Help needed - online resources to learn metal guitar

[Daeniel]

Hi all!
Just wondering if anyone knew a good website (possibly with lots of video tutorial\tabs) that can help me to learn to play metal guitar. I mean, I can play lots of songs, but I'd really like to learn some more about theory and how to actually make a song. I'm sure that there is some kind of process that goes beyond pure creativity (i.e., some steps that need to be followed to go from a simple riff and arrive to a complete song), and I'd like to learn that
Expectially in the style of Opeth and In Flames, two of my favourite bands

Cheers!

 

[TaP]

I'll tell you right now, a few OG's are gonna look @ this thread and be like o__O, what up doh?
And then someone will hit you with the musictheory.net
Possibly Solodini might bless up with the Yoda type knowledge...

But yeah if you're looking for theory, that link has been spammed for centuries. That's pretty much it though, and look at chord construction, and then use what you've learned and apply it to how those songs you've learned were created. That's what I'VE been doing slowly.

Really IMO chord construction and progression helps tremendously on its own... you can use your ear for what's cool, and then 'theorize' for lack of better word... the rest of the chords you can't really find on your own. & then you remember them, plus their names.

 

[Maniacal]

My Riff Training books could possibly be of use. Although they are geared more towards technical development than theory.

 

[Solodini]

OP, how's your knowledge and understanding of theory so far? My book can help you to learn and apply more. Music is a language, you need to develop your vocabulary and understanding of structure. Chord construction and rhythm are important areas.

Break down the songs you like, analyse the general harmonic basis, the key of the song. Analyse what chords are being used, what their function is within the scale, whether it's built on the 1st note of the scale, 2nd note, 3rd note, 4th note, 5th note... Learn what chord tones are used in the melody and what non-chord tones are used around that. Look at the trajectory of the melody: are the chord tones approached from above, below, surrounded by one note below then one above or vice versa, sequence of similar trajectories which are transposed.

Learn to count rhythms and play them, including use of rests. Rests are pretty important for metal, to make the notes you play really stand out aggressively. Learn to syncopate to keep rhythms interesting. Learn to use rests. Learn to use rests. Learn to use rests.

Take the elements you like from other people's music and try to build something similar. Change little bits. Try them in different contexts, see how much mileage you can get from each idea. ACD can be used over F Major, A minor, D minor, D major. That's a whole lot of mileage. But what about if you transpose those notes within the key, ACD can become DFG, which you can use with B diminished, D minor, G minor or G major. Combine that with other chords in a sequence, different rhythmic applications and you start to be able to piece things together.

Pay attention to which ideas you like the sound of and how that sound makes you feel: is it happy, hopefully, sad, angry, wary, scary, hairy, lairy, Jim Carrey. Combine chords of a certain character with rhythms of a certain character and melodic ideas of a certain character to create your music. They could be of contrasting character, to add some depth to your music.

I hope that helps you to get on the right track. Let me know if you'd like me to elaborate on anything.

Adam

 

[Aion]

In terms of how to actually make a song the simple answer is, "sit down and go make a song." And I'm not being flip about this, but really, go and just try and make a song. My one piece of advise is try to make every part of the song come from something else in the song. So you start with some riff. Maybe you move that riff around to different places and create a harmonic progression (let's keep it simple and say C-D-G-C). Then maybe you take a rhythm from the riff and use that to build a riff with a different progression (how about D-A-G-A). And then you take the rhythm of the second part and the chord progression of the first part and make a new melody to play over that. You can keep taking bits of rhythm, melody, and harmony from different places and slowly develop new ideas organically within the song and suddenly you're able to take it to wild places. Opeth does this a lot in some cool ways. A transitional phrase will later come back as the main part of a riff, possibly obscured behind a weird time signature or a change in the scale being used.

Also do all of the things that Solodini said. Try and break down what your favorite artists do, figure out the song structure, and then play around with some of those elements. The best way to learn theory is to write your own music while analyzing the music of others.