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Metallica - THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE guitar tab video
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Master of Puppets (Remastered Deluxe Box Set) album cover
Master of Puppets (Remastered Deluxe Box Set)
1986 6:36
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Metallica Heavy Metal 1986 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE

Few riffs in heavy metal move as slowly and deliberately as the one at the heart of this track. Metallica built "The Thing That Should Not Be" around a crushing, low-end figure that gets its weight from pure restraint: half-time feel, heavy palm muting, and almost no space for ornament. Playing it well means resisting the urge to rush. The riff sits in E minor, which lets the open low E string do real work, so keeping your muting tight and consistent is the whole game on rhythm guitar. The slow tempo is deceptively demanding because every slightly sloppy note is exposed. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down even further until your pick attack and mute pressure are identical on every repetition. The lead section later in the song asks for a very different kind of control: a dark, bending-heavy style that rewards working through each phrase in short loops before stitching them together.

  • The main riff relies on heavy palm muting on the low E string, so consistent right-hand pressure is the primary technical challenge for rhythm guitar.
  • The half-time feel makes the tempo feel deceptively slow, but that deliberate pace exposes any inconsistency in your pick attack and muting.
  • The lead guitar work uses dark, blues-influenced bending phrases that are best learned in small sections using a slow-down tool before playing them up to speed.

How to Play THE THING THAT SHOULD NOT BE

The song moves through: • Intro Clean, • The Riffs, • Verses James & Kirk, • Pré Chorus, • Chorus, • Guitar Solo 1, • Scary Bridge & Solo 2, • Ending Section.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 117 BPM

The arrangement runs through 8 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 117 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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