Even metal icons like Metallica’s Kirk Hammett go searching for the roots. This lesson deals with his recent interest in the blues and how using blues style can add emotional heft to your hard-rock solos. Instead of just shredding through modes and scales, Hammett is interested in phrasing and bends. Fig. 1 is a cool blues-rock lick that you can master and include in metal solos. One among several. 3120, Achtung Baby!, (The Sound & The Fury/Kirk Hammett). When you’re a rocker and you get up in front of people, there ain’t a thing wrong with doing handstands. Show off, babe. Jimmy Brown demonstrates three of Hammett’s favorite ways to put the achtung’ in his solos: killer bends, repeated speed licks and other ways to get the crowd’s attention away from their beer and on you.

Audio guitar lesson:
http://truefire.com/guitabulary/lessons/bluethunder.mp3

Tab, notation and Power Tab files available here.