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Metallica - To Live Is To Die - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - To Live Is To Die guitar tab video
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Gain6
Bass6
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Master7
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Metallica Thrash Metal E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About To Live Is To Die

Few tracks on ...And Justice for All demand as much patience and range from a guitarist as this one. Built around a riff Cliff Burton wrote before his death in 1986, the song is a tribute from Metallica to their former bassist, and that weight comes through in every section. At 80 BPM in E Standard and E minor, the tempo is slower than most of the album, but do not mistake slow for easy: the song stretches past nine minutes and shifts through multiple distinct riff-worlds, each with its own feel and picking demand. The main opening riff rewards clean, deliberate alternate picking, while the mid-song sections push into heavier galloping patterns and quieter, almost atmospheric passages. Transitions between sections are the real test, as a lost count means losing the whole arrangement. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop each section individually at a reduced speed before chaining them. The spoken-word passage, set in Thrash Metal context, offers a welcome breath before the final riff surge.

  • The core opening riff was composed by bassist Cliff Burton, making it one of the few Metallica songs built from a bass-originated idea rather than a guitar one.
  • Playing the full arrangement requires memorising several distinct riff sections across more than nine minutes, so sectional practice with a loop tool is strongly recommended.
  • E Standard tuning and E minor key keep the song approachable for most electric guitarists, but the wide dynamic range between soft and heavy passages demands careful volume and pick-attack control.

How to Play To Live Is To Die

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 80 BPM

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 80 BPM.

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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