Metallica was the first band where I explored more than basic songs(lol), and the first band that I learned every member’s name and their story. They are the band that got me into Metal. They will always be special to me(Guns N Roses too)
Back in the 80s, a buddy of mine brought his Master of Puppets album over and told me I had to hear this band. As soon as I dropped the needle, I was like, "What the hell is this?" I was very deep into VH at the time. At first I didn't like it because it was so dark, repetitive, and fast. However, it became another expansion of my music appreciation and I grew to love it and play it.
I first saw Metallica in 1985 at the Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa Oklahoma backing up W.A.S.P with Armored Saint opening up ... Cliff broke a string and threw it to my buddy ... Saw them a second time when they were supporting Ozzy in 1986 ... after they played, the band mashed their way out front and watched Ozzy’s set from the front row ... about 3 rows in front of me ... they were into Ozzy and the crowd and definitely fans ... love the content and the commentary ... up the irons !!!
I was primarily a rhythm guitarist, but a band I was in needed a lead guitarist, so I borrowed a friend’s Star Licks “Metallica Style” book and cassette and learned Hammett licks. However, I quickly got bored playing Hammett style licks and started learning Friedman licks from his instructional VHS tapes. I, eventually, learned some from a Gary Holt VHS, as well. Speaking of Exodus and Holt, a Gary Holt three-for all would be nice.
Yes, MOP is one of the greatest metal albums ever made. First time I heard the album, the acoustic intro to battery then the kick, I didn’t know what I heard. Probably rewound the cassette 20 times before ever once got through the song. Then the interlude in MOP the song. Wow. There was nothing like it at the time . ✌️🤟
B🐓, you are better than most on this YT universe. So clean and knowledgeable on so many different styles. Not a bad thing to say about anyone or anything. Thank you 👍.
YOU and Ben Eller are both excellent examples of great guitar instructors. I have advanced my playing tremendously due to you guys... fave Metallica...ride the lightning and garage days original.....
Kirk on the first three albums was what I call a "stylistic" player!!...it had heart and guts and was so expressive....it went with the songs perfectly....which is what you want....sure people can shred harder but who cares...the real power of a solo or music is when it becomes its own little masterpiece within and around the song....kirk definitely had that on the first 3 albums...and those albums still crush me to this day...especially ride the lightning and master of puppets....cheers
I have been watching your videos and there is one thing that I can say....I love the way you play man...so nice and clean and your tone is amazing. I discovered you because of the King Diamond video which I really love how you played the riffs. So far I have loved every video. Very informative and great to learn all this awesome music! Thanks!!!
@@aylbdrmadison1051 great! I love all KD albums and it is my favorite second band after Coroner. I hope that you enjoy the KD video as much as I did. Cheers!
I will say though Kirk has what I call a nervous vibrato . Similar to CC deville. It's a o my god I'm trying my hardest to not screw up sorta nervous execution/ playing style.
I call that the _strangling a goat vibrato_ and I've never been fond of it. Niel Young (whose music I love too) also did this incessantly, and it bugs the crap outta me. I've always tried to teach my students to vary the speed of their vibrato. Sometimes really fast is good, but more often a slow vibrato is far more pleasing, and certainly takes a lot more control. To be expressive though, varying the speed works far far better. It's like playing fast lines and slow lines interspersed with each other is so much more interesting than just playing fast all of the time, witch I think is incredibly boring and utterly lacking in dynamics, expression, and creativity.
Playing guitars with floating-trems for 30 years isn't good for a player's vibrato, imo (the drugs can't have helped either). Fixed bridges = better vibrato. If only he'd been playing the Greenie Les Paul all this time.
@@jenniferlawrence2701 If a nobody from my town who only plays cover songs in dimly lit bar twice a week can have a good vibrato by practicing it then so can Kirk. Kirk probably just never bothered about his vibrato and his overall guitar technique, or lack there of. He’s just a kid who’s happy playing fast pentatonic and somehow suit Hetfield-Ulrich’s musical ideas for whatever reason. Floating trem shouldn’t have any effect on finger vibrato. Vai and Satch are trem-freaks and their vibrato is good.
To me, Kirk's best solo is The Unforgiven. His phrasing is on point and note for note amazing. I'm a big fan of Ride the Lightning but I say Unforgiven is his best.
When I think of Metallica I always think about that Master era. My favorite album is still Ride the Lightening but the stuff on Master is so revolutionary. I happen to love Kirk and his wah playing, so many guitarists would love to have his “problems” of wah overuse. He is so good at using it. Great video. The Randy style lick was awesome. Great video and much love from Tulsa.
I agree, though I really liked Justice For All too. But Master of Puppets was their peak imo, with Ride The Lighting a close second. Last band I was in me and the other guitarist would argue that point. I prefer MoP and he was all about RtL. Fun times. lols
Aylbdr Madison hell yeah. Justice is probably my 2nd fav. Even though MoP isn’t in my top 2, when I think of Metallica and hear them on the radio, I just think and see the Master era look and sound.
People's opinion on Metallica really changed with the Black album and then once Load came out a lot of people jumped ship, including me. James changed his singing, Kirk used a wah pedal on everything and they lost their edge. People really started hating on them long before the whole Napster thing.
@@aquabot : As a guitarist myself, I feel I should point out that the drum parts are every bit as important and intrinsic to the overall sound of any band as the guitar riffs are.
@@BRACLLC : After Justice I started calling them McTallica. Not that what they did was bad per se, I mean, McDonalds burgers are yummy, but they are what they are too.
@@aylbdrmadison1051 . True . It's sad but you're only as good as your drummer...if you have an average drummer you sound average...if you have an amazing summer ...well you get it...there is a dynamic that so many people overlook
Kirk Hammett Exodus Lick Lesson next? I like how Kirk Hammett uses major scales and minor scales maybe you can be a lesson on how he uses them in metallica Ride the Lightning album be a big help on that lesson.
Really entertaining and I learned more about Kirk. I recently got his signature picks to try, man, they are small and pointy, not sure I like them yet!
I'm not sure if you remember the interview but one of the guitar mags asked Kirk what he thought about file sharing and he said he thought it was funny. That it was scaring the labels who of course were famous for giving bands bad deals. Very shortly after that Lars came out against Napster. Shortly after that iTunes came out. Essentially the same idea and even look of Napster, except now the software made people pay for everything. I think it was that combined with the black album, them cutting their hair, etc. Essentially seeming to become not just rich but company men. I think Kirk is a great guitarist. And I don't think he was in favor of a lot of the stuff that turned people against Metallica. Although they did let him play rhythm on the black album. Maybe that swayed his favor haha
I appreciate your lessons and your way of talking so much. And you show so much appreciation for the musicians you talk about. Yet for me there is no need to heroify these "guitar gods", as some people strangely call them. They are just gifted people as you are. And sometimes other factors are far more important than the musical quality of folks, e.g. being at the right spot at the right time, having a good management, etc. There are SO MANY great musicians who don't become world famous. E.g. yourself! 🌷
Yea, there are so many bands I've seen that blow away almost everything popular, but they were never in the right place with "the sound" the record producers were looking for. It's sad too because all of the record producers who _look for a particular sound_ have crappy taste if you ask me. It's the producers who just enjoy music (or produce their own) that are great.
I only like one album by them--Master of Puppets--but I like it a lot. It really stands out. It sounds like a different band from their other albums. Thanks for the lessons man. Not much time to practice so it's cool to hop on and learn a new lick every week or two.
I was probably at that show (Philly). I saw them 2x on the AJFA tour...1st time Queensryche opened up, 2nd time it was The Cult (that's when Fire Woman came out). Amazing shows. No one made fun of Kirk or the band back then. They were THE metal band. It seems to be around the black album and more so with Load that people started to turn on them because they got away from thrash into a different style with more blues-based solos, cut their hair, etc. I appreciate all their work, but the first 4 albums are special to me and AJFA was the pinnacle of their domination of the thrash metal world. Kirk was/is a monster player and has nothing to prove. I think he just wanted to do different things as a player. I remember one video where he says he's so over guitar solos. To each their own. I love guitar solos.
I'm not a great Mettalica fan but I respect they work very much especially the early work. That being wrote I belive that this is another great video from you David, looking deep into the detail of those licks. Great work man and thank you. Now for what you said about that wha-wha, maybe it's that cheap amp but I didn't notice a great tone with that wha that a normal cry-baby wouldn't sound, maybe it's just the sound on the video. Anyway thx again David, good job and greetings from Portugal!
Yeah man I'm 43 and been a metallica fan since elementary school and your right nobody talked shit back in the day . Pantera and Metallica were the big two in school for us. I was spreading Metallicas music in elementary and people were tripping on it back then. That was my band nobody knew about back then. Wild how everybody knows them now. Lol
Hey man,,, u so look so much similar to Chester Bennington but with long hair😃😃 Btw just found ur lessons and checked into ur contents,,,,man these are absolute gold to me. So continue posting these sorts of videos,,,,cheers and best wishes from Nepal 🤘🤘
Ever own an RMC wah? Been using the RMC 5 since 2012 and I love it, doesn't add gain like a Cry baby. The Xotic is very good tho, considered replacing mine with one. But I enjoy having a wah that doesn't have any knobs, just step on it and rip.
I'm from over the bridge in New Jersey I was at that Philly show you're talking about.they had those ugly bootleg shirts for sale outside that were white and had every band named on the back. Yeah I remember that.. the Philly show that was great.
They have nothing to worry about they are still a force to this day. You are right about Lars just look at the complaining about the industry right now
Man I can’t agree with you more. I noticed the same thing and don’t get it. His solos are amazing. Yngwie even talked bad about him saying he didn’t like the notes he chose etc but i bet millions more people can hum Kirks solos than his. Yngwie is an amazing player but I bet he’d trade album sales with Metallica any day lol. I love all their albums but Justice is my number 1. Puppets is a very close 2nd. This is your first vid I’ve seen but I’m about to check out more! 🤘🏻🤘🏻
Kirk Hammett is terrific, melodic, shreds his ass off, and has terrific influences like Michael Schenker. Side note - would love a vid about Brad Gillis/Night Ranger.
I love Kirk, I tap and riff around alot with his influence. Plus he has cool ESP guitars and nothing beats the Live Shit dvd. Lars'Tama kit and Kirk's solos off and on thoughtout the show
I see people talking bad about Kirk and Lars but the real ones who really shine in the group Are James Hetfield (Riff Lord), Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted. Can you do a chords of Metallica (James Hetfield) version
Great content here....just subscribed! These guys asked fans to bootleg early concerts and pass those recordings around to gain popularity but once they're multimillionaires they cry about their music being pirated?
I notice you look at your picking hand on some of the more fast/technical passages. I know there’s a lot of vids out there about that, but it would be cool to get your take on it.
Hi Dave I hope your having a great weekend. The people that input a bunch rubbish on some your lessons don't understand the fundamentals of music. Kirk Hammett was a big inspiration for me. His style helped my alternate picking just as Al Di Meola helped my acoustic guitar style as well. My life changing album was Master of Puppets.
Kirk's underrated as a guitarist. I think a lot of it's because he's overshadowed by the other members of Metallica, and, his use of the wah pedal! I 100% agree that it's fashionable to take a dig at Kirk, in the same way people love to take a pop at Lars' drumming, (like it or not, these guys have sold millions of albums, played in front of millions of people, and fulfilled their wildest dreams. How many people can say that?)
I agree whole heartedly kirk is great and metallica as a whole are awesome buts its the first 4 albums for me.it can not be easy to keep writing killer tunes everytime they record especially when they set the bar so high in the early days
I’ve never considered Kirk a “guitar god” or a legend. I’m definitely in the crowd that lost interest in the band because of the Napster stuff. Certainly will dive into these kicks though. I can definitely hear a Lynch influence on 2nd lick.
Bro you need to get a mixer to have a line in to go along with your room mic for us to really hear what you're doing with that wah pedal in the higher frequencies.
the change also happened about the time they became more rock and less metal. Since the early 90's. I love the 80's Metallica, and Kirk seems to be a sincerely cool dude and loves a lot of killer old rock and metal, but those 90's and beyond Metallica albums can't compare to the ferocity etc of the old stuff
I can personally attest to Kirk being a cool guy, and Cliff too. James and Lars though, not so much. Some of my best friends were good friends with all of those guys when I was growing up in and around that scene, and I've hung out with them at parties back then (except I never met Dave).
Remember when Reb Beach trashed Kirk's playing? He was not kind. For me, as an obsessive Metallica guy since '83/84, James was always THE guy for me. I'd never heard rhythm guitar so precise yet brutal.
I watched a whole documentary about that monsters of rock show your talking about. That's crazy you got to experience that. Apparently Scorpions and Metallica Killed
Kirk's work on Metallica's albums up to and including The Black Album is great. After that it's hit or miss with alot of his solos seeming to lack passion and ingenuity. Repetitive at times.
I think when you look at the actual technical skill of Kirk Hammett, he's not like your typical Satriani student. His playing is good at best filthy vibrato and sketchy note choices imo. Now as far as his influence and how many people started playing guitar because of him or he was their favorite guitarist that's a whole other story. The guy was like Ace Frehley in that manner where not the most technically brilliant but had an impact on millions and millions.
For me, he became a target because I found his playing to be extremely "sour" and wanting. I still loved the band at the time. I saw them in the 90's and his playing was an absolute mess. Assumed it was a bad night but seeing them years later, it was just as bad, probably worse. That said, I have no animosity or as some folks in this comment section have implied, jealousy and I do think he's written some memorable things and integral part of the of one of the greatest bands of all time. I'd like to add that I PROBABLY felt that he got too much attention and that other guitarists were getting hosed. That's a younger version of me though. I think greatest thing Kirk Hammett has done is became a gateway for more interesting and technical guitar players.
I don't think Kirk took a lot of lessons from Joe like other players like Alex Skolnick, Geoff Tyson, and Steve Vai. But Metallica became super busy really fast, so I think that has a lot to do with it. I'm pretty sure if he'd spent more time taking lessons, or even stayed in Exodus he'd have been a better player. James and Lars didn't like anyone else stealing their limelight and would work together to make sure that didn't happen.
@sacredgodslayer thats funny because you definitely see a different approach to his soloing on ride the lightning compared to kill em all in terms of scales and note choices. Aside from the pentatonic stuff which is big in his olaying you are definitely hearing some other minor scales and even arpeggio use in some solos on ride the lightning. Then theres the phrygian scale stuff that you can hear him use on stuff like eye if the beholder. Id saybhe actually studied and did learn from his time with joe he may not be in the league that skolnick is in (no one comes close to alex) but kirk definitely picked up on some stuff
Kirk Hammett 🤮 I have nothing against him as a person but I hate his style. I find it dirty, sloppy and not melodic. Also, let me disagree about Lars. People gave Lars a hard time because he is an arrogant brat. I love the music and the band as a whole but the individuals inside are deranged. However, I agree on MOP. Best album of all times.
I actually hung out with them back in the early 80's, and a couple of my best friends were good friends with them all for years. And no, they were not deranged. Lars *and* James were dickssometimes and arrogant yes, but Kirk and especially Cliff were pretty cool guys. Never met Dave or Newstead, so I can't comment on them other than I like some of their music.
Not to shit on Kirk because I openly admit that he was massive influence in the early days as a guitar player. I just feel like in later days he lacked the creativity or effort that he put into some of his earlier solos (welcome home, fade to black, unforgiven 2) also I find some of his vibrato is a bit sloppy especially when you compare him to to the power house that is Friedman. Saying that what he did was establish a sound and a genre which has changed the face of metal music. So for that I will always be grateful.
After Cliff passed, James and Lars worked as a team to ensure the other band members didn't have as much control over the music as they did (this is why Newstead was so unhappy). They were both dicks in their own special way at times. I'm not saying this as a random fan, but as someone who grew up in and around that scene. I've hung out with them all, and some of my best friends were good friends of theirs.
@@aylbdrmadison1051 Ye I’m aware of James and Lars controlling of the band, I think I saw somewhere that Kirk had a bunch of song ideas for Moth to a flame and James and Lars were like sorry we already written it now stick your Wah in here. Must be so frustrating any normal person would leave but then again he does make $millions every year.
@@Marksmusic191 : Yea, especially since Kirk was one of the fathers of thrash metal years before he joined Metallica. I think he would have done better as a guitarist if he'd stayed in Exodus, his own band. Also, I've been a big Friedman fan too, and Becker even moreso, since the Cacophony days.
The frustrating thing about being a Kirk fan is he's always had so much potential, but has made some unfortunate choices (EMGs, drugs, too-much wah). Oh well. Millions of people have probably picked up guitar because of him, so credit to him.
I knew them back in the early 80's, and James and Lars could be dicks sometimes. Cliff and Kirk were generally really cool guys though. I still liked their music though of course, until the black album. It's not bad, I'm just not into pop thrash metal that much. I'd rather listen to The Beatles or The Police if I'm in the mood for pop music. But my opinions aside, there's nothing wrong with liking it for anyone who does.
I grew up around those guys. Yea, Lars is a bit of a smuck, but he was right. Sure there are better guitarists than Kirk, but he's been hugely influential in more ways than ppl know (he's one of the players responsible for the birth of thrash metal), and a he's a good player. Kirk is a really cool dude too (so was Cliff R.I.P.). And I fully agree, Master of Puppets was their best album in my opinion too.
Honestly was never a fan of Hammet but as a band they earned respect. Anyway as always thanks 🍺’ski. When this month is over & you hit the woodshed can we all struggle with some Gambale licks?
Kirk Hammett was a pioneer of thrash metal before Metallica. He formed Exodus, who along with Laaz Rockit are the real fathers of that genre. There were a couple of "thrash" bands before them I'd seen at parties in Oakland and Berkeley during the late 70's, but they never released albums and I don't even remember the names of those bands.
In fairness he seems lazy nowadays. I feel like I could do the solos he does on the newer Metallica stuff. The first 4-5 albums with Metallica were perfection. I like everything they’ve done but old vs new is night vs day.
Hello, my friend! Awesome lesson. Thank you very much for sharing! Can you tell me if the last Michael Schenker lick is played in triplets? I am not sure :) have a great weekend!
I saw the Monsters of Rock tour in Akron OH June of 88. They played Harvester of Sorrow from the upcoming AJFA. Saw Puppets tour in July of 86. Cliff's head banging was the most insane thing I had ever seen.
