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Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 9 2012, 02:10 PM

Task 41: http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Old-Metallica-Riffing/

Righto... time to move away from solos for now and get down to some riff action !!

If it's riffs we're going to study then we may as well take from one of the best riff machines that the 80's had to offer which is of course Metallica !

The down picking at the start will test your stamina so you might want to practise and play that standing up as you should fine it easier to stay loose in your shoulders.

This is a very tight sounding piece so I look forward to hearing you guys do this.. good luck !

Deadline is next Friday 16th November or I book you in for lessons at your local Ballet school.

Posted by: Opetholic Nov 9 2012, 02:42 PM

Apart from enjoying the takes by fellow guitar players and trying to play the tasks and learning new stuff, which is all extremely fun, I also come here every Friday to see the introduction of Ben for the new Task. I especially like the parts where you threaten us with things if we don't complete the task it is always funny.. I don't wanna go to my local Ballet school, nor do I want to eat rice and lentils all week at the Temple .... But I have quite a lot of tasks to catch up with, I may need to buy some ballet clothes

Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 9 2012, 06:43 PM

Well, at the very least you'll improve your balance skills and tone up those calf muscles..

Posted by: gregc1 Nov 13 2012, 03:45 PM

Wow, this is tough. I think the beginning is the hardest part for me right now with the crazy down stroking. When I first started I couldn't even last 10 seconds without falling off.

It's easy alt picking but doesn't have that Metallic sound, definitely a clear difference but I can just about get through it now. Really cool lesson Ben, I love playing this stuff I just don't do it enough.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 13 2012, 04:19 PM

Ah, so it's a good challenge then ??

Down picking stamina does improve.. it's one of those things where you've just gotta jump in with both feet and over a few days you noticed you can last a bit longer !

Posted by: gregc1 Nov 13 2012, 04:23 PM

Definitely, a great challenge. I could only last about 10 seconds originally but now I can just about get all the way through the beginning with proper timing. And my right arm is now rock hard.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 13 2012, 06:45 PM

That's great !!

And yeah, who needs to lift weights when you've got down picking ?

Posted by: gregc1 Nov 13 2012, 11:03 PM

Here's my take on this Task. Sorry about the knee.

Posted by: Christophe Nov 14 2012, 01:54 AM

When I saw the lesson I said : "Cool I'll get at least one donut !", then I grabbed my guitar.....


Nice take Greg ! Your status of Tone Seeker is true, I like your tone

Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 14 2012, 10:06 AM

Oh man, and he NAILS the Donut !!

Great down picking... AND sat down too.. respect !

Really like this..

It could be the patch you're using but I don't feel you're getting the right kind of muting on those last triplet bits at the end. There's still too much treble ringing through which suggests you're hand could do with having more contact with the strings to get more 'chunk' !!

But it could depend on your gear.. some digital distortion / fx pedals / any non valve amp distortion doesn't like to be heavily muted because it gives this treble-y, scratchy sound.

Posted by: gregc1 Nov 14 2012, 01:40 PM

Hey Ben, thanks for the comments. I would love to blame my setup for the unwanted noise but unfortunately though its all on me. In the beginning part my fingers would kind of slide down the pick and make light contact with the strings. At the end though, I think it was a combination of not enough muting and my pick angle. I found that tilting the pick so you're kinda sawing at the strings with the side of the pick makes it easier to do those speed blasts but it does have sort of have a scratchy sound. Which of course would be negated by proper muting but at that speed I lost the solid muting just trying to keep up.

Had a great time playing that and the donut is hitting the spot this morning!



Wanted to mention as well that I completely missed the bit about standing up in the description. I'm going to try it like that as well because there was pretty serious tension at the beginning and end.

Thanks for the comment Christophe. I'm sorry I snatched your donut man!

Posted by: DeGroot Nov 15 2012, 07:53 PM

Nice take on this lesson Greg. I had to build up stamina for the down picking riff too (only being able to play half of it at first). I was still having major fatigue near the end of the first riff and it nearly comes unravelled. As Ben mentioned, it helped to stand up as I found I couldn't get as much punch to the down picking sitting down.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 16 2012, 10:47 AM

This is an epic take my friend - very good indeed !! It's funny how your tone still sounds so similar even though you're using a Les Paul !!

Really though.. the chugging was great, really tight. I got no pointers, it was all gooood !

How did you guys enjoy your venture into heavy riff territory this week ??

Posted by: Opetholic Nov 16 2012, 10:57 AM

Both takes were quite epic, congrats guys!!
I haven't been able to enjoy it yet. I am still following from behind. There is still one Task that I would like to post from way in the past

Posted by: gregc1 Nov 16 2012, 04:01 PM

Nice Degroot, sounding good as usual man. Yeah, that stamina issue was a funny thing. I couldn't make it far at all when I started but I was amazed at how fast it built up just playing through it several times. Especially in contrast with other things like legato and AP and how long it takes to get comfortable playing it.

Posted by: DeGroot Nov 16 2012, 04:29 PM

Wow, thanks a lot! Really enjoyed digging into the heavy riffage this week... specially with some classic Metallica! I have an itch now to pull out some of those Metallica albums.

I like the vibe for task 42 with the heavy meets funk... sounds like it'll be another tough challenge. At least we can carry over some momentum from all this down picking workout.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Nov 16 2012, 06:16 PM

Yeah I also noticed that.. it is strange but it is satisfying seeing definite progress !!



That's what I was hoping, glad you like the challenge !!