Heavy Metal Riffs
June 24th, 2010
Heavy metal riffs are the basis of most of the great heavy metal songs and in most instances are reasonably easy to get a handle on.
Heavy metal evolved out of the blues and many riffs draw heavily upon the blues or pentatonic scales. If you spend a little time to learn and master these basic components of guitar playing, you will find that you will be able to figure out many guitar riffs . These scales are not difficult to master and if you focus upon training your fingers and ears to become proficient with them you have taken big steps towards being a capable all round guitar player.
Some of the earliest Heavy Metal guitar riffs put together by pioneers like Tony Iommi and Ritchie Blackmore pretty much pointed the way for all Heavy Metal players. Classic tracks like Smoke On the Water, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Speed King and Paranoid all contain the essential elements of a great riff and to my mind are essential listening for all prospective guitar players.
None of these riffs are particularly difficult and Smoke On The Water and Paranoid are perhaps two of the simplest straight forward songs but their brilliance lies within their simplicity (With the exception of Blackmore's solo in Smoke which is simply outstanding). Both tunes make great studies and the riffs are easy enough to master. Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Speed King are a little more difficult structurally containing multiple riffs and phrases within the tunes,but the basic riffs contained within these songs again are easy enough to get a handle on.
Once you have several heavy metal riffs mastered you can begin to work out heaps as many patterns are similar.
If you want to progress further quicker, a great resource I found is this Heavy Metal Guitar guide written by a heavy metal player for heavy metal players
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Posted in Blues Guitar, Guitar practice, Heavy Metal Guitar | 
Tags: Brilliance, Guitar Guide, Guitar Player, Guitar Players, Guitar Riffs, Guitar Scales, Heaps, Heavy Metal, Heavy Metal Guitar, Heavy Metal Riffs, Instances, Little Time, Metal Riffs, Metal Songs, Pentatonic scales, Pioneers, Riff, Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Simplicity, Smoke On The Water, Speed King, Tony Iommi
