Megadeth - In My Darkest Hour - Guitar Lesson

So Far, So Good...So What!

1988 6:17

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About In My Darkest Hour

Few thrash songs ask this much of a guitarist emotionally and technically at the same time. "In My Darkest Hour" from Megadeth's 1988 record opens with a clean, melodic guitar passage that demands a controlled, expressive touch before the song erupts into heavy riffing territory. The key of F# minor runs through everything, and you will feel that dark, tense tonality in every chord shape and lead phrase you work out. The song shifts tempo and feel several times, so the real challenge is not any single riff in isolation but stringing the whole arrangement together smoothly. The extended lead work in the second half sits in that same minor tonality and rewards slow, careful practice: use the Practice Toolbar to loop a phrase at reduced speed until every note speaks cleanly before you bring it back up to tempo. Pay close attention to how the clean intro is picked, since that tone and precision set up everything that follows.

• The clean intro requires precise, expressive picking in F# minor, so isolate it with the Practice Toolbar before tackling the heavier sections.
• The song moves through several distinct sections with contrasting feels, making smooth transitions one of the main things to drill in practice.
• The extended lead passages sit firmly in F# minor, so having that scale and its positions under your fingers will help you learn and memorise them faster.