7 Reasons Steve Harris is a Metal. Bass. Legend. (+Lesson Tips)

What makes Steve Harris a metal bass legend? Here’s my take, plus tips to match his signature style and sound. Up the irons!

We’ll start with one of the fretboard shapes Steve uses most often, which allows him to create cool riff-y bass lines without needing to know theory. (though his lines end up working within theory rules anyway)

I’ll show you how you can easily drop that shape in to create your own Maiden-style bass lines, like Steve does on lines like Number Of The Beast and Phantom Of The Opera.

Steve Harris plucks with his fingers, never using a pick, which sets him apart from a lot of other metal bassists. I’ll give you a couple exercises to start getting your plucking fingers up to Maiden speed.

You’ll need that plucking speed to pull off “the gallop,” Iron Maiden’s most signature rhythm. I’ll break it down for you, and we’ll play some gallops from the comfortable trot of Sign of the Cross, to a breakneck race through Run To The Hills. (that s**t is fast)

Then we’ll dig into Steve’s signature tone. Getting the bass to be audible through the guitars in a metal band is tricky without a pick, so I’ll explain all the tricks Steve is using to make sure we can still hear him.

Last we’ll look at some of the bass chords Steve plays, which range from big thick simple power chords, to quirky melodic triad chords. (like the freaky spooky augmented triads in Rime Of The Ancient Mariner)

As fans of metal bass, we all owe Steve Harris a lot for his contributions to the style. Thanks Steve! Up the irons.

#SteveHarris #UpTheIrons #metalbasslesson

[Gorbyrev]

As Scott Ian said, the most heavy metal thing in the world is Steve Harris's right hand.

[angeltorres]

You are a great teacher. Here’s why: 1) you love this 2) you make it fun, and 3) you make it easy to understand. I love your channel.

[pachy]

can we appreciate for a moment that his videos are in dark mode

[JdT_]

When the bassist literally writes the songs you know he's a badass lol love Steve Harris

[friendlyinternetman]

It is so funny how that ‘harris box’ noodling you did at the beginning sounds like…every iron maiden song at once lol. It really is a defining characteristic of their songwriting

[JoshuaLTRyan]

Steve Harris and Cliff Burton are why I play bass. He will always be legend. I saw Iron Maiden last summer, I was in the middle of a health issue where they actually were worried about cancer but for that night I forgot all about it and had an awesome evening with friends seeing a band I grew up with. A couple weeks later I found out, no cancer, so that was good too. :)

[Gorlung]

Steve's index finger has run the distance of the equator on Earth

[NeilCrouse]

I started playing Iron Maiden tunes from about 1983 or so. I was a Steve Harris and Getty Lee student of the bass.. I've played in countless concerts over the years. And with countless other players. It has been'is a life of pure joy and I thank these players for inspiring me to no end...

[sjsturkie]

The Steve impressions are great. "I don't know scales!" lol

[mrcoatsworth]

Steve is the real deal. In it for the music, not fame or other crap. Just doing what he loves.
Awesome video, man!

[bonescheffel]

I actually had the privilege to play "Old Blue" (it's white now...) through Steve's rig a few years ago, while working setup for a Maiden gig.
Here's what I took away from that experience:
1-Super low action-probably the lowest action I've ever encountered on a bass.
2-Fresh strings every show (I have the set from the previous show)
3-Really high gain at the front end-this allows "Arry to be very efficient with his right hand. As Nicko says " "e just tickles" the strings.
4-A decent amount of compression-this is within the bass rig, not applied by the FOH engineer (although he may do so). This basically means that every note Steve plays is essentially the same volume-whether it's a "delicate" movement (POTO), or he's hammering chords (many songs post BNW).
5-He's even shorter than I had thought! I'm only 5'8", but when I had the bass on, the pickups basically sat just below my sternum, and my right arm was bent at almost 90 degrees! Definitely not sitting at my hip with a straight right arm!

[tossedpenny]

I'm a 6 string guitar player and I see my boy Steve Harris pop up in my feed and I have to drop everything and check it out. That doesn't happen for just anybody. In a world of prancing unicorns, Steve is a thundering buffalo grudge-humping everything that gets in his way. Mad respect.

[ronaldwilson]

In 1982 I bought tickets to see .38 Special (I’m a big Southern rock fan) I had great seats second row. The opening act was a band that I had heard of but had never heard. That band was Iron Maiden. The second they hit the stage and opened with “Wrathchild”, my life changed forever. The bass player propped his foot on top of the monitor and played his ass off. Steve Harris is was and always will be my favorite musician.

[matt]

I was lucky enough to see Iron Maiden in Las Vegas in 1981, which was the first time the band played in the United States. I stumbled onto this video and I have to say thanks. Very well done from an old metalhead. Great memories.

[stevenwright]

My first concert, 1984 Fresno, California. Iron Maiden Powerslave tour. Twisted Sister opened up. Badass show. I remember making my way to the front of the crowd, then edging to the right wing. As we got towards the last couple songs, I was standing in front of a giant tapestry with the powerslave print on it. Like 50 feet tall and 20 feet wide. After a minute, I'm like damn this flimsy fabric tapestry is loud. I walk to the edge and peek behind it. Marshall stacks 3 wide 5 high. Lol, my ears rang for 3 days.

[n.a]

The fact you started the video with one of their most underrated instrumentals, from their absolute best album, made me very happy.

[MrMikey]

I’ve idolised Steve since I heard the Killers album when it came out (I was 11). To me he is the greatest Bassist ever. Terrific songwriter as well. Up the Irons!

[BassBuzz]

Sorry I couldn’t include riffs from every Maiden album, there are too many for one video! What’s your favorite Maiden song?🤘🏼
(and yes, The Trooper is from Piece of Mind, not Number of the Beast. Oops!)

[jasoncherry]

Rime of the Ancient Mariner is one of my favorites, that song has a lot of power and soul in the bass riff. Love it.

[aaronrichards]

Steve Harris is the undisputed king of heavy metal bass.