How to Learn Old Metallica Riffs

Why learn old Metallica guitar work? Say what you will about their lifestyles, intentions, and general ambiance, the actual note work of the band is put up on a pedestal by knowledgeable guitarists. Even fairly conservative players will often note that Metallica's work up to and including the infamous "black album" is full of musical genius that is hard to replicate. After the black album, however, some of that magic seemed to be lost, and although the tracks on "Load" and future records have their own appeal, the guitar style of the classics is not matched.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Get Metallica songbooks. These glossy magazine-sized volumes are available in most music (instrument/accessory) stores and a lot of small guitar instruction studios. One book covers an entire Metallica album, and provides sheet music for all of the tracks, with lyrics and supplementary notes.

2. Find tabs. The shorthand known as "tablature" or "tabs" enables guitarists to read music without knowing how to understand classical sheet music. In tablature, the notes are shown in six lines, as they are on the fretboard. Going from note to note with tablature is one of the best ways to see for yourself what the Metallica guitarists were doing.

3. Do an online search. Metallica books for decoding classic solos can be found online. You can even find examples of live play by amateur guitarists on the popular video site YouTube. The undying popularity of Metallica's guitar work means a wide variety of resources are available for free on the web.

4. Sit down with a pro. If you know a guitarist who has been playing for a long time, odds are they know at least one of the band's classic lead pieces. Take notes as the old-timers grind their way through riffs they probably learned in the 1980s or 1990s, before the legacy of Metallica was marred by new pop albums and haircuts.

5. Learn through playback. If you have a keen ear, all you need is your axe and the album on a CD player. Go through the solo bit by bit, imitating the sounds that you hear, and eventually, you'll be ripping through the old stuff along with the rest.

Resources

• YouTube video of Metallica's Enter Sandman main riffs
• Metallica at The Sheet Music Store