Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Practice Studio

Anthrax - Madhouse - Guitar Lesson

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key E minor
Anthrax - Madhouse guitar lesson video
Guitar 365
Guitar 365 Top Contributor
YouTube: 1.6Msubs 66Kviews
Creator Page →
PLAY WITH BACKING TRACK
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Spreading The Disease album cover
Spreading The Disease
1985 4:20
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music
Anthrax Thrash Metal 1985 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Madhouse

Few riffs in Thrash Metal are as immediately recognisable as the main "Madhouse" figure: a tightly palm-muted, syncopated E minor riff that drives the whole track at 120 BPM. Playing it cleanly at full speed demands precise right-hand control, because the palm muting has to stay consistent even through the rhythmic jumps. The picking hand is really what this song is training. Getting the accents to land in the right places while keeping the muted notes tight is trickier than it first looks, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down until the pattern is locked in your muscle memory. Anthrax were refining their rhythm guitar approach on "Spreading The Disease," and "Madhouse" sits in E Standard, which means no retuning required. The lead sections ask for confident bends and a fast picking hand, but the rhythm work is where most of your practice time will go.

  • The main riff is built on palm-muted E minor patterns at 120 BPM, making right-hand consistency and syncopation the core technical challenge.
  • The song is in E Standard tuning, so no retuning is needed and it works well as an introduction to thrash rhythm technique.
  • Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff at reduced speed and focus on keeping palm muting even through the syncopated accents.

How to Play Madhouse

The song moves through: Intro, İntro/Main Riff, 1st Solo, Verse Riff With Power Chords, Verse Riff with Open Chords, Verse Number 2, Pre Chorus, Overview, Main Solo, Overview/Outro Section.

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 120 BPM

The arrangement runs through 10 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

While not Anthrax's primary choice, the Les Paul's thick body and warm humbuckers could deliver the sustain and body needed for heavy riffing, though it lacks the aggressive edge Scott Ian seeks from his pointy Jacksons.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Les Paul Custom's premium construction offers sustain and resonance, but Anthrax's thrash style demands the aggressive aesthetics and bolt-on speed of Jacksons and ESPs rather than traditional Les Paul designs.

ESP Eclipse
Guitar

ESP Eclipse

Rob Caggiano uses the ESP Eclipse's Les Paul-style body with its set-neck construction to achieve a thicker, more modern tone while maintaining the high-gain clarity essential for Anthrax's fast palm-muted rhythms.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The JCM800 defined Anthrax's classic era sound, delivering natural tube saturation and scooped aggression when cranked hard, allowing Scott Ian's tight palm-muting to cut through with perfect note definition.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Scott Ian's signature pickup delivers the hot, compressed output needed for aggressive palm-muted chugging at extreme gain, keeping every note audible and tight without noise even under brutal distortion.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

Dan Spitz and Scott Ian use the Cry Baby for occasional lead solos, adding expression and character to their shred passages while maintaining the direct, minimal-effects philosophy that defines Anthrax's raw tone.

Recommended for You

Play with Backing Track

Play with Backing Track

Solo (Backing Track)

Solo (Backing Track)