Metal Guitar Strumming

Metal Guitar Strumming
Strumming patterns in heavy metal

This lesson is a great introduction to playing rhythm guitar in heavy metal. The strumming patterns we're about to learn should be seen as the foundations you'll later build upon as you learn other metal rhythm techniques (palm muting, scratch picking etc.).

Throughout this lesson, I'll be showing you examples of various strumming patterns and you'll also have some drum tracks to put what you learn to practice. Enjoy it!




Down strumming in metal - the basics

The first thing we need to master is down strumming. As the name suggests, this is simply where you hit the strings in set downward motions. This technique gives us a punchy attack, hitting those bass strings with the most force as your arm/wrist comes down.

In the exercises we're about to look at, we're simply going to use powerchords. I'll tab out the powerchord riffs for reference as we go but the emphasis will be on you coming up with your own riffs over the drum tracks.

First, we're going to play a simple 4/4 downstrum rhythm as follows...


So if I were to use this rhythm over some basic powerchord shapes on the low E and A strings, it would look and sound something like this...





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You'll notice that I actually use very little movement to "strum" the strings, since we're just hitting two strings at a time. In fact, it's mostly in the wrist. Keeping your pick sweep tight around the target strings will help as you speed up your down strum playing.

Simple enough. Try speeding up this rhythm gradually using a metronome to guide you. In a moment we'll try something more complex over a proper drum track.

OK, let's now try moving around the fretboard with this powerchord shape whilst maintaining that strict 4/4 rhythm above. You can obviously come up with your own riffs, but I'm using the one tabbed out below...


As you change position from a low E string powerchord to an A string powerchord, you'll obviously need to reposition your downstrum attack so the first string you hit is the root note of the powerchord.

Remember, if you can't keep up with that drum track yet, use a metronome first, to speed up gradually and ensure you're "string targeting" is accurate.

Let's now move on to some more complex downstrum rhythms.



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Heavy metal strumming patterns

You'll most likely recognise the patterns we're about to look at as they are used a lot in metal. However, with the drummer adding his/her own beat and the guitarists writing their own riffs, they will never sound rehashed. Think of them as fundamental ingredients which you should build on and twist into your own.

Let's start with this one. First take a listen to the audio for an example...


Click to hear >

So, slightly different from before as this time we're grouping our downstrokes into triplets (with the exception of that opening couple of strokes).

I find this pattern works well with moderate blast beats, as a nice alternative to the typical palm muted scratch picking heard in a lot of thrash. You can certainly hear the hardcore punk influence in this combination. Try your own riff over the drum track below (right click and "save as" to download)...


Remember - use a metronome to speed up gradually! As the tempo of this pattern increases, you may find you need to use upstrokes - more on this in part 2.

Now let's try a slower, more lumbering riff, which makes use of much looser and sparse strumming patterns. If you're a fan of groove metal then you'll appreciate this style of riffing.

Hear how I space out the downstrums. Take a listen...

Click to hear >

So there's a bit more space in that riff for the powerchords to ring out. What's interesting about riffs like this is, when the percussion is added, the down strums naturally move with the groove of the bass drum. Take another listen, but this time with the drums...


All we're essentially doing here is leaving gaps in that constant 4/4 downstrum pattern from earlier. If we filled in those gaps, here's what we'd get...

Click to hear >

Ideally, you won't be relying too much on the tabs in this lesson, because I really want you to experiment with your own riffs, and explore the rhythm techniques we've been looking at.

And finally...

There's one last down strumming pattern we should get to know before we move on to part 2.

Metal often makes use of sub-rhythms, where a different time signature will provide a "fill" or an interruption to the main driving rhythm. Now, the best way to understand what I mean is to hear it! Take a listen...

Click to hear >

So, we start with a basic driving rhythm from the earlier patterns, but it's interrupted by a kind of off-beat sub-rhythm. Listen to it again on its own and clean...

Click to hear >

So, without a tab to show you what to play, try and come up with your own riff over the drum track below, and see if you can fill those mini interludes accurately.

Download the drum track >