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Metallica - WHIPLASH - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Metallica - WHIPLASH guitar tab video
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Kill 'Em All (Remastered) album cover
Kill 'Em All (Remastered)
1983 4:09
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Metallica Thrash Metal 1983 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About WHIPLASH

Few early thrash tracks put a rhythm guitarist through the paces quite like "Whiplash." The riff engine here is relentless, built on low-E power chords driven with aggressive alternate picking at a pace that will expose any weakness in your picking hand almost immediately. Getting that tight, percussive attack without letting notes blur together is the central challenge, so spend real time with the Practice Toolbar, looping the main riff slowed down until each note is clean before you push the tempo back up. The song sits in E minor, which keeps the open low E string central to everything, and that droning quality is what gives the riff its raw, chugging feel. Metallica were barely out of their teens when they recorded this, and the youthful aggression is baked into the tempo, so building stamina alongside precision is just as important as learning the notes.

  • The main riff relies heavily on open low-E power chords, so keeping that string tight and muted between hits is a key technique to master.
  • Alternate picking stamina is the biggest hurdle here, as the riff sustains a fast, unrelenting pace for most of the song's runtime.
  • Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse riff at reduced speed, focusing on pick attack consistency before gradually raising the tempo.

How to Play WHIPLASH

The song moves through: • Intro, • Main RiFF, • Verse 1, • Chorus 1, • Verse 2, • Chorus 2, • Bridge RiFF, • Guitar Solo, • Last Verse / Chorus / Outro.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 159 BPM

The arrangement runs through 9 distinct sections, and the solo is the steepest jump, so isolate it on its own. At 159 bpm it moves fast, so the real test is building picking stamina and keeping every note clean at speed.

Loop the hardest passage and creep the speed up from around 70 percent until it holds at 159 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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