37 Easy Metal Songs For Guitar [With Tabs]
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Contents
“N.I.B.” by Black Sabbath
N.I.B. is another classic Black Sabbath song that every aspiring metal guitarist should have in their repertoire. This song is famous because of its iconic bass solo intro, as well as the “oh yeah” between each riff.
Like most Black Sabbath songs, you’ll primarily be using basic power chords for the duration of N.I.B. Plus, there isn’t a whole lot of moving around on the neck, making it optimal for beginners.
“Aerials” by System Of A Down
Compared to other metal bands, System Of A Down has one of the most unique sounds. Much of this is due to Serj’s distinct vocal character, but the music itself is quite unique, too.
Admittedly, many System Of A Down tracks can be a little tricky to play. Aerials makes for a great entry to adding some of this band’s songs into your repertoire.
The main riff primarily relies on playing single notes on the lower 3 strings in succession. This can be a little tricky for an absolute beginner but helps one to learn foundational metal techniques.
“Lateralus” by TOOL
The entire Lateralus album is one that any metal fan should listen to at least once. It is one of TOOL’s crowning achievements and has hints of the sound the band really embodies today.
While every song from this album is great, the song, Lateralus, is quite epic, partly because of the guitar parts. What’s great about this song is its utilization of drop D power chords, so just about anyone can play it.
“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath
Out of any metal band, Black Sabbath should really be the beginner’s starting point. After all, the band really was the sort of parent responsible for the entire metal genre itself.
While many metal songs rely on dark imagery, War Pigs takes on more of a political slant. Despite the time period in which it was written, much of the lyrics are still quite relevant in today’s society.
“Raining Blood” by Slayer
Few songs have the reputation that Slayer’s Raining Blood has within the metal music community. For starters, it’s quite a dark tune and its instrumentation is quite intense.
Raining Blood is a great choice for beginners as the song’s opening riff is fairly easy. The rest of the song will be a challenge, but you’ll grow immensely by learning to play these classic parts!
“Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold
Even if you didn’t listen to Avenged Sevenfold, you likely have some idea of the song’s inspiration. Of course, many might still be too young to fully understand the Hunter S. Thompson reference.
Still, Bat Country is perhaps the band’s most well-known hit and it has been featured in multiple video games. This is a fairly easy song, though your tremolo picking will be given a bit of a workout.
“Sweet Leaf” by Black Sabbath
By now, you shouldn’t be surprised to see yet another Black Sabbath song mentioned in this article. To give you a spoiler, it won’t be the last one you see mentioned, either!
Let’s face it, Black Sabbath’s catalog is filled to the brim with staple classics. Sweet Leaf is among these, and can still be heard on the radio today.
“Sober” by TOOL
Before TOOL became the band they were today, their sound was exceptionally rough around the edges. Many consider their evolution similar to the evolution of maturity a human goes through during life.
The song, Sober, was the first TOOL song that was really given mainstream attention. Compared to other TOOL songs, it is a bit more pop-oriented, despite having heavy metal sound aesthetics.
“Sonne” by Rammstein
Rammstein’s song, Sonne, starts out with a reminiscence of industrial electronic music, before launching into a heavy, pummeling sound. Interestingly enough, the song’s original intent was to be used for a boxer’s introduction music.
Sonne is definitely a song worthy of any beginner’s efforts. Simple power chords are primarily used throughout the entirety of the song.
Just be sure to find the right distortion crunch when playing this song. Otherwise, you might not have quite as heavy a sound as this song manages to produce.
“Iron Man” by Black Sabbath
Iron Man is perhaps Black Sabbath’s most recognizable song to those that don’t listen to metal. The iconic intro, complete with the modulated robot vocals, is usually what people recognize the most.
You’ll have a lot of fun learning this, primarily because of its relative ease. The beginning does utilize an interesting bend taking place behind the guitar’s nut.
“Stinkfist” by TOOL
If you’ve taken the time to discover TOOL’s catalog, you are probably quite familiar with the album, Ænema. This album has some of the band’s most sprawling and intense songs, including the opener, Stinkfist.
The guitar part on Stinkfist isn’t like your typical garden variety guitar work. Rather, this part relies on simplicity to deliver its punishing depth.
For the most part, Stinkfist is a song that any beginner should be capable of playing. Much of the song features repeated musicality, though you will want to make sure your bending technique is down.
“Duality” by Slipknot
Looking for something easy, yet challenging due to its speed? Slipknot’s track, Duality, might just be what you need in your repertoire.
Overall, this track is quite heavy, although you might not think that if you realized how the guitar is played. This song’s fast riffs consist primarily of single notes, with some easy power chords thrown in for heavy effect.
“One” by Metallica
The track, One, by Metallica, remains one of the greatest metal epics of the last 50 years. This has everything from gentle dynamics to riffs that could burn anyone’s barn to the ground.
For those that didn’t know, this song is actually based on a Dalton Trumbo novel called, Johnny Got His Gun. It’s quite a moving story about somebody who is realizing the extent of damage they took in a war.
Considering the intensity of the novel itself, Metallica did a great job translating it to musical form. Plus, it’s full of iconic guitar parts that every metal guitarist should have in their bag of licks.
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