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Metallica - The Unforgiven II - Guitar Tab

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Key A minor
Metallica - The Unforgiven II guitar tab video
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Helping Hands...Live & Acoustic at The Masonic album cover
Helping Hands...Live & Acoustic at The Masonic
2019 7:20
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Metallica Heavy Metal 2019 A minor
Capo Advisor 0 A minor · Original key

About The Unforgiven II

Tuned down a half step to Eb Standard, "The Unforgiven II" sits in A minor and moves at a moderate 120 BPM, giving the fingerpicking and clean arpeggiated passages room to breathe without rushing. The song demands control over dynamics: you need to stay genuinely quiet on the delicate intro and verse figures, then build convincingly into the heavier chorus sections without losing your picking accuracy. The chord voicings throughout reward clean fretting hand technique, and any buzzing or muted notes will stand out immediately at this tempo. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the transition from the clean verse into the heavier chorus sections slowed down, so your pick attack and left-hand shifts are solid before you bring it up to speed. Metallica have always written guitar parts that reward patience, and this track is no exception. As a piece of Heavy Metal songwriting, it leans more on texture and restraint than on speed or aggression, which makes it a genuinely useful piece to practise expressive control.

  • Tuned to Eb Standard, every chord and riff sits a half step lower than concert pitch, so check your tuning carefully before playing along.
  • The song relies heavily on clean arpeggiated picking and dynamic contrast rather than distortion-heavy riffing, making right-hand consistency the main technical challenge.
  • Looping the verse-to-chorus transitions slowed down in the Practice Toolbar will help you nail the pick attack shift from delicate to driven without losing pitch accuracy.

How to Play The Unforgiven II

The song moves through: • Intro - Kirk, • Intro - James, • Clean - James & Kirk lick, • Verse 1 - James, • Strum Interlude - James, • Verse 2 - Kirk, • Chorus 1 - James, • Intro (bis)#1 - James, • Verse 3 - Kirk Wha, • Chorus 2 - Kirk, • Guitar Solo - Kirk, • Intro (bis)#2 - James, and more.

Tuning: Eb Standard · Key: A minor · Tempo: 120 BPM

It is played in Eb standard, a half step down, so tune down before you start or every position and bend will sit a half step sharp against the recording. The arrangement runs through 12 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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