Metal guitar exercises: riffs, rhythm and lead technique

Metal rhythm guitar is a test of stamina and precision more than of fancy notes. A riff only sounds heavy when every chug has the same length and weight, the palm mute stays put, and the picking hand locks to the drums for the whole song. These exercises take those skills one at a time: downpicking, gallops, triplets and syncopated 16ths, riffs in Drop D and tremolo picking, then the lead techniques metal solos are built from.

Each one is a short riff or run that plays with a distorted guitar and a drummer, counted in at 60 % of its goal tempo and stepping up every two loops. Speed comes from playing it clean at a slower tempo many times, not from forcing the goal: if the chugs start to smear, stop the ramp where you are and loop that tempo until it's tight.

New to metal rhythm? Start with the palm-muted 8ths, the power chords in 8ths and the one-finger power chords in Drop D, then the gallop. For lead, begin with pinch harmonics and the pentatonic box, and leave sweeps and four notes a string until alternate picking and legato feel easy.

Start with Palm-muted 8ths

Where to start

Work down a list in order, and move on when an exercise is clean at its goal tempo. Each link has the exercise's tab and how to play it.

Beginner

  1. Palm-muted 8ths
  2. Power chords in 8ths
  3. One-finger power chords in Drop D

Intermediate

  1. String changes in downstrokes
  2. Palm-muted 16ths
  3. Gallops
  4. Triplets on the low string
  5. Reverse gallops
  6. Syncopated 3-3-2 riff
  7. Pedal-point riff in Drop D
  8. Chromatic riff in Drop D
  9. Tremolo picking
  10. Tremolo picking across strings
  11. Two-hand tapping triads
  12. Pinch harmonics and wide vibrato

Advanced

  1. Downpicking endurance
  2. 16th-note triplet bursts
  3. Tremolo-picked power chords
  4. Phrygian dominant runs
  5. Four-notes-per-string legato
  6. Three-string sweep arpeggios

Guides

Downpicking

Downstrokes give a riff its weight: every note is attacked the same way, so the chugs sound even and hit hard. The challenge is endurance, keeping the motion small and relaxed at speed for a whole song, from the wrist rather than the arm.

  • Palm-muted 8ths

    Beginner

    A thrash riff in eighths, every one a downstroke: palm-muted chugs on the low E answered by open power chords, G5 and A5, then the dark B flat 5, and a run down from B5 that lands back on E. It's the basic sound of rock and metal rhythm guitar, and it builds the stamina and steadiness to hold a downpicked part through a whole song. Every chug should be the same weight and length.

    Rest the edge of the picking hand on the strings at the bridge for the chugs and lift it for the chords; every stroke down.

    Goal 160 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Power chords in 8ths

    Beginner

    Power chords in eighths, all downstrokes, through E5, C5 and D5 to A5 and B5, with an accent pattern of three, three and two that gives the riff its push. Moving between chords without a gap or a late chord is the core of playing rhythm in a band, and it trains the fretting hand to shift as one shape. Muting the unused strings keeps the distorted sound tight.

    Downstrokes only, accents on 1, the and of 2, and 4; the fretting hand's spare fingers mute the strings you don't play.

    Goal 140 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • String changes in downstrokes

    Intermediate

    The palm-muted low E answered by a note on the A or the D string on every other eighth, all downstrokes, so after each high note the pick has to get back over the string it just played to hit the low one again. A riff in E minor that climbs B, C, D, then the D string, and runs down to F sharp. Downpicked riffs that move between strings are where the picking hand loses time, and this trains the jump.

    Lift the pick just over the string on the way back up; the chugs stay muted and the high notes ring.

    Goal 150 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Downpicking endurance

    Advanced

    Thirty-two eighths in a row with no rest, every one a downstroke: palm-muted chugs on the low E with an F, a G and a run down from B for accents, at a thrash tempo. It's the riff to play for a full minute without stopping, which is what a downpicked song asks of the picking hand. The test is the last loop: as even and as loud as the first.

    Pick from the wrist with the smallest motion that works, and breathe; stop the ramp at the tempo you can hold for a minute.

    Goal 180 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

Gallops, triplets and 16ths

Once a riff gets faster than downstrokes can go, or the rhythm needs a skip in it, alternate picking takes over. The gallop and the triplet are two of metal's defining rhythms, and they only drive when every note sits exactly where it belongs against the beat.

  • Palm-muted 16ths

    Intermediate

    A machine-gun riff in 16ths on the palm-muted low E, alternate picked, with open notes stabbing out of the chugs and a run down to finish. When a riff gets too fast for downstrokes this is how you play it, and the challenge is making the upstrokes as strong as the downs so the riff doesn't limp. It builds speed and a tight, even picking hand.

    Picking from the wrist; the mute stays the same for downs and ups, and lifts just for the open notes.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Gallops

    Intermediate

    The gallop: an eighth and two sixteenths on the palm-muted low E, climbing to G and A as the riff goes round, then galloping power chords and a stop on B5 for the drums to fill. It's one of the defining rhythms of heavy metal, and locking it to the beat trains precision rather than just speed. Played loose it slides towards a triplet; played right, the sixteenths are tight and the eighth lands squarely on the beat.

    Down, down-up for each gallop; the eighth lands exactly on the beat.

    Goal 140 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Triplets on the low string

    Intermediate

    Three notes to a beat on the palm-muted low E, the first of each sounding a note of a riff over the open-string pedal: E, G, A, B flat and back. Triplets feel different from straight eighths and 16ths, and keeping them even trains your time and the rolling feel heard across metal and blues. With alternate picking the accent falls on a downstroke one beat and an upstroke the next, which builds control of both.

    With alternate picking the accent falls on a down, then an up stroke.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Reverse gallops

    Intermediate

    The gallop turned round: two 16ths, then an eighth, on the palm-muted low E, climbing to G and A, then G5 and A5 and a stop on B5. Where the gallop leans forward the reverse gallop pushes into each beat, and many riffs switch between the two. Played loose the 16ths smear into a triplet; played right, they sit exactly on the beat and the half beat after it.

    Down-up for the two 16ths, then down for the eighth; the first 16th lands squarely on the beat.

    Goal 140 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Syncopated 3-3-2 riff

    Intermediate

    Palm-muted 16ths grouped three, three and two, each group starting on an accented power chord, so the accents land off the beat twice a half bar and the riff lurches forward. E5 again and again, with G5, A5 and B flat 5 on the short groups, and a climb to B5 to finish. This grouping is behind countless modern metal riffs, and playing it tight means feeling the beat while your accents pull against it.

    Keep alternate picking going straight through: the accents fall on an upstroke as often as a downstroke.

    Goal 110 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • 16th-note triplet bursts

    Advanced

    Two palm-muted eighths, then a burst of six notes in the next beat, 16th-note triplets, then a power chord stab and another burst, over a kick drum that bursts with you. G5, A5 and B flat 5 take turns on the stab, and the last bar stops on B5. Bursts are how metal drummers and guitarists speed up a riff for a beat without changing the tempo, and fitting six even notes into a beat is a precise skill.

    Count "one, and, two-and-a-three-and-a": the burst starts exactly on its beat and lands on the next one.

    Goal 110 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

Riffs in Drop D

Tuning the low string down to D puts a power chord under one finger and gives riffs a deeper open note to pound on. It's the most common alternative tuning in rock and metal, and its riffs lean on the open string: chugs against chords, pedal points and chromatic shifts. The player shows the Drop D notes in its tuner when one of these is open.

  • One-finger power chords in Drop D

    Beginner

    With the low E string tuned down to D, a power chord is one finger laid across the three low strings, and this riff uses that: palm-muted chugs on the open D, then chords at the 3rd, 5th and 6th frets, and a run down from the 7th to the 1st that leads back to D. Drop D is the most common alternative tuning in rock and metal, and one-finger chords make fast chord changes easy to play and heavy to hear.

    Lay the first finger flat across the three low strings; let the other fingers rest on the higher strings to mute them.

    Goal 140 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Pedal-point riff in Drop D

    Intermediate

    The open low D chugged on every other 16th while a melody in D minor moves on the A string in between: F, E, D, C and back up, the pick crossing between the two strings on every note. A pedal point, one note held under a moving line, is a staple of metal riffs from the 1980s on, and the challenge is keeping the alternate picking even while the fretting hand plays a tune on the next string.

    Downstroke on every low D, upstroke on every melody note; the palm mute stays on the low string only.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Chromatic riff in Drop D

    Intermediate

    A beat of palm-muted 16ths on the open D, then one-finger chords walking up and down a fret at a time, E flat 5, E5, F5, and in the second bar a held G sharp 5, the tritone above D. Chromatic movement and the tritone are where metal gets its darkness, and the riff trains clean, quick shifts of the whole chord shape between the chugs.

    The first finger slides the chord up and down; keep it touching the strings so the shifts are quick and quiet.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

Tremolo picking

Picking one note as fast and evenly as possible, again and again, is the sound of black metal riffs and of melodies held over blast beats. It builds a loose, tireless picking hand and the coordination to change notes, strings and chords without a hiccup in the stream.

  • Tremolo picking

    Intermediate

    Every note picked four times in 16ths while a dark melody in E minor moves along the B string, over a rolling double kick. Tremolo picking is the sound behind black metal riffs, surf lines and sustained melodies, and it builds picking stamina and an even, steady stroke. The real test is keeping both hands together when the fretting hand changes note.

    A small motion from the wrist; the fretting hand only moves on the beat.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Tremolo picking across strings

    Intermediate

    Each note picked four times in 16ths, but the melody moves across three strings, G, B and high E, through E minor, D, C and a B major chord that leads back. Black metal melodies are played this way, and the hard part is the string change: the stream of picking can't stop or stumble when the next note is on another string.

    Keep the picking motion going through the string change and move the whole hand, not just the pick.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Tremolo-picked power chords

    Advanced

    Two-note power chords picked in 16ths over a blast beat, half a bar each: A5, F5, G5, E5, then A5, C5, F5 and E5 leading back. Tremolo on chords is the wall of sound behind black metal and much death metal, and picking two strings at once evenly and fast, without one of them dropping out, takes a firmer stroke than single notes.

    Hold the pick a little firmer than for single notes and keep the stroke shallow, just through the two strings.

    Goal 110 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

Lead technique

Metal solos borrow from shred: fast alternate-picked runs in exotic scales, long legato lines, sweep-picked arpeggios and tapping, with pinch harmonics and a wide vibrato for the notes that scream. Each technique here is a short phrase over the drums, slow enough at first to get the motion right.

  • Two-hand tapping triads

    Intermediate

    Triads on the high E string in 16th-note triplets: the picking hand taps the top note, pulls off to a note the fretting hand holds, and the fretting hand hammers the middle one. A minor, F, G and E major, a bar each. Tapping reaches intervals no single hand can, and the even triplet roll is the classic tapping sound of 1980s rock and metal. It trains the two hands to work as one.

    Tap with the middle finger so the pick stays in your hand, and pull the tapping finger slightly down off the string to sound the next note.

    Goal 90 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Pinch harmonics and wide vibrato

    Intermediate

    A palm-muted riff on the low E with a squealing pinch harmonic held on beat 2 of every bar, shaken with a wide vibrato: E, then C, then D and C to a long E to finish. Pinch harmonics, a squeal made by the thumb grazing the string as the pick strikes it, are one of the signature sounds of metal guitar. Finding the spot takes practice; holding the squeal with a wide vibrato makes it sing.

    Choke up on the pick so the thumb's edge brushes the string right after the pick; try spots between the pickups until it squeals.

    Goal 120 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Phrygian dominant runs

    Advanced

    Runs in 16ths through E Phrygian dominant, the scale with a flat 2nd and a major 3rd, E F G sharp A B C D: down the high strings from E, back up, and down to a held G sharp. That augmented step from F to G sharp is the sound of neoclassical and Middle Eastern-flavoured metal, and the runs train alternate picking across the strings with a scale shape that isn't a box you already know.

    Fingers stay over frets 6 to 10 except for the reach to the 12th and 13th; alternate pick every note.

    Goal 100 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Four-notes-per-string legato

    Advanced

    A minor four notes on each string, climbing the neck diagonally as it crosses it: only the first note on each string is picked, the other three hammered on, with a slide where the reach is widest, then pulled off on the way down. From A on the low E string and then from A on the D string, an octave higher. Four notes a string moves the hand along the neck as the line rises, and the long hammered runs are the sound of legato shred.

    Pick once per string; the slide on the G and high E strings is the shift up the neck, done with the 4th finger.

    Goal 90 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

  • Three-string sweep arpeggios

    Advanced

    Arpeggios of A minor, D minor and E major swept across the top three strings in 16th-note triplets: the pick falls through G, B and high E in one motion, a hammer-on and pull-off at the top, and back up. All three shapes sit between the 12th and 19th frets, and the last bar holds a high E with a wide vibrato. Sweep picking is how shred players play arpeggios at speed, and three strings is where it starts.

    One motion down through the strings, not three strokes, and lift each finger as the next note sounds so the notes don't ring together.

    Goal 80 bpm · 4 bars

    Tab and how to play it

Also useful

Exercises from the other divisions that train what this style needs too.

Practice routines

Ready-made sessions: play each exercise for the minutes given, at the tempo where it's clean. Play routine opens them in the player one after another and counts the minutes while you play.

Setting up for practice

Turn the gain down from where you'd play live. High gain hides a late note or a string that rings when it shouldn't, and it squashes the sound so a weak upstroke comes out as loud as a strong one. With less gain you hear every mistake, and the riff sounds tighter still when you turn it back up.

Rest the side of the picking hand on the strings right where they leave the bridge: too far forward and the notes choke into clicks, too far back and the mute does nothing. If you play standing, practise standing, with the guitar at the same height.

Questions

How do I get faster at downpicking?

Keep the motion small, from the wrist, with the pick barely leaving the string, and relax between strokes. Practise at a tempo you can hold for a few minutes without tensing up and raise it a little every few days: downpicking speed comes from endurance built over weeks, not from forcing it in one session.

Should I downpick riffs or alternate pick them?

Both are worth having. Downpicking sounds heavier and more even, and many classic thrash riffs are played that way at surprising speeds; for 16ths and the fastest riffs, alternate picking takes over. The palm-muted 8ths train one and the palm-muted 16ths the other.

Can I play these in drop D or a lower tuning?

Three of them are written in Drop D. The others are in standard tuning, but the player's Tuning menu lowers the strings, down to drop A, and the frets stay as written, so a riff on the low string sounds in the tuning you choose.

Which lead technique should I learn first?

Pinch harmonics and vibrato, as they turn up in every kind of metal and don't need speed. Then fast alternate picking through scales, legato, and tapping. Sweep picking comes last for most players: it's the one that sounds worst until the fretting hand's muting is right.

How do I keep palm mutes tight with distortion?

Rest the edge of the picking hand on the strings at the bridge, mute the strings you're not playing with the fretting hand's spare fingers, and ease the fretting fingers off between chords so the notes stop when you mean them to. A tight sound is as much about the silences as the notes.

More exercises