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Metallica - Through the Never - Main Riffs - Guitar Lesson

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Key F minor
Metallica - Through the Never - Main Riffs guitar lesson video
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Metallica Thrash Metal F minor
Capo Advisor 0 F minor · Original key

About Through the Never - Main Riffs

Few thrash riffs sit as squarely on the beat as the main driving figure in "Through the Never," and at 120 BPM in Eb Standard tuning the picking hand has to stay locked in and disciplined the whole way through. The song is built around aggressive, palm-muted low-string riffing in F minor, so getting that tight, chunky mute consistent across a full run-through is the real physical challenge. Drop down a half step to Eb Standard before you even start, because the slightly looser string tension is part of the feel and the voicings will sit wrong at concert pitch. The transitions between the main riff and the faster chromatic bursts in the verse sections are where most players fall apart, so isolate those join points with the Practice Toolbar, loop them slowed down until the shift feels automatic. Metallica keep the arrangement lean here, which means there is nowhere to hide if the palm muting gets sloppy. This is a great workout for right-hand endurance in Thrash Metal picking.

  • The main riff runs in Eb Standard tuning, sitting a half step below concert pitch, so retune before you practise or the chord voicings and feel will be off.
  • Palm-muted low-string picking dominates the song, making right-hand mute consistency and endurance the primary technical demand for guitar players.
  • At 120 BPM the tempo is moderate for thrash, which lets you focus on clean articulation rather than raw speed when learning the riff.

How to Play Through the Never - Main Riffs

Tuning: Eb Standard · Key: F minor · Tempo: 120 BPM

It is played in Eb standard, a half step down, so tune down before you start or every position and bend will sit a half step sharp against the recording.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 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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