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Metallica - Don't Tread On Me - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - Don't Tread On Me guitar tab video
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Metallica (Remastered) album cover
Metallica (Remastered)
1991 4:00
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal 1991 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Don't Tread On Me

Drop D tuning is central to how "Don't Tread On Me" works on guitar. That lowered sixth string lets you hammer out the heavy, palm-muted low-D riffs that drive the verse with real weight, and without it the song loses its punch entirely. At 120 BPM in E minor, the tempo is not brutal, but keeping your palm mute tight and consistent across the faster picked passages takes more control than beginners expect. The main challenge is the transition between the chunky muted chugging and the cleaner, more open chord sections, where your right hand has to shift its pressure and position quickly. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop those transitions slowed down until the shift feels automatic before you bring it back up to full speed. Metallica recorded this for their 1991 self-titled album, and it sits in the middle of the record where the Heavy Metal grooves are thick and deliberate rather than blazing fast.

  • Drop D tuning is required: the low D string powers the signature palm-muted chugging riffs that define the song's heavy groove.
  • At 120 BPM the tempo is moderate, but keeping your palm mute consistent and clean through the picked riff patterns is the real technical demand.
  • The main practice focus is the right-hand shift between tight palm-muted chugging and open chord passages, best drilled by looping it slowed down.

How to Play Don't Tread On Me

The song moves through: • Intro Kirk, • Intro James, • The Riff, • Verse Riff, • Chorus - James, • Guitar Solo - Kirk, • Guitar Solo - James RIFF, • Bridge, • Mix Chorus / Verse, • Chorus - Kirk.

Tuning: Drop D · Key: E minor · Tempo: 120 BPM

The drop D tuning lets you fret the low power chords with a single finger, which is central to the heavier riffing here. The arrangement runs through 10 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own.

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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