Music Lesson: "Slam" - Metal Inspired Piece

Introduction

The song we're looking at now is "Slam" from a metal inspired piece. This is going to be a lot of fun!

Technique

• We're going to use down plucking for the whole piece to achieve that really tight, aggressive sound.
• We want a distorted tone, so:
  • Make sure your amp is on the distortion channel.
  • Turn the gain really high.
• Use the bridge pickup to cut through the distortion for clarity while maintaining a heavy sound.

Song Structure

This song is heavily based on power chords, particularly in lines two and three.

Melody

To start off, we have a little melody that sounds sludgy and slow. We want that heavy sound coming through:

1. Open E String:
   • Ensure a good attack to let the distortion ring through clearly.
2. Follow with:
   • C: The third fret on the A string.
   • B: The second fret.
     • Play the third fret with your middle finger and the first fret with your first finger.

Rhythms

• We maintain the finger per fret method, simply shifting up one fret.
• The rhythms in Bar Two:
  • A half note followed by two quarter notes.
  • Sequence: Open A string, the third on the E string (G), back to that A string at the end.

First Two Bars

Here's a breakdown of the first two bars:

• E, C, B, open A, third on the E string (G), open A.

Bars Three and Four

• Bars three and four are similar to one and two:
  • Bar three mirrors the first bar.
  • There's a cool lick at the end of bar four to descend back to that E note.
    • Play open A to the third fret on the E (G), finishing with open E.
    • Use a nice firm touch for the half note E.

Line One Practice

Here's line one, which I'll take slowly so you can join in:

Count in: 1, 2, 3, 4.

• Palm Muting:
  • When playing the open E string in bar one, make sure the E has stopped when you're playing the third fret on the A.
  • Use your palm to mute the E string to avoid any crossover.
  • This prevents a messy sound we want to avoid.

Lines Two and Three

• This part is the most fun in the song! We're playing power chords.

E5 Chord

• Play the E power chord five times (five quarter notes):
  • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
  • Followed by three beats of rest and a quarter and half note.

A Power Chord

• In bars three and four, we do the same with an A power chord:
  • Play the second fret on the D string with the Open A above.
• Count:
  • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4.

Line Three

• In line three:
  • We have the same movement but with seven strums of each chord.
  • Sequence: Six quarter notes and a half note to finish.
  • Count:
    • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Line Four

• Line four is the same as line one.

Practice Tips

• Take this song nice and slowly.
• Ensure you're only playing the strings indicated when playing power chords.
• Feel free to loop this song until you're comfortable before building up speed gradually.

Performance Note

• In this metal style, you can pick a bit harder to give the amp more power and distortion.
• Listen to the difference:
  • If I go from soft to hard: the harder I pick, the more compressed the amp gets, creating that desired metal distorted sound.

Final Thoughts

• Slow it down, build up gradually, and let's give it a go with the backing track!