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Megadeth - Tornado of Souls - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Megadeth - Tornado of Souls guitar tab video
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Rust In Peace album cover
Rust In Peace
1990 5:23
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Megadeth Thrash Metal 1990 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Tornado of Souls

Few thrash-metal tracks place as much weight on a single guitar solo as "Tornado of Souls" from Megadeth's 1990 record Rust in Peace. Marty Friedman's lead in the back half of the song is widely studied for its melodic phrasing and use of exotic scales layered over an E minor foundation, and getting it right takes serious attention to both pick attack and vibrato control. The rhythm work underneath is no slouch either: tight, palm-muted downpicking through angular riff changes demands a clean sync between your fretting hand and pick hand. The tempo is brisk, so start any difficult passage well below speed. This is exactly the situation the Practice Toolbar is built for: loop the solo or the main riff slowed down until your muscle memory locks in the fingering, then step the speed back up in small increments. Both the rhythm and lead parts reward slow, deliberate repetition far more than running through them at full pace.

  • The song's celebrated lead guitar section features Marty Friedman using exotic, non-Western scale shapes that sit outside typical minor pentatonic vocabulary.
  • Heavy palm-muted downpicking drives the main riff in E minor, requiring stamina and precise right-hand control to stay clean at performance tempo.
  • Friedman's vibrato technique, wide and fluid rather than tight and classical, is a key part of the tone to study when learning the solo.

How to Play Tornado of Souls

The song moves through: Intro (pt. 1), Intro (pt. 2), Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Verse 3, Break, Verse 4, Interlude, Solo, Verse 5, Verse 6.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 202 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

At 202 bpm in Eb Standard, the main riff demands tight alternate picking with clean palm muting, and many players underestimate how physically demanding maintaining that precision at full tempo actually is. Prioritize the riff sections before approaching the solo, since Marty Friedman's lead is a genuinely advanced undertaking on its own, featuring unconventional phrasing, wide intervallic jumps, and legato passages that sit outside typical metal vocabulary. The most common pitfall is rushing into the solo before the rhythm parts are locked in, which leaves you with shaky fundamentals under an already difficult piece. Use the speed control to isolate the solo section and work it in small phrases, because treating it as one continuous run is the fastest way to ingrain mistakes.

Loop the hardest passage and creep the speed up from around 70 percent until it holds at 202 BPM.

Gibson Flying V
Guitar

Gibson Flying V

Dave Mustaine's current signature Flying V delivers the V-shaped body geometry essential for accessing upper frets on his complex spider-chord voicings and fast lead lines. The guitar's thin, fast neck profile and fixed bridge provide the tuning stability and articulation Megadeth's precise, aggressive riffing demands.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Mustaine built Megadeth's signature razor-sharp, scooped-mid tone on Marshall JCM800s, with gain around 7-8 to retain pick dynamics and articulation under heavy palm-muting. The amp's responsive tube saturation transforms hot pickups into the controlled, fast low-end aggression that defines thrash metal rhythm tones.

DigiTech Whammy
Pedal

DigiTech Whammy

Marty Friedman used the Digitech Whammy as a lead accent tool, adding pitch-shifting texture to solos without cluttering Megadeth's minimalist effects philosophy. The pedal's harmonic richness complemented his warm, vocal-like Seymour Duncan humbucker tone during the band's classic era.

ISP Decimator Noise Gate
Pedal

ISP Decimator Noise Gate

The ISP Decimator is essential for Mustaine's high-gain thrash setup, eliminating feedback and noise between palm-muted riffs without compromising sustain. This noise gate allows him to push the Marshall into aggressive saturation while maintaining the tight, articulate attack Megadeth's complex rhythms require.

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