# Learn Guitar — Metal drills > Interactive page: [`drills-metal.html`](drills-metal.html) · Fundamentals: [`drills.md`](drills.md) Standard tuning, palm on the bridge, everything slower than you want it. Metal rhythm guitar is a percussion instrument: the pitches barely change, so the only thing left to judge is your timing. **Technique path:** [Drills](drills.md) · [Exercises](exercises.md) · [Metal exercises](exercises-metal.md) · this page. Why it matters: nothing exposes a sloppy picking hand like a downpicked chug. Ten minutes a week tightens your strumming and palm mute more than any amount of chord practice. **Standard EADGBE** — drop-D and lower tunings are not in this room yet, and none of these drills need them. Sweep picking and tapping live on [Solo drills](drills-solo.md). Where a drill is a shape or a picking pattern, **TAB** sits next to the explanation (high e on top). How to read it: [Foundations · TAB](foundations.md). **Sources (two-check):** Hal Leonard rock/metal method material on palm muting and downpicking · Berklee-style subdivision practice (quarters → eighths → sixteenths against one click). Rhythmic figures only — no transcribed riffs. First-piece titles are recognition, not scores. On the HTML page, Play becomes Stop on the same button. ## Suggested order 1. Downpicked quarters 2. Downpicked chug (eighths) 3. Gallop, then reverse gallop 4. Muted power-chord changes 5. Accent on 1 6. Alternate-picked sixteenths 7. Start / stop 8. Triplet chug, half-time, two-string chug 9. Chromatic approach and gallop with a change 10. First pieces — rhythms you write, not transcribed riffs ## Three tracks - **Beginner** — muted open-E quarters. Find the palm spot. The note should still say “E”. - **Intermediate** — eighth chug. Gallop, then reverse. Muted power-chord changes. - **Advanced** — Start/stop, triplet chug, gallop with a change. Then a first piece — an 8-bar chug you write. Sweeps and taps: [Solo](drills-solo.md). ## Chug Palm just in front of the bridge saddles, pick close to the palm. The note should still have pitch — a chug is muted, not dead. **1 · Downpicked quarters** — one muted open E per click, all downstrokes. Find the spot where the note is short but still says "E". ``` E|-0-----0-----0-----0-- P.M. ``` **2 · Downpicked chug** — two muted hits per click, still all downstrokes. Wrist small, arm quiet. When it falls apart, drop 10 bpm. ``` E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- P.M. ``` **3 · Accent on 1** — the first hit of each bar rings open and loud, the rest stay muted. ``` E|-0--0--0--0--0--0--0--0-- 1 open, rest P.M. ``` ## Gallop **4 · Gallop** — one eighth then two sixteenths on the muted low E. Count **1 & a**. ``` e|----------------| B|----------------| G|----------------| D|----------------| A|----------------| E|-0-00-0-00-0-00-| (palm mute) ``` **5 · Reverse gallop** — two sixteenths then an eighth. Count **1 e &**. Most players can only gallop one way round; this fixes that. ``` E|-00-0-00-0-00-0-| P.M. ``` ## Muted shapes **6 · Muted power-chord changes** — E5, G5, A5, one bar each, chugging eighths throughout. Shapes are the ones on [Rock drills](drills-rock.md). ``` E5 G5 A5 A|-2- -5- -7- E|-0- -3- -5- ``` **7 · Open string between shapes** — chug open low E for two beats, power chord for two. The pedal-tone pattern behind an enormous amount of metal rhythm playing. ``` 1 2 | 3 4 E|-0--0-- | -3--3-- A|-x--x-- | -5--5-- ``` ## Speed and silence **8 · Alternate-picked sixteenths** — four hits per click on one string, down-up-down-up, lightly muted. Add 4 bpm only when a full minute is clean. ``` E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- ``` **9 · Start / stop** — two bars of chug, two bars of nothing, forever. Keep counting through the silence and come back exactly on 1. ``` | E chug | E chug | rest | rest | ``` ## Past the chug **10 · Triplet chug** — three even muted hits inside each click. Count **1-trip-let**. ``` E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- ``` **11 · Half-time feel** — one heavy mute on 1 and 3 only. ``` E|-0-----------0-------- ``` **12 · Two-string chug** — mute open E and A together. ``` A|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- E|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0- ``` **13 · Accent 2 and 4** — chug eighths; 2 and 4 ring a little more. **14 · Chromatic approach** — E5, F5, F♯5, G5, one bar each. Generic approach notes, not a transcribed lick. ``` E5 F5 F#5 G5 A|-2- -3- -4- -5- E|-0- -1- -2- -3- ``` **15 · Gallop with a change** — da-dada while the left hand moves E5 → G5 → A5. ``` A|-2-22- -5-55- -7-77- E|-0-00- -3-33- -5-55- ``` ## First pieces The first metal piece is an **8-bar rhythm you write** from these figures. We do not print Enter Sandman, Iron Man, Master of Puppets, or any other copyrighted riff. **A starter form:** two bars chug, two bars gallop, two bars a power-chord change, two bars silence. - **Beginner** — eight bars of muted E, accent on 1; G5 on bars 5–6. - **Intermediate** — gallop on E5, change to A5; pedal tone for a B section. - **Advanced** — your 8-bar form with start/stop. [12-bar powers](drills-rock.md) with a metal mute. **Same right-hand family (titles only):** downpicked open-E openers → drills 1–3 · gallop / NWOBHM colour → drills 4–5 and 15 · stop-time → drill 9 · 12-bar vamps → [Rock 12-bar](drills-rock.md) · [Play along · blues](songs.md) · E–A–B → [E5–A5–B5](drills-rock.md) · [E–A–B7](songs.md). If you can hum a famous riff, leave it in your ear. Play the *rhythm* on open E with your own left-hand moves. ## Practice note **How long:** 10 minutes, in two sittings if the arm complains — then write eight bars for first pieces. **Listen for:** every hit the same length and volume. Record thirty seconds on your phone — the unevenness you cannot hear while playing is obvious on playback. **Common mistake:** chasing tempo. A clean 90 beats a ragged 130. Also: burying the palm until the pitch disappears. Continue: [Solo drills](drills-solo.md) · [Rock drills](drills-rock.md)