20 Metal Guitar Riffs for Beginners (with Tabs)

From easy to ambitious!

Learn how to play 20 Metal Guitar Riffs on guitar.

Guitar tabs are shown at the bottom of the video. Enjoy!

Tuning: E Standard

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#Tabs #Guitar #Top10

[archieship]

0:10 - Am I Evil? (Diamond Head)
0:22 - Rammstein (Rammstein)
0:39 - Stand By Him (Ghost)
0:54 - Children Of The Grave (Black Sabbath)
1:16 - For Whom The Bell Tolls (Metallica)
1:33 - Symphony of Destruction (Megadeth)
2:01 - Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne)
2:16 - Freezing Moon (Mayhem)
2:31 - Black Sabbath (Black Sabbath)
3:00 - Whole Lotta Love (Led Zeppelin)
3:19 - Seek & Destroy (Metallica)
3:46 - Breaking The Law (Judas Priest)
4:10 - South of Heaven (Slayer)
4:27 - Holy Diver (Dio)
4:48 - Madhouse (Anthrax)
4:59 - Painkiller (Judas Priest)
5:18 - 2 Minutes To Midnight (Iron Maiden)
5:39 - Raining Blood (Slayer)
5:50 - Hand of Blood (Bullet For My Valentine)
6:00 - Downfall (Children of Bodom)

[connorstout]

Painkiller is 1000% not a beginning riff, I think all guitar players can speak on that cause I don’t think anyone sits down and says yep that song is going to be one of the first songs I learn right as they pick up a guitar

[c.m]

The first riff I ever learned was master of puppets lol. It took me forever and had to do it so so slowly. Its all I wanted to be able to play! Also was the song that made me pick up a guitar!

[skweedom]

Downfall definitely not for beginners :D Also, Slayer and Painkiller (Judas Priest) may be relatively simple, but would argue it still takes time for some beginners to nail them (i.e. to do alternate picking accurately and at original tempo)

[josephfoster]

I like how they builded up into more complex riffs towards the end

[redwineftw]

I’ve been playing guitar for over 20 years, and my first riff/song I learned was Breaking the Law 🥰

[craigfoggon]

Some of these riffs are definitely not for beginners. I would have struggled with some of these when I was starting out. That's not to say that they are good riffs to aspire to for a beginner cos the definitely are. Good choice.

[aydenmorse]

The first song I learned to play through entirely was shepherd of fire by avenged sevenfold, unless you don’t count not doing the right solo, me and my teacher improvised a different solo that still fit the tone of the song because even now I’d still consider myself a beginner, so obviously I wasn’t gonna pull off a Synyster Gates solo for my recital, but since shepherd of fire, I learned how to play the middle by Jimmy eats world and my hero by the foo fighters in my school’s rock band program

[jimofaotearoa]

The most important thing for a beginner here is the techniques. Learn to chug triplets for one song and you now know how to chug triplets. Learn to alternate between chugging a palm muted open E string and playing 5ths on the A string and you are now getting very metal... songs come and go but the techniques remain the same. (and yes that's a butchered reference to Zep)

[coolestreviews]

This is one of the coolest things I have seen in a long time.

[KevinBalke]

A few of these riffs are a bit more challenging, but if you already learned the easier ones you'll be able to practice and understand the more difficult ones too. Keep it up!

[Igiul]

Freezing Moon is a great mention and very addictive riff

[drewg]

i started with bass and moved on to guitar as soon as i found out that the bass player for van halen/van hagar didn't get chicks because of his stellar bass skills... (it was his stellar back up vocals), the very first song i learned on bass wasn't an easy one.. it was an introduction into my walking bass line phase that ultimately lead me to my ska jag. the song was "pea" off of one hot minute by R.H.C.P. so i wanted the chicks... all i did was add two chords and learned some basic structure (stereotypical power chord, down tune, one note solos...ect you get the picture.) its easier to start with 2 less strings until you get the hang of the basics.

[nestlesnipes]

Guy on youtube trying to be helpful ~ Here's some guitar riffs for beginners

People on Youtube ~ Uh, excuse me! A lot of these are not for beginners!

People on Youtube replying to people on Youtube ~ I was shredding when I first picked up a guitar at 6 years old and Steve Vai asked me for lessons!

Guys, we get it. Shut up and play.

[amithpandit]

This is exactly what i was looking for. Needed some inspiration to pick up the guitar again and this setlist is perfect for some warmups

[jrock]

I'd say they're great songs for beginners to work on so as to develop a solid technique.
I've always played by ear when it comes to riffs, but never took the time to see the songs through.
Bass on the other hand was a different story, I could play the whole ''RATM, Evil Empire'' album all the way through when I was a kid.
Tangent:
Also, the very first concert I ever went to, New Years Eve 94'95 @ the Detroit Fairgrounds. They shared a ticket with Helmet.
(Front and center when Helmet struck the first chord of 'in the meantime', I had an idea of what to expect but no clue of the intensity. I was a little guy 15 ys. old, almost suffocated in the squash pit until I got the gist. After that I was hooked.
As my addiction progressed the concerts I attended got heavier and the pits got harder. I hit rocks bottom when a so called friend of mine pushed me into a 'Cannibal Corpse' pit full of Skinheads at a show called 'The Fat Tour' and I died... Thankfully I was beaten back to life and remain pit free to this day.💀👍

[xDirtyDeedx]

They all sound good, I am just wondering what you use for backing tracks? A drum machine or some variant of one?

[rockerpat]

Breaking The Law Was My First Riff!!!
Holy Diver Was An Early One As Well Along With Rock You Like A Hurricane!!!
First Solo Was Rock You Like A HURRICANE Intro Solo!!! Still Don't Know The Main Solo, But I Still Practice The Intro All The Time!!!
I Think The Zoo Is Another Good Beginner Riff As Well!!!
Keep Rocking It Out!!!

[brozyes]

This helped me learn to play in time (with metronome too) playing fast is cool and all but to actually “play” i’d say learning timing is essential even more than just soloing all the time… thanks for this

[D-cc]

Thanks for your videos! They are so useful, and they have soo great songs