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Metallica - Harvester of Sorrow Guitar Solo Lesson - Guitar Lesson

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Key E minor
Metallica - Harvester of Sorrow Guitar Solo Lesson guitar lesson video
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Metallica Thrash Metal E minor
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About Harvester of Sorrow Guitar Solo Lesson

The solo in "Harvester of Sorrow" sits inside one of Metallica's heavier, slower grooves, and that mid-tempo feel is both a gift and a trap. Because the tempo is not blazing fast, every bent note and vibrato is fully exposed, meaning sloppy technique has nowhere to hide. The solo is rooted in E minor and leans on the E minor pentatonic and natural minor scales, so the scale shapes themselves are approachable, but the phrasing demands real control: wide bends need to hit pitch dead-on, and the vibrato has to be wide and even rather than nervous and tight. Work through the bends one at a time and use the Practice Toolbar to loop each phrase slowed down until the pitch is consistent before bringing it back up to speed. The rhythm parts are equally worth your time, built around a heavy, palm-muted riff that rewards locked-in picking-hand discipline more than raw speed.

  • The solo is built around E minor pentatonic and natural minor, so knowing those scale shapes across the fretboard is essential preparation.
  • Wide, controlled vibrato is the hardest single technique in this solo as the slow tempo leaves every shaky or narrow vibrato fully audible.
  • The rhythm riff relies on tight palm muting and consistent alternate or downpicking, making right-hand precision as important as any lead technique here.

How to Play Harvester of Sorrow Guitar Solo Lesson

Key: E minor · Tempo: 93 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 93 BPM to build it up to tempo.

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.

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