Metal Guitar Exercises: Play Faster and Tighter Riffs

You’ve already learned some killer metal guitar riffs. But do you ever feel like you’re stuck and just can’t seem to get beyond a certain level?

It’s easy to say ‘Well, just practice more.’ That’s partially true. But the real answer is a little deeper than that.

You’re going to get everything you need in this post to play faster and tighter metal riffs. I’ll even show you an easy way to expand on these metal guitar exercises that will allow you to get more creative.

You’ll also get some ideas on creating a practice schedule that you can stick to. At the end, I’ll show you even more ways to help you make faster progress.

Essential Metal Guitar Riff Techniques

First, it’s important to cover the techniques and how to practice them. The good news is every metal riff you’ve heard is rooted back to the basic methods of metal guitar.
***If you’re a beginner, read this guide first: How to Play Metal Guitar: Everything You Need to Know.

What you’ll be doing here is expanding on those methods and techniques. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Variations of Power chords – This goes beyond standard power chords that will give you a burst of creativity and new riff ideas.
• Downpicking Speed – You’re going to be playing some Hetfield-inspired riffs with downstrokes.
• Alternate Picking – One sure way to get faster and building precision is with alternate picking.
• Galloping – A quick and more rhythmic form of alternate picking that consists of three notes played like this: downstroke-upstroke-downstroke.
• Tremolo Picking – Another form of alternate picking that’s extremely fast. This is used often in death metal and black metal styles.
• Complex Palm-muting – This will involve downstrokes and alternate picking, and a combination of both within the same riff.
• Key Changes – Here’s where the fun begins and where you will really start to advance in your metal rhythm playing and knowledge of the fretboard.

Warm-Up Exercises

Do you really need to warm up on guitar before playing faster and more complex riffs? In my opinion, the better you get at guitar, the more you may find that warming up is helpful.

Your hands and fingers are like any other muscle. They’re going to function at their fullest potential when they’re warmed up.

For example, if you’re a weightlifter that can squat 300 lbs you’re not going to do your first set with that weight (if you do, you’re putting yourself at a greater risk of injury). You’ll start with 2-3 lighter sets and work your way up.

I remember seeing Chris Broderick (former Jag Panzer and Megadeth, now with In Flames) host a guitar clinic at Replay Guitar Exchange in Tampa, FL many years ago. He warmed up for at least 15 minutes before going on stage. And this was small, more intimate session, not a concert with thousands of fans.

So I’m going to share a few simple metal guitar warm-up ideas you may want to consider doing for a few minutes before going into more complex riffing:

• Play some simple power chord progressions
• Play some easy single note patterns or scales to get your fingers moving
• Practice both down picking and alternate picking

Should you practice guitar with a metronome? Timing is certainly part of accuracy and playing tight metal rhythms. But what I’ve found better than a metronome is playing along with a drum track or loop.

One simple way is to invest in a drum program for your DAW (digital audio workstation; aka, recording software). There are several brands like Toontrack’s EZDrummer and you can get expansion packs for metal drums (trust me, the metal drums are far more inspiring to play along with than the standard drums).

In contrast, many guitar players will play and practice without a metronome, loop, or click track. This may sound like it’s ‘against the rules’ but that’s the beauty of music. There are no rules. And it is possible to develop the skill of timing without a metronome.

I personally recommend both. Practice with drums some. But you need to also be able to play with good timing and precision without it.

The metal guitar exercises in the next section below will include drums (and bass) for you to play along with.

Riffing and Rhythm Guitar Exercises

Now let’s practice some metal riffs. Below are a few metal guitar exercises that cover the techniques we talked about earlier. You can practice these everyday.
Remember, I’m going to show you how to create your own riffs to practice as well.

You’ll notice that these exercises sound they like could be part of a song, like a verse, chorus, or bridge. The idea is to practice riffs that you would play in what I call a real-world scenario rather than boring, stale exercises that you would never use in an actual song.

NOTE: These are all in E standard tuning. You’ll see the tabs followed by a track that you can play.
Also, ‘BPM’ means beats per minute which is the speed of the riff.

Exercise 1 – Classic 80s-Style Metal Riff in A Minor

This riff isn’t your typical metal riff played with the lowest notes possible. It’s in the key of A minor with a Dokken, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden feel to it.

You’re going to be focusing on down picking, single note riffs, palm muting, and a variation of power chords. It’s simple in nature but great to start with and could even serve as a warm-up.
BPM = 155

Exercise 2 – Wicked Heavy Metal Riff

This riff may sound like it’s inspired by Slayer. It’s a half-speed riff but filled with these wicked sounding single note patterns. This is a great exercise as the riffs are somewhat repeated in a chromatic fashion.
***BPM = 147

Exercise 3 – Melodic Metal Galloping Riff

Here’s another that may be in a key that you’re not used to playing in, F sharp minor. There’s a nice variation of the F sharp power chord you’ll use but the core technique you’re practicing is the galloping.
***BPM = 143

Exercise 4 – Tremolo Picking Death-Black Metal Riff

Your timing, speed, and accuracy will be tested as you’ll be tremolo picking the majority of this riff. Though the style has hints of melodic death metal and black metal, you can use this method for any sub genre of metal. This is a great guitar riff exercise to build your picking speed and accuracy
***BPM = 157

Exercise 5 – Tight Progressive Metal Riff

At first, this sounds like a typical metal riff based on the E5 power chord. But all of a sudden it kicks in with some fast fretboard movement with palm muted single note riffing.
***BPM = 147

***If you’re a beginner, click here instead

Creating Your Own Metal Guitar Exercises

Learning new metal riffs is great and all. But I also encourage you to develop the most powerful skill as a metal guitarist: writing your own riffs.

There’s a simple way to approach this. Take an existing riff, like one of the riff exercises above that you just played, and add your own style to it.

Here’s how you can make any metal riff your own:

• Play the riff in a different place on the fretboard (different key), even if it’s not an ideal place. This will expand your knowledge of the fretboard and riff writing skills.
• Add more notes to the riff and see where this leads you.
• Take away from notes from the riff, allowing other notes to ring out.
• Rearrange the riff (ex: start the riff with the last half of the original riff).
• Change the tempo or BPM of the riff.

These are a few methods to taking a riff exercise (or riff from a song) and making it your own. You can create your own metal guitar exercises this way. This can also help boost your creativity for writing your own riffs and even writing complete songs.

Practice Routine and Tips

The main reason why guitarists don’t progress is not so much the lack of practice but the lack of consistency. You could play for 3-4 hours in one day but if you go 2-3 weeks without picking up your guitar, you’re not doing yourself any favors.

If you struggle with this you may want to consider creating a schedule. Treat it like a job. Especially if you have aspirations to do more with your music. Practice needs to become a priority.

Below are some examples of metal guitar practice schedules. You don’t have to go by the exact schedule, days, and times.

For example, you may like the first 7-day guitar routine but can only do 5-6 days. That’s fine. Cater the examples to your needs. These are just guides to help you create your own schedule.

7-Day Daily Practice Schedule

This is a great schedule if you work a Monday through Friday job and can dedicate a little time each day to guitar.

4-Day Practice Schedule

You may be busy with loads of responsibilities so here’s a realistic schedule to try.

Weekend Warrior Practice Schedule

If your week is slammed full and you only have time on the weekends, practicing when you can is better than nothing at all. This Saturday-Sunday schedule may work for you (just remember to be consistent).

Mega Practice Schedule

If you have more time to dedicate to practicing metal riffs or you’re a full time musician, this is a great example to follow.

Remember, these schedules are just ideas. You can change the days, times, and durations. What I recommend is that you put these dates and times into your calendar and set recurring reminders for your sessions.

If you happen to miss a practice here and there, don’t beat yourself up. However, don’t allow yourself to continuously miss or skip your metal guitar practice times. It’s important!

What’s Next For You

Now you have several cool metal riffs and techniques to practice. You also have ways to expand on these riffs and create your own. And you have some ideas for creating a schedule.

Your next step is to continue making progress as a metal guitarist. But I want you to know that it’s not just about speed or playing the most complex riffs. It’s more about playing music you love and coming up with riffs that make a great song.

Metal Riff Master helps you do that with over 80 new metal riffs that focus on the combination of metal guitar methods and techniques. And not every riff is in the same key (remember we talked about how this one thing can help you truly master your fretboard and boost your creativity).

There are also two free bonus modules you’ll get immediately with Metal Riff Master. One is on, of course, writing your own riffs. You’ll also get a module on playing metal guitar solos. Click the button below to learn more.

***If you’re a beginner, click here instead