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Metallica - TO LIVE IS TO DIE - Guitar Tab

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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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...And Justice for All (Remastered) album cover
...And Justice for All (Remastered)
1988 9:48
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Metallica Heavy Metal 1988 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

TO LIVE IS TO DIE

"To Live Is to Die" is an instrumental heavy metal track by Metallica, featured on their 1988 album ...And Justice for All. Written as a tribute to late bassist Cliff Burton, the song is built around a riff he composed before his death in 1986. For electric guitarists, it offers a masterclass in progressive metal composition, blending heavy riffing, dynamic tempo shifts, and intricate arrangements that showcase Metallica's technical range.

  • The core riff was written by Cliff Burton himself before his death, making this piece a direct musical legacy from the bassist.
  • Though mostly instrumental, James Hetfield recites a spoken word section drawn from a poem written by Burton.
  • Burton's poem incorporates lines borrowed from German poet Paul Gerhardt and American novelist Stephen R. Donaldson.
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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