How to Play Dragonforce Songs
If you've ever played Guitar Hero 3, or if you're a fan of bombastic progressive arena rock, you're probably familiar with the music of Dragonforce. Dragonforce features some of the most dazzling displays of instrumental acrobatics that you can hear in modern rock, and many of their musical parts are intimidating for all but the most expert of musicians. Fortunately, you can use some tools and techniques to gradually learn Dragonforce songs.
- Difficulty:
- Moderately Challenging
Instructions
Things You'll Need
- Dragonforce performance videos or recordings
- Musical tabs
- Instruments
- Internet access
-
-
1
Choose a single Dragonforce song to work on first. For the purposes of this exercise, we'll use "Through The Fire And Flames," one of their most popular tunes. Whether you play drums, bass or guitar, you'll be able to find plenty of resources to help you through the process of learning this song. This holds true for virtually any Dragonforce song, however, as the perceived virtuosity of this music makes it appealing to many instrumentalists.
-
2
Listen to a recording of the song, or watch a video of a live performance by Dragonforce. This will give you an idea of the feel and speed of the song. Many Dragonforce songs are very fast and will require an expert knowledge of your instrument in order to be played at full tempo. The recording of the song will also indicate any musical inflections of the performance.
-
3
Find tablature written for a Dragonforce song. For "Through the Fire and Flames," you'll be able to find tabs written for guitar, bass and drums. Tabs are a visual representation of the notes you'll have to play sequentially. As opposed to sheet music, guitar tabs will tell you exactly what strings you have to fret and the fingerings used for fretting. If you don't know how to read sheet music, guitar tabs are wonderful.
-
4
Familiarize yourself with the tablature you're reading. Different tab authors will have different styles of writing and indicating musical changes. For example, one tab for "Through the Fire and Flames" uses a lengthy tablature legend, including indications for hammer ons, bends, slaps, trills, vibrato, tapping and more. This allows the tab to articulate specific instructions to the reader.
-
5
Practice the Dragonforce song you choose to play repeatedly. For the vast majority of guitar players, Dragonforce songs will be very challenging to learn and even more difficult to play accurately. If you can't replicate a complex passage exactly, there's no shame in leaving a few ornamental notes out of the performance.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Progress gradually. Don't move on to the second measure until you master the first. Accuracy is key, and it isn't ideal to attempt to learn the whole song at once.
Take frequent breaks while you practice. This sort of strenuous playing can be very hard on your physical well being.
