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Cadenza

Metal Guitar: Rhythms and Techniques

When to read this: Session 13 assigns this handout as optional “Go further” reading (15 minutes). Read it after the session: it is not part of the session’s 50 minutes or of the practice plan. Read the sections “Tight Palm Muting”, “Pattern 2 — The Doom Riff”, “Pattern 3 — The Pedal Tone Riff”, “Arrangement 1 — “Iron Man” Main Riff, Single-Note Version (Simplified)” and “Arrangement 2 — “Paranoid” Verse Riff (Simplified)”. Leave the part headed “Pattern 1 — The Metal Gallop (After the course)” until you have finished the course.

Metal guitar takes the raw power of rock and pushes it further — heavier riffs, tighter rhythms, faster tempos, and a relentless intensity that demands precision from every note. This handout focuses on the metal guitar techniques you have been developing throughout this course, with riffs from two Black Sabbath songs and a gallop rhythm in the style of Iron Maiden. Both riffs use skills from the course sessions and are playable on your Saga SF-600C-BK acoustic guitar. No Iron Maiden song is taught in this course: the gallop pattern is this handout’s own, and it is marked “After the course”.

Genre Introduction

Section titled “Genre Introduction”

Heavy metal was born in Birmingham, England in the late 1960s. Black Sabbath — Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler, Bill Ward, and Ozzy Osbourne — created a sound that was darker, slower, and heavier than anything before it. Tony Iommi lost the tips of two fingers in a factory accident at 17. By 1971 he was tuning his guitar down, as much as three semitones (three frets), which eased the string tension and gave a thicker sound. The Black Sabbath songs used in this course are from 1970 and are transcribed in standard tuning.

From the late 1970s into the early 1980s, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) pushed the genre forward. Iron Maiden brought galloping rhythms, twin-guitar harmonies, and complex arrangements that drew from classical music as much as from blues. Their guitar work — played by Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and later Janick Gers — combined technical precision with melody in a way that many later metal bands copied.

What separates metal from rock on guitar is precision. Metal riffs demand exact timing, consistent palm muting, and clean articulation even at high tempos. A sloppy rock riff might still groove; a sloppy metal riff just sounds like noise. The techniques you build here — tight palm muting, controlled power chord movement, and accurate single-note riffing — form the foundation of metal guitar playing.

A note about acoustic vs electric: The songs in this handout were written for electric guitar with heavy distortion. Your acoustic Saga SF-600C-BK will not replicate that wall-of-sound distortion, and that is fine. These are simplified arrangements written for this course. They use single notes or two-note chords in place of the full electric guitar parts, and each one says what has been left out. Playing these on acoustic is excellent training — you hear every imperfection clearly, which means you fix problems that distortion would mask. When you eventually play through an amplifier with distortion, your technique will be tighter than players who learned sloppy and hid it behind gain.

Key Guitar Techniques

Section titled “Key Guitar Techniques”

Tight Palm Muting

Section titled “Tight Palm Muting”

Metal palm muting is more precise than rock palm muting. The muting should be consistent across every note — no accidental open strings ringing, no dead-muted notes. The sweet spot on the bridge saddle is narrow. Practice finding it: too far back gives no muting, too far forward kills the note entirely.

Palm muting is introduced in Session 9 and refined throughout Phases 3 and 4.

Single-String Riffing

Section titled “Single-String Riffing”

Many metal riffs are played on a single string (usually string 5 or 6) with fret-hand movement across multiple positions. This requires clean fretting, accurate picking, and the ability to shift positions without losing the rhythm.

Single-note picking is introduced in Session 4. The “Iron Man” riff (Session 9) is your first riff played away from the nut: three strings, frets 5 and 7.

Power Chord Movement

Section titled “Power Chord Movement”

Metal uses power chords that move across the neck — not just the open E5 and A5 you learned first, but power chords at fret 1, fret 3, fret 5, and beyond. The moveable power chord shape (introduced in Session 20) is your passport to playing metal riffs in any key.

Dynamic Control

Section titled “Dynamic Control”

Metal is not just loud. Great metal guitarists control dynamics — quiet palm-muted verses that explode into full-volume choruses, gentle arpeggiated intros that build into crushing riffs. The ability to shift between quiet and loud (covered in Sessions 13 and 20) is essential.

Essential Patterns

Section titled “Essential Patterns”

Pattern 1 — The Metal Gallop (After the course)

Section titled “Pattern 1 — The Metal Gallop (After the course)”

After the course. This rhythm uses sixteenth notes (a quarter of a beat each: four to a click), which no session teaches. Skip it for now and come back to it when you have finished the course.

The gallop is what Iron Maiden are famous for: an uneven long-short-short rhythm, one eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes, picked down, down, up. It sounds like a horse galloping.

Gallop rhythm on E5 (palm muted)

e|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|------2-------2---2---2-------2---2---2-------2---2---2-------2---2---|
E|------0-------0---0---0-------0---0---0-------0---0---0-------0---0---|
Count:  1       &   a   2       &   a   3       &   a   4       &   a
Pick:   D       D   U   D       D   U   D       D   U   D       D   U
PM:     PM      PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM      PM  PM

Each beat is four equal parts, 1-e-&-a; notes fall on 1, & and a, and “e” is silent.

Tempo: Start at 50 BPM, target 70 BPM What makes it sound like metal: The gallop creates a driving, relentless forward motion that is unmistakably Iron Maiden. The rhythm is uneven — long-short-short — which gives it energy.

How to count it: Each beat divides into four equal parts, counted 1-e-&-a. Play on 1, & and a; stay silent on e. The first note is twice as long as the other two. Before you play it, say “1-e-&-a” aloud with the click at 50 BPM, then clap on 1, & and a, then pick the rhythm on the open string 6. Say “DUH-da-da, DUH-da-da, DUH-da-da, DUH-da-da” to feel the long-short-short shape.

Skills needed: E5 power chord (Session 9), palm muting (Session 9), alternate picking (Session 4), and sixteenth notes, which the sessions do not teach

Pattern 2 — The Doom Riff

Section titled “Pattern 2 — The Doom Riff”

Black Sabbath pioneered doom metal — slow, heavy riffs that feel like the ground is shaking. This pattern uses E5 power chords that each last two beats, with space between them.

Doom riff pattern (slow and heavy)

e|----------------------|-------------------|
B|----------------------|-------------------|
G|----------------------|-------------------|
D|------2-------2-------|---2-------2-------|
A|------2-------2-------|---2-------2-------|
E|------0-------0-------|---0-------0-------|
Count:  1  (2)  3  (4)      1  (2)  3  (4)
PM:     PM      O           PM      O

PM = palm muted. O = let the string ring (palm lifted). Every hit is the three-string E5, played with a downstroke on beat 1 or beat 3, and each hit lasts two beats. On the counts in brackets, (2) and (4), do not strum: keep counting. The palm-muted hit dies away quickly, and that is right; the ringing hit sustains.

This pattern is the course’s own example in the doom style, written for this handout. It is not a transcription of a riff from any record. Not yet play-tested.

Tempo: 60 BPM, one strum every two clicks (doom metal is slow by design) What makes it sound like metal: The space between the chords and the contrast between palm-muted and ringing hits creates tension and weight. Doom metal is about gravity, not speed.

Skills needed: E5 (Session 9), palm muting (Session 9), dynamic control (Session 13)

Pattern 3 — The Pedal Tone Riff

Section titled “Pattern 3 — The Pedal Tone Riff”

A pedal tone riff alternates between an open string (the “pedal”) and fretted notes on the same string. It is a staple of metal guitar.

Pedal tone riff on string 6 (palm muted)

e|--------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------|
E|------0---3---0---5---0---3---0-------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM
Finger: -   1   -   3   -   1   -

Finger guide:

  • Fret 0: Open (no finger). In the Finger row, ”-” means an open string.
  • Fret 3: Finger 1 (index)
  • Fret 5: Finger 3 (ring)

Keep your hand in one place, with finger 1 over fret 3 and finger 3 over fret 5. If a riff ever asks for a note further away than that, move your whole hand along the neck, thumb travelling with it. This is a shift, not a stretch.

Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

Tempo: Start at 60 BPM, target 70 BPM, two notes per click (eighth notes). After the course: up to 80 BPM. What makes it sound like metal: The open string acts as an anchor while the fretted notes create melody. The palm muting keeps it tight and aggressive. This pattern appears in countless metal riffs.

Skills needed: Single-note picking (Session 4), palm muting (Session 9), frets 3 and 5 with fingers 1 and 3

Beginner Arrangements

Section titled “Beginner Arrangements”

Arrangement 1 — “Iron Man” Main Riff, Single-Note Version (Simplified)

Section titled “Arrangement 1 — “Iron Man” Main Riff, Single-Note Version (Simplified)”

Original artist: Black Sabbath (Paranoid, 1970) Credits: “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath, from the album Paranoid (1970). Written by Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. Arrangement type: Single-note riff Skills needed: Single-note picking (Session 4), frets 5 and 7 on strings 6, 5 and 4 (Session 9)

This riff is taught in Session 9. It is repeated here for reference.

Listen first: “Iron Man” on the album Paranoid (1970). After the slow opening (a bent low note and a distorted spoken line) the whole band plays this riff twice as heavy chords. Then the singing starts and the guitar plays the same riff as single notes, following the voice: that verse version is the one written here. Listen for two long notes, then three that move, then an answering phrase that starts higher.

Tuning note: Standard tuning, and the same pitches as the transcriptions of the recording (B, D, E, G), so it should be in tune with the record; that has not been confirmed by ear, and one transcription notes that another track on the same album runs slightly sharp. The recording plays the riff at about 70 to 76 BPM. Two things are simplified: these are single notes where the band’s first statement is power chords, and on beat 1 of measure 2 the record plays a quick four-note figure (G, F sharp, G, F sharp) where this version holds one G.

Tempo: Start at 50 BPM, target 70 BPM. The click is one beat (a quarter note). The recording is about 70 to 76 BPM.

"Iron Man" — Main Riff, Single-Note Version (Simplified)

e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------|---5-------5-----------------------|
A|--------------5-------5---7---7-------|---------------5---5---7---7-------|
E|------7-------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
Count:  1       2       3   &   4           1       2   &   3   &   4
Finger: 3       1       1   3   3           1       1   1   1   3   3

Simplified. Not yet play-tested.

Form: Measure 1 then measure 2 is one cycle. Play the cycle four times (8 measures) and let the last note ring.

Count measure 1 as “1, 2, 3-and, 4” and measure 2 as “1, 2-and, 3-and, 4”. The first two notes of measure 1 and the first note of measure 2 last a whole beat: do not hurry them.

Finger guide:

  • The hand stays in one place for the whole riff: finger 1 (index) plays every fret-5 note and finger 3 (ring) plays every fret-7 note.
  • Measure 1: string 6 fret 7 = finger 3; string 5 fret 5 = finger 1 (twice); string 5 fret 7 = finger 3 (twice).
  • Measure 2: string 4 fret 5 = finger 1 (twice); string 5 fret 5 = finger 1 (twice); string 5 fret 7 = finger 3 (twice).
  • There is no shift along the neck and no stretch: index and ring two frets apart is the hand’s natural spread, and the little finger is not used.
  • Frets 5 and 7 both have dot markers. Keep the thumb behind the neck, opposite fret 6.

Performance tips:

  • Your hand does not move during this riff: finger 1 takes fret 5 and finger 3 takes fret 7.
  • Give the long notes their full length. Rushing them is the most common fault.
  • Use downstrokes throughout and let every note ring until the next one. The record does not palm mute this riff.
  • Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

Arrangement 2 — “Paranoid” Verse Riff (Simplified)

Section titled “Arrangement 2 — “Paranoid” Verse Riff (Simplified)”

Original artist: Black Sabbath (Paranoid, 1970) Credits: “Paranoid” by Black Sabbath, from the album Paranoid (1970). Written by Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Ozzy Osbourne and Bill Ward. Arrangement type: Two-note power-chord riff, palm muted Skills needed: Two-string power chords (Session 9), palm muting (Session 9), E5 and D5 on strings 4 and 3 (Session 13)

This riff is taught in Session 13. It is repeated here for reference.

Listen first: “Paranoid” on the album Paranoid (1970). The song opens with a short, fast figure played high on the neck; that is not taught here. When the singing starts, the guitar drops into the riff written here: a steady muted chug on one chord for two measures, the same chug one step lower for a third measure, then three ringing chord hits before it starts again. Listen for that fourth measure.

Tuning note: Standard tuning. These are the record’s own pitches: E5, D5 and G sit at the same height as on the recording, but are played near the nut on strings 4 and 3 instead of at frets 10 to 14 on strings 6 and 5. The recording is about 163 to 164 BPM, roughly twice the course target. One transcription notes that the recording runs slightly sharp of concert pitch, so a normally tuned guitar may sound a shade flat against it; not confirmed by ear.

Tempo: Start at 50 BPM, target 80 BPM, two notes per click (eighth notes). The recording is about 164 BPM.

Measures 1-2

Chord:  E5                                  E5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|------4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---|---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---|
D|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|
A|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &       1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM      PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

Measures 3-4

Chord:  D5                                  G   D5          E5
e|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|------2---2---2---2---2---2---2---2---|---0---2-----------4---------------|
D|------0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---|-------0-----------2---------------|
A|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
Count:  1   &   2   &   3   &   4   &       1   &  (2)      3      (4)
PM:     PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM  PM

PM = palm muted. Measures 1 to 3 are palm muted on every note; measure 4 has no PM: lift your palm and let the three hits ring, and let the last E5 ring through beat 4. A number in brackets in the Count row, such as (2), is a beat where you play nothing new: keep counting and let the chord ring. On the record there is one more short hit on beat 4 that changes from line to line; it is left out.

Simplified. Not yet play-tested.

Form: The four measures are one cycle. Play the cycle four times (16 measures). The last E5 of the fourth cycle is the ending: let it ring.

Learn it in two stages from the same TAB. Stage 1, root notes only: the lower number of each pair, that is string 4 fret 2 for measures 1-2, string 4 open for measure 3, then in measure 4 string 3 open, string 4 open, string 4 fret 2. Stage 2: add the upper note of each pair.

Pick every note of this riff with a downstroke, including the notes on the “ands”. (This is different from the down-up picking you used for palm-muted eighth notes in Session 9.) If your wrist tires, stop and shake it out; if it still tires, pick down on the numbers and up on the “ands” instead: the notes and the rhythm stay the same. Pain rule: tender fingertips are normal. Pain in the wrist, forearm, thumb joint or knuckles, numbness or tingling, any sharp pain, or pain that lasts into the next day means stop. The full rule is in START HERE.

Finger guide:

  • E5 (measures 1-2 and beat 3 of measure 4): finger 1 (index) on string 4 fret 2, finger 3 (ring) on string 3 fret 4. Index and ring two frets apart on neighbouring strings is the normal power-chord shape, not a stretch; finger 2 stays relaxed above fret 3 and the little finger is not used.
  • D5 (measure 3 and the second hit of measure 4): string 4 open, finger 1 on string 3 fret 2. This is the A5 shape from Session 9 moved one string across.
  • G (first hit of measure 4): string 3 open, on its own, no finger; lift finger 1 for that one note.
  • Changing E5 to D5: lift finger 3 and move finger 1 across one string at the same fret, the same move as E5 to A5 in Session 9.
  • Pick only strings 4 and 3. If you hear the open 5th string or the open 2nd string, your pick stroke is too wide.
  • Tuner check, string 4 then string 3: E5 reads E, B; D5 reads D, A; the open string 3 reads G. The E5 here is one octave above the E5 of Session 9.

Performance tips:

  • “Paranoid” is fast — one of the fastest songs in this course. Start slow and build tempo gradually.
  • Keep every eighth note the same length and the same loudness.
  • Palm mute measures 1 to 3 of the riff; let measure 4 ring. The tight, driving rhythm is what makes this riff work.

Listening List

Section titled “Listening List”

Five essential metal tracks. Listen for the guitar techniques — palm muting, riff precision, dynamic contrast, and how the guitar drives each song.

  1. “Black Sabbath” — Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath, 1970) — One of the earliest heavy metal songs. Its slow main riff is built on a tritone (two notes six frets apart), the “devil’s interval”: a low G, the G an octave above, then the note a tritone away. Listen for the space between the notes — metal is not always fast.
  2. “The Trooper” — Iron Maiden — The gallop rhythm at full speed with twin-guitar harmonies. Listen for how the two guitars play the same melody in harmony (like two singers singing in thirds).
  3. “War Pigs” — Black Sabbath — A masterclass in riff-based songwriting. The song changes tempo and feel multiple times. Listen for the heavy verse riff versus the faster middle section.
  4. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” — Iron Maiden — Starts with clean arpeggiated chords (similar to what you learn in Session 15) and builds into a full metal onslaught. Listen for the dynamic journey from quiet to heavy.
  5. “Children of the Grave” — Black Sabbath (Master of Reality, 1971) — A fast, driving palm-muted riff, played on guitars tuned three semitones (three frets) below standard. Listen for how the riff keeps its forward momentum without letting up.

Practice Tips

Section titled “Practice Tips”

  1. Precision before speed. Metal demands accuracy. A sloppy riff at 120 BPM is not impressive — a clean riff at 70 BPM is. Use a metronome for every practice session. Increase tempo by 5 BPM only when the current tempo is perfectly clean.

  2. Palm muting consistency. Spend 5 minutes daily on palm-muted eighth notes on string 6. Every note should sound identical — same volume, same tightness. If one note rings open or one note is dead, adjust your palm position.

  3. Move the hand, not the fingers. Metal riffs often sit at frets 5 and 7 or higher. Reach them by moving your whole hand up the neck so that finger 1 and finger 3 do the work. Train your little finger separately with the spider crawl (Session 10).

  4. Listen to the bass. In Black Sabbath, the bass guitar often plays the same riff as the guitar (sometimes in unison, sometimes an octave lower). Listening to the bass helps you hear the riff’s rhythm and note choices more clearly.

  5. Respect the slow. Not all metal is fast. Many of Black Sabbath’s heaviest riffs are slow: the “Iron Man” riff is only about 70 to 76 BPM. Doom and sludge metal are entirely built on slow tempos. Practise playing slowly with maximum control and weight — every note should feel deliberate.

  6. Build a riff vocabulary. Metal guitarists think in riffs, not just chords. Memorise the riffs in this handout until you can play them without reading TAB. A riff you know by heart is a riff you can use, modify, and build upon. Once you know ten riffs well, you will start hearing patterns and creating your own.