How to Play Metal Guitar: Everything You Need to Know

Learning how to play metal guitar can be the most rewarding and passion-filled journeys you ever take. It may be something you want to do as a hobby or you may take it to the next level and start a band, or write and record your own music.

Playing metal music on guitar is much different than other genres. One could argue that it’s the most difficult style to learn as heavily (no pun intended) involves technique, accuracy, speed, and discipline.

This guide has everything you need to get started, from understanding the techniques involved to type of guitars, amps, and other gear you need, to metal songs you should learn as a beginner.

How Hard Is Metal Guitar?

First, it’s important to learn the basics of guitar before diving into playing metal. Simple methods such as your basic guitar chords and major and minor scales are a good start. Learning these basics will help you learn the metal style much faster.

When it comes to heavy metal guitar, you’ll want to start with rhythms and riffs. You can later venture into lead guitar techniques and playing solos.

Suggested learning path for meal guitar:

• Learn the fundamentals of guitar, first (basic chords, major and minor scales)
• Learn the basics of playing metal rhythms and progressions
• Learn how to play metal riffs
• Learn metal lead guitar methods

Let’s start with metal rhythm guitar methods. Even the most advanced riffs and songs are all based on one or more of these:

• Power chords
• Palm-muting
• Down Picking
• Alternate picking
• Single-note riffs

Power chords are the easiest metal method to learn. They consist of what is called the root note (the note you start with) and the 5th note. Without getting into theory, the 5th note is the next string with a fret in between. These notes are played together.
Ex: E Minor = 1st string open + 2nd string, 2nd fret, C = 2nd string, 3rd fret + 3rd string, 5th fret

Palm-muting gives you that chunky sound and chugging effect. It’s the culprit of metal guitar. With this technique, you’ll place your palm over the the part where the strings go into the bridge of the guitar.

Down-picking (also referred to as downstrokes) is simply picking in a downward motion. James Hetfield of Metallica is known for the master of this technique, as is Tommy Iommi of Black Sabbath.

Alternate Picking allows you to play faster, more aggressive metal riffs. This method involves picking back and forward.

As you progress with your metal rhythm playing, you can venture into playing solo. The core lead guitar techniques are:

• Vibrato
• String bending
• Hammer-ons and pull-offs

Vibrato is a delicate and personalize technique used across most all genres of music. This is done with the fretting hand. In short, it’s where you move the fretted finger on that note being play to give a warmer, more in-depth tone rather than just playing a stale note.

String bending is another method like vibrato that can add more character to your guitar playing. This is done by bending the string on the fretboard from a single note (your finger remains on the fretboard in the same position). It allows you move to a higher note without actually playing that note.

Hammer-ons and pull-offs are often used together and allow you to play faster without picking each note. Eddie Van Halen is known for mastering this technique (also used in finger tapping, which is a more advanced method).

This is one by playing one, most often with your pointer finger, and hammering down with any of your other fingers onto another note. That creates the ‘hammer-on.’ The ‘pull-off’ is when you pull that finger off of the note you hammered down on, which results in that first note being played again.

There are more advanced techniques used in metal soloing that you will learn later:

• Finger tapping
• Sweep picking
• Arpeggios
• Finger Picking: Can You Play Metal With Fingers?

For now, I recommend that you master the fundamentals of playing metal guitar starting with playing metal rhythms and riffs.

It doesn’t do you much good to learn how to play fast guitar solos without being able to play solid and consistent rhythm guitar.
You can have a metal song without solos but you can’t have a song without the rhythm!

How Do You Practice Metal Guitar?

Let’s talk about some practical ways to practice playing heavy metal guitar. You’re also going to get some exercises that you can start with (guitar tabs plus tracks for each exercise).

Here are the three basic metal guitar techniques that you will want to practice more than anything in the beginning:

• Warm-up Exercises with Power Chords and Palm-muting
• Alternate Picking Exercises
• Technical Exercises with Riffs

Warming up with power chords with palm-muting, and moving those power chords around is a great beginner warm up. This will get your fingers used to moving around on the fretboard rather than staying in one place, playing the same chugging pattern over and over (even though chugging on one note is fun, it gets boring and it doesn’t do much to help build your skill level).

Here’s a simple power chord and palm-muting exercise you can start with. Note that these are all played with the down-picking technique.

Alternate picking is something that you will want to quickly start getting good at. It will allow you to play faster metal riffs and also help you work on your timing and coordination.

This is an easy alternate picking exercise that you can practice consisting of three power chords. Note that the alternate picking is done with the single notes, not the entire power chord in this case (this will give you a cleaner sound with more clarity with this technique).

Riffing exercises get a bit more technical. Although the first two methods that we covered are part of what makes a guitar riff, riffing calls for more finger movement, often with single notes.

Below is a great riff exercise to start with and one that you can easily expand on. This riff is played with down picking. As you progress with metal guitar, you can start playing faster single note riffs with alternate picking.

How Long Does it Take to Get Good at Metal Guitar?

The time it takes you to become proficient at playing metal guitar will be determined by how much time you put into practicing. But what’s most important is the quality of your practice times.

The most important concepts of getting good are:

• Timing
• Accuracy
• Clarity of your notes

Speed is NOT important at this phase!

You may have noticed that that each of the above metal guitar exercises for beginners have a different tempo (BPM = beats per minute). I recommend that you start play in order building build accuracy. As you get better you can start to work on speed.

Just remember that accuracy is more important than playing fast. You want your notes to have clarity and your timing needs to be on point.

From here, you can start learning easy metal riffs. After we cover guitar gear, which we’re getting to next, we’ll talk more about simple metal riffs that you can start learning.

What Gear Do You Need To Play Metal Guitar?

Some may tell you that you need a specific type of guitar to play metal music. The truth is you can play any guitar for metal.

Much of your sound and tone will come from your amplifier (or pedalboard, or plugin/amp sim).

Metal Guitars for Beginners

First, let’s talk about guitars. Many metal guitarist like the cosmetic look of guitars with the strat style guitars with pointy headstocks like Jackson, ESP, LTD, Ibanez, and B.C. Rich (to name a few). Others may prefer the style of a Les Paul, Epiphone, and PRS guitars (many other brands also make these body styles).

Guitar pickups are also a factor. You have:

• Single coil
• Humbucker
• Active
• Passive

It’s safe to say that humbucker pickups are more common than single coils because they have more output and they’re not typical as noisy (remember, you’re going to be playing with high gain, which produces more noise). Of course, there are some metal guitarists that play with single coil pickups.

Next, you have active versus passive pickups. The main difference is that active pickups require a battery and produce more output. Passive pickups do not need a battery. This comes down to personal preference as both are used in metal music.
I personally prefer passive pickups as not having to worry about a battery is one less thing to worry about.

There are many additional features to choose from when buying your first metal guitar such as scale length, type of body, neck, fingerboard (ex: rosewood, ebony, etc.), floating tremolos like Floyd Rose versus standard bridge, and more.

To keep things simple, I’m going to give you a few brand recommendations below that have quality beginner guitars that will serve you and that are affordable:

• Ibanez (GIO and Standard series)
• Epiphone (Modern and Power Players)
• LTD (FM and TE)
• Fender (Squire)
• Jackson (JS and Dinky)

Metal Amps for Beginners

The metal sound that you’re looking for is mainly coming from the amp. Or in the modern era, the amp sim, pedal, or effects processor.

The important element for metal is to have an amplifier that has high gain. And you don’t want something overly complex when you’re just starting out. Some new guitars players stunt their growth, so to speak, by getting hung up on tone when they should be practicing their instrument.

That said, I’m going to provide examples and a graph of the types of amps, pros and cons of each, and what I recommend you start with.

• Combo Amp – Boss Katana, Fender Mustang, Marshall, Orange
• Amp Processor – Axe FX, Kemper, Line 6 Helix, Neural DSP Quad Cortex, Line 6 POD Go, Boss GT, IK Multimedia TONEX
• Amp Pedal – Blackstar Amped, Strymon Iridium, Orange Terror Stamp, Two Notes ReVolt
• Plugins/Amp Sims – IK Multimedia Amplitude, Positive Grid BIAS FX, Native Instruments Guitar Rig

I encourage you to focus more on learning your instrument and getting really good at the fundamentals of metal guitar. Tone is important, but you don’t want to spend too much time trying to dial in that magical tone.

One of the best and most practical options is to just get a practical amp. Many of these amps come with built-in effects like reverb, chorus, and delay. And they’ll also provide a few different sounds (clean, crunch, drive, and typically a more aggressive channel while not overloading you with endless options.

Here are a few quality practice amps that have effects and that will work great for metal:

• Boss Katana
• Line 6 Spider
• Fender Mustang
• Marshall MG Series (GFX)
• Blackstar ID Core

I’m completely unbiased and we’re not sponsored by any of these companies at the time of this post, but many guitarists lean towards the Boss Katana series. The rock and metal tones are more than decent and it’s equipped with effects. It’s also very affordable for what you’re getting.

What About Effects for Beginner Metal Guitarists?

As mentioned, many practice amps come with effects. And if you decide to go with a processor or plugins, you’re going to have even more.

But if you decide to go with a tube amp, there are some effects you may want to consider with a traditional metal amp:

• Noise gate
• Overdrive
• Reverb
• Delay

Most high gain tube amps are noisy so the noise gate pedal will reduce that (some modern tube amps, like the Iconic 5150, come with a built-in noise gate).

The overdrive pedal isn’t necessarily used for more distortion. Rather, it gives you a tighter sound through a high gain tube amp.

Effect like reverb and delay are extras and can really shine when you start playing guitars solos. But these aren’t necessary for just starting out.

Picks, Strings, and Accessories

Guitar pick gauges is something you’ll want to experiment with. Some metal guitarists play more aggressive and prefer thicker picks such as 1.5mm and 2.0mm. Other guitarists may prefer thinner picks like .60mm or .73mm.

I personally play with what’s considered medium gauge guitar picks, .88mm and 1.0mm. It’s interesting as for almost two decades I played with .60mm picks. It all comes down to what feels most natural to you. And also leave room for change.

Guitar strings fall into the same category. Some prefer light while other like to play with heavier strings. Some like coated while others prefer non-coated strings. And much of that has to do with your playing style, attack, and overall approach.

I have been using Elixir Nanoweb super light strings, .009 – .042 for many years. I have a lighter attack and typically play in E standard tuning. If you have a more aggressive attack, you may prefer heavier strings. And if you downtune, you will want to consider the appropriate string gauge.

Other accessories you’ll want to consider is a guitar strap, guitar stand, tuner, and instrument cables. You’ll also want to make sure you have a quality guitar case or gig bag (the modern gig bags are a lot more durable than prior years).

What About Tunings, 7 String, & 8 String Guitars?

You may find that some of your favorite metal bands have different tunings. Here are a few common tunings in this genre:

• E Standard
• Drop D
• Drop C
• E flat Standard
• D Standard
• C Standard
• B Standard
• 7 string guitar
• 8 string guitar

I typically encourage beginners to stick with E standard tuning while learning the basics. Like gear and tone, the more you can simplify the process means the more focus you can put into learning your instrument.

Focus on nailing down the fundamental metal guitar techniques, first. You can experiment with the other stuff later.

What Is The Hardest Genre Of Metal To Play?

Metal music has many sub genres are some are more challenging than others. Just as well, many meal bands will have a mixture of songs with simple riffs with ones that have more complex, technical riffs.

Because of this, it’s difficult to generalize each sub genre by difficulty. However, you will find that certain sub genres have commonalities when it comes to metal guitar techniques.

• Traditional Heavy Metal – Heavy power chords, palm muting, and single note riffing
• Thrash Metal – A faster, more aggressive version of heavy metal with more alternate picking
• Death Metal – A darker, often more complex version of thrash metal
• Melodic Death Metal – Known for a lot of fast tremolo (alternate) picking, melodic in nature
• Black Metal – Could be the jazz of metal with fast tremolo picking and notes that wouldn’t normally be used together to present an evil sound
• Power Metal – Full of power chords and fast alternate picking, oftentimes in major (happy) keys with an anthem-like spirit
• Symphonic Metal – The guitar riffs and rhythms are more of a support function for the orchestration and overall song
• Glam/Hair Metal – A mix of power chords, palm muting, and single note riffs with catchy progressions
• Hard Rock – Power chord driven with simple, melodic single note riffs
• Gothic Rock/Metal – A darker mix of heavy metal and rock often accompanies with a synth or keys

Influential Metal Guitarists

Let’s talk briefly about some of the most noticeable rock and metal guitar players. And I’ll also list what they’re best known for.

• Tony Iommi (Black Sabbath) – Known as a founding father of metal riffs
• James Hetfield (Metallica) – Known for his fast down picking technique
• Chuck Schuldiner (Death) – Known for his heavy, progressive death metal style
• Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) – Known for this fast and creative thrash metal riffs
• John Petrucci (Dream Theater) – Known for his speed and technical abilities
• Joe Satriani – Though not metal, his melodic ability is unmatched
• George Lynch (Dokken) – Known for his unique and influential riffs and leads
• Kerry King (Slayer) – Known for his wicked, yet catchy thrash metal riffs
• Jeff Loomis (ex Nevermore, Arch Enemy) – Known for his extreme precision and speed

You may find one of your favorite guitar players on this list or you may favor someone not on the list (this is only scratching the surface). But I want you to think about the elements of your favorite guitarists playing. What moves you inside?

As you consider that, start thinking about what you would like to be known for as you progress. Make small, attainable goals to achieve that level and work on that each day.

Notable (and Easy) Metal Guitar Riffs to Learn

Here are a few metal guitar riffs that are heavy and achievable for beginner’s to start learning:

• “Symphony of Destruction” (Megadeth)
• “For Whom the Bell Tolls” (Metallica)
• “Seek and Destroy” (Metallica)
• “Iron Man” (Black Sabbath)
• “Paranoid” (Black Sabbath)
• “Crazy Train” (Ozzy Osbourne)
• “Raining Blood” (Slayer)
• “Blackout” (Scorpions)
• “Breaking the Law” (Judas Priest)
• “Kickstart My Heart” (Motley Crue)
• “Welcome Home Sanitarium” (Metallica)
• “Still of the Night” (Whitesnake)
• “Kiss of Death” (Dokken)
• “Practice What You Preach” (Testament)

Of course, this list can be never ending. There are so many great metal guitar riffs that are simple to play. On that note, it’s important to realize that metal riffs don’t have to be complex to be considered great.

This list is a great place to start. Pick a song one and start with that.

Where Can I Start Learning Metal Guitar?

The absolute best place to learn (and master) the fundamentals of heavy metal guitar is right here on Metal Mastermind. We have a complete beginner’s metal guitar course called Metal Guitar Apprentice.

I, Jason Stallworth, am your instructor. Not only do I teach you the basics but I also have you putting them into action, playing riffs and rhythms as you progress.