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Metallica - HERO OF THE DAY - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - HERO OF THE DAY guitar tab video
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Classic Rock

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Load (Remastered Deluxe Box Set) album cover
Load (Remastered Deluxe Box Set)
1996 4:22
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Heavy Metal 1996 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About HERO OF THE DAY

Few Metallica songs reward a clean, restrained touch the way "Hero of the Day" does. The track sits in E minor and leans heavily on fingerstyle-friendly arpeggiated chord work in the verses, a contrast to the heavier, palm-muted riffing that pushes through in the choruses and the song's more aggressive passages. Getting that dynamic shift to feel natural is the real challenge: the quiet, almost delicate picking in the intro and verses needs to sit perfectly in time before the gain kicks back in, otherwise the whole arrangement loses its tension. Metallica were clearly exploring a more textured, mid-tempo side of their writing on the 1996 Load album, and this song is one of the better examples of that. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse arpeggio section slowed down until the picking pattern feels automatic, then bring it back up to tempo and focus on matching the dynamic level to the recording.

  • The verse section features arpeggiated chord picking that demands a lighter, more controlled right-hand touch than most Metallica rhythm work.
  • Shifting cleanly between the soft picked verses and the heavier, palm-muted chorus riffing is the core technique challenge in this song.
  • Playing in E minor keeps the song guitar-friendly, with open-string resonance that rewards careful attention to string muting and note clarity.

How to Play HERO OF THE DAY

The song moves through: • Kirk Intro, • Verse 1, • Chorus 1, • Verses 2, • Chorus 2, • Bridge F#, • Guitar Solo, • Chorus 3 Kirk, • Mama Outro.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 118 BPM

The arrangement runs through 9 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 118 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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