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Metallica - Nothing Else Matters Pt.1 - Intro & Chords - Guitar Lesson

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Key E minor
Metallica - Nothing Else Matters Pt.1 - Intro & Chords guitar lesson video
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Metallica Heavy Metal E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Nothing Else Matters Pt.1 - Intro & Chords

Few Metallica songs demand as much fingerpicking discipline as this one. The intro has James Hetfield plucking open strings while holding a chord shape with his fretting hand, which catches many players off guard if they are used to strumming or picking single lines exclusively. Getting the two hands to move independently and stay relaxed is the real challenge here, not speed. The song sits in E minor, and the chord vocabulary across the intro and verse is relatively straightforward, but the phrasing and dynamics are everything. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the intro slowed down until the fingerpicking pattern feels automatic, then gradually bring the tempo back up. Metallica recorded this as a quiet, intimate piece, and that restraint is exactly what makes it worth learning carefully. Rushing through the chord changes will flatten the emotion the song depends on, so keep a patient ear on your own tone and timing throughout.

  • The intro uses a fingerpicking pattern over open-string chord shapes, so clean right-hand technique and finger independence are the main skills to develop.
  • The song is in E minor, and many of the chord voicings are built around open strings that ring freely while the fretting hand shifts positions.
  • Practicing the intro at a reduced tempo with the Practice Toolbar is strongly recommended, as the right-hand pattern breaks down quickly if learned too fast.

How to Play Nothing Else Matters Pt.1 - Intro & Chords

Key: E minor · Tempo: 48 BPM

The intro is built on a repeating open-string arpeggio pattern where the same fingerpicked shape moves across different chord voicings, so getting the right-hand finger assignment locked in early is the priority: ring finger on the high E, middle on B, and index on G, with the thumb handling the bass strings. At 48 bpm you have room to feel each note ring cleanly, but the common mistake is muting adjacent strings with fretting-hand fingers when transitioning between chord shapes. Loop the transition from the Em opening figure into the later D and C voicings, as that shift is where the arpeggiation most often breaks down. Keep the pick hand relaxed throughout since tension kills the sustained, open resonance this piece depends on.

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 48 BPM.

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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