Teach yourself (metal) guitar techniques

by Dom

Metalhead Dom shows you how to teach yourself guitar, with a breakdown of guitar techniques used by metallers and other guitar gods. These tips cover choosing equipment, learning to sing/play at the same time, and how to get the most out of your playing. Nice!

This guitar how-to is for self-taught guitarists, by a self-taught guitarist. It’s meant to be an all-in-one, express lesson plus information for beginners, so I’ll try to keep it as short and sweet as possible... but no guarantees. It’s probably also worth mentioning I listen to and play mostly metal, so most of what’s here and the songs I recommend for techniques will be by metal bands.

Brief Looksy at Gear

You don’t want to splash out on expensive gear straight away, unless you’re made of money. Things could end up broken, worn down or you might change your mind about playing guitars.

Amp - An ampmakes it loud of course, adds effects and such. Those just starting will only want a practice amp, a small thang, about 10-15 watts. Bigger ones are for when you’re experienced in the tune playing department and live shows.

Guitar – the most important bit. You don’t want to go above £100 for your first one (you should get it as a package deal anyway). Also, people say you need a good guitar for a good sound but this is only partially true; it helps if there’s a person using it that doesn’t play like pudding.

Strings – thin ones make for a bright happy sound, thick ones have a heavy crunch sound. For the ‘gauge’ it’s the thickness we’re talking about. The higher the number, the higher the gauge, the thicker the string. Thick ones allow for reaching lower tunings, thin ones don’t.

Picks – some people like to play with different ones and find one to suit them. Personally I just bought one and adjusted to it.

Pedals – they're all about effects! Don’t bother with these until you have money to spare and if you’re only playing at home just get an amp with built-in effects.

Tab books – these are nice to have if certain tabs are scarce online, maybe for copyright reasons (hint hint dethklok). Unless you know the song off by heart then sometimes music programs can help get the pace. I’m sure there’s a free one floating about, power tabs or something.

Steps to learning the guitar

First off, tabs are a good start. Basically the lines represent the strings and the numbers are the frets you are holding. If the numbers are in a vertical line they’re played together, if not then they play separately. Simple as eggs.

Below I’ll list plenty of techniques for you to master. First learn them sitting down then once it’s second nature you can try them standing up. It might sound silly but it's harder standing up; it’s not as comfy and you can’t see what you’re doing as easily. You’ll learn what’s a comfortable angle and height to be holding the instrument over time. Note: there are dots on the side of the neck so you can see the frets when standing.

Finally, something you might want to do is learn to sing and play guitar simultaneously. It’ll take time to master but it’s pretty much multi-tasking at a higher level, that’s why the bands that have this set up tend to have the vocalist playing rhythm.

Guitar Techniques

Below are techniques you might want to learn, maybe to spruce up your arsenal. I can't include everything because I’d be here forever. That means I won't be looking at chords or scales because personally I find they’re just a nuisance. They’re not essential to learn but supposedly they help develop your skills better. If you’re interested you can find them plastered across the internet and in music theory books. However if you’re not interested in theory and/or you're just playing for fun then you can learn it all and find out what sounds good to you over time.

Note: you can find vids on youtube for all of these to see what I’m talking about if you don’t get it.

Tuning – standard from high to low E A D g b e. If your bottom string is in tune then you can do the rest by ear. E on 5th fret should sound exactly the same as A open, A on 5th = D open, D on 5th = g open, g on 4th = b open, b on 5th = e open.

If you plan on tuning down or ‘detuning’ for a heavier sound then buy thicker strings. Thin ones will go floppy, and know the limit. For example I’m using .011 to .056 - they’re quite fat, and although I can reach A standard it’s much too muddy with distortion so I stay above that.

Hammer-on – A hammer-on is simple stuff. Pick a note and keep it held while another finger hits a higher fret on the same string. Pretty common, can find it just about anywhere.

Pull-off – above in reverse. Holding two frets on the same string with two different fingers, pick the note then remove the finger on the higher of the two frets. Also helps to get a louder/fuller sound if as you remove your fret finger from the string to flick it. Eg Ravenous (Arch Enemy) uses it very well in the intro.

Trill – Hammer-on and pull-off repeatedly and as fast as you can. This is not very common, though it’s used in Chosen Legacy (Dimmu Borgir) about 52 seconds in.

Natural Harmonics – easier than people realise. Just lightly rest your finger across the strings on top of the fret wire (the bars separating the frets), pick as normal, and you should get a chimey sound. If you rest your finger on the bar between the 5th and 6th fret then you have a N.H on the 5th. It's used quite a lot by Machine Head but the songs Halo and Clenching the Fists of Dissent stick out in my mind.

Pinch Harmonics – ahh, thes are a real pain at first. Fun once mastered, though. These are the squealy things. Right, you’ll probably need a vid for this – hard to explain. So you’ll want to only expose a tiny bit of the pick past your thumb, then pick the string and let your thumb hit it straight after, might help picking at an angle. A few words of advice; first off use the bridge pickup on the guitar, chuck a fair bit of gain on the ol’ amp, turn up the highs/treble. Two things to help your pinch harmonics technique - first, just see what the thumb to pick ratio is. Too much thumb equals dull clunk, too much pick plays the note normally. Secondly, make sure the picking hand is out the way, you might not realise it’s still next to the strings and mute the harmonic...

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Tapping – A favourite for an easy solo or lead riff. Bear in mind more fingers equals more complexity so start off easy. I’ll just give an example, it’ll be easier – all on the high e, assuming you’re right handed, hold the 7th with your left index, and the 8th with the ring finger, as for the right hand the middle finger will strike or ‘tap’ the 10th then flick it like you would for a pull-off. The finger on the 8th you just flick or ‘pull off’. You should find it in most Metallica solos- - the song 'One' is particularly good.

Palm Mute – Gives a chugga chug sound. Just rest the side of your palm on the bridge so it’s just about touching the strings. If you’re not sure, lay your hand on the strings over the pickup then pick. If it makes a clunk sound, that's the wrong sound. It should be clear enough to distinguish notes but still make the chug sound. Fairly common, especially in metal.

Finger Mute/Dead Notes – very lightly rest a single finger from the fret hand on the strings in the middle of a fret, strike multiple strings like this and it’s a finger mute. Play a chord such as 7 on the highest string and 5 two strings below, and you can create a dead note by lightly rest a finger tip on said string, making more of a contrasting sound. Dethklok use it a fair bit in 'Murmaider', and it’s also in the intro to 'Clenching the Fists of Dissent' (Machine Head).

Slides/legato/pick slides – you can slide simply slide into a note by running your finger along a string quite fast whilst applying pressure. However they don’t come out very loud, so you can quickly pick the start note then slide.

Legato - this is basically sliding from one note to another whilst maintaining the pressure you applied to play the first note.

Pick sliding - this is quite simply grinding the pick down the string, usually the bottom one. Try it at an angle and apply a little bit of pressure. You'll find pick sliding in the outro of 'Now I Lay Thee Down' (Machine Head).

Sweep Picking/Raking – Moving across multiple strings very quick, the fret hand lays the fingers on the desired frets one at a time but only just before the string is struck. The pick hand of course follows in a sweeping motion. The advice I give is the same as for solos, start slow and build up speed. Sweep picking and raking can be found all over the place, with lots of ‘exercises’ across the net for this technique to help build up speed.

Alternate Picking – picking the string with a down stroke then an up stroke, rinse and repeat.

Tremolo Picking – picking very fast. You’ll be alternate picking and might want to hold the pick at a slight angle to stop the pick from getting stuck on the string and interrupting the awesomeness. You'll find tremolo picking at the start of 'Cthulhu Dawn' (Cradle of Filth) and through most of 'Gears' (Dethklok).

Galloping – Alternate picking in three’s or ‘triplets’, usually quite fast but not always. So follow the pattern, down up down.

Arpeggio – A broken chord is what I’ve heard they are, makes sense. Basically have your fingers in place for any chord you like, then play each note separately, they can be played slowly for a nice atmosphere or combined with sweep picking for a solo.

Staccato – Just stopping a note early, not giving it a chance to ring or fade out. Used in pairs to hear the effect or if just one on its own there’s probably a pause to follow. You'll hear staccato guitar playing in 'Bloodrocuted' (Dethklok).

Bend – play a note then keep it held down while you push it towards the side of the neck, hence the string is being bent. A general rule of thumb is to bend inwards towards the middle two strings. It's a very common guitar technique and I’ll suggest Nirvana as they use it a whole lot.

Vibrato – Like the bend but basically wobbling the string. Bend it a tiny amount one way then back the other way. Your finger pretty much just wobbles back and forth.

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