Learn the all-time great Metallica song "For Whom the Bell Tolls" on guitar!

And today we'll learn how to play it on the guitar! We’ll cover all the steps for the guitar riffs and the classic bass parts.

We'll also look at how the sections in this song work. The structure is pretty complex, and the only way you can truly master it is by listening to the original Metallica recording. :)

💙 Cliff Burton: This incredible metal song features Metallica's bass player Cliff Burton, who tragically died when Metallica were starting to take off. :( He was such an incredible musician!

Cliff Burton played difficult lead guitar parts using a bass! That's just how great a bass player he was. It's definitely worth checking his playing out in the live versions of this song.

How to Play For Whom The Bell Tolls On Guitar

You'll need to be confident with palm muting and power chords to play For Whom The Bell Tolls. Check out my Rock module if you’re not confident with these basic Rock techniques. In some parts of this song, we need to use a triplet rhythm, meaning each bar is divided into three subdivisions.

🚨 E Dorian Mode: There are many melodic devices in this song! It uses the E Dorian Mode, which is pretty interesting – but I won't go too deep into the theory. If you'd like to dig further, explore my Major Scale Modes module in Grade 7 of Practical Music Theory.

Let’s get to it. :)

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Section 1: Rhythm Guitar

Let’s start with the rhythm guitar part in the intro to For Whom The Bell Tolls. This is such a huge start to the tune!

The rhythm guitar starts on beat 3 with an F#5 chord (244XXX). Fret 6:2 (string 6, fret 2) with finger 1, and 5:4 and 4:4 with fingers 3 and 4. When you strum the chord, make sure the three highest strings are muted. This is really important! Play two downstrums, then mute the strings with your picking hand.

Now we drop down to an E5 (022XXX), with finger 1 fretting 5:2 and 4:2. It needs to lift up at the knuckle to avoid pressing string 3 down – we don’t want to hear string 3 at all! Just let it lightly rest on string 3 to mute it.

This part has a triplet rhythm:

F#5                     E5                                    F#                    E5
3 trip let 4 trip let   1     2     3      4     1      2     3 trip let 4 trip let 1 
D   D   M  D   D   M    D              (let chord ring out)   D   D   M  D   D   M  D

M means mute

Let’s look at Cliff’s riff over this intro section. :)

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Section 1: Riff

The notes for this one are: 3:7, 3:6, 3:5, 3:4, 3:4, 3:4, 4:5, 4:4, 3:7, 2:5, 2:4, and 6:0. We assign one finger to a specific fret: finger 4 to fret 7, finger 3 to 6, finger 2 to 5, and finger 1 to 4. I definitely suggest you figure out the rhythm for this riff by listening to the original and replicating what you hear.

💡 Combine Parts: On the record, two electric guitars play rhythm while the bass player does the riff. It’s killer! If you have a bass player, you should give it a try. :)

Section 1 repeats four times. Then the drums come in with an amazing pocket, giving an awesome feel. I love this part! After this, the rhythm guitar repeats for another four bars, but the riff changes. Let’s check out the new riff.

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Section 2

The bass guitar plays this riff for four reps before the electric guitars join in and play the same riff! :)

For this riff, we’ll need E5 (02XXXX), G5 (35XXXX), F#5 (24XXXX), and F(13XXXX). For E5, use finger 1 to fret 5:2. For all the other chords, use fingers 1 and 4 to fret the notes and finger 1 to mute the other strings. Strum each chord once. :)

The fourth time, we play E5, F#5, G5, A5 (57XXXX). And the very last time, we go to B5 instead of A5.

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Practice Tips

It feels like finger 1 is doing laps around the fretboard. Look at it as you move between the chords. It looks like a little circle. :) It’s important to find these elements.

You’ll need quite a few chords to play For Whom The Bell Tolls on the guitar, so you want to rely on muscle memory, and seeing patterns like this helps you get there. :)

The best way to automate a song like this is to practice one section until it's automated before moving on to the next.

Automating is an important part of the learning process. So, try to learn how to play this song nice and slowly! Be careful and consistent – you don't want to get any wrong bits coded into your memory. :)

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Section 3: Rhythm

Like in the other sections, there are two different guitar parts here: a chord part and a riff part.

You’ll need an E5 (022XXX), G5 (355XXX), C5 (X355XX), and A5 (577XXX). The rhythm is:

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
E5              G5     Stop! Slide

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
E5              G5     C5   A5

The “Stop!” is a short strum then we mute the strings. For the slide, finger 3 plays 6:15 on beat 4, then slides down the string to create the great sliding sound. :)

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Section 3: Riff

Kirk plays a cool motif over the rhythm guitar. :) We’ll look at how I think I saw him play it on an early live version, but you can play this riff in several positions on the neck.

The notes are 3:12, 4:14, 3:11, 4:12, 4:14, and 3:11. Finger 1 plays 3:11, finger 2 plays 3:12 and 4:12, and finger 4 plays 4:14.

We use a triplet rhythm here, playing on every beat: 1 trip let 2 trip let. You’ll also need to add palm mute – it definitely makes it sound a lot cooler. :)

🚨 Theory! – Kirk is playing descending thirds from the E Dorian mode in this lick. This is very Joe Satriani! I wonder if he taught Kirk this trick.

To transition into the next section, Kirk descends the scale in 3rd intervals: 3:12, 4:14, 3:11, 4:12, 4:14, 4:11, 4:12, 5:14, 4:11, 5:12, 5:14, 5:10. Then we go to the chorus. :)

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Chorus

We’ll need to strum triplets for this section. :) Bb5 is X133XX.

E5         G5         E5         A5 
1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let
D   D   D  D          D   D   D  D


E5         G5        Bb5        F#5 
1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let
D   D   D  D          D          D


E5         G5         E5         A5 
1 trip let 2 trip let 3 trip let 4 trip let
D   D   D  D          D   D   D  D

E5         G5        Bb5    F#5 F5 
1 trip let 2 trip let 3      4   +
D   D   D  D          D      D   D

When you strum E5, use palm mute.

🔥 Palm Mute & Metallica: Whenever you play a Metallica song, it’s crucial you pay attention to which chords and notes use palm muting. Listen to the original recording! Let your ears decide. :) You’ll naturally pick things up and play it right.

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Bridge Rhythm

This is an interesting part because it’s a combination of parts we’ve already played.

The rhythm guitar plays E5, E5, E5, G5, E5, B5, E5, E5; then the same without the final two bars of E. Play one strum on beat 1 for E5 and B5, and strum 1 2 trip let 3 4 trip let for G5.

We also use Kirk’s descending 3rds riff. The first time, it starts on 3:12 and finishes on 5:7 (E). The next time round, it finishes on 5:10 (G). On the next rep, it finishes on 4:9 (B). Then we repeat all of this!

Just one part left – and it’s another cool one. :)

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica – Outro Part

The chords here are pretty simple. Here are the chords along with the number of strums: E5 (1), F#5 (2), E5 (1), F#5 (2), G5 (2). This repeats a few times, and we finish on E5.

Get The Sound!

My guitar is a Gibson 64 SG, and I'm using its bridge pickup. All of the controls are on! My guitar is plugged into a Kemper Profiler, and I am using a profile by Michael Britt called 69 Marshall 50 G5. It's a great preset, and I just had to turn the treble and gain up a tiny bit. Learn your guitar amp here!

🎵 Got a Metallica song you’d love to learn? Add it to my Requests Board. :)