tips for becoming harder

[Nesidara]

Hi everyone! I'm new here, but I figured it would be the best place for me to ask some questions

I'm a musician, who up until the past 6 months was playing mostly alternative folk and light rock stuff. But Like I said that was until 6 months ago, when I started getting in to true metal and power metal.
Now I'd like to venture in to this genre. But I'm having a hard time writting stuff that is heavier then what I nromally write.
Even my bar chords and power chords don't sound "heavy enough" to my ears. Mind you I don't own an electric guitar (well not yet... I'm in the middle of finding one)
All I have is my Jaguar acoustic electric, right now.

So any helpful hints anyone could give me would be great...
Remember, I'm asking for HELPFUL hints, please no sarcastic remarks please

Thanx
Nesidara

 

[Brand]

As Hetfield once said, "heaviness is an attitude." There are some basic things you can use to sound heavier (pedal tones, diminished fifths, heavy muting, etc), but in the end its just the energy you can convey with the song. Black Sabbath didn't have modern hi-gain amps, and they wrote some of the heaviest songs ever. Hell, I'd even say Queen is one of the heaviest bands I can think of. Granted, having an electric guitar and a good tone will make this come more naturally, but until then, just keep writing music and don't worry about convention. Practice and dedication will get you where you want to be.

 

[Nesidara]

thanx alot Brand! I've been trying alot to keep my spirits up and positive about writting metal, but today I was getting frustrated, but your advice just gave me a good boost of inspiration
Thank you

 

[AjDeath]

The first band I was ever in was a Bluegrass band, I learned to play metal on an acoustic guitar, I don't know how to help you but I can say that Metal is DEFINITELY AN ATTITUDE. Nowadays I practice on an acoustic guitar to keep my chops up, playing things like Night Of the Stormrider and Angels Holocaust by Iced Earth on Acoustic can really build muscle and stamina really fast. Maybe the music you are writng isn't coming from the right place, Metal is a very pissed genre of music, therefore I tend to write when I am very pissed or very depressed(this also helps with letting go of your anger) Some people say that the time of year you write at is important too, like if you write during autumn you will write darker songs because everything around you is dead and decaying, I don't ascribe to this practice,I guess I really didn't help you, just be heavy.

 

[Stormbringer]

i dont agree on the need of being depressed or angry to write metal. there are so many good metal songs out there which absolutely havent got anything to do with anger.

i usually arrange the songs in our bands and write the lyrics and i found out it's better to be in a good mood as you are much more creative and open for experiments.

or they just tell me after jamming 'that could be a good song - write some lyrics!' so you need the music you play (e.g. rock or metal) deep down in your heart to write something on order. therefor i agree that metal is an attitude. some people have it, other's dont.

 

[Nesidara]

Thanx Guys for the help
As for whether or not I have "it".... I've been writting music and performing since the age of 11, I'm now 22... I think I have "it" I just need to work on the additute some more... I've also taken to reading books that fuel some sort of emotion in me so that I am inspired to write those emotions down on to a page...

But NE ways Thanx for you help guys.

 

[AjDeath]

Read Lovecraft, everyone reads Lovecraft. Poe is great too.

 

[Nesidara]

thanx, I'll check that out!

 

[Stormbringer]

Originally posted by AjDeath
everyone reads Lovecraft.

never heard of him.
but i aint everyone either

oh and dont read dragonlance or you end up like dio

 

[Nate The Great]

I'd recommend learning songs from some of your favorite metal albums. Where I grew up, I didn't have access to a guitar teacher, and I didn't know anybody else that played guitar and liked metal. So . . . my teachers became James Hetfield, Dave Mustaine, Trey Azagthoth, etc. By learning metal songs you will come to understand the many unique and subtle ways of making a song "heavy".

 

[xenophobe]

Yeah, if you want to play heavier, you need to listen to heavier... find the stuff you like best and incoportate some of that style into your playing.

It'll be harder to get the sound you want from your accoustic.

It may be mostly attitude, but it's also equipment.

You can't sound like a church organ on a stand up piano...

 

[DayOfDarknessWithin]

First of all, I think you've been getting really good advice here and I can't give any better advice than these people. So all I have to say is, DO 'NOT' start to tune your guitar down to try and sound more metal, I hate "nu metal" (the worst metal), and think that's the pussy way to try and sound heavy! Just listen to and incorporate the advice you've been given and you'll be making Hammet look like Bob Dylan in not time! Hahahah.

- Allan

And remember, it's not all up to the guitar bring the complete metal sound to the music! (Duh, I know.. )

 

[JesterRace]

Metal can be an attitude, but people keep saying that you have to be pissed off or depressed to write metal. That's not really true at all. I mean 80's hair metal had an attitude, a lot of them wore dresses. That's not mean, that's just fruity. A band thinks their image conveys what their music will sound like, but it rarely ever does. I listen to a lot of different rock/metal bands, and have been playing metal for a long time on guitar. I don't have an "attitude" per say, I'm just a regular guy in suburbia.
Another comment I want to make is on the playing metal songs on the acoustic guitar. This strikes me as profoundly stupid. Yes, it can help you develop your technique better, because its much more difficult to play faster on acoustic, but you will play what sounds good to you. If you want to write or play a metal song, play it with the electric guitar and the distortion on the way you want it. If you write something on acoustic and transfer it over to electric, it won't capture that metal sound that you were looking for. The way you play is basically what bands influence you and how you want to sound. If you listen to a lot of folk or something of that sort, your natural inclination in song writing is not going to be a harmonized minor third run or something else of the metal sort, its going to be a bluesier progression.
Basically my advice to you is to listen to the kinds of bands that play the style of music that you want to play, and analyze the music. Try to figure it out by ear.. look at tabs.. its the best way. If your into power metal, I would recommend Symphony X. They're more into the progressive metal category, so its a lot heavier than something like Rhapsody or Hammerfall which are WAY too cheesy (in my opinion).
What bands do you like to listen to? I could help you out, maybe give you some tabs and shit to practice.. you'll need to consider your setup too..

 

[JesterRace]

Oh sorry, there's one more thing that I wanted to add from one of the posts that I saw. Down tuning can be a bad thing, yes, because a lot of the nu-metal bands, which I despise as well, use it. But that's because they don't know how to use their instruments and they just tune down way too far or use seven strings and even tune them down. This is the American way unfortunately, mainstream rock/metal in the US sucks. But there are plenty of bands that downtune that are great musicians and songwriters. Some people just like the sound that it gives you. A good example would be the band Nevermore. On their newest album, he uses a 7-string tuned down 1/2 step so the lowest string is Bb. But he uses the 7 string for the range as well as the heaviness he can get out of it. He can go way up on the neck on high strings and play wicked solos and then come spiraling down to a few booming low power chords that really are metal. It's just that nu-metal bands don't know how to use their instruments, its not the concept of tuning down that's bad.
My main guitar is my ESP which is tuned down 2 steps to C. I've been waiting to get EMG's for it, but it has a really cool dark sound that is accentuated even more by the lower tuning, even with the Seymour-Duncans (still good pickups). Ex: In Flames tunes to C for most of their songs.

For any of you interested in some more of the underground world's tunings, check out some of these bands:

Gardenian - down to B
Children Of Bodom - down 1 step- DGCFAD
Arch Enemy - down to B
...lots more
even the all mighty Metalligreed has used Dropped D, and tuned down 1/2 step.

 

[metalraven]

All of the tips given here are true. If you wanna get a heavy sound then try getting an amp with powerful distortion, or you can get a cheap DOD Grunge pedal. It's pretty good if it's your first time using distortion. For a power metal sound, I think standard tuning and e flat tuning is the way to go. You don't need to tune down more than that to sound heavy. Metallica's first four albums have a heavy sound and they're in standard tuning. Nevermore tunes to e flat and they have a great heavy sound. Listen to Nevermore's albums and you'll get a good idea. The first one in my opinion is their best one, but the other ones are also good.

Side note- Stop putting down Metallica

 

[The Wanderer]

nevermore uses 7 strings tuned to Bb now.

 

[AjDeath]

Do not tune down, IMO opinion, if you can't sound heavy in standard tuning, then you will never sound heavy, also playing metal on acoustic is not profoundly stupid, obviously Jester has never tried to play Angel Of Death on acoustic, it builds chops, I write a lot of parts and riffs on acoustic, I do this because the band I am in have a lot of meloncholy break downs a la Master of Puppets (the song) and this helps, but also I practices my solos and technique on acoustic, once you nail something down on an acoustic, it will be easy as cheese when you convert it to electric. So don't knock it if you don't do it, technique and a good one is a guitar players goal IMO, sloppy sucks.

 

[metalraven]

did Jeff Loomis also use seven-strings on Dead Heart in a Dead World?

 

[Dead Winter]

Welp, I think I'm going to throw my two bits in. Not really ability advice, because I'm sure alot of ppl here can shred me to pieces, but this is what worked for me:

Play what you love, but don't exclude yourself from other styles. I mainly like thrash and speed, but I also like Pink Floyd. Playing other styles will also develop a more well-rounded technique. So when somebody comes up to you and wants to jam, they might not be into the same thing you are....however, if you are familiar with other styles, you'll find that you can learn so much from others and yourself. Now, here are some albums I recommend buying and listening to, mainly for the energy, the ability, and the sound. For me, metal was never about anger; it was about aggression. Metal was never about depression; it was about letting go of your feelings and pouring them out in your music. This is just for ME. Alot of my friends listen to that nu metal crap because it has a kind of mosh pit feel to them. They use it as an outlet. For me, playing and listening to metal gives me a high like I've never felt before in my life. Working on a song for a month and finally being able to pull it off, then teaming up with some friends to play in front of a small crowd of other friends is THE GREATEST FEELING IN THE WORLD. I don't care if I ever get famous or rich or anything; my goal is to be GOOD. If I play podunk little clubs in my hometown for a side job I will, as long as I have that satisfaction of knowing that I can shred anyone I know. That's where I want to be in 10-15 years. Set goals, that is the number one thing. Ok, on to the albums:

THE SPEED METAL ALBUM OF ALL TIME, and arguably THE metal album of all time....Master of Puppets by Metallica. If you only buy the album for the instrumental masterpiece Orion, GET IT!

Rust in Peace by Megadeth is also an amazing album, equal to Master of Puppets in my opinion. Songs like Holy Wars, Hangar 18, Rust in Peace, Take No Prisoners, and Tornado of Souls are classics.

Slayer's Reign in Blood is also a must-buy, if only for the energy. Angel of Death has to be one of the coolest thrash metal songs of all time.

Buy Iron Maiden's Best of the Beast - it has all the great songs on it....make sure it's the double disc, cuz you also get Rime of the Ancient Mariner on it. What a song!

It's not really that metal, but the atmosphere and amazing songs on Alice in Chains' "Dirt" make it a must buy as well. Also, check out Jar of Flies -- that's the acoustic EP.

For doom metal, Anathema and My Dying Bride are the way to go. For Anathema, I recommend the albums The Silent Enigma, Judgement, Alternative 4, and Eternity. For My Dying Bride, I love the albums Like Gods of the Sun, Angel and the Dark River, and The Dreadful Hours.

A band that cannot be classified would solely belong to Opeth. What an amazing band. Get these guys...wow.

For melodic death metal or the Gothenberg scene, I recommend In Flames, At the Gates, Carcass, Soilwork, and Arch Enemy...although Arch Enemy in my opinion doesn't match up with the rest of them as far as songwriting goes...their ability is great and have a great sound.

Straight death metal, bands like Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Deicide's Legion album, Hypocrisy, Death, Nile, and Zyclon

Now, for the power and true metal....I'm not too well versed, but here is what I have and I dig it. Nevermore, of course Iron Maiden, of course Iced Earth, Control Denied (Death's Chuck Schuldiner's band before he passed away....what a guitarist!)

Other bands you should definitely check out, if only for their amazing work: Agents of Oblivion, Dream Theater, and Therion.

That's all I can think of right now. If you have a DSL or cable connection, go to Kazaa or Morpheus and start downloading to see what you like. That's what it takes to determine what niche you are in. I like everything, but I can't listen to it all the time. Sometimes I have to be in a certain mood for some things...like the harder death metal/grindcore. It took me about two years of sampling, buying, looking, listening, asking and just trying to see where my musical tastes lie. I went from not listening to death and black metal at all to listening to everything in the span of 9 months. I just had to get exposed to it, and that's what I recommend for you to do...expose yourself to everything you can, if you don't like it, then that can be a good thing. At least you aren't short changing yourself and know what you're missing out on. I hate to think about something that I would love that I am missing out on because I just haven't tried listening to it.

 

[AjDeath]

Good advice! Although I do not like Doom metal, I gave it a try, it just wasn't for me, all the pther bands(except dream Theater) are some of my favs also, but there are some other types of music I would throw in there, Blues, Classic Jazz, and good old rock and roll, Although I predominately listen to metal, I also listen to artists such as Coltrane, Davis, SRV, Bb King, Buddy Guy, Steely Dan, AC/DC, Thin Lizzy, Moly Hatchet, Led Zeppelin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Neil Young, CSN and Y, The Beatles, and many more.

Also, you forgot the essential ozzy recordings, Blizzard of Ozz, Diary of a Madman, No More Tears, and Ozzmosis, all great albums, and if you can find it, buy Cynic, Focus, my fav album of any genre(it happens to be a variation of Death Metal) of all time. Genius


Hails
~Death~