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Metallica - If Darkness Had a Son - Guitar Lesson

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Key E minor
Metallica - If Darkness Had a Son guitar lesson video
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Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
72 Seasons album cover
72 Seasons
2023 6:36
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal 2023 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About If Darkness Had a Son

From the 2023 album "72 Seasons," "If Darkness Had a Son" is one of the more riff-forward tracks Metallica have put out in years, sitting squarely in E minor and driven by a palm-muted, down-picked groove at 114 BPM. That tempo is approachable, but the track rewards tight right-hand discipline: sloppy palm muting will blur the punch the riff relies on. The main figure locks into a low-E-centered pattern, so keeping your picking hand anchored and consistent is the real work here. The song also moves through some rhythmically tighter transitional riffs, and those are where most players will stumble. Use the Practice Toolbar to isolate those sections and loop them slowed down until the picking hand stops rushing. E Standard tuning means no retuning needed, but the tone demands a decent amount of gain with the low end kept tight, otherwise the chug loses its shape. Work the transitions up to speed gradually rather than hammering through them at full tempo too early.

  • The song is in E Standard tuning and E minor, so no retuning is needed, but tight palm muting on the low E string is essential to the riff's feel.
  • At 114 BPM the main riff is built around down-picked, palm-muted chug patterns that demand right-hand consistency more than raw speed.
  • Transitional riffs between sections are rhythmically dense and worth isolating in the Practice Toolbar, looped slowed down, before attempting full-speed runs.

How to Play If Darkness Had a Son

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 114 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 114 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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