System Of A Down - B.Y.O.B. - Guitar Tab

About B.Y.O.B.

Few songs demand as much rapid gear-shifting between feels as "B.Y.O.B." by System Of A Down. Running at 140 BPM in Drop D tuning, the track throws you between furious palm-muted low-D chug riffs and frantic, almost waltz-like clean sections within the same minute. Drop D is doing real work here: the one-finger power chords on the bottom string make the chugging passages physically possible at that tempo, but the right-hand muting has to be precise or the riff turns to mush. The irregular rhythmic groupings are where most players come unstuck, because the song shifts time feels without warning and without a gentle transition. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop those transition bars slowed down until your picking hand locks in before you try full speed. Nu Metal rarely asks for this level of rhythmic independence between the hands, which makes this one genuinely worth the work.

• The Drop D tuning lets you play the heavy chug riff with one-finger barre power chords on the low string, which is essential at 140 BPM.
• Right-hand palm muting precision is the real challenge: too much pressure softens the attack, too little and the low D rings out of control.
• The song repeatedly switches between aggressive picked riffs and lighter, faster clean passages, so practise each section separately before joining them up.