Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Practice Studio

Metallica - Welcome Home (Main Solo) - Guitar Lesson

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key E minor
Metallica - Welcome Home (Main Solo) guitar lesson video
Guitar 365
Guitar 365 Top Contributor
YouTube: 1.6Msubs 92Kviews
Creator Page →
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Welcome Home (Main Solo)

The main solo in "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" sits at the emotional peak of the track, and it demands a lot more than speed. At 95 BPM in Eb Standard tuning, the feel is deceptively spacious at first, building from lyrical, singing bends into a frenzied, rapid-fire climax. Getting those early bends to ring cleanly and in tune is genuinely the hardest part for most players, because Kirk Hammett leans hard on expressive vibrato rather than technical flash. The transition into the faster descending runs at the end catches a lot of guitarists off guard, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop that section slowed down until your pick-hand and fret-hand are fully in sync. Playing in Eb Standard means every string sits a half step lower than concert pitch, which loosens the tension slightly and gives the bends a slightly thicker feel. Metallica pulled this track from their 1986 album "Master of Puppets", and it remains one of the most rewarding solos in Heavy Metal to work through carefully.

  • The solo is played in Eb Standard tuning, dropping every string a half step, which softens string tension and makes wide bends slightly easier to control.
  • The opening phrases rely heavily on expressive vibrato and sustained bends, so intonation and bend accuracy are the real technical hurdles here.
  • The solo builds from slow melodic phrases into fast descending runs, making the tempo transition a key spot to loop slowed down with the Practice Toolbar.

How to Play Welcome Home (Main Solo)

Tuning: Eb Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 95 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 95 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.

Recommended for You