All Song Tutorials
Song Tutorial

Internal Life

Sean Conklin
Intermediate-AdvancedMetalCool Riffs Song tutorial9 lessons7m

Welcome to the "Internal Life" song tutorial. This is one of my heavier tunes and it focuses on having tight rhythm playing. Influential-wise, there's probably a little bit of Symphony X and Meshuggah in there. Also, note that this song is in Drop D tuning. If you aren't exactly sure what that is, click here. Have fun!

Play
Unlock all 9 lessons Premium includes every lesson, tab and backing track on the site.
See Premium Plans

9 Lessons

  1. 1 1:28 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Performance Welcome to the "Internal Life" song tutorial. This is one of my heavier tunes and it focuses on having tight rhythm playing. Influential-wise, there's probably a little bit of Symphony X and Meshuggah in... Tab Guitar Pro
  2. 2 0:48 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Exercise 1 I like this intro because it's pretty "in your face" and sudden. The main thing to concentrate on with this section is the silence and timing in between the passages. Notice how in the video I motion the... Tab
  3. 3 0:32 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Exercise 2 Okay, there's a lot of palm muting in this riff. Study the tablature below carefully to know which notes to palm mute and which notes to let ring out. If you look carefully, you can see that all the open... Tab
  4. 4 0:34 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Exercise 3 This is where the song really gets pumping. Here, you'll mainly be playing 8th notes, but be aware of the quick bursts of 16th notes as well. Also notice the couple of slides on the A string that you'll be... Tab
  5. 5 0:41 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Exercise 4 This part has a lot of 16th note open notes on the Low E string. And mixed in between we'll have some 8th note rests and quarter note rests. Notice how my left hand is muting the strings again during rests? Be... Tab
  6. 6 0:34 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Exercise 5 This is a section where we have a hint of lead playing amidst all the rhythm. It adds a tasty flavor to the tune. There's a little bit of string skipping in this as you'll see during the first few notes. Also... Tab
  7. 7 0:26 Lesson Internal Life - Exercise 6 I like this riff because it shows a neat contrast between higher and lower notes. It's kind of a like a "call and answer" riff, where the higher notes call, then the lower notes answer. Keep it clean and watch... Tab
  8. 8 0:43 Lesson · 1m Internal Life - Exercise 7 Okay, here's the last riff of the tutorial. As mentioned before, do your best to have your left hand fall on the strings during the rests. This definitely helps your rhythm playing to have a tighter sound... Tab
  9. 9 1:24 Backing track · 1m Internal Life - Backing Track Okay all you metalheads, here's the backing track. Good luck! If you make an audio or video recording of you playing along, be sure to post it in the forum to show off your skills! Tab

More like this

Tribute Excerpt - Sweep Picking Etude Richard Lundmark
Advanced-Crazy!MetalTechnique 15 lessons57m
Holiday greetings and salutations guitar slingers! X-mas is drawing near, and what says happy holidays better than a sweeping-frenzy? In this technique/song tutorial, we will take a look at an excerpt from the... Oblivion - Progressive Metal Etude Sean Conklin
AdvancedMetalCool Riffs 4 lessons8m
Hi everyone out there in Infinite Guitar land! In this tutorial we're going to learn a piece I wrote called "Oblivion". One thing I'd like to emphasize in the beginning is that I don't ever want you to just... Code Seven Sean Conklin
AdvancedMetalCool Riffs 8 lessons10m
Hey everyone, and welcome to this song tutorial! This is a piece taken from a pretty heavy tune I wrote a while back. You can hear the full version on my profile page if you'd like. Make sure you turn your amp... Filling in the Gaps with Sweep Arpeggios Chris Feener
AdvancedMetalCool Riffs 7 lessons15m
Hey guys! Let's hunker-down with some arpeggio play in a not-so-conformative way. We're all familiar with those oh-so-traditional minor/major sweep arpeggio sequences, so let's fill in the gaps. The primary... Drop B Tuning Etude Lucas Fowler
IntermediateMetalCool Riffs 5 lessons8m
Hey guys, this month we're going to look at Drop B tuning. This tuning(B-A-D-G-B-e) simulates the sound of a seven string guitar and allows for some cool chord shapes and heavy riffs. Check out the short track... Melodic Lead over Djent Sean Conklin
Intermediate-AdvancedRockMetalCool Riffs 3 lessons6m
Hey everyone! In this tutorial, we're going to learn how to play a melodic lead section from a song I'm writing. To me, this is one of those licks that once you learn, it's pretty fun to play over and over!...
Browse all Metal lessons