Thank you for this. As a rhythm guy who loves well written songs but has always had a hard time making riffs into songs without feeling clumsy or segmented this info is very helpful!
Just found this video and hoping it'll do the same for me. Coming from 10 years of self taught nonsense i have some dexterity but nowhere to go with it
I use to struglle with this when I was younger. Learning some music theory really helps thanks for this tutorial! I am writing an album currently and this gave me a few ideas. I have 10 songs so far! Keep it metal!
Theory can definitely help and dude, good luck on the new album! Also, we have a metal songwriting course if that's something you're interested in: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
I don't play metal, really never have, even though it makes up over 50% of what I listen to. But, being a musician that has played just about every other genre and non-genre in the field, I can attest that this is such a great common sense, enlightening video that gives direction and structure to any musical artist. It really just condenses everything for you and lets you unravel the parts in a context that matches where you are at in the writing process. This really works for a lot of different kinds of music. Great video for getting creative vibes flowing in a direction that produces artistic output!
Since finally understanding Modes I write my choruses using a Mode. It's in the same key but changes the song up. Sometimes I use the same chords as the beginning but change the order up. Something I also do is take a song and find what key it's in. Next I figure out the progression for all the parts then use it as the base for a song.
I consider myself and amateur guitar player and I just started creating riffs of my own, this video is perfect in helping me establish the steps in the song creating process 🔥 now if I can just find what recording software to use
I wrote a melo-death metal riff, i think this will help, thanks! +1 subscribe +1 like! I'll watch more of your videos, because all of your topics are good! 🤘🔥🤜🤛
There are no rules and no ‘right or wrong’ way - there’s only your way. We just published a new riff idea video here: th-cam.com/video/D1FzNA--_jE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2PW6mGGWEHR3XuqY
Great video! I came here because I love the arrangementsand structures in metal music. I write "electronic music" and the arrangements are very often, alot of the time, just boring. Thanks for some great insights. Inspiring
im new to making riffs and everything and dont really have a bunch of music knowledge but i feel like my riffs sound nice but quick question how can i figure out what key my riff is in? it might be an embarrassing question but i genuinely dont know and would appreciate some help :)
I got horrible grades in school...referring to your "I got a lot of Ds comment" but I've always been able to understand music and play music. Our brains just work differently and that's okay 😜
Step 8 - Try to be original. Why i'm sayin' this is 'cause nowadays every second piece sounds almost the same! Maybe it's more realistic to say that every 10th sounds authentic? Though, if you have a "good ear" and sense of rhythm you don't need any of these.
I never think about any of that when writing music (not saying you shouldn't). Whenever I pick up the guitar, my goal is to simple translate what I'm feeling or what I'm hearing in my head.
F# would be a diminished chord. Just saying!!! There are not 4 minor chords in a given scale. If you are going to teach make sure you get it right! Any minor scale is associated with a set of seven chords - three major, three minor, one diminished. And the diminished chord is very helpful for the genre of metal, with its minor 3rd and flattened 5th (Diminished) Nice riff though :)
We didn’t dive into the details of theory here as this video was based more on expanding ideas, not getting caught up in the details. And actually an F sharp minor works perfectly in the key of E minor. We do expand on theory with the teachings of the great Ken Candelas. Here’s the latest on that: th-cam.com/video/HTSpt4tQHNU/w-d-xo.html
The take-away here is the concept. You can use the concept to expand with your own riffs, not necessarily playing this particular one, if that makes sense
Correct. But if you were going ti okay a full chord there in the key of E minor, the F sharp minor fits. We didn’t dive into theory and tried to keep it basic. We do have some videos where Ken is teaching theory: th-cam.com/video/HTSpt4tQHNU/w-d-xo.html
Man what a great video, im not well versed in music theory but i dont need to with your explanations, i can just look up the bits and pieces i actually need to know such as the notes in a key. Absolutely great video and demonstration, earned my sub, like and respect 🤘
I think you should absolutely look up music theory. You will never encounter anyone that regrets learning it and it will help you understand why everything works after the basic(scales, intervals, types of chords) an especially important subject is modes if you really look into it, not just "starting on another note of a major scale", that's just the tip of the iceberg. I think they're the most important as they tell you a lot about what sort of stuff produces what kind of emotion. After that there is a ton of stuff but I'm sure you'll be able to tell what you want to learn.
Pretty good take on establishing the basic elements of song writing without confusing the target audience. Good video for beginners but also for seasoned musicians. Sometimes it’s good to do a “back to basics” approach when hitting a writing block. Less is more.
Great words, and there are times when we all need to revisit the basics. We also just released a complete songwriting process flow here that you might dig: th-cam.com/video/zNym0C-dGeg/w-d-xo.html
Made this dark riff that’s in D and had built many ideas around it, but the main riff has a time signature I just can’t figure out. Spans 11 counts at 160bpm, and consists of 18 notes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
@@metalmastermind didn't help with figuring out the time signature, but I still appreciate the heads-up. Maybe I'll take your suggestion and add a bit more to stretch it to signature I don't have to "figure out".
3:30 I think you skipped this entirely. You just said "the key I was in is E minor" but didn't teach us how to figure THAT out. I think a lot of guitarists struggle with figuring out what key their riffs are in, and unfortunately it was completely glossed over.
Thank you, brother! I decided to put this on our Metal Mastermind channel since we have the new songwriting course! This is in direct relation and Ken and I both know how frustrating songwriting can be!! So I really want to help simplify it...and this is also giving myself that kick in the rear to write more (I've been in the middle of writing an album for a year now!)
Freakin awesome man. 42 year old metalhead and I’m coming out of a ten year writers block with the help of musicains/teachers such as yourself. Thank you for taking the time to make this video bro
pretty sure F# would be a diminished chord, not minor, in the key of Em. So even if playing power chords, that F#5 would not fit in. Of course you can still use a F#m if you want to, it can still sound good in the context, just know that is not the right chord for the key of Em
@@metalmastermind i take it as a yes :p good, hours of music theory with my teacher are paying off, i can be annoying on YT comments :P Btw good tips in this video! thanks!
Yes…we’re playing power chords hear, so just keeping it simple. Ken goes into more details in our theory videos like this one: th-cam.com/video/0JvBdkHRlyk/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, although we do promote our online courses for metal musicians, so yeah, we sell shit! 😂 (but no sex stuff...I totally get what you're saying!)
That's the Metal Mastermind intro song we created for MM. We also have a song released under Metal Mastermind called You Are Your Master: metalmastermind.com/music/
Yes, that F# note is in the key of Em. But you can also do a lot of cool things with the F#m progression (that's where your C#m chord will come in and that blends nicely).
Thank you. Really appreciate what you are doing here. I see this as a first step for me to start writing. I will share once I have something decent enough for sure. Thanks again.
Very glad you mentioned galloping as a good guitar technique - I don't write songs and riffs much (as much as I would like to get into it) but sometimes when I'm playing stuff from some older thrashy bands with straight downpicking I add in my own gallops to give myself a little speedboost to keep going but it also just adds more variety and a nicer sound to the riff, definitely something I'll have to experiment with more!
been searching for something like this since ages so thank you. Can u teach us how to cosntruct a MESHUGGAH basic riff taking 1/2 whole diminished or whatever u like...thanx in advance....am stuck in dissonance....i get the riff but then verse,chorus,bridge part eludes me.....
Thank you for this! This is totally new to me and I would love to be able to learn how to do this better. I've seen other videos and they are just too complicated for me. This break down is great. One thing though I personally don't understand is the components of a song like intro / coarse / ottro , etc , the actual flow of it all, as one song. I think with most modern song there is more to it than just that, but I Love this video! Thank you for making this, it was very helpful!
I'm being picky, but the F# chord in Em is diminished. F#5 has F and C#, whilst F# Major has F#, A# and C#. Make it F#5 over D, and you'll be within key and have a cool metal chord in your song.
Hi, I came across this video. Your channel is amazing! I'm already preparing to organize to attend all the classes. every time you think about giving up, remember: you've come far here in Brazil and you can go even further
Great clip man...like i read in the other comments i am not the only guy who plays since 20 years completely self taught. I come from a time with no YT and no internet so self taught was realy self taught. To be honest i was sceptic when reading the name "metal mastermind" i thought "oh yeah...another guy who shows off his godlike skills and telling me how easy this is"...but hell yes... You sir are on another level. Having the skills and the ability to tell them others in a simple and usable way. Thumbs up from Germany 🌍🤘Metal World Wide🤘🌍 thank you 😁
Ok, that's the Basics: The Tricky part is when the flow of your music changes the root note so you end in another scale and if you want to go back to your main riff it can be really difficult. In Metal usually also not so often the riffs are straight in Key. To get it more interesting you use a lot of chromatic, or add tones chords that are not in the Scale which becomes challenging playing a solo over that chord progression.
The beauty of all this is there are no rules…it’s an open forum to create something new and different, and more importantly, create something that speaks to you. If your passion for your own music is strong, that will spread to others.
I appreciate you brother! Also I have a question, not related to this but might be a topic for a future video. Just bought a Jackson SLA6 barirone that suits better for downtuning. It came with emg active pickups, and Im not sure how am I supposed to feel about a battery powered stuff. Any thoughts?
Thank you. Jason here and I’m kinda with you on active pickups but those batteries last a while. Actives just give you more output. You can get a similar effect with passives by turning up the amp gain. I play my Ibanez with passive pickups more then anything through.
Guitar world did and interview with Mark Morton of Lamb of God years ago. In it he talks about his “riff farming” process. Great key points from that in addition to the points in this video would have you pumping out songs
Cant underestimate the immense utility of recording yourself. Because when you are playing, you just simply do not hear the riff as objectively as u can. Because you are in the moment focusing on your playing. Recoding yourself let's you step outside you own head so to speak and hear the riff / song / beat with your entire attention span. Some riffs are so fun to play that we get too biased by how it feels to play vs how it actually sounds, recording ourselves helps remove this bias.
As a fledgling songwriter, I can usually come up with two parts of a song, but I always feel that the ending needs to go somewhere else, and that's where I struggle. I blame Tony Iommi!
Very very cool. I couldn't click fast enough when I saw the title. I'm a decent guitar player, but suck at figuring out how to make them into songs. Or, not that great and this is a great system. Love it. I'm more of a blues and 80s metal guy, but love almost all music. Digging that LTD ESP too man. I've been thinking of getting one of their new single cut EC series I think it is with stainless frets, etc. I want to try this, and I'm going to use some chord inversions, etc. I'm big on riffs though. The Christian band Stryker is great at riff songs to me. Great stuff man and I subscribed and look forward to hearing more of your videos. Thanks man for this video. I learned a lot ❤
I love your videos bro, They are and have been so helpful with my guitar and bass playing and writing. Appreciate the content very much! Thank you! 🤘🏼🔥🤘🏼
Thx for your efforts of making this tutorial. y You mentioned F# minor chord in your tutorial, however if I'm not mistaken, the intervals between such chords make them a F# diminished chord.
True, but it doesn't mean you must stick to that 'rule.' What if you wrote a black metal song but threw in a full chord? You might write something that stands out more. This is what I like about Cradle of Filth (not that they play full chords)...they don't sound like any other black metal band; they created their own sub-genre, essentially.
@@metalmastermind yeah that’s the cool thing with Music, you can do what ever you want as long as it sounds good (or bad/dissonant if that’s what you’re after)
A couple errors: the 2nd chord in the minor scale is actually a half-diminished chords, not a minor chord. I understand you’re trying to keep thing simple, but a minor chord would actually add an extra note outside of the key of the song (which is not a bad thing, but less simple than the diatonic chord within the scale). And also the term you were looking for was not “cadence”, it would be “motif”. A cadence is the resolution of the musical phrase. Aside from that, it’s a nice beginner lesson
Really glad this helped and we hope this helps your band! We also have a metal songwriting course here. It's not telling you 'how to write songs' but more so helps expand your ideas and gives you different perspectives: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
ive been playing guitar for 6 nearly 7 yrs and ive got 4k videos of riffs ive come up with but now with ur help i think its time to do something with em
Awesome to hear that and thank you for watching our videos. We also have a complete metal songwriting course (covers everything, not just guitar) if that’s something you’re interested in: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
your way is actually simple and easy to get but i think it would mostly apply to beginners bc once you get used to composing you wont be needing to sit and choose your key and notes writing will just come up naturally and you dont need to think that mch of theory
I feel like this is solid advice. Typically I think as you get more and more into playing you end up doing these things in an intuitive sense. Especially if you're someone who delves into theory. Whether you're into writing advances harmony or just know the basics. The level of theory in this video is just the basics. However that bit of knowledge goes along way. (Knowing what notes and chords are in any particular key) I believe knowing a ton of theory isn't necessary to be a good artist. Although it doesn't hurt and can only help. But that's why I said it's typically an intuitive thing. Meaning once you have a riff, it's usually pretty obvious if you try to add another section an it doesn't sound great. Which is usually because stuff like modulating somewhere that clashes or something as simple as tempo. Modulation can add a great dynamic effect to a song. But it all depends on what effect you're shooting for. Most commonly people go up a 4th or 5th. But you have bands like Metallica who often modulate their verses and choruses up a whole step. In otherwords, they have a riff in e minor and play the riff more or less the same but rooted in F#. It just adds a bit of intensity to the song. Usually right before the chorus in Metallicas case. My advice, pay attention to the types of things bands do. Where do they modulate to? What feeling off effect does the modulation have? Do they switch to cut time for certain parts? Maybe the rhythmic feel is different.
Great advice and music is definitely an intuitive (and personalized) thing. Also, Ken has a great recent video on metal theory here: th-cam.com/video/0JvBdkHRlyk/w-d-xo.html
even if you might never read that comment: thanks for the tutorial :D makes writing songs drastically easier than i´ve done it before :D much love and stay heavy!
Man I love that classic hangar 18 shirt I use to have the same one when I was 6 but it was an all over print I miss it bad so glad to see a vintage shirt but remastered a tad and thinks fir the killer lick teaching
We don't call ourselves Metal Mastermind. That's the name of our brand and it applies to everyone who's a part of it. It's a bit deeper than you assumed
Go Beyond Just Riffs and Create Songs with Metal Songwriter's Forge: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
Thank you for this. As a rhythm guy who loves well written songs but has always had a hard time making riffs into songs without feeling clumsy or segmented this info is very helpful!
🙏 🤘
Yes! I have so many riffs, but what comes after the riff? This, now this is actually helpful!
Definitely go through these steps...you'll be amazed at what you'll build from this!
This lesson is the golden ticket in helping me be intentional. Proud to say the 20 year rut of playing randomly and unintentionally is over!
That's awesome to hear dude!!!
Just found this video and hoping it'll do the same for me. Coming from 10 years of self taught nonsense i have some dexterity but nowhere to go with it
@algernopkrieger3968 he has several great vids and some excellent courses.
Rock n Roll
Awesome! Where can I hear your stuff?
I use to struglle with this when I was younger. Learning some music theory really helps thanks for this tutorial! I am writing an album currently and this gave me a few ideas. I have 10 songs so far! Keep it metal!
Theory can definitely help and dude, good luck on the new album!
Also, we have a metal songwriting course if that's something you're interested in: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
@@metalmastermind Hey thanks for that brother I appreciate that! I have that forge bookmarked. The circle of fiths is a big help.
Theory is for losers 🙄
I try to get this through to people all the time. Its a language. If you want to communicate, you need language. LEARN THEORY!
@@springbloom5940
Music theory is more a tool in my opinion
I don't play metal, really never have, even though it makes up over 50% of what I listen to. But, being a musician that has played just about every other genre and non-genre in the field, I can attest that this is such a great common sense, enlightening video that gives direction and structure to any musical artist. It really just condenses everything for you and lets you unravel the parts in a context that matches where you are at in the writing process. This really works for a lot of different kinds of music. Great video for getting creative vibes flowing in a direction that produces artistic output!
Awesome and thank you for watching! 🤘
Since finally understanding Modes I write my choruses using a Mode. It's in the same key but changes the song up. Sometimes I use the same chords as the beginning but change the order up. Something I also do is take a song and find what key it's in. Next I figure out the progression for all the parts then use it as the base for a song.
🤘We also have a cool video series on theory starting with this one: th-cam.com/video/tJNv5Lyh-vs/w-d-xo.html
playing guitar since 15 years and saw a lot of youtube videos about it, this one is one of the best i have to admit. well done.
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I consider myself and amateur guitar player and I just started creating riffs of my own, this video is perfect in helping me establish the steps in the song creating process 🔥 now if I can just find what recording software to use
Awesome to hear that. We have a complete home studio setup guide here: metalmastermind.com/how-to-make-a-home-recording-studio/
I wrote a melo-death metal riff, i think this will help, thanks! +1 subscribe +1 like! I'll watch more of your videos, because all of your topics are good! 🤘🔥🤜🤛
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Love how you explained this one Jason, very helpful and valuable information 🤙🏽🤙🏽
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Only needed 1:22 seconds to sub your channel. You can indeed write a damn good metal riff and song.
Dude we appreciate that and glad this helped!
I play death metal my riffs aren’t in keys
There are no rules and no ‘right or wrong’ way - there’s only your way.
We just published a new riff idea video here: th-cam.com/video/D1FzNA--_jE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=2PW6mGGWEHR3XuqY
"I got plenty of D's in school. I shouldn't have told you that!"
No worries Jason, the smartest people I know did the worst in School lol
Lol...yeah, school was definitely not my thing!
Great video! I came here because I love the arrangementsand structures in metal music. I write "electronic music" and the arrangements are very often, alot of the time, just boring. Thanks for some great insights. Inspiring
You’re welcome and glad this helped. Yea, electronic music can be redundant so have changes in the progressions and keys can help
im new to making riffs and everything and dont really have a bunch of music knowledge but i feel like my riffs sound nice but quick question how can i figure out what key my riff is in? it might be an embarrassing question but i genuinely dont know and would appreciate some help :)
That’s a great question. And we have a video on understanding keys here that may help: th-cam.com/video/tJNv5Lyh-vs/w-d-xo.htmlsi=GkjbA9GYvQ137o8x
I got horrible grades in school...referring to your "I got a lot of Ds comment" but I've always been able to understand music and play music. Our brains just work differently and that's okay 😜
So true, and yes that’s totally okay! 🤘
Step 8 - Try to be original. Why i'm sayin' this is 'cause nowadays every second piece sounds almost the same! Maybe it's more realistic to say that every 10th sounds authentic? Though, if you have a "good ear" and sense of rhythm you don't need any of these.
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I know I'm probably overthinking this, but isn't this riff in E Phrygian?
I never think about any of that when writing music (not saying you shouldn't). Whenever I pick up the guitar, my goal is to simple translate what I'm feeling or what I'm hearing in my head.
Great video dude! Always good to see a member of the metal community step up to help future generations
Thank you and glad to have you here with us! We're also giving away more helpful material for metal musicians here: metalmastermind.com/join/
F# would be a diminished chord. Just saying!!! There are not 4 minor chords in a given scale. If you are going to teach make sure you get it right! Any minor scale is associated with a set of seven chords - three major, three minor, one diminished. And the diminished chord is very helpful for the genre of metal, with its minor 3rd and flattened 5th (Diminished) Nice riff though :)
We didn’t dive into the details of theory here as this video was based more on expanding ideas, not getting caught up in the details. And actually an F sharp minor works perfectly in the key of E minor.
We do expand on theory with the teachings of the great Ken Candelas. Here’s the latest on that: th-cam.com/video/HTSpt4tQHNU/w-d-xo.html
Thank you. Liked and subscribed :-) you're great at describing the different steps.
Thank you for the sub!!
You're awesome dude. Thank you
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Alot of musicians would benefit from hearing some old band demo tapes,get to hear the songs going from and idea to a finished product.
That's an awesome idea!! The raw and uncut stuff!
guess the genre by nature of riff. Aggression, Dead, In control, Insane
All of thee above and this is something you can take and expand on 🤘
Good lesson, but you re played only at the begining, it would be better to illustrate those schemes with instrument at all parts
The take-away here is the concept. You can use the concept to expand with your own riffs, not necessarily playing this particular one, if that makes sense
I can simplify it.
Step 1: play it for 2 minutes
Step 2: sing
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I usually write a couple of riffs, and then smash them together
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Literally no one asked but based on the notes you wrote out that f# would be a diminished chord not a minor because you used the aeolian mode.
Correct. But if you were going ti okay a full chord there in the key of E minor, the F sharp minor fits. We didn’t dive into theory and tried to keep it basic. We do have some videos where Ken is teaching theory: th-cam.com/video/HTSpt4tQHNU/w-d-xo.html
The only cool songs I make are at night, and 90% of the time I forget them the next morning
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Man what a great video, im not well versed in music theory but i dont need to with your explanations, i can just look up the bits and pieces i actually need to know such as the notes in a key. Absolutely great video and demonstration, earned my sub, like and respect 🤘
Thank you for the sub and glad this helped!
Also, we've love to have you as part of our metal musician community here: metalmastermind.com/join
I think you should absolutely look up music theory. You will never encounter anyone that regrets learning it and it will help you understand why everything works after the basic(scales, intervals, types of chords) an especially important subject is modes if you really look into it, not just "starting on another note of a major scale", that's just the tip of the iceberg. I think they're the most important as they tell you a lot about what sort of stuff produces what kind of emotion. After that there is a ton of stuff but I'm sure you'll be able to tell what you want to learn.
@@phobics9498 Co-owner Ken Candelas has an entire course on theory here: metalmastermind.com/metal-music-theory/
Great video idea cause i write thousands of riffs in my life and really only three or four songs lol
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I think technically F# would be diminished.
Yes. Our intent was to keep things simple. The note itself is F sharp. And the intent is really to get folks into their own creative space
You said they gave you a lot of Ds, i give you an A. Thanks a lot!!!
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thanks for ur teaching! it helps a lot!but u really scarys me
Lol, fear not!
Pretty good take on establishing the basic elements of song writing without confusing the target audience. Good video for beginners but also for seasoned musicians. Sometimes it’s good to do a “back to basics” approach when hitting a writing block. Less is more.
Great words, and there are times when we all need to revisit the basics. We also just released a complete songwriting process flow here that you might dig: th-cam.com/video/zNym0C-dGeg/w-d-xo.html
Made this dark riff that’s in D and had built many ideas around it, but the main riff has a time signature I just can’t figure out. Spans 11 counts at 160bpm, and consists of 18 notes. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
We just released a new video that will help you with different ideas for your riff here: th-cam.com/video/D1FzNA--_jE/w-d-xo.htmlsi=j2kbwH7od22wPj86
@@metalmastermind didn't help with figuring out the time signature, but I still appreciate the heads-up. Maybe I'll take your suggestion and add a bit more to stretch it to signature I don't have to "figure out".
3:30 I think you skipped this entirely. You just said "the key I was in is E minor" but didn't teach us how to figure THAT out. I think a lot of guitarists struggle with figuring out what key their riffs are in, and unfortunately it was completely glossed over.
We have another video on that here: th-cam.com/video/tJNv5Lyh-vs/w-d-xo.html
@@metalmastermind thank you sir!
Now this is content to follow for sure this is where you stand out from the herd of guitarist online brother 🤘🏻🔥🎸
Thank you, brother! I decided to put this on our Metal Mastermind channel since we have the new songwriting course! This is in direct relation and Ken and I both know how frustrating songwriting can be!! So I really want to help simplify it...and this is also giving myself that kick in the rear to write more (I've been in the middle of writing an album for a year now!)
@@metalmastermind I hear you loud and clear . I need get to kicking my own butt too
Songwriting : 50% coming up with the stuff, 50% kicking yourself in the butt!!
Freakin awesome man. 42 year old metalhead and I’m coming out of a ten year writers block with the help of musicains/teachers such as yourself. Thank you for taking the time to make this video bro
🙏 🤘
pretty sure F# would be a diminished chord, not minor, in the key of Em.
So even if playing power chords, that F#5 would not fit in.
Of course you can still use a F#m if you want to, it can still sound good in the context, just know that is not the right chord for the key of Em
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@@metalmastermind i take it as a yes :p good, hours of music theory with my teacher are paying off, i can be annoying on YT comments :P
Btw good tips in this video! thanks!
that riff really remind me of creeping death
🤘 I've got a lot more riffs like this in Metal Riff Master: metalmastermind.com/metal-riff-master/
this video is amazing you are amazing
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I wish all my teachers were like you! Thankssss
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This was helpful as hell thanks man🙏
Dude so good to hear that!!
I think that 2 chord is supposed to be F# diminished or alternatively D over F# 🤔
Yes…we’re playing power chords hear, so just keeping it simple. Ken goes into more details in our theory videos like this one: th-cam.com/video/0JvBdkHRlyk/w-d-xo.html
@@metalmastermind Don't get me wrong 😆 I like this video, and I think Ken is great.
that shirt has been on a hanger for a good bit
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Tie actual notes in the riff you are playing or the notes in the key? Asking for my friend Jay.
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@@metalmastermind that was a question lol. Metal up!
Finally a metal channel not purposed to sell you shit or draw you in with sex. This was fantastic!
Thank you, although we do promote our online courses for metal musicians, so yeah, we sell shit! 😂 (but no sex stuff...I totally get what you're saying!)
@@metalmastermind I get we all have to eat but 99% guitar channels are trying to sell you signature models and equipment.
What is the name of the music intro?
That's the Metal Mastermind intro song we created for MM. We also have a song released under Metal Mastermind called You Are Your Master: metalmastermind.com/music/
Great Video! One small thing is the F# power chord is out of the Em key because it contains a C#. It can still sound good though.
Yes, that F# note is in the key of Em. But you can also do a lot of cool things with the F#m progression (that's where your C#m chord will come in and that blends nicely).
Is it really sunny in that room?
Yeah, the sunlight comes through my window! So my wife bought a blackout curtain which really helps with that (and the heat, as I'm in FL)
This is what I needed. Thanks from England.
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I've always been good at coming up with riffs but have a hard time developing them into songs. This is awesome thank you!
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Thank you. Really appreciate what you are doing here. I see this as a first step for me to start writing. I will share once I have something decent enough for sure. Thanks again.
Awesome to hear that!
open Em riffs or A are too common
They are indeed common. We have another video on key changes here o make your riffs not so common: th-cam.com/video/s0ZcV5yPauU/w-d-xo.html
Great songwriting system and super valuable, free resources!
Thank you and glad this helps!!
Dude, I’ve been doing part of this forever and always kind of hitting a wall afterwards. This info was the cherry on top that I needed. Thank you!
Awesome to hear that and thank you for watching 🙏🏻🤘
Very glad you mentioned galloping as a good guitar technique - I don't write songs and riffs much (as much as I would like to get into it) but sometimes when I'm playing stuff from some older thrashy bands with straight downpicking I add in my own gallops to give myself a little speedboost to keep going but it also just adds more variety and a nicer sound to the riff, definitely something I'll have to experiment with more!
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It helped me a lot!
Really glad to hear that! 🤘🙏🏻
Another cool thing volume swells for intro/outros also!
Those are really cool and captivating!
W vid thank you!
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Metal Churchish
Love some Metal Church! 🤘
love this guy
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been searching for something like this since ages so thank you.
Can u teach us how to cosntruct a MESHUGGAH basic riff taking 1/2 whole diminished or whatever u like...thanx in advance....am stuck in dissonance....i get the riff but then verse,chorus,bridge part eludes me.....
Bad ass video!
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Thank you for this! This is totally new to me and I would love to be able to learn how to do this better. I've seen other videos and they are just too complicated for me. This break down is great. One thing though I personally don't understand is the components of a song like intro / coarse / ottro , etc , the actual flow of it all, as one song. I think with most modern song there is more to it than just that, but I Love this video! Thank you for making this, it was very helpful!
Really glad this helped! We also have a metal songwriting course if that's something you're interested in: metalmastermind.com/courses/
Love this.....
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I'm being picky, but the F# chord in Em is diminished. F#5 has F and C#, whilst F# Major has F#, A# and C#. Make it F#5 over D, and you'll be within key and have a cool metal chord in your song.
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Youre a great speker and teacher. Good luck with your channel and teaching endeavors.
Thank you 🤘
Hi, I came across this video. Your channel is amazing! I'm already preparing to organize to attend all the classes. every time you think about giving up, remember: you've come far here in Brazil and you can go even further
So true and thank you for sharing! Be sure to check out our main course page as the library has grown: metalmastermind.com/courses/
Great clip man...like i read in the other comments i am not the only guy who plays since 20 years completely self taught. I come from a time with no YT and no internet so self taught was realy self taught. To be honest i was sceptic when reading the name "metal mastermind" i thought "oh yeah...another guy who shows off his godlike skills and telling me how easy this is"...but hell yes... You sir are on another level. Having the skills and the ability to tell them others in a simple and usable way. Thumbs up from Germany 🌍🤘Metal World Wide🤘🌍 thank you 😁
Thank you, I appreciate that 🙏🏻🤘
Yeah, we didn’t have all the luxuries back in those days!
BASED
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Ok, that's the Basics: The Tricky part is when the flow of your music changes the root note so you end in another scale and if you want to go back to your main riff it can be really difficult. In Metal usually also not so often the riffs are straight in Key. To get it more interesting you use a lot of chromatic, or add tones chords that are not in the Scale which becomes challenging playing a solo over that chord progression.
The beauty of all this is there are no rules…it’s an open forum to create something new and different, and more importantly, create something that speaks to you. If your passion for your own music is strong, that will spread to others.
I appreciate you brother!
Also I have a question, not related to this but might be a topic for a future video.
Just bought a Jackson SLA6 barirone that suits better for downtuning.
It came with emg active pickups, and Im not sure how am I supposed to feel about a battery powered stuff.
Any thoughts?
Thank you. Jason here and I’m kinda with you on active pickups but those batteries last a while. Actives just give you more output. You can get a similar effect with passives by turning up the amp gain. I play my Ibanez with passive pickups more then anything through.
Guitar world did and interview with Mark Morton of Lamb of God years ago. In it he talks about his “riff farming” process. Great key points from that in addition to the points in this video would have you pumping out songs
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Cant underestimate the immense utility of recording yourself.
Because when you are playing, you just simply do not hear the riff as objectively as u can.
Because you are in the moment focusing on your playing.
Recoding yourself let's you step outside you own head so to speak and hear the riff / song / beat with your entire attention span.
Some riffs are so fun to play that we get too biased by how it feels to play vs how it actually sounds, recording ourselves helps remove this bias.
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As a fledgling songwriter, I can usually come up with two parts of a song, but I always feel that the ending needs to go somewhere else, and that's where I struggle. I blame Tony Iommi!
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Sick video, really helpful!!! 🔥i'm wondering, in the beginning of the video when you play the first riff, how do you achieve that tone? pedals? amp?
I believe Positive Grid's BIAS FX was used for that but a lot of the sound and vibe you get is from your style of playing
Very very cool. I couldn't click fast enough when I saw the title. I'm a decent guitar player, but suck at figuring out how to make them into songs. Or, not that great and this is a great system. Love it. I'm more of a blues and 80s metal guy, but love almost all music.
Digging that LTD ESP too man. I've been thinking of getting one of their new single cut EC series I think it is with stainless frets, etc.
I want to try this, and I'm going to use some chord inversions, etc. I'm big on riffs though. The Christian band Stryker is great at riff songs to me.
Great stuff man and I subscribed and look forward to hearing more of your videos. Thanks man for this video. I learned a lot ❤
Thank you for the sub. Yeah, you can’t go wrong with LTD guitars.
And yes, Stryper has some great riffs…especially Caught in the Middle
I love your videos bro, They are and have been so helpful with my guitar and bass playing and writing. Appreciate the content very much! Thank you! 🤘🏼🔥🤘🏼
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I'm glad I found your channel. Great video and very helpful.
Awesome to hear that, and thank you!
😮I never thought of this. This is so useful. And probably a great way to catalog tour riff. I'm sure there isna program that helps
Glad this helped and thank you for watching!
Metal Guru 🙏🤘
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Thx for your efforts of making this tutorial. y
You mentioned F# minor chord in your tutorial, however if I'm not mistaken, the intervals between such chords make them a F# diminished chord.
Thank you for that. I really wanted to make this as basic as possible so I didn't dig too deep here.
In Metal you rarely play full chords. Black Metal slowly walks away…
True, but it doesn't mean you must stick to that 'rule.' What if you wrote a black metal song but threw in a full chord? You might write something that stands out more.
This is what I like about Cradle of Filth (not that they play full chords)...they don't sound like any other black metal band; they created their own sub-genre, essentially.
@@metalmastermind yeah that’s the cool thing with Music, you can do what ever you want as long as it sounds good (or bad/dissonant if that’s what you’re after)
A couple errors: the 2nd chord in the minor scale is actually a half-diminished chords, not a minor chord. I understand you’re trying to keep thing simple, but a minor chord would actually add an extra note outside of the key of the song (which is not a bad thing, but less simple than the diatonic chord within the scale). And also the term you were looking for was not “cadence”, it would be “motif”. A cadence is the resolution of the musical phrase. Aside from that, it’s a nice beginner lesson
Thanks for the updates 🤘
I haven’t been able to try this method out, but I’ll test this method on the hardcore songs I’m writing with indie sections and see if I can apply it.
It's great to see you're writing your own songs! 🤘
This will help my writing process so much more for the band! Thank you, definitely going to have a teacher moment with the band🤘🏻
Really glad this helped and we hope this helps your band!
We also have a metal songwriting course here. It's not telling you 'how to write songs' but more so helps expand your ideas and gives you different perspectives: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
This Video is one of the best I've seen in my 10 Year guitar journey. And I've seen a lot of them. Thank you! Liked and subscribed
Thank you, we appreciate that and thanks for the sub!
ive been playing guitar for 6 nearly 7 yrs and ive got 4k videos of riffs ive come up with but now with ur help i think its time to do something with em
Awesome to hear that and thank you for watching our videos. We also have a complete metal songwriting course (covers everything, not just guitar) if that’s something you’re interested in: metalmastermind.com/metal-songwriters-forge/
your way is actually simple and easy to get but i think it would mostly apply to beginners bc once you get used to composing you wont be needing to sit and choose your key and notes writing will just come up naturally and you dont need to think that mch of theory
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I feel like this is solid advice. Typically I think as you get more and more into playing you end up doing these things in an intuitive sense. Especially if you're someone who delves into theory. Whether you're into writing advances harmony or just know the basics. The level of theory in this video is just the basics. However that bit of knowledge goes along way. (Knowing what notes and chords are in any particular key) I believe knowing a ton of theory isn't necessary to be a good artist. Although it doesn't hurt and can only help. But that's why I said it's typically an intuitive thing. Meaning once you have a riff, it's usually pretty obvious if you try to add another section an it doesn't sound great. Which is usually because stuff like modulating somewhere that clashes or something as simple as tempo. Modulation can add a great dynamic effect to a song. But it all depends on what effect you're shooting for. Most commonly people go up a 4th or 5th. But you have bands like Metallica who often modulate their verses and choruses up a whole step. In otherwords, they have a riff in e minor and play the riff more or less the same but rooted in F#. It just adds a bit of intensity to the song. Usually right before the chorus in Metallicas case. My advice, pay attention to the types of things bands do. Where do they modulate to? What feeling off effect does the modulation have? Do they switch to cut time for certain parts? Maybe the rhythmic feel is different.
Great advice and music is definitely an intuitive (and personalized) thing.
Also, Ken has a great recent video on metal theory here: th-cam.com/video/0JvBdkHRlyk/w-d-xo.html
You're awesome man. Thank you for this video.
🙏 🤘 Really glad to hear this helps!
even if you might never read that comment: thanks for the tutorial :D makes writing songs drastically easier than i´ve done it before :D much love and stay heavy!
Thank you for this! 🙏🤘
Man I love that classic hangar 18 shirt I use to have the same one when I was 6 but it was an all over print I miss it bad so glad to see a vintage shirt but remastered a tad and thinks fir the killer lick teaching
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Great video! I had a friend that had that same ltd guitar it was so much bang for your buck!
It's a solid guitar!
Great lesson !! Thanks 🤘🔥
Glad this helped!!
i have this one nasty sounding riff that i made but im afraid to post a video of it bc im scared it’ll get stolen haha
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Imagine calling yourself "metal mastermind".
We don't call ourselves Metal Mastermind. That's the name of our brand and it applies to everyone who's a part of it. It's a bit deeper than you assumed