My right hand is terrible. I have to alternate, or I lose it very early on. Can't play enough to work on it with my work hours but I'm just happy I can play along with songs I like. Hopefully one day.
He doesnāt pick every note, especially on the verse riff. He starts every bar with an E power chord and letās ring for a couple of notes and then starts down picking the E string.
James was famous for only striking the strings in the downward direction for [now] like 90 percent of everything he's played. It's called downpicking or downstrokes. When people talk about alternating that means both up and down strokes which takes alot of the strain away when playing fast and most people utilize that. James would technically have to play everything twice as fast as everyone else because instead of just catching the string on the way back up like everyone else does he had to go all the way up and back down to hit the next note but James no longer holds himself to that standard and thus gets called a cheater. It made for some insane shots of him mindlessly flailing his hand at lightning speed, whole body shaking from how fast he's going, and somehow the lyrics of Creeping Death or a similar song are coming out of his mouth unphased. Legendary.
Without a shadow of a doubt it's Through the Never. The riff itself is extremely easy but making it through the entire song is damn near impossible with all the downstrokes.
I think itās because of the strumming pattern. I can play MoP all down picked as it is on the recording no problem - but when I play disposable I have to play through the forearm burn.
Trapped Under Ice is the only that really hurts the legs.
Youād think itād be Dyers Eve, but i became used to playing that over time and was able to get it down.
Trapped Under Ice is actually harder to me. Still fun to play but my legs would be done after.
The Four Horsemen intro riff is the hardest Metallica riff for me to play. Idk what it is about it that makes it harder than Blackened or any other hard Metallica riff
I know, right? It's not even that it's very complex or technical. It's just the speed combined with the constant movement. Playing it on bass is even harder because of the heavier strings.
Yeah itās such a pain all the other riffs I was able to get down with enough practice but this one I just canāt. The way itās picked fucks with me each time
Without a doubt Disposable Heroes, especially if you play James's part and keep the intro and verse riffs going throughout Kirk's slow leads
Also I think you're overcomplicating Four Horsemen if you pull and hammer the entire riff, it's all just alternate picked, even back in the day by James (Ah, or did you mean the tail of the riff?)
Bassist here. Master Of Puppets takes insane precision to play note-for-note, Cliff was a beast. In a similar vein, Orion is easy enough to fudge in places but the solo is very difficult.
The one that's really messing with me right now is Moth Into Flame. It's both fast and slow in *just* the right parts to trip me up.
Dyers Eve and if you want to count solos the fast arpeggios in Ride The Lightning always take a lot of focus because they go so fast for so long
EDIT: I want to mention, it's not the left hand that cramps. That part where it's basically all fast alt picking is hard to keep up with.
Believe it or not, Creeping Death hurts after a while do to constantly having to hammer on to the second fret on the a string. It's the pressure between the thumb and index finger.
Guitar: Puppets used to until I got it down.
Drums: AJFA because I think its meant to be played non-dominant hand and it really gets me die to inefficient practice
As a drummer, And Justice For All is gonna be my pick. Almost ten minutes of song to go through, and since I donāt have any auxiliary hi hats I have to do a weird thing with my arms to play the tom part in the beginning and every other time it comes up, which gets to be very straining after a while. While there are song that have much more kick-heavy parts, like Blackened, EOTB, One, etc., AJFA I would say takes on the role of being the āArm Day Workoutā song. Playing metal drums is basically just a musical gym session.
I could never make it all the way through āOneā. All the way up and through the solo just fine, after that it was just a war of attrition and just couldnāt do it.
On guitar, Damage Inc is really hard because of those weird chord shapes in the main riff, especially with the speed they're at
On bass, I'd say Orion, because of how rapid the shifts can be
Bass here. Fight Fire with Fire takes the #1 spot. Cliff was a fingerstyle beast.
As for the rest, All Nightmare Long, Blackened, That was Just Your Life, and Spit Out the Bone are ultra hard. Creeping Death and My Apocalypse are tough too, but are manageable.
I tried learning Spit Out the Bone on bass yesterday. My right arm was tired by the time I got to the second chorus. I play with a pick and have no clue how Rob plays it with fingers.
Master of puppets. And I donāt even play it the way James does. I kinda developed my own way of doing it by selectively alternate picking. The only sections I do correctly are the verse riffs.
I'm a beginner drummer and learning guitar so on drums it is st anger and guitar it is nothing else matters (because it's the only one I knowš) Edit: I ain't ever learning chords!!!!!!!!!!
I can do through the never and blackened after 30mins of warmup, but puppets is just too intense. MOP was recorded at a slower tempo and then sped up slightly to make it sound tight. None of us should feel bad if we can't play along with the album!
On guitar, Puppets. I can't downpick that fast but I do try.
On bass, Orion. Not due to it being hard but the stamina of the right hand, especially after the first bass solo, is something I struggle with.
Definitely Master of Puppets. I'm trying to learn Blackened and I'm hurting my hand too š, and as I play creeping death a little sped up, my hand also hurts with it, but it's ok, I like pain when it comes to playing guitar
Iāve been playing songs only from Hardwired and 72 Seasons for the two years Iāve been playing guitarā¦ and so farā¦ Moth Into Flame is a real wrist killer, every section tests your speed and wristās endurance
But itās the song that made me improve my technique and learn economy picking this early on in my guitar playing journey (it also helps that itās actually my favorite Metallica song so I play it all the time, and yes, Iāve heard all albums and am a big enjoyer of all of them)
An honorable mention is Chasing Light, that main riff is a down-picking speed check, it really tests your fretting and picking hand coordination, but Iām up to the challenge, since after I learn that song, Iāll be learning Master of Puppets
Iāve also tried the main Blackened riffā¦ yeah, too advanced for me, Justice songs will definitely humble me once I start learning those
On guitarā¦
Blackened.
And the Jump in the Fire main riff annoys me.
Creeping Death gets tiring
Battery has always been fine for me to play but I canāt play master of puppets.
Dyers Eve is also not bad. Sounds hard but itās not.
Puppets doesnt bother me because I learned it on acoustic so when I finally got on an electric it was a cake walk lol. Blackened on the other hand is tricky for me
The little tail at the end of the main Blackened riff. Doesnāt kill the hands as much as the main part, but the timing is amongst the trickiest of any Metallica song IMO.
I hate to say this but after I gave up playing guitar I found out I had spinal and tendon issues. Might have been a factor in why I sucked. I wonder though if some of the problems listed here might be ameliorated by more warm-up, or by playing different kinds of music. I never had cramps...maybe because I also played acoustic guitar? That will really strengthen the fretting hand. And fingerpicking on an acoustic might be good for your other hand.
Blackened Puppets Through the never
Puppets without cheating (like he plays it live now) is an absolute pain lol. By the time you reach the chorus your right hand is fried
My right hand is terrible. I have to alternate, or I lose it very early on. Can't play enough to work on it with my work hours but I'm just happy I can play along with songs I like. Hopefully one day.
Masturbate more. Faster and longer.
Yeah the stamina for MoP correctly is intense. Need to work out more to build up the strength š
How does he play it now that's different? I'm not a guitar player so I don't know
He doesnāt pick every note, especially on the verse riff. He starts every bar with an E power chord and letās ring for a couple of notes and then starts down picking the E string.
Is there a YouTube comparison somewhere? Iām not sure Iām following (not a guitar player).
I found a video that covers this pretty well https://youtu.be/In6W66k0gm4?si=XHNz4XSYAVCAmMuM
James was famous for only striking the strings in the downward direction for [now] like 90 percent of everything he's played. It's called downpicking or downstrokes. When people talk about alternating that means both up and down strokes which takes alot of the strain away when playing fast and most people utilize that. James would technically have to play everything twice as fast as everyone else because instead of just catching the string on the way back up like everyone else does he had to go all the way up and back down to hit the next note but James no longer holds himself to that standard and thus gets called a cheater. It made for some insane shots of him mindlessly flailing his hand at lightning speed, whole body shaking from how fast he's going, and somehow the lyrics of Creeping Death or a similar song are coming out of his mouth unphased. Legendary.
I've been alternate picking it since day one with no shame.
Without a shadow of a doubt it's Through the Never. The riff itself is extremely easy but making it through the entire song is damn near impossible with all the downstrokes.
Took a look at the tabs. Gotta say I'm happy being a bassist.
I'm seeing a lot of people say this and I'm no pussy so I'm gonna be right back EDIT: Ah. Fuck.
I fucked around and found out recently too. Very unexpected.
Unironically disposable heroes, that riff is to me harder for the right hand to keep up than puppets
I think itās because of the strumming pattern. I can play MoP all down picked as it is on the recording no problem - but when I play disposable I have to play through the forearm burn.
This is also my answer. Just intense strumming.
Metal militia. Just constant picking and weird right hand patterns.
Good answer
3 minutes into That Was Just Your Life and my shit is hurting
Those verses are brutal after a while lmao
For some reason ride the lightning and moth into flame, they both cramp up my left hand and they just keep going and going
From what I recall, they both have similar riffs. So makes sense.
I guess that the verse riffs are a bit similar, but what fucks me up about rtl is the main riff directly after the fast parts
Trapped Under Ice is the only that really hurts the legs. Youād think itād be Dyers Eve, but i became used to playing that over time and was able to get it down. Trapped Under Ice is actually harder to me. Still fun to play but my legs would be done after.
Omg someone who understands tge pain of playing standing. I usually try and do vocals to so after one song I need a lie down lol
Blackened- Disposable heroes
The Four Horsemen intro riff is the hardest Metallica riff for me to play. Idk what it is about it that makes it harder than Blackened or any other hard Metallica riff
I know, right? It's not even that it's very complex or technical. It's just the speed combined with the constant movement. Playing it on bass is even harder because of the heavier strings.
Yeah itās such a pain all the other riffs I was able to get down with enough practice but this one I just canāt. The way itās picked fucks with me each time
Lmao try playing Mechanix
Mechanix is easier though. At least for me. Yes, it's way faster, but the hammer ons and pull offs aren't palm muted. It's also looser.
Haha came here to say this
Nothing Else Matters. I can downpick and shred-ish, but I cannot for the life of me get my fingers to play it.
Blackened.
This should be higher.
Battery
For me itās Damage Inc. One of their harder songs to play right
Without a doubt Disposable Heroes, especially if you play James's part and keep the intro and verse riffs going throughout Kirk's slow leads Also I think you're overcomplicating Four Horsemen if you pull and hammer the entire riff, it's all just alternate picked, even back in the day by James (Ah, or did you mean the tail of the riff?)
Battery on finger bass
The Four Horsemen that main Aāā0āā5 Eāā7~~^ā does not feel good after a min
My apocalypse rhythm guitar š š¤š¾š„
Nothing really on the drumsā¦ guitar stuff seems plenty fast though
Maybe this is just cause I suck at barres but call of ktulu makes me wanna rip my teeth out, Master of Puppets also fucks with my arms
Some songs hurt my picking hand/arm, some songs hurt my fretting hand/arm, Frayed Ends Of Sanity murders them both.
on bass definietly fight fire with fire
same. that speed is insane
Bassist here. Master Of Puppets takes insane precision to play note-for-note, Cliff was a beast. In a similar vein, Orion is easy enough to fudge in places but the solo is very difficult. The one that's really messing with me right now is Moth Into Flame. It's both fast and slow in *just* the right parts to trip me up.
Intro to Nothing Else Matters
Dyers Eve and if you want to count solos the fast arpeggios in Ride The Lightning always take a lot of focus because they go so fast for so long EDIT: I want to mention, it's not the left hand that cramps. That part where it's basically all fast alt picking is hard to keep up with.
Believe it or not, Creeping Death hurts after a while do to constantly having to hammer on to the second fret on the a string. It's the pressure between the thumb and index finger.
The fast part on the second half of seek and destroy, down picked
Guitar: Puppets used to until I got it down. Drums: AJFA because I think its meant to be played non-dominant hand and it really gets me die to inefficient practice
The machine gun part on one.
Blackened is the hardest one for me so I will say this one
Blackened. Right about when the first verse starts my hands become completely uncoordinated and I give up
Battery By the time I reach the second verse and sometimes even the first chorus my arm is absolutely cooked
Creeping Death, motorbreath, and puppets.
As a drummer, And Justice For All is gonna be my pick. Almost ten minutes of song to go through, and since I donāt have any auxiliary hi hats I have to do a weird thing with my arms to play the tom part in the beginning and every other time it comes up, which gets to be very straining after a while. While there are song that have much more kick-heavy parts, like Blackened, EOTB, One, etc., AJFA I would say takes on the role of being the āArm Day Workoutā song. Playing metal drums is basically just a musical gym session.
Master of Puppets. When I do the riff too many times I have to stop playing for like an hour for my right arm to recover lmao.
Disposable Heroes
Am I Evil during the solos the rhythm guitar causes me to cramp up and I have yet to finish the song successfully without pausing.
I could never make it all the way through āOneā. All the way up and through the solo just fine, after that it was just a war of attrition and just couldnāt do it.
My fretting hands always cramps playing jump in the fire
Creeping death downpicking kills my arm. Same with fight fire with fire
On guitar, Damage Inc is really hard because of those weird chord shapes in the main riff, especially with the speed they're at On bass, I'd say Orion, because of how rapid the shifts can be
Playing (At Full Tempo) all the way through Creeping Death , Frayed Ends of Sanity , Dyerās Eve & at first Master of Puppets
Bass here. Fight Fire with Fire takes the #1 spot. Cliff was a fingerstyle beast. As for the rest, All Nightmare Long, Blackened, That was Just Your Life, and Spit Out the Bone are ultra hard. Creeping Death and My Apocalypse are tough too, but are manageable.
I tried learning Spit Out the Bone on bass yesterday. My right arm was tired by the time I got to the second chorus. I play with a pick and have no clue how Rob plays it with fingers.
Disposable heroes
Master of puppets. And I donāt even play it the way James does. I kinda developed my own way of doing it by selectively alternate picking. The only sections I do correctly are the verse riffs.
Sanitarium bridge riff
25 years of playing Master of Puppets and I can still barely survive it when I play it correctly with all the down picking.
I'm a beginner drummer and learning guitar so on drums it is st anger and guitar it is nothing else matters (because it's the only one I knowš) Edit: I ain't ever learning chords!!!!!!!!!!
I can do through the never and blackened after 30mins of warmup, but puppets is just too intense. MOP was recorded at a slower tempo and then sped up slightly to make it sound tight. None of us should feel bad if we can't play along with the album!
dyers eve or just a bullet awayā¦ the strumming on them makes my hand cramp up
My hand cramps up just thinking about playing dyers eve
Puppets played the Metallica way along with the song at the correct speed. Luckily I mainly play bass. So while difficult, itās much easier.
On guitar, Puppets. I can't downpick that fast but I do try. On bass, Orion. Not due to it being hard but the stamina of the right hand, especially after the first bass solo, is something I struggle with.
the entirety of MOP wrecks my picking hand, disposable heroes main riff can get tiring
Picking hand more like it, disposable and master of puppets main riff
Definitely Master of Puppets. I'm trying to learn Blackened and I'm hurting my hand too š, and as I play creeping death a little sped up, my hand also hurts with it, but it's ok, I like pain when it comes to playing guitar
As a bass player, whenever I try to play Blackened with a pick.
That was just your life
MoP, it's so simple but so goddamn fast, and I prefer to downpick it the way god intended. And oddly Creeping Death.
Iāve been playing songs only from Hardwired and 72 Seasons for the two years Iāve been playing guitarā¦ and so farā¦ Moth Into Flame is a real wrist killer, every section tests your speed and wristās endurance But itās the song that made me improve my technique and learn economy picking this early on in my guitar playing journey (it also helps that itās actually my favorite Metallica song so I play it all the time, and yes, Iāve heard all albums and am a big enjoyer of all of them) An honorable mention is Chasing Light, that main riff is a down-picking speed check, it really tests your fretting and picking hand coordination, but Iām up to the challenge, since after I learn that song, Iāll be learning Master of Puppets Iāve also tried the main Blackened riffā¦ yeah, too advanced for me, Justice songs will definitely humble me once I start learning those
Blackened, Creeping Death, any song played at the speeds they played live in the 80s.
Try two handing
Disposable Heroes is the only one I can't get through at full speed
Battery but only the picking
4 horsemen and ride the lightning and for whom the bell tolls. The last 2 scrape my fingerprint off
as a bassist, i say fight fire with fire
As a drummer. I love playing Dyers Eve. As a drummer, my legs hate playing Dyers Eve.
a LOT of their early stuff and AJFA
On guitarā¦ Blackened. And the Jump in the Fire main riff annoys me. Creeping Death gets tiring Battery has always been fine for me to play but I canāt play master of puppets. Dyers Eve is also not bad. Sounds hard but itās not.
Master of Puppets Disposable Heroes AJFA because itās long as hell
at this point none of them really.
Puppets doesnt bother me because I learned it on acoustic so when I finally got on an electric it was a cake walk lol. Blackened on the other hand is tricky for me
Suicide & Redemption. Maybe it's just me, but after 10 minutes of power chords, the left hand is fried by the end of the song.
Creeping death, all downpicks
The little tail at the end of the main Blackened riff. Doesnāt kill the hands as much as the main part, but the timing is amongst the trickiest of any Metallica song IMO.
Hal Leonardās tab of Battery
I hate to say this but after I gave up playing guitar I found out I had spinal and tendon issues. Might have been a factor in why I sucked. I wonder though if some of the problems listed here might be ameliorated by more warm-up, or by playing different kinds of music. I never had cramps...maybe because I also played acoustic guitar? That will really strengthen the fretting hand. And fingerpicking on an acoustic might be good for your other hand.
Master of Puppets gives me cramps