Gxrilla Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 I have tried to learn guitar so many times and always give up in a few weeks because every program is so boring. You learn a few chords and then you are stuck playing maroon 5 or Bruce Springsteen to practice. No shade of course, but these songs can't hold my attention. I was wondering if it is possible to practice specifically for metal, and if there are any "beginner," friendly songs you could recommend. If you would consider yourself a "metal," guitarist, where did you have your roots? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusoe Posted June 28, 2023 Share Posted June 28, 2023 Paranoid is probably one of the easiest to begin with. If I can play it, anyone can. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 Rather than jumping in and playing songs, I would suggest you go and get a teacher who can structure practice patterns to play, or work through a normal guitar programme until you get competent enough to play Barre chords (moveable chord shapes). These are the bedrock of most rock and metal. Suddenly, playing along to everything from Nirvana and AC/DC to Metallica becomes in your sphere. I jumped straight into songs and realised after a year that all I could play were those songs I learned from the tab book, and had no idea how to apply that to anything else. I then spent another 3 frustarting year un-learning what I thought I knew. You need the basics before you can play anything else. Old school metal is pretty basic overall, so anything by AC/DC, Saxon, Motorhead, Sabbath would be in your sphere. A lot of modern metal is incredibly technical and would need a higher level of ability and repetitive practice. It isn't hard necessarily, just very precise and generally fast. The principle on playing fast relies on you being able to play slowly and build up the skill and speed by practice... You can't really change the fact that you need to know the basics. If online programmes are a bit boring to you then I will stress again... Go and get a teacher who can give you more interesting things to practice along to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 4 hours ago, randythoades said: ... Barre chords (moveable chord shapes)... Most chord shapes are movable, as long as you don't need to play all the strings. In fact, seldom does one have to play all the strings at once, I'd suggest. Other than that, I would agree that playing 'metal' is an off-shoot of playing the guitar, and needs at least some basic fundamentals in place, including some notions of music theory. No, it's no harder than any other genre (and a lot easier than many...), but the quickest way forward is to go slowly. If you've not the patience for that, be prepared for decades of frustration. There are no 'metal' players that have jumped straight in and 'rock', with no previous knowledge of how to play. Learn some basics, in whatever way you wish, then (and only then...) break through the 'metal' ceiling. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezbass Posted July 3, 2023 Share Posted July 3, 2023 (edited) If you don’t like the songs that programs set for practise, seek out a local guitar tutor and get them to teach/help you play the kinds of songs you want (this will also help correct any ‘bad’ habits you may have picked up). However, it should be pointed out that learning the building blocks of chords is essential if you want to play more ‘open’ sounding songs, as opposed to just chugging on root/five power chords, Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters springs to mind as a song that uses full chords, both strummed and played as arpeggios. There really are no short cuts in the end, learning anything worthwhile has its difficulties, which includes some things that seem dull, but are ultimately essential and help further down the road. Edited July 3, 2023 by ezbass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randythoades Posted July 4, 2023 Share Posted July 4, 2023 (edited) On 03/07/2023 at 12:23, Dad3353 said: Most chord shapes are movable, as long as you don't need to play all the strings. In fact, seldom does one have to play all the strings at once, I'd suggest. Other than that, I would agree that playing 'metal' is an off-shoot of playing the guitar, and needs at least some basic fundamentals in place, including some notions of music theory. No, it's no harder than any other genre (and a lot easier than many...), but the quickest way forward is to go slowly. If you've not the patience for that, be prepared for decades of frustration. There are no 'metal' players that have jumped straight in and 'rock', with no previous knowledge of how to play. Learn some basics, in whatever way you wish, then (and only then...) break through the 'metal' ceiling. Hope this helps. That is very true, I certainly wouldn't advise NOT doing any other chord theory, and all players, whatever their genre most definitely have to know the basics in order to specialise if they choose... but a lot of metal music relies on the bass note to give gravitas and presence to the piece. With a lot of hard rock and metal, unless you have 2 guitar attack with one playing low inversions and the other playing higher, then it is difficult NOT to play a barre chords or power chords or have a drone note for large sections. You can still do lots of complex chords, highlights and arpeggios, but being able to do a power chord or barre chord opens up a lot of material that you would otherwise not be able to play easily. Although, to be fair, my metal experience was mainly 80s and early 90s, and is very power chord intensive. Edited July 4, 2023 by randythoades Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
