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[Demonstration]
Hey, in this lesson we’re going to be learning the song the “The Memory Remains” by Metallica. We’re going to be learning the rhythm parts of this song. And we’re going to divide it up into the sections, the main root for the verse and the main root for the chorus and one thing you need to know about this some before we get started and learn the actual riffs is it’s down tune to E flat.
So instead of tuning your guitar, like you normally would to E, A, D, G, B, E, you’re going to flat all those notes. So there will be E flat, A flat, D flat, G flat, B flat, and another E flat on top. Okay, so let’s get started with the first riff. You’re going to need to know your power chords pretty well to play this first riff right here. Okay so, the very first note you’re going to be playing is right here. It’s a D power chord on the fifth fret with your index finger. So slide that up to E power chord with your index finger on the seventh fret of you’re A string [Demonstration].
Once you have those two chords played, you’re going to come down to your—it would be E flat this time but your low E string and hit that one twice with some nice palm muting, so hit it twice. And that whole phrase by itself is this right here [Demonstration]. So, once you get that under your fingers, you’re going to play another E power chord to finish off the little bit of the riff [Demonstration]. And now we’re going to do is repeat this phrase three times for the intro and you’re going to come back and grab an F power chord on the first fret after that and then mute it as soon as you play. So let me play the whole phrase for you and we’ll go on from there [Demonstration], that’s the whole little intro for I guess, you would call it the chorus riff.
Now, you’re going to have—for the verses, you’re going to have a riff that has three different variations. The first half of each riff is exactly the same, so that’s pretty easy, and you get a cheat a little bit there and kind of double dip on those licks, so let’s learn the first little part, first half of each variation. The first notes you’re going to play is on your low E string, you’re going to hit your low E string twice open with no muting [Demonstration]. Once you get that done, you’re going to come up to your fifth fret with your index finger, playing that notes, you’re going to hammer on to the seventh fret with your third finger. So, once you have that much done, you’re going to have a little bit of the same kind of a things, you’re going to hammer and play your fifth fret again with your index finger, and right again, but after the hammer on this time, you’re going to pick the note that you’re going to pick after you hammer on to it. So you have this. [Demonstration]
Okay, that’s the first part of each of the three variations of this riff. So every time you have a riff like this that starts on a verse, that’s going to be your first half of the [Demonstration].
Okay, now we’re going to learn the second half of the first variation. So, I’ll play it for you and then I’ll explain what I’m doing. Okay, you’re going to play the first half of the riff. Then you’re going to come up to your D string on the fifth fret, grab that with the index finger, and when you get to the seventh fret on your D string with your ring finger, stick that once and bend that same note on the seventh fret up the whole set, back down, hit the fifth fret with your index finger, you’ve got to complete first variation on this kind of verse riff. So I’m going to play the whole thing for you and then we’ll go on to the second variation [Demonstration], okay?
So, we’re going to play on the intro, you actually going to play this three times, the same as the other riff we did. The very first riff, you’re going to play it three times and then you have a little tag at the end with some power chords and I’ll show you that right now. I’ll play it three times and then we’ll go on to the riff [Demonstration].
So a little tag on the end of the riff, all it is, is you come and get your G note on your sixth string with your index finger, then you’re going to get the octave above that on your D string, on the fifth fret, probably you want to use your pinky for this note. I’ll show you on a second, so you can hit the low G, the high G, right here on the D, then you’re going to come back to your second fret on your A string with your index finger, hit that note, and then come back up to this G on the D string on the fifth fret, but that again, let me show you those notes in sequence. One you play those notes, you’re going to come and grab an E power chord on your sixth string open and your fifth string with your first finger on the second fret, so that ring out. So the whole riff will tag in just like here [Demonstration].
So, there are two more variations that we have to learn for what we’re going to call the verse riff, and you already know the first half of each one so the rest of this it would be pretty easy for you. So, let’s start off by refreshing ourselves with first half of the riff [Demonstration]. Okay so, if we have that, we’re just going to add two more endings to that riff to have pretty much every riff on the song. So here’s the second half of the second variation [Demonstration] and that’s it. I’m going to explain it to you and then we’ll put it together and see how it sounds.
You got to your fifth fret with index finger, seventh fret with your third finger on your D string. Bend that string up. But you came back down. Fifth fret with your index finger, and then you’re going to bend up to the seventh fret with your third finger again and just leave it up. So the whole riff with that variation is just right here [Demonstration].
So let me show the second half of the last variation of the verse riff, I’m going to do—just grab this, the fifth fret with your index finger, and you grab the seventh fret with your third finger on the same string, and you grab the fifth fret with your index finger on you’re a string. That’s it. So the whole thing together for the last variation of the verse sounds like this [Demonstration], that’s it.
So, let me play an entire verse for you so you can see all these variations kind of strung together okay [Demonstration].
The last thing you need to know for this riff for the entire verse is the little harmonic that reaches up on the third fret and grab to kind of close up the whole riff. So, you’re just going to lay your finger on the sixth string on the third fret, just barely touch the string and leave it on there, don’t press it all the way down to the fret, you don’t want it right on the fret for this particular harmonic. You want just behind it because there’s two different harmonic fret there, here’s the one on the fret [Demonstration] and this is the one just behind the fret.
So, when you finish the riff [Demonstration], that’s the harmonic that you want to grab there. That’s the one he is using right there. So, if you have this song, play along with it. Make sure you tune your guitar down to E flat and if you don’t have it, you might want to go and grab it on iTunes or pick it up in the CD stores because this is really a cool tune to play along with and work on your bands and work on your power chords.
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