This week, I’m attacking Karl Golden’s Top 5 Simple Metal Guitar Riffs For Beginners. 

With the exception of Raining Blood by Slayer, they’re all very familiar riffs which has helped immensely. If you’re familar with the Slayer track then you’ll notice I’ve not attempted the rhythm. I didn’t have the time to set up backing tracks, so a lot of practise has been done raw and some to a click track.

The one I struggled most with was a surprise to me, it was Iron Man, which is a track I already knew. Toward the end, sliding the power chords really made my fingers ache on repetition. So that’s identified another area to work on.  So there’s the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDTWdKej0Uo

Here’s the tabs to the tracks I did.

Riff 1 – Iron Man by Black Sabbath

D -4-7-7/9-9---12\11--12\11--12\7--7/9--9-(9)\
A -2-5-5/7-7---10\9---10\9---10\5--5/7--7-(7)\

Riff 2 – Symphony Of Destruction by Megadeth

A -3-2--2---3-2--2-----------3-2--2--
E -1-0--0---1-0--0---1-3-1---1-0--0--

Riff 3 – Raining Blood by Slayer

D ---------8-9-8----8-7---7-6--
A -------7--------9-----8------ x3
E -0-0-0-----------------------

Riff 4 – Breaking The Law by Judas Priest

A --0-2-3--0-2-3--0-2-3------0-----0---3-2-
E -----------------------1-3---1-3---3-----

Riff 5 – For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica

G ----------------------------3-----
D -------5--------7--------5--3--4--
A -------5--------7--------5--1--4--
E -0-0-0-3--0-0-0-5--0-0-0-3-----2--

G ----------------------------3-----
D -------5--------7--------5--3--4-3-2-2\
A -------5--------7--------5--1--4-3-2-2\
E -0-0-0-3--0-0-0-5--0-0-0-3-----2-1-0-0\