM08ejE

metallica-seek and destroy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLBpLz5ELPI

also trying to learn megadeth and testament but out my league. i cant figure out how most these guys are so good?


   
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(@saturnthegiant)
Eminent Member
Joined: 15 years ago
Posts: 20
 

Basically they are so good from years of practice and playing. I can't watch your videos since i'm at work. I started out years ago with the Metal Method lessons and that's what opened a lot of doors for me.


   
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(@anonymous)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 17 years ago
Posts: 8184
 

the tone comes from distortion pedals and hi gain amps. the actual playing is mostly based off the blues.


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

Nice tunes! Like very much.

How did they get that good? Well, I'm betting they didn't have an awful lot of friends when they were little...

...does it matter? It's awful cool that they got that good, however they did it.

+1 to the metal method idea. I'll only add to it- walk before you can run. There's a lot of metal influenced rock that practices the same chops without needing the incredible bursts of speed.

Learn metal, but also rock. Jimmy Page, AC/DC, 80s hair stuff...it's all using a lot of the same chops.

Best,
Ande


   
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(@bradcripps)
New Member
Joined: 13 years ago
Posts: 3
 

Try learning some other Pantera stuff and you'll notice a fair amount of Dimebag's stuff used a three note chromatic style thing, like the extra note you get some blues stuff. I'll give you an example:

I'm Broken, Pantera: (Drop D for now)

D ----------------------------------------------------------------------------3b5(3)
A ---3b5--3b5---3-----------------3b5--3b5---3----------------3b5(3)----------
D ---------------------5-4-3---0---------------------5-4-3---0--------------------

The bit I'm focusing on here is the 5-4-3.

Cowboys from Hell, Pantera: (E standard)

D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A---------------------------------------------------------------------5-------------
D---0---3---0---3---5---3---5---3---6---3---5---3---5---6---7------------------

So yeah, if you want Pantera style riffs (and solos), the extra note between two notes is a good place to start.

And use a lot of palm muting and alternate picking (combining them especially) to get a heavier sound. Also learn quite a few riffs and let them influence you (e.g. use them in a different way) like Ande said.


   
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(@saintvitus)
Active Member
Joined: 13 years ago
Posts: 5
 

I'll tell you one thing that my teacher taught me, that helped with playing certain runs with speed like the beginning of Cowboys from Hell: get a small, heavy gauge pick. For one thing, there is no room for error while alternate picking with one of those little "satans" (as I called it for the first couple of days). Another thing is that it teaches you how to pick close to and harder on the string, while having a lighter touch on your fret hand. Before he gave me the pick and told me how much I'd hate it, I would pick with a lot of motion in my fret hand, using thin picks, and wonder why my speed and accuracy wasn't improving. I couldn't even mute-pick the beginning run of Cowboys from Hell accurately enough and would always flub it. Within two days of using the pick, I've actually grown to like it a lot, and picking up a larger pick feels like I'm playing with a coffee cup saucer (albeit a lot easier now). A few days of accuracy exercises later, and I can pick all of the runs that I couldn't before. The difference in my playing blows me away, and I've gotten a lot braver picking songs to learn (i.e. Sabbath's Symptom of the Universe, and the run after the chorus. I can actually play that damn thing now!).

One more minor, but no less important note: analyze your picking hand and where it is. I used to place my pinky under the pickup as a "stability" measure, but find that resting my hand on the edge of the bridge (I have a Les Paul Jr) and putting just a *little* thumb motion in while alternate picking works MUCH better for me. With my picking now much closer to the string and much more accurate, my previous fret hand position is no longer efficient.

Keep your head up, keep analyzing your picking, posture, and grip on the fretboard, and work out any mistakes you find with your playing with exercises, and you'll definitely improve very quickly. Most of all, don't worry about how good all other players are. They were exactly where you were one day. Good luck!


   
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(@dogbite)
Illustrious Member
Joined: 19 years ago
Posts: 6348
 

palm muting is an important technique. muting the string is important for a lot of musical genres; fast note runs when not muted blur together. keeping the vibrating string in check will keep the runs clearer. I rest my fat part of my palm on the bridge. just a bit of it touches the strings and controls them.

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=644552
http://www.soundclick.com/couleerockinvaders


   
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(@liontable)
Estimable Member
Joined: 14 years ago
Posts: 146
 

I found attitude to matter a lot too, as cliché as it sounds. I forgot to put power in my playing because I was used to keeping everything very loose for chords and because it would be less bad if I would make a mistake. I'm probably not the right person to say it, but I often see people stating that metal often does require extremely good technique (with quite a few metal guitarists studying classical guitar to get their technique right).

My small piece of advice: power, technique, timing. Metal does require soul in playing, despite what some say. :D


   
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(@saintvitus)
Active Member
Joined: 13 years ago
Posts: 5
 

Palm muting is quite important, yes. You'll have to find the sweet spot on the bridge as you rest your pick hand; one that doesn't mute TOO much. A lot of smaller single string runs in metal; usually at the end of a measure, and used to sort of "connect" to the next measure; are muted (or even pinched for a squealing harmonic) for effect.

Yes... yes... a thousand times YES... attitude is VERY important. Otherwise known as "feel", it helps to dig into what your playing with emotion. Feel each note as you play it, and your style will develop accordingly. I knew nothing about feel until my mid-20 when I started partaking in various "herbal" remedies and *really* listening to music (I don't do this anymore, nor am I condoning this at all :lol: ) As an example (and sort of a bad one, but used for illustration), the volume swell section at the end of Rush's Middletown Dreams always gives me the chills. It's a great example of blending feel and dynamics into a song before a crashing ending. Lifeson is one of the masters of feel, in my book, but we're talking metal here...

Just play your riffs like something has made you mad. Dig into what you're feeling or how you want the song to project and it'll come out sounding that way, believe me. Think about how a certain song makes you feel. How do you think Mustaine is feeling as he growls out Peace Sells or Holy Wars? It's definitely not Shiny, Happy, North Face-wearing people, is it? :lol: Napalm Death's Twist The Knife makes me want to rage, but I'm too old and no longer idealistic enough to do that. I just put it into my own playing rather than committing pointless violent acts of vandalism :twisted:

I hope I'm making sense here, and hope this helps.


   
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