Thanks for helping rid the world of Metallica Myths! Are there some more we should cover next time? Let’s hear them! Edit: and as several people have pointed out, swap the 1st and 2nd fingers I showed in the Sandman riff and you’ll REALLY be playing it like James!
I don't know about a myth per se, but I'd love to see you do something with Adrian Belew-era King Crimson. "Frame by Frame", for example. Keep up the great work!
In every Metallica tab book it has them playing some of the power chords as 4 or even 5 note bar type chords. You can talk about how they always only play power chords with 2 notes - whereas Dave Mustaine often adds the upper octave making it basically a 3 note chord. I know you touch on this in a lot of your Metallica videos already.
I saw your video a while back and couldn't believe JH plays the riff that way. It just seems like such a weird way to do it... Love your videos BTW, the Lars (Blackened and Orion) ones were great.
Seen them play in PA.. and was belting out songs right along with James and he heard me harmonize right along with him I got the nod and thumbs up.. it was good to be the King.. I couldn't talk the rest of the night.. but it was so worth it.. and then I woke up. Lol. No absolutely a true story..
@@Xplora213 I always thought Symptom of the Universe was in standard tuning, but it's C# standard and played in the position of G minor, and that's why it feels like it has more bottom end.
@@BungleJoogie68 There is that video of them playing it live in G (and when Tony plays the intro on recent tours), but on the album version, they did play it in E standard. Listen to the first chord of the part that comes in at 0:21---it's 100% an open chord. That chord is D (open D string, 2nd fret of G string), but if you transpose the song to the G position, it's an F chord, which obviously can't be open. Listen to the 3rd chord at 0:24 and it's clearly an open A too. Not to mention, there's a great video of Black Sabbath with Tony Martin singing where they do it in E like the album, and you see Tony's hands the whole time. That low E chunk on the album is unmistakable.
Dyer’s Eve is just brutal picking so hard the strings out of tune. The pitch varies because it’s so wide but it’s damn fast so you don’t notice it. Metal should be played aggressive. They were battling Slayer and Megadeth who had killer records in 86 as well. Gotta bring the heat!!
Maybe...if you listen to the Justice deluxe box set, it has James' riff tapes from 86, where you can hear that fast brutal intro riff created way back then. Obviously Justice was influenced by the whole metal scene at the time, but Master of Puppets came out in March 86, whereas Peace Sells and Reign in Blood came out in September and October. There's a pretty similar riff in Disposable Heroes. Not to mention, Damage Inc, Master of Puppets, and Battery. Seems to me like Metallica were always months ahead while the others played catch-up.
@@mrmustard4478 it’s not the writing, it’s the PLAYING that mattered. Lars got a big wake up call after hearing Lombardo do a MUCH better job on Reign in Blood... and the production is much better on Reign in Blood (that album is better produced than everything Slayer made after 1990, somehow?!)... so Metallica lifted their game on AJFA as best they could. How do you top the best metal album in history, twice?? Well, you pick harder and faster, and you protools your drums to death as Lars was famous for. Not hating. Just acknowledge that Slayer was a local band that was also doing special things at the time. We wouldn’t have gotten these albums if they had no competition. (Load proves it)
@@Xplora213 they weren't protooling drums back then, lmao they had to splice tape sometimes. Lars was beasting and practiced all the time back then. He stopped caring around the Black Album.
I always played the intro in the open position. When I saw the tab I thought "That's wrong. It's the same notes, but why would they tab it in the 5th position?!" Then I saw James play it live...in the 5th position. I'm not going to argue with him about it, I still maintain it's a lot easier to play (and let notes ring) in the open position.
@@jamespell1138 Yes. Especially on Sabbath. Play War Pigs on the A and D string and then play it like Tony on the E and A and tell me you don't hear the difference.
Years ago, I worked as an ad assistant for a musician magazine that featured tab examples from Kirk Hammett. I asked the editor if he (Kirk) contributed in any way, for accuracy's sake. He said, nah, not really - at most, celebs glance over the copy, then sign off. The head transcriber does ALL of the work.
Yeah, if it's not written by the composer directly, there's probably something wrong. And even then, you have stuff like Mark Briody transcribing everything he's written for Jag Panzer on their website, and he's like, "This is how I *wrote* it, but we might have played something slightly different on the record."
I played the Enter Sandman riff "wrong" for years. At some point I watched a live video, where James kneels down before starting the song, and the camera zooms on the pick and on his hands. My first thought was "what the hell is he doing". But once you played it like that, it just kinda makes sense.
In the early years, it's fun (and educational) to play your favorite songs note for note. But eventually we need to make the songs our own. A lot of times there is no true cannon way of playing it anyway. I used to spend weeks or months learning slayer solos only to find out it was more of a "direction" than a script. Songs like RS beast of burden and EC layla, have never been played the same way twice.
Definitely, plus a lot times they play it differently themselves, especially older artists. The Rolling Stones and Clapton (like you said) are good examples. Eric has done most of his songs with different phrasing, and in the early days the Stones switched stuff up live constantly, mostly to account for the tuning.
@@thenameless3271 I'm actually working on putting together a medium paced layla right now. I'm using half from marty Schwartz and half from derek and the dominoes lol. ....who am I kidding,....still sounds like layla
@@thenameless3271 while I got your attention......I play a lot of rock , metal, blues.......but I'm thinking of getting an acoustic. You got any thoughts about roundbacks vs thinlines?.....
@@BOBANDVEG kinda funny you brought up the Rolling Stones. Maybe a couple years ago, I was learning how to play Gimme Shelter, trying to follow the tab as closely as possible. Then I watched a bunch of live videos, it never sounded the same twice. Putting your own spin on stuff is the way to go once you are a little comfortable with your instrument. I really appreciate Uncle Ben's obession with detail, though.
I'm SO HAPPY I'm not the only one who hears Fight Fire With Fire on the wrong beat. I know where it should be, but my brain always resets to the wrong emphasis. I feel validated.
Is it the same problem as Blackened? It’s definitely a feature of Metallica’s songwriting that they use that snare as a weapon to flavour the music rather than keep the time.
I’m glad someone talked about James and down picking “everything.” I’ve seen far too many people who think that James is down picking songs like Hardwired, Battery, and other songs with tremolo sections. He’s good, but to ask him to down pick riffs like THAT? You’re asking superhuman abilities from him to even suggest that he down picks absolutely everything.
Yeah I’m simpler than Ben on this one. If James can’t down pick it up to speed, he will tremolo pick it. I do the same thing. Really any thrash guitarist should have the mindset that they only tremolo pick when down picking up to speed is impossible.
Jason wasn't that good of a bassist - what made him special was his live performances and vocals. Robert is their best technical bassist. He has the most skill and versatility out of all of Metallica's bassists.
@@BigBubbaTakeYoAzz who tf told you he simplifies his bass parts lol, he was actually accused by the band of overplaying the bass parts in AJFA. Also go listen to his audition
@@BenEller Ben, would you be so kind and check out my rhythm cover of Dyers Eve? :) I would be grateful, Man! - th-cam.com/video/Jh1LnRXKLkY/w-d-xo.html
In fairness to a load of people (myself included) where else are you gonna get guitar tabs when you're either young or broke. Now i have Guitar Pro i found that a lot of Guitar Pro tabs tend to be more 'on the money' than standard tabs
Uncle Ben dropping TRUTH BOMBS. Thank you for clearing up the 2-3 Dyers Eve myth. I always thought people are crazy to think they are actually playing 2-3.
HOLY SMOKES, I just bought a new Martin acoustic grandpa guitar, and Uncle Ben happens to have the exact same one as me in this video! I don't know why this makes me happy, but I was like wait a second, that's mine!
The best guitar teacher I had didn't own a guitar. He said many times, "those official music / tab books are most often incorrect, I think maybe the authors might be drunk". hahaha.
@@aniquinstark4347 He sold his guitars due to physical health issues. He would use mine from time to time to demo a technique, etc. Thee WORST teacher I had was a Berkeley Jazz cat.
Great video, I've long believed these myths myself, but not anymore! By the way, the producer for the Master of Puppets album did confirm that each track was recorded in lower tunings at a slower tempo, and then sped up to the right pitch/speed. They did that to make the album sound tighter \m/
That coffee sip while he plays the Dyers eve stem for us to hear, lol. Also, Jason's bass track is incredibly consistent when slowed down, almost machine like. He was so under-appreciated!
Homer Simpson once said about "Fight Fire With Fire": "It's more sincomapated than you thought!" You can also play Enter Sandman in the open position to get the open g string.
As a drummer, I've gotten so mad at guitarists who won't listen to the drums while playing Fight Fire With Fire. ALL THE BEATS ARE RIGHT THERE! DON'T JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF ararrargh
Uncle Ben is such a f**cking lord, I love his wit but also his ridiculously meticulous attention to detail. This guy inspires me almost as much as James or Kirk, he really is an amazing player and teacher. Drink a 6 pack for me sir.
For me the biggest Metali-myth is the tired joke of Kirk “Wah-mett”. He may have become a bit overly reliant on the wah in his later years, but it shouldn’t overshadow his stellar early work. Most of his best solos (One, Fade, Unforgiven, Blackened, Master) don’t even feature wah.
But that's not a myth. Even you acknowledged how accustomed he got to wah, like it's the first thing it comes to his mind, like a alcoholic, who always thinks of drinking first. And just because his EARLIER works are outstanding, does not nullify today's facts.
@@happytomato1135 for some guitarists, the wah meme for Kirk totally nullifies Kirk’s amazing work. They’ve forgotten how good he is, and judge way too harshly, often downplaying his contributions to music. That’s why it’s a myth. He doesn’t use the wah nearly as much as Zakk Wylde did in the 2000s, for example, but there aren’t as many Zakk Wah-lde jokes.
@@metallimatt10 without a doubt. That was his best work in terms of skill. It’s also a good example of him not using one as much as people think. Eight solos with out wah compared to four.
Would also say that for better or worse, the wah pedal is a fundamental park of his sound, and to that end, so what? If he wants to use it, he can use it 🙂. Not much different to any guitarist using a certain drive pedal, or always having a delay engaged on their solos. Somehow i dont think kirk really cares what we all think, so fair play
Sweet learning there.. I was on the front row one time and that Enter sandman thing blew my mind. He actual corded with the middle and pinky and played the last 2 notes ring and index.
I feel like a Metallidork because these were all things I figured out as a teenager in my first few years of playing. James was what got me into playing guitar, so I studied him a lot. I still watched the whole thing because you crack my shit up, Uncle Ben.
When you wanna play the Enter Sandman intro 100% correct, finger the E and G with your pinky and middle finger and the A# and A with your ring and index finger
metallica’s fade to black was the first song i tried learning on guitar 22yrs ago. i thought it was pure magic. then i heard jake e lee’s bark at the moon. i just couldn’t believe i could learn to play them the correct way until i saw your vids. thanks a million times!
Why doesn't Kirk play his Strat more on "Unforgiven", when I saw them live in 1992 it perfectly fit that song! One of his best live performances IMHO! Thanks Uncle Ben for an entertaining idea for a video.
I've been listening to Dyer's Eve forever and never once did it sound to me like they were alternating 2nd and 3rd frets. Always sounded like one rapid note to me. Weird.
It's because most people were born before the internet that play that stuff. We learned from books and didn't know who made them. It was like the media, everyone used to believe them because it's all we had. I believe cherry lane made the ones I had and I had a few other brands but damn when I look back I'm glad I understudied with my metallica tab books and chose to play by ear only! When it's the first and only thing you have many victims actually learned it that way, BEFORE anyone ever mentioned the other way. Do of course they're going to then HEAR that change in notes because they're expecting it now.
@@HabAnagarek it was actually PRE internet that did this particular deed. It was the official metallica tab books everyone used to buy. Known as the best ones even out there, but they all had that 2-3-2-3-2-3 thing. It was the ONLY real resource us old fucks had at that time. So naturally after seeing it written like that, in an "official" metallica book they signed off on, when people hear the song, they're now going to subconsciously hear that note change that doesn't exist. I decided to be lazy and not use those books but then pulled my head from my butthole and started learning by ear ONLY. No regrets. My only regrets would have been actually learning those books like I planned on doing when I bought them. I was going to learn them ALL all the way through. I had kill em all, ride the lightning, justice, master of puppets, black album, load and reload. Lol
@@johnbraucher1499 Ah. I didn't know it went back that far. Weird. Holy shit, Riff by Riff has it, B to C 16ths (I refuse to think in terms of tab). As a kid I always heard 8th note B5, insane B 16ths, C5 to B5 slide. How odd.
Uncle Ben, anything Metallica related is always welcome to me! I’ve always struggled with the between the verses section of For Whom the Bell Tolls. A weekend wankshop on that would be amazing!
13:40 interesting. flemming rasmussen stated in an interview they recorded MoP at a lower tempo and tuning then sped it up to get a tighter sound. i always wondered if he meant the song or the album. kirk saying they recorded Thing in C# may indicate it was indeed the entire album. the use of this recording trick also gives more credit to the claim that the rhythm was octa-tracked.
I'm really glad to know that I'm not the only one who's misheard where the one is in that Fight Fire With Fire bit. Seriously...for like 25 years I've never been able to hear it right.
Everytime I hear uncle Ben I'm like dam rice for dinner.. Lol.. man the only song I still have timing problems with is Creeping Death just the chuga chuga part.
The tuning to "The Thing That Should Not Be" is a rather pernicious one. People don't want to tune their guitars any further away from standard than they have to, so they make these mental and finger gymnastics to make it work.
You make it look effortless to switch between variations of the wrong way to play riffs and strumming patterns versus the right way. Yet one more example of how I could use more practice, cuz den mah brane cud du dat much mo betta.
A myth I've noticed recently is Kirk sweep picking. Not saying he has NEVER done it, but a common practice i see all the time for sweep picking is the beginning of the Leper Messiah solo. Every live video I've seen he seems to be alternate picking those arpeggios, though, not sweeping. Same with the intro solo to Fade to Black. It looks like alternate picking instead of sweeping towards the end.
Ok my mind is friggin blown right now. I learned everything I know about guitar from Metallica songs when I was a kid. To get those same aggressive biting pick attacks that James gets, I emulated his "Downpick whenever you can keep up" mentality...or so I thought. It's not just down picking when you can play fast enough...it has to do where the note falls in the count. I SUBCONSCIOUSLY learned this. I thought I was just being cool and playing downstrokes cuz I'm awesome, turns out there's unknown method to my madness. I just figured out my entire life. Thanks Uncle Ben. You've changed my life.
Great video! Deffo up for the Hetfield lesson! Also, I always played the G note in Enter Sandman on the open G string. Feels less awkward to use index and middle fingers for the last two notes rather than the correct way using ring and middle.
Sorry, Ben, you're really close, but Papa Het plays Sandman by picking the E open 6th string, pinky finger frets E on the 5th string/7th fret, middle finger frets G on the 4th string/5th fret, then Bb to A on the 6th string/6th & 5th frets respectively, and finally picking the already fretted E with the pinky. Which is a long-winded way of saying swap your 1st finger with the middle one. Great videos and insight on dissecting technique, you've motivated me to look deeper with many songs I thought I had nailed.
@@BenEller Actually, I used to think it was a myth, but I watched the Gibson Icons documentary where Kirk Hammett goes into detail about their recording of Master of Puppets, he actually does state they used Dropped D flat tuning when they recorded the thing that should not be, just as a note for dicussion. My first thought was "hmmmmm......well how about that?!"
Love the Metallica content, love the deep dives. One complaint I have about OLD VIDEOS of them? The old cameraman’s never seemed to get a close up of James hands. I never understood the fast cuts and all this during concert footage. His hands were FAMOUS and these cameraman are focused on SOMEONE ELSE during the craziest riffs.
![ตีสิบเดย์ [FULL] | เปิดใจ "อาจารย์ เบียร์ ฅนตื่นธรรม" นักสนทนาธรรมสายดุดัน!](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vqaBI_mnoDk/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for helping rid the world of Metallica Myths! Are there some more we should cover next time? Let’s hear them!
Edit: and as several people have pointed out, swap the 1st and 2nd fingers I showed in the Sandman riff and you’ll REALLY be playing it like James!
I don't know about a myth per se, but I'd love to see you do something with Adrian Belew-era King Crimson. "Frame by Frame", for example. Keep up the great work!
The F note in the opening master of puppets riff...
You can do the whole terrible Justice tab book. I had it as a teenager, and man did it fuck me up.
In every Metallica tab book it has them playing some of the power chords as 4 or even 5 note bar type chords. You can talk about how they always only play power chords with 2 notes - whereas Dave Mustaine often adds the upper octave making it basically a 3 note chord. I know you touch on this in a lot of your Metallica videos already.
@@fadge4105 He does have a video about that one.
A little birdie told me I was mentioned in this video. Just kidding it was Ben. Birds can’t text.
That's funny. I just watched one of your videos, then came here to watch this, and here you are. Stop stalking me! 🤪
Nice little shoutout there! 🙂
I saw your video a while back and couldn't believe JH plays the riff that way. It just seems like such a weird way to do it... Love your videos BTW, the Lars (Blackened and Orion) ones were great.
You the man!!!!
And they said Endgame was the most ambitious crossover
Yeah, let’s get that Hetfield lesson happening!
Agree!
Double agree.
I have fixed an appointment with my doctor to upgrade my right hand
Agree and let’s see Ben play hetfields licks from “disposable hero’s” on his new LP custom!
Seen them play in PA.. and was belting out songs right along with James and he heard me harmonize right along with him I got the nod and thumbs up.. it was good to be the King.. I couldn't talk the rest of the night.. but it was so worth it.. and then I woke up. Lol. No absolutely a true story..
We can nerd out on Metallica but to play it live AND be as drunk as James? Now that’s impressive..
He had to sing and play Battery drunk as heck for years....
James was never drunk on stage, yea he did drink on stage but was never drunk, he said that himself in interviews.
“More slowlier, more better” is a good rule for breakdowns.
Bob Rock : “ why do you guys always play everything in E?”
James: “ because that’s the lowest note.”
🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻
Motley Crüe had the right idea, tune to D then play in G 😂
@@Xplora213 I always thought Symptom of the Universe was in standard tuning, but it's C# standard and played in the position of G minor, and that's why it feels like it has more bottom end.
They played master of puppets in studio in d sped up to e so they definitely knew how to do it.
@@BungleJoogie68 There is that video of them playing it live in G (and when Tony plays the intro on recent tours), but on the album version, they did play it in E standard. Listen to the first chord of the part that comes in at 0:21---it's 100% an open chord. That chord is D (open D string, 2nd fret of G string), but if you transpose the song to the G position, it's an F chord, which obviously can't be open. Listen to the 3rd chord at 0:24 and it's clearly an open A too. Not to mention, there's a great video of Black Sabbath with Tony Martin singing where they do it in E like the album, and you see Tony's hands the whole time. That low E chunk on the album is unmistakable.
The made E standard heavy
Dyer’s Eve is just brutal picking so hard the strings out of tune. The pitch varies because it’s so wide but it’s damn fast so you don’t notice it. Metal should be played aggressive. They were battling Slayer and Megadeth who had killer records in 86 as well. Gotta bring the heat!!
I noticed that also. When pushing on the strings with a palm mute, the notes go sharp slightly, as well as when picking harder accent notes.
@@noozzoo5152 aaand there you go, that's exactly it.
Maybe...if you listen to the Justice deluxe box set, it has James' riff tapes from 86, where you can hear that fast brutal intro riff created way back then. Obviously Justice was influenced by the whole metal scene at the time, but Master of Puppets came out in March 86, whereas Peace Sells and Reign in Blood came out in September and October. There's a pretty similar riff in Disposable Heroes. Not to mention, Damage Inc, Master of Puppets, and Battery. Seems to me like Metallica were always months ahead while the others played catch-up.
@@mrmustard4478 it’s not the writing, it’s the PLAYING that mattered. Lars got a big wake up call after hearing Lombardo do a MUCH better job on Reign in Blood... and the production is much better on Reign in Blood (that album is better produced than everything Slayer made after 1990, somehow?!)... so Metallica lifted their game on AJFA as best they could. How do you top the best metal album in history, twice?? Well, you pick harder and faster, and you protools your drums to death as Lars was famous for.
Not hating. Just acknowledge that Slayer was a local band that was also doing special things at the time. We wouldn’t have gotten these albums if they had no competition. (Load proves it)
@@Xplora213 they weren't protooling drums back then, lmao they had to splice tape sometimes. Lars was beasting and practiced all the time back then. He stopped caring around the Black Album.
"Hey Kirk, what notes are you playing in the solo for Dyer's Eve?"
"...all of them"
I knew the Enter Sandman fingering from watching James play it right in front of me in 1992.
I always played the intro in the open position. When I saw the tab I thought "That's wrong. It's the same notes, but why would they tab it in the 5th position?!" Then I saw James play it live...in the 5th position. I'm not going to argue with him about it, I still maintain it's a lot easier to play (and let notes ring) in the open position.
@@skovol007 it just sounds a bit darker in the 5th, that's the reason I think
As with 90% of Sabbath riffs, people love to play the first chords / walkdown of Master of Puppets on the A string. It is all on the E!
Does it make a difference if it's the same notes tho
@@jamespell1138 It is the same but there is a tonal difference.
@@RobbieFitzgerald ohh yeah true
@@jamespell1138 Yes. Especially on Sabbath. Play War Pigs on the A and D string and then play it like Tony on the E and A and tell me you don't hear the difference.
@@TatersUnited I think you're right
Years ago, I worked as an ad assistant for a musician magazine that featured tab examples from Kirk Hammett. I asked the editor if he (Kirk) contributed in any way, for accuracy's sake. He said, nah, not really - at most, celebs glance over the copy, then sign off. The head transcriber does ALL of the work.
I heard that from a GIT instructor
Yeah, if it's not written by the composer directly, there's probably something wrong. And even then, you have stuff like Mark Briody transcribing everything he's written for Jag Panzer on their website, and he's like, "This is how I *wrote* it, but we might have played something slightly different on the record."
well, that's so true.. I can't even count the number of mistakes I've done by learning on these kind of magazines... and there full of crap
I played the Enter Sandman riff "wrong" for years. At some point I watched a live video, where James kneels down before starting the song, and the camera zooms on the pick and on his hands. My first thought was "what the hell is he doing". But once you played it like that, it just kinda makes sense.
In the early years, it's fun (and educational) to play your favorite songs note for note. But eventually we need to make the songs our own. A lot of times there is no true cannon way of playing it anyway. I used to spend weeks or months learning slayer solos only to find out it was more of a "direction" than a script.
Songs like RS beast of burden and EC layla, have never been played the same way twice.
Definitely, plus a lot times they play it differently themselves, especially older artists. The Rolling Stones and Clapton (like you said) are good examples. Eric has done most of his songs with different phrasing, and in the early days the Stones switched stuff up live constantly, mostly to account for the tuning.
@@thenameless3271 I'm actually working on putting together a medium paced layla right now. I'm using half from marty Schwartz and half from derek and the dominoes lol. ....who am I kidding,....still sounds like layla
@@thenameless3271 while I got your attention......I play a lot of rock , metal, blues.......but I'm thinking of getting an acoustic. You got any thoughts about roundbacks vs thinlines?.....
@@BOBANDVEG kinda funny you brought up the Rolling Stones. Maybe a couple years ago, I was learning how to play Gimme Shelter, trying to follow the tab as closely as possible. Then I watched a bunch of live videos, it never sounded the same twice. Putting your own spin on stuff is the way to go once you are a little comfortable with your instrument. I really appreciate Uncle Ben's obession with detail, though.
I'm SO HAPPY I'm not the only one who hears Fight Fire With Fire on the wrong beat. I know where it should be, but my brain always resets to the wrong emphasis.
I feel validated.
Dude I'm right beside you!!! I don't know if I'll ever rewire my brain to hear it any other way...
Follow the snare, it's still the offbeat even though it sounds off
Edit: that was before watching, basically went over this haha
I have been listening to it for 30 years and still can’t get it.
@@TheBfutgreg funnily enough, the fiddly riff in the vid is the bit my brain uses to latch on the the correct rhythm again!
Is it the same problem as Blackened? It’s definitely a feature of Metallica’s songwriting that they use that snare as a weapon to flavour the music rather than keep the time.
I'm all in for the Hetfield Master Class.
Also I knew the way I played Sandman was the correct way, now I have proof.
I’m glad someone talked about James and down picking “everything.” I’ve seen far too many people who think that James is down picking songs like Hardwired, Battery, and other songs with tremolo sections. He’s good, but to ask him to down pick riffs like THAT? You’re asking superhuman abilities from him to even suggest that he down picks absolutely everything.
"bUt iS He nOT thE KiNg of dOWnPicKInG????????"
He's a man, not a machine. Hell on the Hardwired tour he started alt-picking certain bits of puppets.
Yeah I’m simpler than Ben on this one. If James can’t down pick it up to speed, he will tremolo pick it. I do the same thing. Really any thrash guitarist should have the mindset that they only tremolo pick when down picking up to speed is impossible.
Jason is such an underrated rock bass player.
Yeah... Myth number one: Jason was a good bass player.
@@Trainwheel_Time he definitely had an energy on stage that no other bassist ever had in Metallica, and his backing vocals were insane
@@ianismajoris pretty easy to have stage presence when you simplify the bass parts
Jason wasn't that good of a bassist - what made him special was his live performances and vocals. Robert is their best technical bassist. He has the most skill and versatility out of all of Metallica's bassists.
@@BigBubbaTakeYoAzz who tf told you he simplifies his bass parts lol, he was actually accused by the band of overplaying the bass parts in AJFA. Also go listen to his audition
I'm not going to lie. When you said you were going to play the bass track for Dyer's Eve, I was expecting silence, lol.
hahahaha that would have been good!
Me to!
I thought the exact same thing. Missed opportunity! >.
James is a rhythm guitar god, so any insight into his mastery is a great idea.
You can thank certain highly-rated ultimate-guitar tabs for propagating some of these myths
Dude, they’re SO BAD
@@BenEller Ben, would you be so kind and check out my rhythm cover of Dyers Eve? :)
I would be grateful, Man! - th-cam.com/video/Jh1LnRXKLkY/w-d-xo.html
In fairness to a load of people (myself included) where else are you gonna get guitar tabs when you're either young or broke. Now i have Guitar Pro i found that a lot of Guitar Pro tabs tend to be more 'on the money' than standard tabs
aaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! ultimate-guitar!!! I guess that was a joke... thanks dude for making me laugh...
Back in high school, these tabs were our holy bible 😂
Uncle Ben dropping TRUTH BOMBS. Thank you for clearing up the 2-3 Dyers Eve myth. I always thought people are crazy to think they are actually playing 2-3.
I thought it was and I never play it because of that 🤣
Sorry but Dyers Eve 2-3-2-3 is very real
Dyer's Eve Guitar Coverm.th-cam.com/video/tpYpTGLdN2c/w-d-xo.html
That Fight Fire with Fire riff counting blew my my mind - I've had it wrong for 28 years. Thanks Uncle Ben!
Finally!!! After 30 plus years
.I get it!!!
That fight fire with fire riff is still nutty as hell 35ish years later, especially since in reality it’s so syncopated
You're humor never fails to entertain, and your instructions are sooo clear. I wish I had you as an instructor when I first started out.
Wow, thank you!
HOLY SMOKES, I just bought a new Martin acoustic grandpa guitar, and Uncle Ben happens to have the exact same one as me in this video! I don't know why this makes me happy, but I was like wait a second, that's mine!
That Fight Fire riff is wild, its phrasing within the measure. Christ. Kudos to Hetfield.
The best guitar teacher I had didn't own a guitar. He said many times, "those official music / tab books are most often incorrect, I think maybe the authors might be drunk". hahaha.
What kind of guitar teacher doesn't own a guitar?
@@aniquinstark4347 He sold his guitars due to physical health issues. He would use mine from time to time to demo a technique, etc. Thee WORST teacher I had was a Berkeley Jazz cat.
Man I wish there was youtube content like this for other, slightly lesser known metal bands.
“That’s just, ‘B’.” I lost it. Haha Good stuff!
Great video, I've long believed these myths myself, but not anymore! By the way, the producer for the Master of Puppets album did confirm that each track was recorded in lower tunings at a slower tempo, and then sped up to the right pitch/speed. They did that to make the album sound tighter \m/
yes! more James deep dives!! kirk and jason too for that matter!! such good metallica stuff to nerd out on!
That coffee sip while he plays the Dyers eve stem for us to hear, lol. Also, Jason's bass track is incredibly consistent when slowed down, almost machine like. He was so under-appreciated!
Sorry but Dyers Eve 2-3-2-3 is very real
Dyer's Eve Guitar Coverm.th-cam.com/video/tpYpTGLdN2c/w-d-xo.html
I thought you said “get me some ass-prep first” and now I’m adding that to my lexicon.
Homer Simpson once said about "Fight Fire With Fire": "It's more sincomapated than you thought!" You can also play Enter Sandman in the open position to get the open g string.
jason's distorted/reverb tone is super cool.
As a drummer, I've gotten so mad at guitarists who won't listen to the drums while playing Fight Fire With Fire. ALL THE BEATS ARE RIGHT THERE! DON'T JUST LISTEN TO YOURSELF ararrargh
All I know is that James is a riff master! What a talent! What a songwriter!
Uncle Ben is such a f**cking lord, I love his wit but also his ridiculously meticulous attention to detail. This guy inspires me almost as much as James or Kirk, he really is an amazing player and teacher. Drink a 6 pack for me sir.
For me the biggest Metali-myth is the tired joke of Kirk “Wah-mett”. He may have become a bit overly reliant on the wah in his later years, but it shouldn’t overshadow his stellar early work. Most of his best solos (One, Fade, Unforgiven, Blackened, Master) don’t even feature wah.
But that's not a myth.
Even you acknowledged how accustomed he got to wah, like it's the first thing it comes to his mind, like a alcoholic, who always thinks of drinking first.
And just because his EARLIER works are outstanding, does not nullify today's facts.
@@happytomato1135 for some guitarists, the wah meme for Kirk totally nullifies Kirk’s amazing work. They’ve forgotten how good he is, and judge way too harshly, often downplaying his contributions to music. That’s why it’s a myth. He doesn’t use the wah nearly as much as Zakk Wylde did in the 2000s, for example, but there aren’t as many Zakk Wah-lde jokes.
I think some of Kirk's best solo work is on Justice
@@metallimatt10 without a doubt. That was his best work in terms of skill. It’s also a good example of him not using one as much as people think. Eight solos with out wah compared to four.
Would also say that for better or worse, the wah pedal is a fundamental park of his sound, and to that end, so what? If he wants to use it, he can use it 🙂. Not much different to any guitarist using a certain drive pedal, or always having a delay engaged on their solos. Somehow i dont think kirk really cares what we all think, so fair play
Hetfield deep dive? Oh hell yeah!! Let’s go Uncle Ben. Even your stepdad would love it
Cheers Uncle Ben. I've been struggling with those damn tab books for about 20 years.
Sweet learning there.. I was on the front row one time and that Enter sandman thing blew my mind. He actual corded with the middle and pinky and played the last 2 notes ring and index.
I feel like a Metallidork because these were all things I figured out as a teenager in my first few years of playing. James was what got me into playing guitar, so I studied him a lot. I still watched the whole thing because you crack my shit up, Uncle Ben.
When you wanna play the Enter Sandman intro 100% correct, finger the E and G with your pinky and middle finger and the A# and A with your ring and index finger
Yep, I saw this on the year and a half in the life of metallica
Art of Guitar is fing great. Just like you Uncle Ben.
yes, deep dive into James's right hand technique.
James' right hand is bionic! I don't know how he plays for almost 3 hours every night.
metallica’s fade to black was the first song i tried learning on guitar 22yrs ago. i thought it was pure magic. then i heard jake e lee’s bark at the moon. i just couldn’t believe i could learn to play them the correct way until i saw your vids. thanks a million times!
I'd definitely like a deep dive video into down picking!
Best rotating chair intro of all time!
Why doesn't Kirk play his Strat more on "Unforgiven", when I saw them live in 1992 it perfectly fit that song! One of his best live performances IMHO! Thanks Uncle Ben for an entertaining idea for a video.
I've been listening to Dyer's Eve forever and never once did it sound to me like they were alternating 2nd and 3rd frets. Always sounded like one rapid note to me. Weird.
Sorry but Dyers Eve 2-3-2-3 is very real
Dyer's Eve Guitar Coverm.th-cam.com/video/tpYpTGLdN2c/w-d-xo.html
That's the social media world we live in. Stupid and wrong ideas spread like wildfire.
It's because most people were born before the internet that play that stuff. We learned from books and didn't know who made them. It was like the media, everyone used to believe them because it's all we had. I believe cherry lane made the ones I had and I had a few other brands but damn when I look back I'm glad I understudied with my metallica tab books and chose to play by ear only! When it's the first and only thing you have many victims actually learned it that way, BEFORE anyone ever mentioned the other way. Do of course they're going to then HEAR that change in notes because they're expecting it now.
@@HabAnagarek it was actually PRE internet that did this particular deed. It was the official metallica tab books everyone used to buy. Known as the best ones even out there, but they all had that 2-3-2-3-2-3 thing. It was the ONLY real resource us old fucks had at that time. So naturally after seeing it written like that, in an "official" metallica book they signed off on, when people hear the song, they're now going to subconsciously hear that note change that doesn't exist. I decided to be lazy and not use those books but then pulled my head from my butthole and started learning by ear ONLY. No regrets. My only regrets would have been actually learning those books like I planned on doing when I bought them. I was going to learn them ALL all the way through. I had kill em all, ride the lightning, justice, master of puppets, black album, load and reload. Lol
@@johnbraucher1499 Ah. I didn't know it went back that far. Weird. Holy shit, Riff by Riff has it, B to C 16ths (I refuse to think in terms of tab). As a kid I always heard 8th note B5, insane B 16ths, C5 to B5 slide. How odd.
I don't always Patreon, but when I do, it's for Uncle Ben.
Uncle Ben, anything Metallica related is always welcome to me! I’ve always struggled with the between the verses section of For Whom the Bell Tolls. A weekend wankshop on that would be amazing!
I love any video with "Metallica" in the title and uploaded by "Ben Eller"
I'd watch a Hetfield right hand technique vid. How about a right hand technique series? Albert Lee is the right hand technique that amazes me.
great call. Have you watched the incredible Albert Lee videos on Troy Grady's channel? Mind-blowing stuff: th-cam.com/video/0XjaUci7yPM/w-d-xo.html
Oh my god I've been fully Downstroking shortest straw this whole time
That Goosebumps music at the end is just 👌
That outro music sure is spooky... Gives me Goosebumps!
Hahaha right?!
I always heard Fight Fire With Fire the right way, but the Enter Sandman thing and The Thing That Should Not Be being in D standard blew my mind.
13:40
interesting. flemming rasmussen stated in an interview they recorded MoP at a lower tempo and tuning then sped it up to get a tighter sound. i always wondered if he meant the song or the album. kirk saying they recorded Thing in C# may indicate it was indeed the entire album. the use of this recording trick also gives more credit to the claim that the rhythm was octa-tracked.
Rick Beato mentioned this as well , do you have a link to that interview? I've been looking for it ever since I watched Rick's video
Love the "Goosebumps" theme song at the very end. 🎵
Uncle Ben ! Great to see you save the many souls who don’t know. Set them straight once again my friend....
I'm really glad to know that I'm not the only one who's misheard where the one is in that Fight Fire With Fire bit. Seriously...for like 25 years I've never been able to hear it right.
This video gave me...... Goosebumps....
Everytime I hear uncle Ben I'm like dam rice for dinner.. Lol.. man the only song I still have timing problems with is Creeping Death just the chuga chuga part.
I’m officially 15:29 late for work and I’m ok with that.
Thanks Uncle Ben!
I ALWAYS love it when I see you posted a new vid in my subscriptions. Great job as usual. Love ya Unk.
Yay! Thank you!
Awesome video. It drives me crazy how many of these myths could be put to rest if people would just watch them play these songs live
The tuning to "The Thing That Should Not Be" is a rather pernicious one. People don't want to tune their guitars any further away from standard than they have to, so they make these mental and finger gymnastics to make it work.
You make it look effortless to switch between variations of the wrong way to play riffs and strumming patterns versus the right way. Yet one more example of how I could use more practice, cuz den mah brane cud du dat much mo betta.
Hi Ben, could you ever do a Queensryche lesson? Their tabs are even worse than Metallica’s
Dude yes please
I similarly had to retrain my brain years ago to hear the Battery main riff correctly. My brain wants the gallop on the downbeat!
Yup
the part where octave E is the 1? i always heard it right somehow
It's amazing how talented and skilled u are at guitar. I played guitar when i was in my 20's for a few years and i make techno music now lol
Uncle ben you're just the best guitar Teacher ever
Ben u have the best lessons on learning counting time signatures ! Thanks.
Us : I'm gonna learn Fight Fire with Fire
Uncle Ben: it's dangerous to go alone ! Take this.
YES. I want all the Metallica content.
Bro Fight fire With Fire has bugged me for Freaking decades...thank you so much for this.
A myth I've noticed recently is Kirk sweep picking. Not saying he has NEVER done it, but a common practice i see all the time for sweep picking is the beginning of the Leper Messiah solo. Every live video I've seen he seems to be alternate picking those arpeggios, though, not sweeping. Same with the intro solo to Fade to Black. It looks like alternate picking instead of sweeping towards the end.
ArtofGuitar! Love that channel! I mean, not any more than this one...but also not any less! Dammit, don't make me choose!
Two-timer! Haha. Jk.
Ok my mind is friggin blown right now. I learned everything I know about guitar from Metallica songs when I was a kid. To get those same aggressive biting pick attacks that James gets, I emulated his "Downpick whenever you can keep up" mentality...or so I thought. It's not just down picking when you can play fast enough...it has to do where the note falls in the count. I SUBCONSCIOUSLY learned this. I thought I was just being cool and playing downstrokes cuz I'm awesome, turns out there's unknown method to my madness. I just figured out my entire life. Thanks Uncle Ben. You've changed my life.
Booyah!!! Glad to help!
deep breakdown of James riffing / technique? HELL YES!!!
also, great mythbusting video!
Gotta be my favorite guitar related TH-camr. Thanks!
Great video! Deffo up for the Hetfield lesson! Also, I always played the G note in Enter Sandman on the open G string. Feels less awkward to use index and middle fingers for the last two notes rather than the correct way using ring and middle.
Hi from U.K. Drummer. Loved it. Keep it up. Sandman was defo eyeopener! 👍
Definitely keen for a Hetfield deep dive
The Enter Sandman one made so much sense, since it's the same fingering (1-4) as used in Ktullu, Battery and Orion, mindblown
Would really love a downstrokin’ mega-deep dive! Please and thank ya!
Lars was caught pooping in somebody's tuba during high school. Totally true.
If you rub chili at the mouth piece of your tuba player just before the gig, you have a friend for life. Trust me!
The Enter Sandman fingering is the only thing I had right. And I might have learned it from The Art of Geetar. Great stuff Uncle Ben.
Dude, I just love your humor and personality. This is an incredibly helpful and fun channel
Mike from Art of Guitar is one of thee best, hard to choose between you and him so ill just continue watching both
That's right big dads in the house
Thanks a lot Ben. I've always enjoyed watching people try to play 1/128th notes all downstroke. Now you go and ruin my fun! :P
Wow more better is always more easier. Thanks Uncle Eller.
Thank God now we can sleep at night
Just sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight. 🤘🏻
@@HeadbangersLocal lol
I can't .... now I'm worried about the lies about SLAYER
I would love to see a video on some riff-writing tips.
Sorry, Ben, you're really close, but Papa Het plays Sandman by picking the E open 6th string, pinky finger frets E on the 5th string/7th fret, middle finger frets G on the 4th string/5th fret, then Bb to A on the 6th string/6th & 5th frets respectively, and finally picking the already fretted E with the pinky. Which is a long-winded way of saying swap your 1st finger with the middle one. Great videos and insight on dissecting technique, you've motivated me to look deeper with many songs I thought I had nailed.
Eh, what’s a finger between friends, right?
The Thing That Should Not Be is in drop D in the official tab book, so I suppose that’s where that myth comes from.
Ugh! Those garbage books striking again!
@@BenEller Actually, I used to think it was a myth, but I watched the Gibson Icons documentary where Kirk Hammett goes into detail about their recording of Master of Puppets, he actually does state they used Dropped D flat tuning when they recorded the thing that should not be, just as a note for dicussion. My first thought was "hmmmmm......well how about that?!"
I hate them tab books they always threw me off I just watch Yngwie Malmsteen play instead of buying the tab books at guitar center.
@@Murf_Workshop it’s drop C#… who says Drop Db?
@@CD-gk9ix you know it still means the same thing haha. calm down buttercup.
coming from a music teacher - you nailed the rhythmic breakdown ... \m/
Nailed it for sure. Thanks a lot!!
Love the Metallica content, love the deep dives. One complaint I have about OLD VIDEOS of them? The old cameraman’s never seemed to get a close up of James hands. I never understood the fast cuts and all this during concert footage. His hands were FAMOUS and these cameraman are focused on SOMEONE ELSE during the craziest riffs.