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Metallica

159 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Heavy Metal

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Master of Puppets - Guitar Tab Guitar Tab

Master of Puppets - Guitar Tab

YouTube Stats: 9.9M · 139K

Mr. Tabs Guitar Tab
To Live Is To Die - Guitar Tab Guitar Tab

To Live Is To Die - Guitar Tab

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Guillaume Vrac Guitar Tab
Nothing Else Matters Pt.1 - Intro & Chords - Guitar Lesson Guitar Lesson

Nothing Else Matters Pt.1 - Intro & Chords - Guitar Lesson

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GuitarLessons365SongLessons Guitar Lesson
Nothing Else Matters - Guitar Cover Guitar Cover

Nothing Else Matters - Guitar Cover

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Kfir Ochaion Guitar Cover

Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Metallica formed in Los Angeles in 1981 and became the most influential Thrash Metal band in history, fundamentally reshaping what the electric guitar could achieve in heavy music. Their catalog from Kill 'Em All through the Black Album serves as a complete curriculum for guitarists serious about heavy music, documenting the evolution of modern metal guitar playing across multiple decades and stylistic phases.

Playing Style and Techniques

The band's sound is built on dual guitar attack featuring relentless downpicking, razor tight palm muted riffs, and complex song structures. James Hetfield's rhythm work uses galloping eighth notes, chromatic power chord movements, and open string pedal tones with legendary right hand precision. Kirk Hammett's leads combine minor pentatonic foundations with wah pedal, legato runs, and fast alternate picked sequences influenced by Joe Satriani, creating melodic yet chaotic solos.

Why Guitarists Study Metallica

Learning Metallica systematically builds downpicking stamina, palm muting precision, and rhythmic tightness that transfer across rock and metal styles. Hetfield's work on tracks like Battery and Blackened establishes rhythm guitar standards that challenge even advanced players. Hammett's solos on Fade to Black and Creeping Death demonstrate how melodic expression coexists with technical speed, providing essential lessons in dynamic playing.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Metallica's difficulty ranges from intermediate to advanced. Clean sections and slower riffs like the Fade to Black intro suit developing players, but thrash material demands serious right hand endurance, tight muting technique, and ability to lock with double bass drumming at high tempos. Building this foundation through Metallica's catalog prepares you for advanced song dynamics and technical metal guitar across virtually any subgenre.

What Makes Metallica Essential for Guitar Players

  • James Hetfield's downpicking technique is the gold standard in metal. Songs like 'Battery,' 'Disposable Heroes,' and 'Blackened' require sustained downstrokes at 200+ BPM, building this skill will transform your right-hand power and consistency across all genres.
  • Palm-muting control is central to Metallica's tone. The difference between a tight, percussive chug and a looser, more open attack defines their dynamics. Pay attention to how Hetfield varies muting pressure within a single riff to create rhythmic texture, especially on tracks like 'Creeping Death' and 'Damage, Inc.'
  • Kirk Hammett's lead style combines minor pentatonic runs with heavy wah pedal use and legato phrasing. His solos often use pull-off sequences and position shifts up the neck, making them great exercises for building fretboard fluency and expressive vibrato.
  • Metallica's rhythm parts frequently use chromatic movement and open-string pedal tones in drop tuning contexts. Riffs from '...And Justice for All' and 'Blackened' teach you how to create tension and heaviness through note choice rather than just brute distortion.
  • Their arrangements shift between clean arpeggios, heavy riffs, and melodic leads, sometimes within a single song like 'Fade to Black.' Learning these transitions teaches you dynamics, tone switching, and how to serve the song structure rather than just shredding.

Did You Know?

James Hetfield famously insists on downpicking riffs that most guitarists would alternate pick. His right-hand stamina on 'Disposable Heroes', over eight minutes of near-constant downstrokes at high tempo, is considered one of the most physically demanding feats in rhythm guitar.

Kirk Hammett lost his phone containing over 250 riff ideas meant for the 'Hardwired...to Self-Destruct' sessions. The band ended up writing entirely new material from scratch, which Hammett has called a painful but ultimately creative experience.

The guitar tone on '...And Justice for All' is famously scooped in the midrange and layered with multiple rhythm tracks. The bass guitar was buried so deeply in the mix that the album essentially sounds like two guitars and drums, making the guitar parts carry everything.

On 'Master of Puppets,' Hetfield and Hammett recorded rhythm tracks in near-perfect unison, a technique that creates the album's massive wall-of-sound effect. The tightness required to make doubled rhythm guitars sound like one instrument is an underappreciated skill.

Kirk Hammett studied directly under Joe Satriani before joining Metallica, which heavily influenced his use of legato technique, wide vibrato, and modal playing. You can hear Satriani's influence most clearly in the melodic solos of 'Fade to Black' and 'The Unforgiven.'

Metallica tuned to standard E for most of their classic albums. They didn't start experimenting with drop tunings until later records, proving that heaviness comes from attack, rhythm, and arrangement, not just tuning down.

The intro to 'Battery' features a clean acoustic guitar passage recorded on a classical nylon-string guitar, contrasting sharply with the thrash assault that follows. This dynamic contrast became a Metallica signature and influenced countless metal bands.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Master of Puppets album cover
Master of Puppets 1986

The definitive album for building downpicking stamina and learning thrash rhythm guitar. 'Battery' will test your right-hand endurance at speed, 'Disposable Heroes' is a marathon of relentless palm-muted downstrokes, and the title track teaches dynamic shifts between clean arpeggios and crushing riffs. Every song is a masterclass in tight, aggressive rhythm playing.

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...And Justice for All album cover
...And Justice for All 1988

Metallica's most technically complex and progressive album. 'Blackened' opens with a riff played in reverse that's fiendishly difficult to replicate, 'Dyers Eve' is arguably the fastest and most demanding thrash song they ever wrote, and the title track weaves through multiple time signatures and riff changes over nine minutes. This album will push your stamina, precision, and ability to memorize long, intricate arrangements.

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Ride the Lightning album cover
Ride the Lightning 1984

The album where Metallica's songwriting matured beyond pure speed. 'Fade to Black' is essential for learning melodic phrasing, clean-to-distortion transitions, and expressive soloing. 'Creeping Death' teaches galloping rhythms and crowd-energizing riff construction, while 'Fight Fire with Fire' showcases blistering thrash speed with an acoustic intro. Perfect for intermediate players stepping into advanced territory.

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Kill 'Em All album cover
Kill 'Em All 1983

Metallica's rawest and most straightforward album, ideal for learning thrash fundamentals without the structural complexity of later records. 'Am I Evil?' (a Diamond Head cover) is a great entry point for galloping rhythms and classic metal phrasing. The riffs are simpler but ferociously energetic, making this the best starting point for intermediate players building speed and aggression.

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Hardwired...to Self-Destruct album cover
Hardwired...to Self-Destruct 2016

A modern return to form that proves Metallica's riffing approach still hits hard with contemporary production. 'Atlas, Rise!' features a huge galloping riff and anthemic structure, while 'Halo on Fire' showcases their melodic and dynamic range. The tones are clearer and more defined than the 1980s records, making it easier to hear exactly what each guitar is doing, great for learning by ear.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

James Hetfield is synonymous with the ESP Explorer shape, his iconic ESP JH-series guitars (particularly the 'Iron Cross,' 'Snakebyte,' and 'Vulture' signature models) feature set-neck or neck-through construction, 24.75" scale length, and a single volume/tone setup for simplicity. He also famously used a Gibson Explorer and a white ESP MX-220 in the early years. Kirk Hammett's main guitars are ESP KH-series models based on the Strat shape, featuring Floyd Rose tremolo systems, a single volume knob, and 24 frets for extended lead range. His vintage 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard ('Greeny,' formerly Peter Green's) has become a key part of his modern rig.

Amp

Hetfield's classic tone comes from Mesa/Boogie Mark IIC+ and Mark IV heads, the IIC+ in particular defined the 'Master of Puppets' and '...And Justice for All' sound with its tight, aggressive distortion and scooped midrange. He later adopted Mesa/Boogie Triaxis preamps into a Strategy 400 power amp for touring. In recent years, both guitarists have used Fractal Audio Axe-Fx units alongside traditional amp setups. Hammett has historically favored Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifiers and Mark series heads, running high gain with more midrange than Hetfield's rhythm tone to help solos cut through.

Pickups

Hetfield uses EMG active humbuckers, the EMG 81 in the bridge and EMG 60 in the neck is his classic combination, delivering a hot, compressed output with tight low-end that's ideal for fast palm-muted riffing. The 81's ceramic magnet and active preamp give a focused, aggressive attack that cuts through heavy arrangements without getting muddy. Hammett also runs EMG 81/60 sets in his ESP guitars, though his use of the Greeny Les Paul introduces PAF-style pickups into his tone palette for warmer, more dynamic lead sounds.

Effects & Chain

Kirk Hammett is one of the most famous wah pedal users in metal, his Dunlop KH95 Kirk Hammett Signature Cry Baby is almost always engaged during solos, giving his leads that vocal, nasal quality. Beyond the wah, his board includes various overdrive and boost pedals for solo volume lift. Hetfield's signal chain is comparatively minimal, his tone comes primarily from the amp's preamp gain, with little in the way of effects beyond a noise gate and occasionally a chorus or delay for clean sections. Both guitarists use noise gates (like the ISP Decimator) to keep high-gain tones tight and silent between riffs.

Recommended Gear

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Kirk Hammett's vintage 1959 'Greeny' Les Paul Standard delivers warmer, more dynamic PAF-style tones that contrast his EMG-equipped ESP guitars, adding organic sustain to his lead work. This guitar's traditional construction gives his solos a thicker, less compressed character than his signature models.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not Hammett's primary choice, the Les Paul Custom shares the Les Paul's warm PAF pickup character and thick body resonance, offering heavier players an alternative to Strat-style designs for achieving Metallica's crushing rhythm tones.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

James Hetfield's early Gibson Explorer established his signature angular shape and thick body tone, delivering the aggressive midrange attack essential to Metallica's crushing rhythm style before his ESP signature models became his primary tool.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Kirk Hammett's Dual Rectifier heads provide the high-gain, midrange-forward aggression that lets his solos cut through Hetfield's scooped rhythm tone, creating definition and clarity in Metallica's dense wall of distortion.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Hetfield's bridge EMG 81 delivers the hot, compressed output with tight low-end that defines Metallica's palm-muted riffs, the ceramic magnet and active preamp cutting through heavy arrangements with focused, aggressive attack.

EMG 60
Pickup

EMG 60

Both guitarists use the neck EMG 60 for warmer, more articulate rhythm tones and smoother lead voicings, balancing the 81's aggression with clearer note definition across Metallica's dense arrangements.

How to Practice Metallica on GuitarZone

Every Metallica song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

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