Bullet For My Valentine - Tears Don't Fall - Guitar Lesson

The Poison

2006 5:48

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About Tears Don't Fall

Drop D tuning and a key of C# minor give "Tears Don't Fall" its low, heavy character, and the song wastes no time putting both to work. The intro clean guitar passage is deceptively tricky: the picking pattern needs to stay relaxed and even before the distortion kicks in and the energy shifts completely. When the heavy riff arrives, the dropped low string lets you hit those chunky power chords with a single-finger barre, but the real challenge is keeping the palm muting tight and rhythmically locked at 120 BPM. Sloppy muting here sticks out badly, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop that main riff slowed down until the pick attack and mute pressure feel consistent every stroke. Bullet For My Valentine built their reputation in Heavy Metal on exactly this blend of clean melodic passages crashing into punishing riffs, and nailing both halves cleanly is what makes the song rewarding to play through.

• The Drop D tuning lets you fret the core power chords on the low string with a single-finger barre, which suits the fast, aggressive riffing throughout.
• The song opens with a clean fingerpicked passage before the distorted riff arrives, so you need to practise both textures and the transition between them.
• Palm muting precision on the main riff is critical at 120 BPM, and looping it slowed down via the Practice Toolbar will expose any inconsistency in pick attack.