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Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar

Mike Salow
AdvancedMetalCool Riffs Song tutorial7 lessons20m

Hello once again! We'll finally be breaking down the riffs in the "modern metal" tune I've written for you guys! It's about time! I know! :) First off, you'll need to tune your guitar to dropped C: C - G - C - F - A - D In this tune we have 4 main riffs and a quick outro riff (along with a solo that will be broken down in the next tutorial). In the first tutorial where talked about composing modern metal, I described three types of riffs that I like to use, again those were groove, thrash, and chordal. I'd like to point out that metal is a very subjective genre when in comes to words we use to describe certain sounds.

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7 Lessons

  1. 1 2:42 Lesson · 3m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Intro Hello once again! We'll finally be breaking down the riffs in the "modern metal" tune I've written for you guys! It's about time! I know! :) First off, you'll need to tune your guitar to dropped C: C - G - C... Tab Guitar Pro
  2. 2 4:33 Lesson · 5m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Riff 1 The first riff is what I call my "groove riff". Now this is not your typical groove riff because we don't have much rhythmic variation. In this case, we have a tremelo picked riff that has an underlying... Tab Guitar Pro
  3. 3 4:22 Lesson · 4m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Riff 2 The second riff in this tune is what I'd call a "thrash" riff. In my mind, the main thing that describes a thrash riff is the back and forth interplay between the kick and snare (again, it's subjective, you... Tab Guitar Pro
  4. 4 2:38 Lesson · 3m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Riff 3 The third riff is just a variation of the second riff. Nothing too crazy. All I'm doing here is taking the main phrase and repeating it as to build into the next section. This, accompanied by a blast beat... Tab Guitar Pro
  5. 5 3:35 Lesson · 4m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Riff 4 Riff 4 is what I call a chordal riff. It's obvious why I give it that name. This is a very simple right hand pattern of straight alternate picking. The left hand chordal shapes can be a little difficult so be... Tab Guitar Pro
  6. 6 1:00 Lesson · 1m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Outro Riff The outro riff is a recap of the main thrash riff. One of my favorite things to do when I'm composing is to bring back ideas that were previously heard in the song. Keep it thematic people! :) Sometimes even... Tab Guitar Pro
  7. 7 1:26 Backing track · 1m Modern Metal Rhythm Guitar - Backing Track I've made a backing track that excludes all of the rhythm guitar parts. Have fun! Tab Guitar Pro

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