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Best Metal Guitar Techniques to Practice in 2024

By Shawn Leonhardt for Guitar Tricks and 30 Day Singer

This can be the year that you finally start shredding and playing killer solos, the key is to focus daily on a few different techniques in your guitar lessons . There is no secret to metal guitar that will allow you to avoid many hours of grueling practice, however there are approaches that will allow you to succeed faster if done right. Here are some of the best metal guitar techniques to practice in 2024!

Pick Harder

Learn to correctly pick harder, really dig into those strings and get every note out that you can! It also helps to know exactly when to down pick or alternate, these are both important movements but it matters when to use them. There is no one standard way to go, instead listen to the song you are playing to see which stroke fits and is the most efficient. For other genre players it’s more about the right rhythm but in metal we want speed so the fastest way to get it done is the goal!

Clean Up the Palm Muting

Just like the right picking method you probably are not muting your other strings as good as you should be. Also like picking there is no shortcut to having the cleanest mutes. It all happens with slow and deliberate movements repeatedly sped up. If you are struggling with palm muting it helps to watch as many other artists do it and try each unique way. Not everyone has the same shape of hand or movement, perhaps you can find a spot or method that works better.

The Pentatonic Is Your Home

The pentatonic scale , especially the minor, is what you will use for most riffs, licks, and solos, especially as a learning guitarist. As you get to know your music theory better it is fine to start branching out, even though you will find the pentatonic is where you will still often land. It’s a huge part of the entire metal genre so embrace that scale in all keys and tunings. As you branch out, use the pentatonic and minor scales to build on and see how the new notes change the vibe.

Practice In Different Positions and Locations

If you are moving along in your shredding and it is going well in your home or bedroom you need to switch it up some. Start by standing and playing as opposed to sitting down, maybe even pace back and forth lightly to distract your brain. Play for others in an open mic or communal setting, the goal is to force your mind to focus on other things while the muscle memory builds. Plus it will help you start getting used to playing for an audience and getting in person feedback (people online aren’t always the best help!).

Metronome and Drum Tracks Are Essential for Practice

Hopefully you are already using a metronome or backing drum track to practice with. If a metronome is boring why not try a drum machine and use different genres to play over. And most of all use this timing practice properly, if you are making mistakes it is necessary to slow it all down. The beat should be as slow as to where you make no mistakes. As you improve only then can you increase the speed a little at a time.

Time Signature and Meter Exploration

Modern metal has so many sub genres and some of the progressive ones like to experiment with different times and meters. In a world full of the same songs these new rhythms are welcome with most listeners. Just be careful with time signature exploration, some of the odder times are very halting and do not flow well. Granted metal isn’t jazz, pop, or funk so we don’t need to worry about flow and swing but you don’t want to become too aggressive and lack any rhythm.

Master the Gallop

The gallop, chug, djent, and more all stem from rhythmic ways of playing low bass notes and power chords. Work on your 1/8 th notes, 1/16 th , and triplets to play a variety of deep and driving riffs. It has to fit the time signature that you play but it also needs to keep the flow and drive moving. Clean palm muting and proper picking will help these strums sound clear and give them the right vibe.

Practice Your Techniques Clean With No Distortion

Keep the gain low, distortion off, and any crunch or metal effect turned off so you can hear exactly what you are doing. It won’t sound as good or cool but it will let you know what your mistakes are. When the distortion is turned up any mistakes will create harmonic overtones that muddy the feeling or tone of our chords and signal. Just like with a metronome make sure the chords are played perfectly before jumping into the heavier sound.

Make Your Own Riffs

One of the best guitar practices for all genres of music is to write your own songs and compositions. It doesn’t even matter if you make a metal song, a three chord pop hit will help you understand the process of building a song better. Once you understand the chord progressions, drums, bass, and other parts your guitar playing will make more sense. Learning the bigger picture is how you go from being an intermediate player to an advanced one!

Patience

As much as guitarists want a tip or secret that will propel them forward, the main one is simply patience and taking it slowly. Most metal guitarists fail because they jump ahead and try to play things they aren’t ready for. Turn that metronome on to the slowest speed and work on songs you like, original compositions, and new ideas that you find on social media. The next day speed up the tiniest bit, after months of doing this repetitive slow and patient practice you will show vast improvement.

To benefit from the best metal techniques in 2024 you need to engage and participate in music more. If you try enough songs and styles you may even find your playing is more suited to other goals than just shredding. The more you simply pick up your guitar and actively work on new skills the better you will be, so don’t fret being a master at metal, just focus on being a solid musician and the accomplishments will follow.