Mastering Riffs - The Foundation of Rock and Metal

Mastering riffs is the foundation of any rock or metal guitar player's playing skills. The more and varied riffs and chord progressions you know as a guitarist, the more songs you can play and the more interesting creations you'll be able to create on your own.

When someone communicates with a guitarist who has mastered a great number of chord riffs or chord progressions they only need to say, "Play a I-IV-V in the key of G" and off they'll go. The guitarist won't have to think about what the chords are (G major, C major, and D major), he or she will simply pick up the guitar and start playing the right chords in tune and time with the rest of the band.

When you've mastered a great variety of chord progressions like these, playing really becomes just that simple. It really doesn't matter what the notes and chords are - if you're in a major scale the relative positions on the fretboard are going to be the same no matter what key you're in... the only thing that changes is the starting position (the "I" in a "I-IV-V"). Likewise if you're playing in a minor scale - it doesn't matter whether you're in A minor or G minor... the fingering positions for the chords are the same... what changes is that all the chords in the A minor scale start two frets higher on the fretboard than the G minor chords. So if someone tells you to play "I-IV-VI-IV-III-IV-VII-I in G major" and decides they don't like it in that key and say, "Play it in A minor instead" you simply move all the chords you just played up two frets and play it again.

Most guitar lessons aren't going to teach you the theory of how scales and chords are put together and what their relationships to each other are, but for those wanting to learn and master the guitar the Doug Marks Metal Method lessons really are the comprehensive lessons that tie all the elements together. Not only will you learn to play great guitar but you also learn why things work and how to be adaptive and creative in your own exploration of the instrument. Mastering riffs is the beginning of that great journey.