How to Play Metalcore on Guitar

And Getting Familiar with the Genre

A Matura Paper by Yannic Kuna, 2013/2014

In collaboration with Beat Hüppin

www.metalcoreonguitar.wordpress.com

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Contents 1. Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................... 3

2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

3. What is Metalcore? .............................................................................................................................. 5

4. August 2010 (about the author)................................................................................................... 7

5. Before it starts ....................................................................................................................................... 8

5.1 Guitar ............................................................................................................................................................ 8

5.2 Pick (Plectrum) ...................................................................................................................................... 10

5.3 Metronome .............................................................................................................................................. 10

5.4 Tuning ........................................................................................................................................................ 11

5.5 Tabulature ................................................................................................................................................ 12

6. Techniques ........................................................................................................................................... 14

6.1 Power chords .......................................................................................................................................... 14

6.2 Palm Muting (+chugs) ......................................................................................................................... 16

6.3 Hammer-on and pull-offs ................................................................................................................... 17

6.4 Bending ..................................................................................................................................................... 18

6.5 Chewy Riffs .............................................................................................................................................. 18

6.6 Pinch Harmonics ................................................................................................................................... 20

6.7 Tremolo Picking ..................................................................................................................................... 20

6.8 Solos ........................................................................................................................................................... 21

6.8.1 How to Write a Guitar Solo ............................................................................................................ 21

6.8.2 Tips .......................................................................................................................................................... 21

6.9 Tapping ..................................................................................................................................................... 23

6.10 Sweep Picking ...................................................................................................................................... 24

7. How to get better? ............................................................................................................................. 26

8. Avoiding common mistakes ........................................................................................................ 28

9. Interview with the guitarists of "Save Your Last Breath" ............................................ 30

10. Final Words .......................................................................................................................................... 34

11. References ............................................................................................................................................ 35

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1. Acknowledgement

There are a few people, without whose help this project would not have become what it

is now. Special thanks go to:

Beat Hüppin, my guitar teacher, for supervising me throughout the process of

writing and graciously contributing his time, energy and ideas;

The guitarists of "Save Your Last Breath", for participating in the interview;

The YouTuber from "My boring Channel"1, for showing me the magnificence of

having a Wordpress-website;

Patrick Ralston, for fine-tuning and proofreading this document;

And you, the reader of "How to Play Metalcore on Guitar"!

2. Introduction

Whether successfully advising my little sister on how to tie her shoelaces or getting my

classmates to understand that really difficult math problem; seeing someone improve in

a certain discipline due to the fact that I assisted them, is what really keeps me going and

makes me happy. In my opinion there is so much beauty in that procedure, which is why

creating study material or even becoming a school teacher doesn't seem unreasonable

to me. These are two goals I would really like to achieve. I am delighted at already hav-

ing reached the first one of these.

Absolutely no doubts came up when I was playing with the idea of creating a teaching

aid regarding the content. Playing Metalcore on guitar has had a huge impact on my life

and always gives me much pleasure. Logically, I chose that.

I feel that the best teachers are the ones that love their subject from the bottom of their

hearts and I'm definitely provided with that.

What you are about to read is the pure result of my appreciation of Metalcore and the

art of teaching. As part of a major high school project I wanted to turn that combination

in reality.

1 http://www.youtube.com/user/mreae?feature=watch

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German is my native tongue and therefore many of my peers were frowning regarding

the language I chose for this paper. I do have to admit that it is rather risky and has some

downsides such as having a slower working progress or not getting on the same level of

professional language. However, in my opinion, the advantages are way more dominant;

English is the fourth most spoken language in the world while German is only the tenth.2

So, addressing as many readers as possible and spreading my work more easily over the

globe are the main reasons for my decision.

At this point I also want to make you aware that there is no such thing as the best pick,

the best way to learn new techniques or the best guitarist. Everything is, when it comes

to music, a matter of taste and preference and that’s good. It keeps things interesting

and makes people come up with new ideas because if there was, let us say a best music

genre; we would’ve already found and stuck to it.

What I am trying to say is the following: This book represents my attempt at making you

acquainted with how I see this type of music and how I play guitar. Essentially, that is all

I can do.

HAVE FUN

And whenever you have a question just ask me on the "Questions and Feedback" section

on my website and I’ll try to respond as soon as I can.

2 http://www.vistawide.com/languages/top_30_languages.htm

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3. What is Metalcore?

Metalcore is a music-fusion genre that incorporates elements of heavy metal and hard-

core punk.

Elements

Energetic Vocals

Loud and distorted

Guitar

Dense Bass and

Drum Sound

Instrumental Cast:

2 guitars, a bass and

drums

Provoking and/or

political lyrics

Suppressed lead guitar

melodies and empha-

size rhythm to achieve

the "in-your-face" kind

of sound

Greater use of the bass

Loud, hard and fast

All the mentioned

elements plus:

Breakdown

Dissonance

Double Bass

Drumming

Religious lyrics

(Christianity)

Notable Bands

Black Sabbath

Judas Priest

Iron Maiden

The Sex Pistols

NOFX

Billy Talent

Trivium

Underoath

Killswitch

Engage

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It’s extremely hard to find one band that lays the foundation for the genre because the

band itself was also influenced by other bands, moving the start further back in time.

Therefore drawing a line and saying "in this year with this band Metalcore started" is

really difficult and individual. Here is my view on this. I am going to divide the history

into two groups:

In about 1985-2000 Bands like As I Lay Dying or Slipknot started using char-

acteristics that denote the genre.

With the beginning of the new Millennium Metalcore also had its very special

turning point. From that point in time onwards, this type of music was

brought to the masses. People started wearing band shirts and going to shows

more often. One could say it became "Mainstream". Bullet for my Valentine,

Asking Alexandria or The Devil Wears Prada were some the initiators of the

genres commercial success.

[Image 1] Mick Thompson and James Root from Slipknot

[Image 3]Chris Rubey from the Devil Wears Prada

[Image 2] Tim Lambesis and Nick Hipa from As I Lay Dying

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4. August 2010 (about the author)

As the sun was rising I was already widely awake. Few sunrays were shining directly in

my eyes. While blinking I started smiling because of the sudden realization of what was

going to happen today.

"You forgot to brush your teeth and you didn’t bring out the garbage… and ouh, you’re

also wearing two different kinds of socks." my mom said. "Yes, that’s true. I’m sorry" I

didn’t want to argue with her because I was happy that she took the time to get up at

7.30 on a Saturday in the most beautiful month of the year and drive me to the nearest

music store. "Are you sure you want to do this? 700 bucks is a lot of money." she asked.

"Yes, I am." I calmly replied. Never had I been more confident about an action.

Already knowing where to find the object of my desire, determined, I walked to the right

side of the store. A Fender Stratocaster sunburst was looking at me with huge eyes. I

picked it up and started playing a vague version of the intro to "Scar Tissue" by Red Hot

Chili Peppers that I had been practicing on my godfather’s western guitar in the last

couple of weeks. The employee grinned at me with an arch yet optimistic tone that kind

of made me lose my confidence, buy the guitar and leave this store as fast as I could. And

that was exactly what I did.

After unpacking the guitar and the amp at home I found

myself again. By skipping dinner I had even more time

to play some old Blink-182 songs. At first I really strug-

gled playing guitar though. I had so many questions.

How am I supposed to hold my pick? How should I use

the metronome? What does "tapping" mean? All of the-

se problems lead me into an insecure thinking and loss

of patience. Also because of all the hours I spent search-

ing on the web for certain issues. It would have been

way more productive if I had actually improved my gui-

tar skills instead of wasting time on the web.

My goal is to make sure you don’t have to deal with the same problems I had when

starting off. I see this lesson as "booster" in view of skipping all the unnecessary hours

and enhance your knowledge and abilities the fastest way possible by giving you a basic

feeling of playing this genre on guitar, decorated with useful tips.

[Image 4]

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5. Before it starts

5.1 Guitar

For the sake of clarity it is appropriate to know the components of an electric guitar and

their relevance.

[Image 5]

Even though every guitar looks different because of various designs and configurations

of the bridge or pickups, the composition, as far as the three parts of the guitar go, is al-

ways the same.

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Every electric guitar has a:

Headstock with tuning pegs

This where you tune your guitar and find the name of the company that produced your

instrument. The headstock also contains the nut which is responsible for holding and

supporting the strings.

Neck

The neck is where your fretting hand is located when playing. The guitarist has usually

got 21 to 24 frets to choose from. The double-point marks the twelfth fret, which is a

very useful guidance when playing. The higher the number of the fret, the higher is the

note.

Body

The body contains a selector switch to set your preferred pickup. The pickup can cap-

ture the sound you’re making with the strings. There is a big difference in sound be-

tween using the neck and the bridge pickup. A thicker, juicier tone can be achieved with

the neck pickup, whilst using the bridge pick up a thinner "in-your-face kind of sound is

transmitted. I recommend changing the pickup every once-in-a-while to really feel the

difference and find out what’s best for each part.

Guitars have bridges to connect them with the body. Your instrument will have either a

loose vibrato bridge with a whammy bar (Tremolo) or a fixed non-vibrato bridge.

"Tremolo" comes from the Italian and means tremble, which describes the motion of this

device when used very well. The guitarist grasps his whammy bar and gently goes up

and down at a forced rate. That gives it the characteristic, vibrating sound. Since this

process barely arises in Metalcore I will not digress into further explanation. Nonethe-

less, check out this video if you would like to find out more about that subject:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB_-DcmAmOc

The output jack is the socket into which you plug the cable to connect to the amp and

by mooring your belt to the strap-pin the option to stand while playing results.

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5.2 Pick (Plectrum)

Picks come in all different shapes and thicknesses. At the beginning I recommend using

Fender medium picks. Of course it doesn’t have to be a Fender pick but in my opinion

they’re the easiest to use and give every beginner a good, basic feeling for playing with a

pick.

Most guitarists hold their pick like this:

The plectrum is placed between index finger

and thumb creating a 90° angle to the guitar.

[Image 6]

This is JB Brubaker, lead guitarist of a band

called August Burns Red and arguably the

most brilliant and creative head Metalcore

has seen to this date.

Now, if you take a closer look at his picking

hand, one can see that JB places his plectrum

between middle (not index) finger and

thumb creating a weird looking fist.

What I’m trying to show is the following:

Playing guitar is all about comfort. As long as

it works for you and doesn’t hurt, it is per-

fectly fine.

5.3 Metronome

I cannot stress enough how important using a metronome is. Especially when perform-

ing with a band, knowing how to play to a click is crucial.

[Image 7]

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On one hand the metronome sets the mood as the faster the clicking noise is, the quicker

the song. Once a song is polished, the metronome is no longer necessary as the drummer

takes over this role by hitting either the cymbal or the hi-hat to indicate the tempo of the

tune.

On the other hand the metronome is a device that helps you play in time and is a great

aid in building up your speed. We’ll talk about this later.

One can play a note for every click which would be quarter notes; 2 per click would re-

semble eighth and so on. The metronome is set in beats per minute (bpm).

If you don’t own a metronome, just google "online metronome" and you’ll find tons of

good sites equally as good as a physical device.

5.4 Tuning

The term "tuning" refers to the tonal relation of each string to the others.

When buying your first guitar it will most likely come with standard tuning and that’s

fine. However, playing Metalcore with standard tuning is like eating with a fork in Japan;

theoretically possible but extremely uncommon. Simply because it is not low enough.

Following are the most common tunings:

(#=a half step higher)

Standard: EADGBe

(Lowest String is an E and the highest, thinnest string is an e- two octaves higher)

Tune the lowest string (E) one step down (so it matches with your other D-string)

Drop D: DADGBE

Tune all the strings a half step down

Drop C#: C#G#C#F#A#D#

Tune all the strings a half step down

Drop C: CGCFAD

Tune all the strings a half step down

Drop B: BF#BEG#C#

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Tune all the strings a half step down

Drop A#: A#FA#D#GC

Tune all the strings a half step down

Drop A: AEADF#B

Each of the above instructions refers to the tuning above it.

E.g. If your guitar is tuned to Drop D and desire your instrument to be in drop B, you’d

have to tune all the strings down one and a half (1.5) steps.

The most common tuning for a seven-string is Drop G or Drop F

Drop G: GDGCFAD

Tune all the strings a half step down

Drop F: FCFA#D#GC

5.5 Tabulature

Before moving on to discuss the various playing techniques I would like to familiarize

you with the tabulature-system in order to make further explanation easier and more

natural to follow.

Tabulature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering. For conven-

ience, modern guitarists like to use the shortened form "tab".

The example tabulator below makes it really simple to see how this little drop D riff is

played.

[Image 8]

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The tabulature is read from left to right. So, you'd have to play the two 0s first then the 3

and 5 on the A string and so on. The very first two notes are written one above the other

(vertically), which means that they are played at the same time.

The top line of a tab represents the string highest in pitch yet closest to the ground (here

an E) while the bottom line represents the string lowest in pitch yet furthest from the

ground (here a D). If you were to lie your guitar down with the tuning pegs pointing to-

wards you, the order of the strings would match the lines of the tab.

Each number refers to the respective fret on the fretboard.

E.g. a “3” on the A string means you need to press the string down on the third fret (also

counted from the left). When there's no number you don't have to play anything.

Don’t worry about the symbols like the small bow or the b. We’ll be talking about this in

the “Techniques” chapter.

Be aware of the fact that you can’t stick to the tabulator as your only way of learning

new music since this notation is only intended to assist with fingering and has no means

of representing other aspects such as rhythm. You would either have to listen to the

original song to get the tempo or learn to read sheet music.

I would also like to make you aware that, finding out which note should be played with

which finger and in which direction the last chord should be strummed (up or down)

can't be recognized from the tab either.

The tabs to all of your favourite songs can be found on: www.ultimate-guitar.com

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6. Techniques

The following techniques are typical of the genre and build the foundation for playing

Metalcore on guitar, which means that once you master all of these, you should be able

to play every Metalcore song written to this date. It's like learning to read; once you

grasp it, you can read every book. Of course, it needs time and patience to understand

the specific book (song) and you're limited to the language in which you learnt to read

(genre), but that's no different to playing music.

For every technique a little example to play along to can be found on my website in the

"tabs" section. I strongly suggest you learn them in order to get used to them faster.

6.1 Power chords

The power chord forms the basic shape of playing guitar in any style of rock and metal

and is therefore essential to learn. Fortunately, it is really easy.

[Image 9] Most common power chords represented on a standard tuning (EADGBe) tabulature system

If you take a look at the tabulature the same pattern is recognizable for all the power

chords. They are always held with one finger on the E or A string and the two frets on

the strings below which are located two frets further away from the root note.

There are guitarists, who hold their power chords with the index finger, middle and

pinky [Image 11] and some that only use index and ring finger, whereas the ring finger

needs to hold down two notes [Image 12]. Try to find out what best suits you.

The root note can be on every single fret, making the power chord extremely versatile.

However, when starting to form the power chord I recommend doing it on the higher

frets since they’re closer together. The smaller distance makes it easier for you to form

the chords, because the fingers don't need stretching as much.

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Be aware that every power chord has an equivalent open chord that’s the same note.

Therefore you can either play a "577" power chord on the A-string or do a normal D

chord.

One of the great advantages of using drop tunings is that power chords, which require

the lowest string, need only one finger to be held down. [Image 13]

Let’s say we want to perform an Eb in the shape of a power chord on a drop C tuning. In

the tabulature above we see that in a standard tuning we’d have to hit the first fret on

the low E string to do so. However, now with the dropped tuning, making the lowest

string one step lower the third fret is necessary. This way we achieve the easier “333”-

formation instead of the “133”.

[Image 10] Most common power chords represented on a drop C (CGCFAD) tabulature system

[Image 11] 355-power chord [Image 12] 355-power chord [Image 13] 333-power chord

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The following variation is also quite common. This is a normal power chord, where the

middle note on the D-string is replaced by an "x", indicating you should dampen the

string (make it silent) by resting the flat of your index finger over the string while, at the

same time, using the tip of that finger to hit the root note on the high A-string. Now

you'll only have a two-note-power-chord with a very sharp and characteristic sound

that's often used in choruses.

[Image 14] Chorus from "Not the American average" by Asking Alexandria

6.2 Palm Muting (+chugs)

Every single note can be played either open or palm

muted. Most relevant is where you place your palm.

When not touching the strings at all while picking a

note, it is open and when touching the strings slight-

ly with your palm the note is being palm muted.

You can try for yourself to find the best location in

which to place your palm in order to get the best

palm muted sound. “The further away from the

fretboard” is a little rule of mine to get the heaviest

sound.

As you probably know, the "breakdown" is one of the idiosyncratic characteristics of the

genre. They are basically palm muted power chords with the form “00”. That means,

usually only the open top two strings are played when doing a breakdown. Alternate

picking is also here advisable. Try it out and I’m sure you will recognize the striking

sound.

[Image 15]

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If you feel comfortable playing a power chord and palm muting, you can already play a

couple of Metalcore songs. "Alerion" by Asking Alexandria is, in my opinion, a really

good choice to get started. Listen to the song a couple of times then look up the tabs and

try to play along. As soon as covering this track feels like a piece of cake I'd advise you to

move on and pick up some more cool techniques.

Original Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPNYVijoE4E

Tabs: http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/a/asking_alexandria/alerion_tab.htm

6.3 Hammer-on and pull-offs

The little bow you have already noticed in the tabs above stands for a hammer-on (from

the third to the fourth fret on the low E string) and can also be represented by an "h" or

a "p". It basically means that you play two notes while only picking the string once. This

sounds a lot harder than it is. Just play any note and then, without using your picking

hand, place a finger on any fret on the same string that’s got a higher fret number than

the one you pressed down in the first place. There you go; you just did a hammer-on.

Doing it the other way round, from a higher to a lower fret number will get you a pull-

off.

Of course you can use these procedures more than once (E.G. 5h7h8) and even combine

the two techniques (E.G. 5h8p7)

The goal would be to make every note sound equally loud. In the beginning the root note

will probably be louder than the following one(s); in which case you’d have to press a

little harder. However, only apply the amount of pressure that is needed. Pushing too

hard will lead to a cramped and tense playing.

“The slide”, which you have all probably heard in various songs, is simply a long pull-off

over the entire fretboard. To get the idea, check out August Burns Red’s song “redemp-

tion”. A really slow slide can easily be heard in the very beginning, for which they use a

pick.

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6.4 Bending

Who hasn’t heard the wonderful bendings

during the introduction of Iron Maiden’s

song "Run to the Hills"? (Go check it out if

you have not already done so!)

They are simply done by stretching the

string in order to get a higher sounding note.

On four of the six strings it is up to you

whether you are pulling the string down or

up. However, the lowest string has to be

stretched downwards in order to prevent it

from going over the fret board. Similarly, in the case of the highest string, it needs to be

pulled upwards. The strings are almost always bent either a half or a full step. This

knowledge builds the basis of a great exercise to improve the accuracy of your bendings.

Try the following: chose any fret (preferably one in the middle of the neck, since these

are easier to bend) and flex the string just enough that it sounds equal to one fret higher

for a half step and two frets higher for a whole step.

(E.g. a bend on the ninth fret to the tenth fret resembles a half step and from the ninth to

the eleventh fret an entire step.)

A bending is usually displayed by a "b" in the tabs.

6.5 Chewy Riffs

Since "chewy riff" is a term I came up with I recommend you to go listen to the Miss May

I track whose tabs you can see below, to make sure we're talking about the same thing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RQzomsa1IY

At 1:10 this technique gets started.

It doesn't matter whether you play technical bands like Erra or simple Metalcore like

Asking Alexandria; there are two things you'll surely encounter; the breakdown and

"chewy riffs". Let's talk about the second one.

[Image 16]

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They are a very popular verse riff and look like this as a tab:

[Image 17] Verse Riff from "Forgive and Forget" by Miss May I

You can see that the riff kicks off with two palm-muted notes, which are indicated by the

stars. Since the notes on the G-string are not palm muted (no stars), your palm needs to

lie only on the low C-string whilst the G-string is kept open. I would suggest not alternat-

ing (using up and down strokes) these two notes because then, after you hit the second

note, your pick is on the way up. Your right hand would then have to make greater effort

to reach back to the G string in order to play the eighth fret. You'll have this problem

with every even amount of successive notes. However playing six or even just four

down-strokes in this tempo is way to tiring.

Remember: Always play so you need as little power as possible. It’s a great way to pre-

vent a stiff wrist or even cramps.

A rough rule is to alternate the palm-muted bass notes in chewy riffs when there are

three or more in a row.

This riff is played with sixteenth notes at 120bpm. Try going down to perhaps 80bpm

and pick it up. It's a really great riff to get the idea. Once you get that you'll be able to

play so much more cool stuff.

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6.6 Pinch Harmonics

This technique is not really characteristic of

Metalcore. It appears in almost every genre in which

electric guitars are used.

To achieve this high pitched sound you would have

to touch the string quickly with the thumb of your

picking hand just after you hit a note. Bending the

string after that will help you maintain the sound.

[Image 18]

6.7 Tremolo Picking

Before we get started just do yourself a favor and go check out this little excerpt from

"Man Made Disaster" and pay particular attention to the guitars.

- At 1:40 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ykuf11YkmHo

Sounds awesome, doesn't it!

What you just heard is a technique called tremolo picking. It is very fast picking that

comes mostly from the wrist. You're going to want a non-tiring motion that you can keep

up for a long time without getting cramps or similar.

The best way to practice is (once again) with a metronome. Set it to any bpm you feel

comfortable with, and then try playing along with it. If you practice this every evening

for two minutes and every once in a while increase the tempo (not to fast though; per-

haps 10bpm every two days - not more) I will promise that your picking hand will im-

prove tremendously and you'll be able to play that catchy part from "Man Made Disas-

ter" very soon.

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6.8 Solos

Aren't Metal guitarists perceived as the ultimate shredders?- Unfortunately, not all of them. One of the main reasons Metalcore has been criticized by some guitar fanatics is the lack

of lead melodies and solos and the emphasis on rhythm, for which the breakdown is

most responsible.

For what it's worth, the lack of solos in Metalcore is a bummer. Only a few bands play

them on a regular basis and there are even Metalcore guitarists, who have contributed in

many albums without playing a single solo. I want to encourage you to try writing a solo,

because they can be extremely slick when placed correctly in a song. To this end I will

provide you the necessary steps to becoming a lead guitarist.

Keep in mind, one could write an entire book on this subject alone; I am only going to

scratch the surface.

6.8.1 How to Write a Guitar Solo

1) Learn the scales: A scale is a sequence of notes that give you something to hold

on to when trying to come up with a solo. They can help you find comfort zones

by giving you a rough idea or feeling in the form of a framework. It's easy to get

lost, because there are tons of different scales. I recommend you should take a

look at the pentatonic scales first since they're the easiest and many-sided scales

to learn. Check out the tabs section of my website to learn the very common "A

minor pentatonic" scale.

2) Practice: Try playing the scale to a metronome. The solo will sound much less

impressive if not played in rhythm. Start off very slowly so you can play it per-

fectly then gradually build up your speed.

6.8.2 Tips

Learn some solos from your favorite artists. Analyzing solos that inspire you is really

important. "Bullet for my Valentine" would be an excellent address here as they have a

really wide variety of kick-ass solos. If you are a beginner guitarist, look up "Say Good-

night" from the same band.

22

The opening lead-work is so well done and one of my personal highlights in the entire

history of Metalcore. It's slow, melodic and really emotional, matching the song perfect-

ly, which brings me to my next tip.

Speed and shredding are secondary when playing a solo. "Say Goodnight" is a really

good way to demonstrate that the top priority when playing a solo, or even when play-

ing guitar in general, should be to convey what you feel to the listener. The feeling is all

that really counts. I mean, as far as speed and shredding concerned, a machine could

easily play the craziest solos. However, I bet everyone would prefer three notes that re-

ally mean something coming from Bullet for my Valentine's lead guitarist than an entire

mechanical solo. Sometimes the fewest notes and the slowest pace can sound best and

mean the most. Finding a balance between these two elements will make your solo

sound amazing.

Mix your solo up with cool techniques. Bending, pinch harmonics or even simply palm

muting a note every once in a while keeps the solo interesting and maintains the listen-

er's interest.

Learn the chords on which your solo is based. That helps your brain structure the

solo. It is also easier to find new notes to continue with when figuring out a lead section.

Try your ideas out. Only working from scales can limit you so branch out. If a note

sounds right, it is right. Express yourself.

Fool around. Improvising solos to songs where there's not actually one is a great way to

obtain that special "solo-feeling". I still do that, because I think it is a great exercise.

Record your solo. You can then give your full attention to it because you're not playing

and so, more easily find stuff you think doesn’t sound that awesome and you'd like to

change. It doesn't have to be in great quality. This can be done simply with a cell phone.

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6.9 Tapping

Finger-tapping (or often shortened to simply "tapping") is itself a pretty simple tech-

nique, but needs a lot of practice because it's so far removed from the "traditional" way

of playing guitar. The main difference is that both of your hands are located on the fret-

board. The fingers of your picking-hand hammer on the string producing the desired

note. The hammer-on can either be achieved with your index- or, middle-finger or with

your pick. The following video is an example is tapping with a pick:

(At 1:49: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tajPROM8wk)

Even though, in my opinion, tapping with your pick is a lot more tedious and needs more

effort, you should try it out because it brings advantages such as having a clearer tone.

Find out what suits you best.

This technique can add an enormous amount of energy and speed to the song and is def-

initely worth giving a shot.

Here are some things you should definitely take a closer look at and keep in mind:

Proper hammer-on and pull-offs: These two techniques build the basic structure of

your tapping and therefore need to sound absolutely tight. It is advisable to start fairly

slow. However, the motion of the finger itself needs to be a quick and accurate move-

ment rather than calmly resting your finger on the fret board. Try imagining squashing

an insect with every hammer-on you perform, that's what helped me at first.

[Image 19]

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Picking hand position: For comfort of playing your hand should not be placed parallel

to the fret-board. By turning your hand slightly upwards, a more pleasant position will

follow automatically.

Palm muting: To achieve your preferred sound that only involves the notes you want to

be heard, the disturbing noise coming from the other unused strings needs to be damp-

ened. The best way to do so is by palm-muting all the strings not in use. Both of your

hands are involved in that procedure.

The fretting hand needs to slightly touch the string above with the tip of the finger that

is being used to play the note. Logically, you can only mute one string with that.

Instead of your fingers, the palm of your picking hand is required to mute every other

string that may produce any undesired or undesirable sounds. This will give your tap-

ping a much clearer and undisguised sound.

As I have already said, tapping is a really simple technique because you already basically

know all there is to know. Now you just need practice. Going to my website or learning

the tapping solo from "My apocalypse" by Escape the Fate would resemble two profi-

cient possibilities of doing so.

6.10 Sweep Picking

Ok, now we're getting technical! Sweep picking is one of the most prestigious things to

play on a guitar. Even though it may also be one of the coolest sounding techniques in

the genre, I'd strongly advise you not to start learning it before you manage to play the

other basic techniques perfectly. Since sweep picking requires a different style of pick-

ing, there's a risk in confusing it with normal alternate picking.

The basic premise is to simply pick a chord in a fluent motion without changing the pick-

ing direction (as opposed to alternate picking).

General

Speed: As you seek to appropriate something completely new (regarding the picking),

starting off slowly and carefully is absolutely vital; as is using a metronome.

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Effects: If you are in the process of familiarizing yourself with sweep picking, turn off

any amp-effects, especially distortion and delay. They are like an "audio-Photoshop" that

will dishonestly flatter your playing. However, in the beginning, all you want is an hon-

est representation of your playing to see what needs improving or requires more atten-

tion to accuracy. Aim for a clean and unforgiving sound at first. Obviously, when you can

perform a riff tightly, adding some cool effects is totally fine.

Picking hand

Holding the pick: Grasping your pick at a slight angle, as opposed to holding it parallel

to the strings, will make it easier to glide through the strings in a fluent motion. Holding

the pick rather loosely will strengthen the effect. You don't want to have a stiff hand and

beat the strings up; what you want is to achieve the smoothest feeling possible.

Picking from the elbow or the wrist? Frankly, both are possible and even common.

Try out both options and decide for yourself. As soon as you feel any sort of pain or es-

pecially cramps, changing to the other version is essential.

Palm-muting: Similar to tapping, making all the disturbing strings that are not being

used silent works best with your palm.

Fretting hand

The main task of your fretting hand is to play the notes as closely as possible without

overlapping them. Overlapping them will give you a bad and unclean sound. Your fingers

should switch from one note to the other like butter. In addition, make sure you don't

use too much force when a note was being used to pull your finger away, which will give

your sweeping riff the undesirable sound of pull-offs. Just gently loosen your finger: that

way you also save some energy.

I think actually seeing someone use this technique also helps you to understand the con-

cept of sweep picking. So, here would be a link to do so:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6XX-7f_-N8

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7. How to get better?

Practice is the key word here. The more you play, the better you get: it really is that sim-

ple. Nonetheless, finding something to play can be really tough sometimes.

Write your own songs or start covering some. Especially when starting off, writing your

own songs can be really difficult though. Just go to "ultimate-guitar.com" and pick some

of the tunes you really like. I would suggest to cover entire songs not only parts of it. It is

so much fun to learn your favorite songs on guitar. Here's a list with some of my favorite

recordings that are a lot of fun to play along to:

Band Album Tuning Difficulty

Asking Alexandria Stand up and Scream Drop D 1

Underoath They’re Only Chasing Safety Drop D 2

Underoath Define The Great Line Drop D 2

Adept Another Year of Disaster Drop D 2

The Devil Wears Prada

Plagues Drop D 1

Blessthefall Witness Drop D 2

The Amity Affliction Youngbloods Drop C# 2

Of Mice & Men Of Mice & Men (Self Titled) Drop C# 1

Of Mice & Men The Flood Drop C 1

Texas In July One Reality Drop C 3

While She Sleeps This Is The Six Drop C 3

August Burns Red Messengers Drop C 3

August Burns Red Constellations Drop C 4

August Burns Red Leveler Drop C 4

I the Breather These Are My Sins Drop C 3

Miss May I Apologies Are for the Weak Drop C 3

Oh, Sleeper Children of Fire Drop C 4

The Word Alive Deceiver Drop C 3

The Air I Breathe Great Faith In Fools Drop C 5

The Devil Wears Prada

Zombie EP Drop B 3

Bury Tomorrow The Union Of Crowns Drop B 3

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Band Album Tuning Difficulty

Parkway Drive Killing With A Smile Drop B 3

Parkway Drive Horizons Drop B 3

Parkway Drive Deep Blue Drop B 3

Like Moths To Flames When We Don’t Exist Drop A# 2

Breakdown of Sanity Mirrors Drop A 4

Breakdown of Sanity Perception Drop A 4

Northlane Singularity Drop F 3

Difficulty: Obviously the numbers are a pretty vague declaration. Not every song is as

hard is every other one on the record. However, they give you an idea of what you can

expect from the piece. Just start off with the low numbers and build your way up to

"Great Faith in Fools", which represents ultimate and almost unplayable shredding

throughout every single song.

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8. Avoiding common mistakes

Listed here are some notorious traps, as well as possible ways of fixing them.

Pushing too hard: Reducing fretting-hand tension is a very good way of saving energy.

Just press as softly as possible to achieve a sound.

Try touching a string and start pressing it down very slowly while picking the string.

You’ll be surprised by how little pressure is required.

Finding the balance between pressing too hard and too soft will make your guitar play-

ing much smoother and more fluent.

Speed-issues: If you can't seem to build up speed, the metronome is your key to suc-

cess. Tilting your pick, especially when trying to familiar yourself with tremolo picking,

is really helpful too.

"Noodling": This means that, during your lead sections, you constantly shred without

letting the music take a breath. For instance, playing five dozen sixteenth-notes that are

all equal in is considered noodling. Knowing the difference between noodling and solo-

ing makes your guitar playing much more powerful. Always let your music breathe.

Playing too much and/or too fast can be suffocating for the listener; holding a note gives

them time to appreciate the guitar-playing even more.

Only play sitting down: Even today, I still have a pretty hard time playing guitar when

standing up. I really have to eke out a living when practicing with my band where not

being able to sit down for 3 hours isn't unusual. I'm just not used to performing when

standing up and possibly never will. All due to the fact that I was too lazy to ever get up

to play. So do yourself a favor and stand up every once-in-a-while to get used to that

feeling. You never know if you're going to join a band, when this may be vital.

Only focusing on one genre: To become a really versatile and well-balanced guitarist, I

recommend that once in a while you leave out the breakdown and pick up your acoustic

guitar.

29

Concentrating too much on certain fingers: I have seen way too many guitarists ne-

glecting their pinky-finger which seems unreasonable to me. Using all fingers will make

a lot of riffs more playable on the grounds that you have more fingers to choose from.

That leads to a smoother playing. So, finger independence should definitely be trained.

Slowly improving progress: I know that it is pretty tempting and a lot of fun to play

guitar while watching TV. The problem is that you're not really improving your skills.

This applies to any significant distractions.

Here's my tip: set yourself a fixed time to practice and then comply with that schedule.

Remember that practicing guitar is not that different from studying (yet with the huge

difference that it is actually fun) because it doesn't matter whether you're learning

French vocabulary or that really confusing breakdown; a 20-minutes-a-day practice is

far more efficient than a 2-hour Sunday practice. Also, put your phone away and focus

your entire concentration on the instrument you're holding. Discipline, patience, dedica-

tion and persistence are the keys to success.

Not being used to dealing with frustration: Playing guitar needs a lot of patience be-

cause when learning something new you'll not be able to get it done in the first 15

minutes. That's totally normal. If you lose your nerves or have sore fingers, just go for a

walk and try again later.

Overstrain your memory: Writing things down really encourages your memory. Espe-

cially when trying to learn a new breakdown, having the structure visible on a piece of

paper makes it easier to memorize.

Playing guitar while singing: is obviously not wrong but often approached incorrectly.

Many musicians with a great voice and superb guitar skills just can't seem to coordinate

these two tasks. The trick is to initially learn both parts separately. When you feel abso-

lutely secure you can slowly start humming or speaking along the song. Eventually you'll

get to sing the parts.

Not warming up: playing a few chill-tunes to warm up is really important. Otherwise

you're going to hurt yourself.

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9. Interview with the guitarists of "Save Your Last Breath"

Formed in 2011, the Metalcore band "Save Your Last Breath" has already made a name

for itself in the Swiss local scene. They are a prime example of what heavy music is all

about and are definitely worth checking out. In my opinion you can learn a lot from

them, which is the main reason for this little discussion.

Take a look at their band page on Facebook for more information:

https://www.facebook.com/SaveYourLastBreath?fref=ts

Moritz and Dominik

1. When did you start playing guitar and why did you pick it up?

I started to play guitar when I was eight years old. There are no rules and you can be

very creative. You can play whatever you like when you like and where you like. It's fas-

cinating how different guitarists let their feelings speak through their instrument.

I started with six or seven years. I had always fun with music, and one good thing about

the guitar is that you can take it with you wherever you go. My dad showed me the first

couple chords and I started to take guitar lessons.

[Image 20] Save Your Last Breath playing a gig in Hinwil

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2. What fascinates you about playing the heavier kind of music?

It is tricky to play and in my opinion there is so much more energy in heavy riffs.

I like it, because it’s not that easy to play and you have heavy but also very calm parts.

You can also mix a lot of genres in Metalcore, that’s also why there are so many different

styles of core.

3. Who are some guitarists you look up to and why?

Firstly, there is Joe Cocchi from the band "Within the Ruins" because he is really techni-

cal and has his very own and unique style to play.

Then there is Jack White because he is a working class hero that made it. He reached so

much and he is a very inspiring person. I love how you can recognize his feelings

through his guitar.

Two big influences to me are also Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy page, in my opinion they are

the most genius guitarists ever. There is so much creativity in their songs. Since I play

electric guitar I play their music and I never get tired of it!

One of my favourite guitarists is John Mayer. He’s not just an excellent guitarist; he’s also

a great singer and songwriter. I love his songs and guitar solos, they’re not fast but he

puts a lot of emotions in them, which you can really hear.

4. What guitar is your weapon of choice?

The Jim Root signature fender telecaster, because fender telecaster is a guitar with his-

tory and her sound is amazing. It's perfect to play and the clean sound is beautiful. You

can hear the typical warm fender sound.

My choice would be the Ibanez MTM1 and the ARZ700. They have both a very warm

clean sound and have a lot pressure if you play heavy stuff.

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5. What tuning does SYLB play in? What are the (dis-)advantages of this?

We play in drop C. I can't really say what the advantages are. I don’t care much about

tunings, for me it is fine.

We’re playing in drop C. I like it, because it’s heavy but the open chords aren’t that deep.

6. What’s something crucial for you when playing guitar?

I need enough space; I hate to play in my bedroom. I prefer it when there is enough

room around me.

I like to play with the Dunlop Ultex 1.14 picks and it’s always a good training to play with

a metronome.

7. How do you record your guitar?

I don’t really record much, just some riff ideas and I do this with garage band.

For simple and short ideas, I use garage band, because it’s very simple and fast. For

more serious stuff, I use FL studio.

8. Where do you think the genres headed? What are some of the trends

you’ve noticed and what is your feeling about them?

I think there is lot of cool stuff with synthesizers and bass-drops and things like that.

However, I don’t like this electro and trance core genres with over-auto tuned clean

voices.

I think there will be a more crossovers and it gets a lot heavier, because everyone wants

to make heavier stuff than other bands do.

33

9. Can you read sheet music? Would you recommend upcoming guitarists

to invest time in learning this?

I used to but nowadays I can't read them anymore. If you want to study music or some-

thing like that then I would. But if you just want to have fun with your instrument then

tabs are enough.

Yes, I can. I need it for the classical stuff I play. Hmm, if you just want to play Metalcore, I think you don’t need it. But as soon as you want to play for example classical or jazz mu-sic I’d recommend it.

10. Any tips for the beginner guitarists reading this?

Yes, you should start a band! My motivation is so much higher ever since I play in this

band. You also need to invest time and patience to practise.

You should definitely start a band or find some other people to play and practice to-gether. You can learn a lot from each other and you’ll get a lot of motivation. I would also recommend you to try out other genres, not just core, because you’ll develop your own core style with your influences and it never gets boring.

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10. Final Words

Even though this task has cost me a lot of patience, sweat and especially nerves, I have to

admit that it was absolutely worth it. It has greatly expanded my knowledge of

Metalcore, of managing my own website as well as working professionally with Mi-

crosoft Word. This process has even contributed significantly to the improvement of my

English. All in all, I have learnt so many new things and I hope you have too.

One of the main goals of this high school project is to encourage the student to think for

himself and develop maturity. I think that this is exactly the impact this task has had on

me.

By the end of this document you should be provided with a comprehensive overview of

playing Metalcore on guitar. With this I have built you a house; now it is up to you to

decorate it. Do not make it too plain. Stay creative and do not stick only to the guide-

lines; or as Moritz already said in the interview "there are no rules when playing guitar".

Keep the genre moving!

I have already mentioned in the introduction the possibility of asking me questions on

my website, and I really want you to take this to heart. In this guide, I have only covered

the most important aspects, without getting too lost in detail. Now you can build your

own branches. Therefore, don't hesitate to act when you're stuck building these branch-

es or misunderstanding anything in this paper. It takes five seconds type your question

in the box on my webpage and I would be more than happy to help you out.

Thank you so much for reading!

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11. References

All the illustrations mentioned below are not mine; they were found in on the following

websites:

[Cover photo]

https://pictureofthewind.wordpress.com/page/6/

[Image 1]

http://www.wallsave.com/wallpaper/1024x768/jim-root-mick-thompson-james-

460725.html

[Image 2]

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:As_I_Lay_Dying-8331.jpg

[Image 3]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/harry_manback/4014268461/

[Image 4]

http://www.igdb.co.uk/pages/beginners/names_of_the_parts_on_a_guitar.htm

[Image 6]

http://pbguitars.co.uk/holding-a-guitar-plectrum-or-pick/

[Image 7]

http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=5169609

[Image 8]

http://www.guitarchalk.com/2012/08/utilizing-drop-d-quick-riff-focusing-on.html

[Image 9] + [Image 10]

http://www.guitarnoise.com/lessons/drop-c-tuning/

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[Image 14]

http://tabs.ultimate-

guitar.com/a/asking_alexandria/not_the_american_average_tab.htm

[Image 17]

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/miss_may_i/forgive_and_forget_ver5_tab.htm

[Image 20]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=673838562666824&set=a.330791676971

516.97403.197246116992740&type=1&theater