He was a great guitar teacher! I took lessons from him years ago at Ye Olde Guitar shop in Des Moines. He got me into doing sweep arpeggios. I learned a lot just from watching his playing technique. Precise and brutal! Really cool guy too. I wish I could have taken lessons from him longer. A few months after I started lessons he had to leave to record on Slipknot's first major label release. He came back and we continued lessons for a few weeks. After that he had to leave for Ozzfest and I think he's been pretty busy since then :)
Alexander Oden Hey man, that's awesome. Dude can shred, but shows enough restraint in not over-complicating his riffs, which is admirable. Sounds like quite an experience, rock on!
I know the comment is six years old (Jesus time flies...) but I'm saying this more as motivation rather than insult and it isn't directed to you only but to everyone who reads. Being from Des Moines in ye olden days these guys were probably very isolated, I know that was the case with Mick, who sat in his room and played guitar 6 hours every day, Prince also shared the same tale, Prince's room mates see him practicing guitar leads at 6pm, come home from partying at 11pm he is still on that same chair practicing guitar leads as if he hadn't moved an inch. What I'm trying to say is, the words talent/talented have been truly skewed, it's a simplification and I completely understand you didn't mean any disrespect, but to me it does come of disrespectful. I hate when people call me talented, or "rhythmically gifted" I didn't know jack shit about holding a groove, hell I didn't understand it 5 months in... I can go on but I don't want to sound egotistical it's not my goal here. Imagine if today you put in the work, imagine if this guy played guitar at least an hour in 2 days these last 6 years, he would be a MACHINE today. So reader, your life is in your hands, everything you hear and see in the human realm is achievable by YOU, it's on YOU how bad you want it. Fuck the "grind", it's livin' and breathin' it mothafucka! I hope I helped someone, this doesn't even have to be guitar related. I'm ready to crush my local scene and show them what hard work sounds like. Good luck to yall!!!
This dude is unironically of the most technically skilled metal guitarists you could imagine. If he wanted, he could play with any number of technical death metal bands and would fit like a glove. No I'm not kidding in the least. He's a guitar teacher for a reason.
Mick is a huge Death Metal guy. So were Joey and Paul, they all played in Death Metal/Grind bands before the Knot. There’s a reason the older records sound so damn brutal. Now on his guitar skills, yes. He is deceptively good, and his downpicking is ridiculous. He motivated me to practice it religiously.
My old guitar teacher once told me that it's not how many notes you can okay in a second, but how little you can play while still having something powerful and moving
I would've said, that this is still kinda not that easy, especially that Mick's intro part,and ESPECIALLY considering what most of the Nu-Metal scene made. Self-titled still has that amazing "VHS" vibe in it, and the style of this album is pretty different from rapcore and Nu-Metal
"The heaviest songs tend to be the simplest." Indeed I mean Pantera, Sepultura, Crowbar... some of the heaviest Metal there is and not excessively complicated any of them.
Frankie cocker Wow guitar really is easy isnt it... I bet your just a shred monster too, I bet your knowledge and technique is perfect, I bet you can play anything....
True guitar teacher right here. I would kill to take a couple lessons from Mick. One of the most underrated guitar players in metal. I love his comment on Master of Puppets. Definitely a true guitar lover. Watch some of the videos about his signature amps and guitars. This guy is a total gear head! I would love to pick his brain for a few hours.
This was the first video I watched in TH-cam. I used to work in a music store in 2006 and I was browsing around googling "slipknot guitar video". All of a sudden this video pops up and my mind is blown because I was watching a video without having to download it! I called all my friends to tell them about it and they also went nuts. Good ol' times!!
I can’t believe this video is over 10 years old, I remember watching this as a kid and being in complete awe of mick and his playing style, he inspired my love for metal and guitars 🤘🏻❤️
Why do people love to hate so much. "that guy sucks!" "slipknot sucks!" I think they get the misunderstanding that if they don't like it, it must suck. Which that's not it at all. The world doesn't revolve around you. They are the ones with recognized names. They are the ones with recognized looks. They are the ones that play for huge crowds. Just saying.
FYI Slipknot song are supposed to rip your head off your shoulders, not make you sit in a dark room trying to figure out the complexity of a masterpiece tab.
+nyanrlz But i can rip my head off my shoulders while i'm sitting in a dark room trying to figure out Meshuggah's works. Not this prick. No offense tho.
@Nima Yeah, but Mick is actually a really solid, technical player. It's just not being shown here. He's playing to the song. Not everything has to be technical, and not everything has to be guitar dominated.
“The opening line in Surfacing. I use a pitch shifter. One note shifted up one octave. Another note shifted up two octaves. Original note mixed out. Little bit use it away, little bit of reverb. And some really disgusting bit of distortion to make it sound like shit. Here's how it's performed.”
"No its actually says semen, if you think it says seven, youre a fuckin idiot....." Not many people will get this reference. But it's funny that you said that because that gets brought up in a funny overdub of this video.
simply amazing he must have practiced for like 10 hours a day for years to become this good i hope i can someday achieve maybe half of his excellence and talent on the guitar
For those of you complaining about the quality of this video: look at the upload date. HD at this time was only a feature on high end TVs, and a run of the mill computer was less powerful and had less processing power than a current generation iPhone/Android device.
Great shit, I love that Mick was a guitar instructor for years before making it with Slipknot. He really fits a lot of good advice into this video that doesn't necessarily apply to just Surfacing but any music you might be working on.
I remember going home 14, only using schools internet to watch Jim root and mick Thompson guitar lesson during lunch (I had no internet lol), not even eat till I got home and practicing HOURS with pure enjoyment because I felt cool playing slipknot songs and actually learning them : D... I’m glad I grew up with talented ass guitarists like mick and Jim because to this day they inspire me and I’m proud of myself : D.. I like to play more like Jim as time went on and just practice silky legato stuff over variations of major scales, like he does.
If you don’t play guitar. There is no possible way to wrap your mind around how talented Mick is. FOR A MAN WITH HUGE HANDS AND LONG FINGERS TO MOVE THAT FAST ON A NECK THAT SMALL AND NEVER MISS A NOTE IS TRULY FING AMAZING. NO DOUBT. MICK YOU ARE BADASS. BUT IT DOESN’T COME OVERNIGHT ITS A LONG TIME TO GET TO THIS LEVEL. I LOVE IT.
Mick and james are so huge! make the guitars look like toys. I think they are quite underrated, Im glad these videos exist so we can see how they are without the band.
He's so fucking epic, his mask his height enforces his epicness and his hair is insane and his guitar playing is badass, throughout his playing he doesn't look at his guitar....he stares into your soul
@@jimknight7666 There are such guitarists, as Tosin Abasi, or Tim Henson, and I'm pretty sure, that there are even better ones, whom we don't know about. So, I don't think, that saying "he's not best" is an offence. Remember, "if you're think you're best at something - there is a Chinese guy, that can do this even better". But I think OP is just an asshole, who wanted some flame in replies, lol
I don't really like Slipknot that much anymore but they were the band that got me into really heavy stuff so I still respect them. Mick Thompson obviously has a lot of skill just like Jimmy.
The stuff he says about down picking is sooo true, I was learning the intro to eyeless which was soo hard to keep up with but I can play it cleanly now cause of mick 🎸🎸🎸
"...and a little digital distortion to make it sound like shit" I love this man hahaha
It was recorded on a rocktron piranha through a marshall poweramp and a carvin cab. He literally had terrible tone that sounded amazing.
@@XMetalChefX Mesa 925 power amp ;) the marshall he used with a JMP1
@@nick_be9159 You sure? I swear I saw him with the Marshalls
@@XMetalChefX 2000% wanna have some links with Mick interviews that he says it himself?
@@nick_be9159 yeah go for it
imagine if he was ur teacher with the mask and everything😂😂
he used to be a teacher apparently
Alistair Muckle I would have a reason to want to go to school
@@randomchannel2105 I wouldn't have to hate school anymore. I could just show up and start headbanging and no one would be allowed to judge
😣😣😲😂😅😔😔😔😮😂😂😂😂😂
That would be fucking awesome
He was a great guitar teacher! I took lessons from him years ago at Ye Olde Guitar shop in Des Moines. He got me into doing sweep arpeggios. I learned a lot just from watching his playing technique. Precise and brutal! Really cool guy too. I wish I could have taken lessons from him longer. A few months after I started lessons he had to leave to record on Slipknot's first major label release. He came back and we continued lessons for a few weeks. After that he had to leave for Ozzfest and I think he's been pretty busy since then :)
wow
Stop lying
Alexander Oden Hey man, that's awesome. Dude can shred, but shows enough restraint in not over-complicating his riffs, which is admirable. Sounds like quite an experience, rock on!
Why the fuck you lyin?
Why you always lyin?
Mm oh my god, stop fucking lyin.
Alexander Oden r/thathappened
Looks like he's holding a ukulele.
It doesn't
He’s 6 foot 6 in body frame
Mick Thomson and Jim Root are both 6'6 they dwarf the guitars
@@rpcombats2283 mick is 6'4 jim is 6'6
@@rpcombats2283 Mick's 6'3
Only when you try it, do you truly realise how fucking talented these guys are
I know the comment is six years old (Jesus time flies...) but I'm saying this more as motivation rather than insult and it isn't directed to you only but to everyone who reads.
Being from Des Moines in ye olden days these guys were probably very isolated, I know that was the case with Mick, who sat in his room and played guitar 6 hours every day, Prince also shared the same tale, Prince's room mates see him practicing guitar leads at 6pm, come home from partying at 11pm he is still on that same chair practicing guitar leads as if he hadn't moved an inch.
What I'm trying to say is, the words talent/talented have been truly skewed, it's a simplification and I completely understand you didn't mean any disrespect, but to me it does come of disrespectful.
I hate when people call me talented, or "rhythmically gifted" I didn't know jack shit about holding a groove, hell I didn't understand it 5 months in... I can go on but I don't want to sound egotistical it's not my goal here.
Imagine if today you put in the work, imagine if this guy played guitar at least an hour in 2 days these last 6 years, he would be a MACHINE today. So reader, your life is in your hands, everything you hear and see in the human realm is achievable by YOU, it's on YOU how bad you want it. Fuck the "grind", it's livin' and breathin' it mothafucka!
I hope I helped someone, this doesn't even have to be guitar related. I'm ready to crush my local scene and show them what hard work sounds like. Good luck to yall!!!
@@bakerhalt very well said
for anyone trying to play this in standard and getting pissed, its in Drop-B
Jackson Price I'm from 2017, that's still in Drop-B
@@user-to6dd8qv6t from 2019 here
for those still confused, it’s B F# B E C# G#
I'm weak
from 2024
This dude is unironically of the most technically skilled metal guitarists you could imagine. If he wanted, he could play with any number of technical death metal bands and would fit like a glove. No I'm not kidding in the least. He's a guitar teacher for a reason.
Tbh I think he might fit in one of those bands even better than slipknot, seems to love death metal
Mick is a huge Death Metal guy. So were Joey and Paul, they all played in Death Metal/Grind bands before the Knot. There’s a reason the older records sound so damn brutal.
Now on his guitar skills, yes. He is deceptively good, and his downpicking is ridiculous. He motivated me to practice it religiously.
@maJastoL i honestly would like to see side projects of jim root and mick Thomson
his facial expression is always the same
+bosephusjr ikr
+bosephusjr maybe because he's wearing a mask
+Realm Werehunt that's the joke
thats fuckin hillarious
Lol!!! Love it
5:24 damn, he's playing it all downtrokes
Lol
Emma Zinke he actually said that, it’s not a joke
Stefan Fatu. I know
But james hetfield can do better hahaha
@ruzcel Beltran he really can’t though. James’s down picking is overrated
Sometimes simplicity is the key for good music and it doesn't have to be complex at all to create good music
My old guitar teacher once told me that it's not how many notes you can okay in a second, but how little you can play while still having something powerful and moving
Thank you captain obvious
I would've said, that this is still kinda not that easy, especially that Mick's intro part,and ESPECIALLY considering what most of the Nu-Metal scene made. Self-titled still has that amazing "VHS" vibe in it, and the style of this album is pretty different from rapcore and Nu-Metal
he would be a awesome guitar teacher
***** before he entered slipknot he used to be a guitar teacher
this is not alex he used to be an guitar teacher, but then he took a slipknot in the knee
would of been awesome to learn from him
***** :D
+sun_6_gam What the fuck xD
"The heaviest songs tend to be the simplest." Indeed I mean Pantera, Sepultura, Crowbar... some of the heaviest Metal there is and not excessively complicated any of them.
MLGKFC ^YES
Not necessarily
Well, yeah guitar is pretty easy. Drum is actually pretty hard sometimes!
Zach McConnell Why that? If I may ask.
Frankie cocker
Wow guitar really is easy isnt it... I bet your just a shred monster too, I bet your knowledge and technique is perfect, I bet you can play anything....
True guitar teacher right here. I would kill to take a couple lessons from Mick. One of the most underrated guitar players in metal. I love his comment on Master of Puppets. Definitely a true guitar lover. Watch some of the videos about his signature amps and guitars. This guy is a total gear head! I would love to pick his brain for a few hours.
You are right
"some really disgusting distortion to make it sound like shit" hahahahH
Ikr XD
I like how Mick Thompson sounds exactly like you would expect him to.
i LOVE how he used Rush as an example
I b in I km hnju Ku on ijj
Hbu vbb b tinjhunitusybungky bog on u by myhjyup bugvb x bub mumvb b in iI I biuy bv
“Basically you’re gonna wanna sit down with master of puppets”
This was the first video I watched in TH-cam. I used to work in a music store in 2006 and I was browsing around googling "slipknot guitar video". All of a sudden this video pops up and my mind is blown because I was watching a video without having to download it! I called all my friends to tell them about it and they also went nuts. Good ol' times!!
I can’t believe this video is over 10 years old, I remember watching this as a kid and being in complete awe of mick and his playing style, he inspired my love for metal and guitars 🤘🏻❤️
Same here 🤘🏼🙂
That down picking tho...
Mick looks like a machine xD
+Sheogorath I love how he's like if you want to learn down picking go learn master of puppets first...
Like he said, stay in your room all day and lose all your friends practising guitar
James Hetfield has entered the chat
Who the fuck up picks? I never play up.
Why do people love to hate so much. "that guy sucks!" "slipknot sucks!" I think they get the misunderstanding that if they don't like it, it must suck. Which that's not it at all. The world doesn't revolve around you. They are the ones with recognized names. They are the ones with recognized looks. They are the ones that play for huge crowds. Just saying.
Stop writing "they are" it's irritating. People are allowed to have opinions, you f*ckin Nazi
@@fendertremolo9793 And with an opinion, most force it way too fucking much.
@@fendertremolo9793 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_entitled_to_my_opinion
I agree, Ed Sheeran is awesome
Mick is love, Mick is life.
whoops! i though this was the trailor for sinister 2 lol
trailer*
synister*
+Angelo Heringa loool it's spelled "sinister"
have always loved the slam style riff at 4:04
To me it sounds a bit like Deep Six-Marylin Manson
If you like that riff listen to the chorus riff of children of the underworld by Deicide
1,000 people that use digital distortion
wats digital distortion?.
Or don't even like the band?
Whats a tuner?
+caculla miercale What´s a guitar?
+caculla miercale whats a metronome?
This dude is an amazing teacher! Eager to show/ share the mechanics of his playing. I'm likely watching more of these directly.
His fingers are weirdly skinny for a man of his stature.
He has the weak womanly hands of a guitar princess
@@MrMillions69 he's pretty manly in his own right my guy
I like how he almost never looks at the guitar while he's playing... makes him look like a bad-a
GRocket1020 Years and years of practicing
Yeah, you don't have to when you're just chugging the shit over and over. This guy is garbage sounds like I'm listening to someone at Guitar Center
Riber Torbet Jeez man bad day?
GRocket1020 or maybe he's pissed because all that chugging had took him all over the world
1:10 UUUUGGHHHHH I just LOVE the meaty tone of that riff. It’s so good.
I love how he says: "To make it sound like shit" XD
Micks Expressions:Happy: 0:10Sad: 0:10Mad: 0:10Hyped: 0:10Confused: 0:10Sleepy: 0:10
Haha
I love how Mick can be talking regulary but as soon as he strums that first note he instantly locks into an epic serius look!
FYI Slipknot song are supposed to rip your head off your shoulders, not make you sit in a dark room trying to figure out the complexity of a masterpiece tab.
nyanrlz dude, shut the fuck up
+nyanrlz But i can rip my head off my shoulders while i'm sitting in a dark room trying to figure out Meshuggah's works. Not this prick. No offense tho.
@Nima Yeah, but Mick is actually a really solid, technical player. It's just not being shown here. He's playing to the song. Not everything has to be technical, and not everything has to be guitar dominated.
The song is iconic ...
240p... we meet again.
Obviously troll... we meet again.
Donald Waite
a potato
Donald Waite An egg roll
Hello 240 my old friend
He's a legend
"Let the lactic acid build up on your forearm." Mick Thomson is a genius.
And notice how epic his face is as soon as he starts playing.
When you first start watching this video, you wonder why he has the word 'Semen' written on his guitar...
Mate...it says Seven...it's his number in the band you idiot😐
+Chloe Grace hahahaha. mate. you have no sence of humour, and can't spot an obvious joke....
+Chloe Grace wow you must be fun at parties
Only he doesn't.
I can imagine how she'll ever find someone.
musicians are the best thinkers..
fucking drop w
Funny joke, but it seems like Drop A (obviously fuck loads of distortion)
+Archie Evans Close. Drop b
Wow, he really seems to know his stuff; he'd be an awesome guitar teacher.
he was, before he entered slipknot
Maksee oh cool.
have any source on that statement?
StanPDR Wash slipknotiowa.com/mick-thomson-7-slipknot-guitar-biography
This is a fan website with no/few sources for their facts. Im not saying its not true, but i would like to see if it was traceable to a good source
His experience as a guitar teacher definitely coming through. Awesome
1:08. Holy shit, that riff is badass! I went ape shit on my e-drums while watching this.
I was looking for the parody of this...but actually learned something new! What a great teacher!
I can literally hear the drums changing the riffs as he’s explaining them
i bought this guitar yesterday, this is the best guitar for metal ever! this is a monster, you don't need a lot of distortion, it's amazing.
This tone is downright brutal
Dude has an awesome mask, one of the best, next to Craig's probably.
Mick sounds so intelligent and just smart idk why he just sounds smart as fuck
“The opening line in Surfacing. I use a pitch shifter. One note shifted up one octave. Another note shifted up two octaves. Original note mixed out. Little bit use it away, little bit of reverb. And some really disgusting bit of distortion to make it sound like shit. Here's how it's performed.”
"Little bit of digital delay"
I thought it said "semen" on the fret board for a little bit..
Can't really read it properly in 240p
Lmao
"No its actually says semen, if you think it says seven, youre a fuckin idiot....."
Not many people will get this reference. But it's funny that you said that because that gets brought up in a funny overdub of this video.
I like how this is an actual lesson. I love Jim but damn his lessons are just him playing
that opening line is just killer. i love it!
cool how even easy riffs sound fantastic when he plays them!
WHAT THE F IS THAT 5:24 DOWNPICKING
Mostly accidental alternate picking. Somebody didn't practise master of puppets enough, ironically.
Greatest Guitarist On The Planet!!!
Dylan Duffy ha
not even the best guitarist in slipknot IMO
Dimebag>all
Mick is an amazing guitarist. But if you are looking for the best guitarist in the world. Take a listen to Eddie Van Halen
Dylan Duffy Go home, troll
i learned nothing but it was great i love mick
simply amazing
he must have practiced for like 10 hours a day for years to become this good
i hope i can someday achieve maybe half of his excellence and talent on the guitar
How are you now? 🙂
For those of you complaining about the quality of this video: look at the upload date. HD at this time was only a feature on high end TVs, and a run of the mill computer was less powerful and had less processing power than a current generation iPhone/Android device.
It's funny how Mick's mask is frowning but he's so gently teaching you the song step by step.
Brutally and amazing sound and riff
Great guitar teacher with no expression
Why is there so much hating in these comments?
It's only envy XD
Lol. ur probably right.
Caleb Youde I wonder who your favourite Slipknot memebr is? XD
Caleb Youde Lots of very insecure people.
I love that they do this all on 6 strings. Keeping it old school.
Great shit, I love that Mick was a guitar instructor for years before making it with Slipknot. He really fits a lot of good advice into this video that doesn't necessarily apply to just Surfacing but any music you might be working on.
Puppets is a right hand destroyer
I love this guys mask so much haha :D
I remember going home 14, only using schools internet to watch Jim root and mick Thompson guitar lesson during lunch (I had no internet lol), not even eat till I got home and practicing HOURS with pure enjoyment because I felt cool playing slipknot songs and actually learning them : D... I’m glad I grew up with talented ass guitarists like mick and Jim because to this day they inspire me and I’m proud of myself : D.. I like to play more like Jim as time went on and just practice silky legato stuff over variations of major scales, like he does.
If you don’t play guitar. There is no possible way to wrap your mind around how talented Mick is. FOR A MAN WITH HUGE HANDS AND LONG FINGERS TO MOVE THAT FAST ON A NECK THAT SMALL AND NEVER MISS A NOTE IS TRULY FING AMAZING. NO DOUBT. MICK YOU ARE BADASS. BUT IT DOESN’T COME OVERNIGHT ITS A LONG TIME TO GET TO THIS LEVEL. I LOVE IT.
Slipknot loves that disortion
caculla miercale You talk shit alot in other guitar videos for not knowing what distortion is.
HOLY SHIT THOM nice guitar play :D!
One of my favorite songs from self titled
Badass lesson. I tend to play with strained hands instead of lowering speed. Thx.
Mick and james are so huge! make the guitars look like toys. I think they are quite underrated, Im glad these videos exist so we can see how they are without the band.
FUCKING AWESOME GUITAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
just the guitar
He's a very good guitarist,but he can be better
George RAPTELO He is an amazing artist but he doesnt show his potential in slipknot.
i agree
He's so fucking epic, his mask his height enforces his epicness and his hair is insane and his guitar playing is badass, throughout his playing he doesn't look at his guitar....he stares into your soul
*Intense and meditative for me, every time.*
Here we have 6" of pure talent
He might not be the best guitar player, but I'll take his skill any day
EyeJayAre Yeah because you're a master guitar player you would know who is and isnt the best. Fucking worm
Nah I'm pretty sure he is one of the best
@@jimknight7666 There are such guitarists, as Tosin Abasi, or Tim Henson, and I'm pretty sure, that there are even better ones, whom we don't know about. So, I don't think, that saying "he's not best" is an offence. Remember, "if you're think you're best at something - there is a Chinese guy, that can do this even better". But I think OP is just an asshole, who wanted some flame in replies, lol
Man the quality is so good
i just dont get how all these guys all lived in the same state and all met eachother. incredible talent
I still want then to play master of puppets
I don't really like Slipknot that much anymore but they were the band that got me into really heavy stuff so I still respect them. Mick Thompson obviously has a lot of skill just like Jimmy.
That tone makes me crazy. So percussive and brutal.
The interlude is soo awesome
The guitar needs a mask too
Did they use a potato to record the video?
Connected to a lemon
Mike Lariviere look at when it was uploaded genius
would've been awesome to have someone like you as guitar teacher...
He's such a sweetheart❤❤❤❤❤
still after this tutorial, the onlly guitar I can play is the guitar hero one
Same. I play Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock XD
esse cara toca muito!!!
The stuff he says about down picking is sooo true, I was learning the intro to eyeless which was soo hard to keep up with but I can play it cleanly now cause of mick 🎸🎸🎸
Eyeless isn't that difficult
tyler gray no but trying to downpick the intro to it is
tyler gray i guess i should have stated that i downpick it cause now i look like a noob 😭
he looks so menacing. but I guess that's the point of the masks
SixtyNinety because he's big as fuck
Chef Vortivask i went to a concert on Aug 13 (Concord) & he just stood there the whole time and he looked so mad but chill at the same time
240p we meet again.
@Asojiz
What was grade in your Writing and Grammar classes?
0:32 love the way he puts his pinky up looks so fancy
Who cares? They are still a great band (in my opinion)
man, this sucks
Death ForceMetal fuck you
Death ForceMetal Was a gun at your head making you come to this video?
man, you suck
hey man what are the pedals that mick use? man brutal distortion landscape?
That tone is sooooo tight.
R.I.P. Mick but your MASK never DIES!