Wow, this is a monster Metallica song

In this lesson, we'll explore the many guitar parts in Fade To Black by Metallica - my electric and acoustic guitars are out!

Learning Fade To Black was actually how I first realized how to use the Major Scale. I was in my early teens and was a huge Metallica fan! This was an essential step for me - I developed my relationship with music theory. I'm sure that Fade To Black has had a massive influence on many other guitar players out there.

🚨 Subscribe to JustinGuitar Songs - I'm planning another tutorial to dissect some of the solos as well. Make sure you've subscribed to my Song Channel to get notified when the video is out! :)

Fade To Black by Metallica: Acoustic Intro

Let's grab our acoustic guitar and explore the intro to Fade To Black. I'm sure most of you will get it pretty quickly! In the lesson, we'll learn it step-by-step.

The first section of the intro isn't too challenging. It uses mini chord shapes with open strings and alternate picking. Take it slow, and make sure your first finger isn’t muting the G string. This section repeats several times while the electric guitar plays a solo.

🎸 Practice Makes Permanent: Like any precise passage of music, your priority should be to get it right. Don’t play it sloppy by trying to rush ahead - take it slow and get the notes right. Keep a steady time and make sure your chord changes are smooth. :) Remember - practice makes permanent.

The final four bars of this section are a little trickier. We switch between F6 and E/G# with a picking pattern! If you're up for it, you can find all the details in the video. But you can take the easy way out and simply alternate between F power chord and E power chord instead. ;)

Fade To Black by Metallica: “Fingerstyle” Acoustic Section

Later on in the intro, there’s a lovely part that people call the fingerstyle section - but it's not actually fingerstyle! James Hetfield plays it with a pick. ;) At this point, the guitar increases in volume and the riff is very clear.

This part uses a picking pattern over Am, C, G, and Em open chords along with hammer-ons. The key to getting this right is to finger the chords in a way that allows you to play the hammer-ons freely. Don’t fret too much about playing the chords a certain way - find what works for you.

🧐 Nail The Details: I’m quite picky when it comes to picking these chords! If you really want to nail it, you have to pay attention to how many strings you strum, the time, and picking direction.

Got that acoustic stuff down? Great - it's time for those incredible electric-guitar parts.

Fade To Black by Metallica: Electric-Guitar Parts

There are a ton of great electric parts in Fade To Black. See the video lesson for all the details! Take it slow and don't practice playing the wrong notes! Focus on getting the grips right and making the notes ring clear, then speed it up.

You also need to think about palm muting - when are you using it and when are you letting the strings ring out? Make sure the chords are clean and that there’s no unwanted strings ringing, especially when playing with gain.

🚨 It's all about the rhythm: Though you should work to get the notes sounding great, the rhythm is really the essential thing here. I've talked about the importance of rhythm in my Why Is Strumming So Hard? lesson.

You must stay aware of the beat too. It’s tempting to speed up or slow down. When you're comfortable with the tune, spend some time practicing Fade To Black with the original recording. You’ll absorb a lot more elements that can’t be taught, like feel, accenting, dynamics, and more!

Metallica & Guitar Development

There's a lot to learn in Metallica tunes - if you're a fan, it's fun to take some time exploring their songs. Fade To Black, for example, will help you develop many different techniques but also a deeper understanding of how music works.

💡 Fade To Black was the song that lit up music theory for me. Lots of things suddenly made sense to me after I'd transcribed Kirk's solo. Transcribing is the most powerful method for getting good at guitar - give it a shot!

Fade To Black has a B Minor vibe, and you’ll find that Kirk uses the D Major scale in the solos. My teacher had shown me Pattern 5 of the D Major Scale but it didn’t seem to make sense. I liked the Rolling Stones and blues music, which I thought was based on the Minor Pentatonic.

But I noticed that all the notes in the first solo were in the D Major scale. All of a sudden it seemed cool - Kirk Hammett used it, so I needed to learn it! This got me into learning scales and linking patterns up. Harmony, chords and scales all made much more sense.

There’s so much to learn from Fade To Black, so get practicing. ;) Laters!

🔥 Check out other great Metallica guitar songs in my dedicated Metallica section