20 Greatest JAMES HETFIELD Guitar Riffs | Tabs

[@FrankieAmadeian.]

The inclusion of the Guitar Center riff is so clever. You wouldn't expect it in a Metallica top, but it's still technically a James Hetfield riff. Great selection!

[@prometheustv6558]

Reminds me of Tears In A Vial

[@tsht]

Hm sorry but what is "Guitar Center" exactly ? ^^;

[@FrankieAmadeian.]

@@tsht It's a chain of music stores. Some years ago James Hetfield was interviewed in one, and he played some Metallica riffs as well as a few riffs we haven't heard in any Metallica songs before.

[@smithguitar]

Kinda has that Rhiannon feel!

[@ChChChCheese]

I’m not surprised that that’s your profile picture 👍

[@shensational9236]

What surprises me is the way James play this riffs while singing it live. The guy's a monster

[@danielstf2838]

*with higher speed 😂😂

[@loganguerrero4552]

And dp (down picking )

[@andrewpappas9311]

I guess you could say that he’s Some Kind of Monster (sorry, the opportunity was right there so I went for it)

[@fingershol1673]

I mean he makes it look easy while singing. By all means there is nothin easy about it that should say it all

[@vukjelic106]

The God himself.

[@bigbo1764]

Dave mustaine, even with the beef with his former band mates, admits that James may be one of the best rhythm guitarists of all time; means a lot coming from him, in a number of ways.

[@MrWolfheart111]

There is only a small number of basic havey metal riffs. You shouldnt have a monopoly on such heavy rock like so, common heavy sounds that are beautiful to the human ear.... simple paterns... easily discovered by a 4 year old. ... Fn piss me off...

[@kiillabytez]

He ws being generous, obviously.

[@imagereflection4826]

Dave is a big fan of James

[@rjamesyork]

@@kiillabytezhe was telling the truth.

[@illumino1381]

​@@kiillabytezDave doesn't do generosity...

[@earthedice]

Hetfield has been the king of metal rhythm for a long time. He is a machine and I think it gets forgotten many times how great he is overall. He is one of the greatest guitar players of all time, because it shouldn't come down to only primary lead players being great.

[@innawoodsman]

He suffers from the same thing as the Beatles. People think they're overrated and cliche because everyone else copied them

[@kartikchandrasekhar7393]

''KIRK HAMMETT: James would show Cliff and me the riffs, and we'd build the songs from there. Some I'd already be familiar with. The main riff in ''Battery'', for instance: the first time I heard James play that was iin England, on his acoustic guitar. We were watching THE YOUNG ONES on the BBC, and all of a sudden he started messing around with this sort of galloping rhythm. I said, ''Wow, that's cool''. And so when it came time to start learning stuff, I'd often hear a riff and say, ''Oh, okay. I know that one."" "JAMES HETFIELD: The ''Battery'' intro happened pretty much out of boredom. I remember sitting on the couch at Carlson, not being able to sleep. Back then, when channels signed off at night, they'd play the national anthem, but Channel Four in the Bay Area played a classical piece [Faure's ''Pavane'']. It was such a great melody. I'd grab an acoustic, play along, and eventually wound up with a chord progression that got me thinking, WHAT WOULD BE THE ULTIMATE INTRO? I wanted something with a lot of build that would raise your hair up and give your goosebumps. The acoustic part starts, and it's building like an approaching storm. Something's coming. You can feel it. It starts off soft and quiet, then boom! The heaviness takes you to another level. I thought, 'Oh, man. This is how I want to start the record. This is how I want to start the show.'" "KIRK HAMMETT: We were drinking at the Carlson house one night, and Lars turned on the tape deck: "Listen to this, man. Fostex Multitrack Mesa/Boogies with James playing the heaviest riff ever!" It was the main riff to 'Master of Puppets', which had been quadrupled on all four tracks and sounded super heavy. And I knew it immediately as this joke riff that James would always play on the D string. He just dropped it down to the low E string and it was suddenly this whole other thing." "HAMMETT: I’ll tell you how the main [descending] riff to “Master of Puppets” came about. On the Ride the Lightning tour, James would always play the riff in the dressing room, but on the D string, and I’d play it simultaneously on the G string as a parallel-fourths harmony line. It sounded really dorky and funny. Then one day at rehearsal, James said, “Let me show you this really heavy song intro,” and proceeded to play that exact riff on the low E string. I said, “Ah, so you finally found a use for that dorky little thing!” It’s anything but dorky now."

[@MrWolfheart111]

"James would show Cliff and me the riffs, and we'd build the songs from there"... Neat, the Chili Peppers, Fuciani and Flea would show Keidis the riffs and he would match lyrics to it.... usually. neat how things work. :)

[@kartikchandrasekhar7393]

@@MrWolfheart111 Music is wonderful!

[@desiolle2874]

Great riffs, good read too man. Onya

[@sheko_yo_alterno9482]

You never forget that James besides this sick riffs sings along 🤯

[@phase-2jackbeam845]

thats right

[@wizhnew1237]

Absolutly right broe❤

[@gansior4744]

And he does it extremely well. He sings much better than most

[@kourosh26]

GUITAR CENTER RIFF IS SO GOOOOD Thanks for including it

[@user-eagleone]

The transition from Master of puppets to The Shortest straw is fucking epic 🤘🏻

[@andrewpappas9311]

Definitely, another one like that for me was Frayed Ends of Sanity to Battery, like goddamn that was clean

[@tpd2029]

That bass tone is killer

[@dzeips]

Beginner guitarist just hanging around in youtube....kickass riffs...i'll come back in couple years ;)

[@jacka602]

How’s it going?

[@dzeips]

@jacka602 damn nicely thanks for asking, im getting the hang of "creeping death", the main riff is pretty hard for a beginner. I was tuned down to C# for black sabbath but now im back in E standard and metallica.

[@MetalFox95]

@@dzeips all the way downstroke and for the pull of strange sound on the riff try to manage with the elasticity of the strings while picking at the right moment.... you choose a hard riff tho, i hope ur doing well with guitar

[@christophernoble76]

battery is easily one of the best metal riffs ever

[@pabloantonio6474]

Killer

[@Starkiller5121]

James' ability to downpick fast is amazing, makes some of these songs hard to play if you dont have a lot of stamina like master of puppets or creeping death.

[@earthedice]

Greatest right hand ever.

[@nashwinder]

disposable heroes

[@6MetalHead66]

Creeping death isn't that hard

[@coledurbin2610]

​@6MetalHead66 maybe not, but it's also nearing 7 minutes in length. You factor that in, and it's tough to play

[@chloesmith4065]

imagine doing it for entire 2+ hour sets... Multiple nights a week ....

[@tarkus1056]

This reminds me of something that left me perplexed about the verse riff in Moth Into Flame. I want to preface by saying that I have the utmost respect for Kirk Hammett. Now, in the interview he did with Rick Beato, he talks about that riff talking about how James still comes up with new ideas. Then, he says something along the lines of "like the verse riff of Moth Into Flame, it's like a pull off gallop mix, nobody has ever done that before, that's James creating new ways of playing". He says this dead serious. Like. Brother. How.

[@RafaelCDet]

Kirk knows almost nothing about metal music outside of late 70s/early 80s new wave of british heavy metal stuff.

[@PawelJirowec]

You might have as well done 100 best riffs written by James Hatfield. Guy's a riff machine

[@wildwit-music]

Love the inclusion of Fixxxer, such an overlooked gem! If that was a Tony Iommi riff it would be one of his greatest

[@TheMaxyms]

It made me realize how this riff sounds like Black Sabbath with that crushing tone

[@wildwit-music]

Hell yeah, from one riff lord to another@@TheMaxyms

[@GortholMormegil]

I've always believed that was Kirk the one who wrote that riff but maybe he wrote the chorus instead.

[@Elfantasmon138]

It's practically the main riff of Electric Funeral.

[@jmaynez2332]

One of my all time fav metallica tunes

[@rustyfoot6246]

Thank you so much for including that last one, i used to go to the guitar center video just to hear that riff over and over

[@Kezruh]

Something about that guitar center riff man, just sounds amazing🔥

[@bradmanharris7350]

The riff after the lead in Struggle Within. The main verse riff from Blackened ( Jason came up with the riff after the reversed guitars, not the whole song) The pre chorus riff in Straw. The riff in Devils Dance. The riff from Orion.

[@DEADITEDAN]

Your channel is awesome to jam along with. Nothing but tasty riffage!!! Ive been binge jamming along to your vids last few days. Thanks for such great content!!!🤘

[@Ryu_Ake]

I was expecting the "Guitar Center Riff" as a joke for Enter Sandman but it got me so unexpected. Amazing

[@petriahokas6361]

The real king of metal riffs. Unbelievably many wonderful ideas on how to start songs and take them to the finish line. I appreciate it!

[@michaelm1619]

One of my favorites is right after Kirk's solo on Dyers Eve, that riff is definitely top 10

[@joaovitorgamer8467]

James is the best rhythm guitar everrr. This riffs are insane! I love play they, my favorites: Master Of Puppets, Creeping Death, Seek And Desteoy, Blackened and Disposable Heroes.

[@Сергеичххх]

Motorbreath

[@cherrytv4572]

Isn’t creeping death kirks riff

[@gsearles]

​@@cherrytv4572Just the one during the bridge "die by my hand" part

[@McSorleyFan33]

Nah Malcolm young is the best And Jon Schaffer and rudolf Schenker are better metal rhythm guitarists James dropped off and started writing crap like mama said

[@jye_24]

NO WAY U DID THE GUITAR CENTRE RIFF IVE BEEN SEARCHING FOR IT FOR SO LONG THANKYOU

[@TWalsh2]

2:55 Funny that this is a one note riff but the timing is almost impossible to get right, well played sir.

[@johnniethompson1681]

Literally started clapping once it finished. Fine piece of work you've done here good sir

[@AxeGuy2005]

that transition from Frayed Ends Of Sanity to Battery was an absolute jawbreaker!!! Keep it up!!!!

[@Kaganol]

Man all of these transitions are flawless

[@alvarocorreacesarsantos]

*Simply one of The greatest rhytim guitarrist of all time. Just a remind: He plays AND FUCKIN SING.*

[@lorenzomartone1476]

Hello, I'm not sure if you'll have the chance to read my comment since you probably receive hundreds of them every day, but I wanted to let you know that you're incredibly talented. I really appreciate your videos, and I would be thrilled if you could one day publish a video just like this one but featuring the top 20 Testament riffs (please, only from their first 5 classic albums) and another dedicated to Overkill (please, only from their early albums with Bobby Gustafson). I understand that creating such beautiful, accurate, and precise videos like these takes a lot of time, but I'm confident (my two cents) that releasing two videos of this kind would help you gain new fans and set you apart from the many KZbinrs who primarily focus on Metallica songs (of which there are already plenty of videos). Thank you! Lorenzo

[@huntzzio]

metallica>>>

[@jeffrobagman2834]

I'd love to hear that Overkill one! I say them waaay back in the day, wanna say around '92ish. Great fucking show. I wish I could have seen Metallica or Megadeth in such a small venue! (Saw them both in what used to be the Capital Center in MD. Great shows, but nowhere near the floor, much less a pit.

[@razztastic]

​@@huntzzioGen Z wannabe metalhead try not to be a douchebag challenge 100% impossible

[@hanymgamal]

That video is epic. Had a big smile on my face for the entirety of it. There is a slight mistake in the second section of Hit The Lights but apart from that, incredible job

[@Dacoolestguyindawrld]

Best Riff writer on the planet! Thanks so much!!! :DDDD

[@andrewpappas9311]

It’s still stuff like this that just confirms James is one of the absolute GOATs of rhythm guitarists, the dude just comes up with such killer riffs it’s fucking awesome… Props for including that Guitar Center riff at the end, I always love going back to watch that video and it just shows he can come up with anything… If that’s not put in a Metallica song soon I’m using it for my own band because that riff is way too good not to keep around

[@SirensOfWisconsin1679]

Hit the lights was awesome

[@stephenkenny8096]

That tone is phenomenal

[@sausagesausage2819]

Man thx for the guitar center riff

[@sablyptical]

The riff from "Damage, Inc.", and the one created by Kirk, are one of the most menacing sounding riffs I've ever heard. That song is in my top 3 favorites from the MOP album

[@childrenofkoris]

this guitar tone is an absolute beast... i bet any metal riff just sound as good

[@spitfirex2599]

DUDEEEEEEEEEE the transition from dyers eye to master of puppets is soooooooooooooooo clean!

[@dreametaler]

The transition of The Frayed Ends of Sanity is such an underrated riff

[@pauljams6565]

ALWAYS loved James furious rhythm attacks ‼️💫🎸😉

[@alessandrotomesani425]

I'm a simple guy...I see Hetfield in the video title...I put like!!!

[@javieritorrico]

Great job!! Those riffs are such legendary!!

[@chazzasimmonite]

Now I’ve got my weekend planned

[@vimegoart]

Gos bless JMES AND YOU R CHANNEL OF COURSE BRO

[@americanautotransportllc]

“Fixxxer” one of my favorite inconspicuous songs from Metallica 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@soloistdeve]

Amazing video, and amazing playing.👏👏👏👏

[@MBBGun14]

First riff of the video is written by Kirk. Great video and playing.

[@imagereflection4826]

I think it's James?

[@MBBGun14]

@@imagereflection4826 no

[@imagereflection4826]

@@MBBGun14 How do you know that riff is Kirk's? I don't think I've heard riff tape of it

[@MBBGun14]

@@imagereflection4826 because Kirk is credited as composer so he must have written some riff. I wouldnt bet main riff so I guess its this one. I think also James mentioned it in some interview .

[@imagereflection4826]

@@MBBGun14 You could be right, I just listened to James's riff tapes of the song and it has the main riff and verse riffs so that only leaves the intro and this riff as process of elimination so could well be right! It's an awesome riff anyway.

[@cjandneilami]

Awesome as always!! You Rule Ibrahim Birdal!! Thank you for your videos...Neil

[@tonyponchopeters]

I've Never scene a guitar player grow out his Thumb Fingernail to use it as a Guitar Pick! Amazing!!!

[@AyedYoutube]

man i wanna hear your full cover of moth into flame, the guitar sounds so good here

[@ImCaggpe]

Çok iyi bir video olmuş üstadım battery ve fade to black ayrıca hoşuma gitti 😊

[@dissonant_a]

Amazing work man! The reason I started playing guitar. Keep up the great content.

[@frankpfau9054]

awesome clean and accurate playing! 🍀😎🍀

[@mick8435]

Superb stuff, rock on man!

[@StormcrowOV]

OMG !!! thanks for the Guitar Center riff !!!!! AWESOME!!!!!

[@mattrosenboom4810]

James is the best

[@sacklunch8262]

Frayed ends of sanity is one of the best off of AJFA imo

[@jamesb95]

Excellent skills! I’ve got two comments: 1. The bridge riff in Leper Messiah is definitely a top 20 riff. 2. The Master of Puppets riff is Kirk’s I’m pretty sure. It’s on one of the original Exodus demos. I even did a short clip on KZbin comparing. I also think Kirk said it was his in an interview. No doubt Hetfield improved it.

[@Ryu_Ake]

Kirk wrote the pre chorus riff

[@jamesb95]

@@Ryu_Ake he wrote that one too. David Bowie wrote the riff shortly after KH’s lead

[@imagereflection4826]

I think the master of puppets main riff is written by James as Kirk himself says James did but there is an old Exodus demo of a riff that Kirk wrote that has a similarity to it.

[@ligamentpull1]

@@imagereflection4826Kirk wrote the pre chorus riff ( Come crawling Faster) part.

[@patrademacher1637]

AGREED ON THE LEPER MESSIAH RIFF

[@devontolly1596]

Your guitar playing is amazing. You make it look it easy.

[@jlddark]

That was some damn good guitar playing! You did a great job!

[@needham831]

The transition from Fight Fire to Hit The Lights was epic. 🤘🙂🔥

[@goingsthere928]

Wow, what a great way to start my day...liked, subscribed, shared. Awesome channel, God bless.

[@davidstockdale4187]

James Hatfield is the Riff king!

[@janmichael6823]

Thanks mate! Got carpal tunnel syndrome in the first 10 mins of this video...

[@ihti20]

There was a confusion about Frayed 7060 on low E, or 6050 under Uncle Ben's lesson. I even chequed it with tuner, and it showed B/Bb. I did it one more time after this video, it still shows B/Bb.

[@ЭдикВит]

Одни из лучших рифов на Земле - это рифы Джеймса!

[@Fackunator]

3:27 main riff of Dyers is Kirk's. The next part (the one with the 0-2-0-2 break) IS James'

[@Emjae20]

That was Awsome man 🤟🏽 well done! 🤙🏽

[@JayVeeTattooz]

Really you could listen to any Metallica song and pull kick ass riffs from them compile them and no matter what songs you pick it's be as epic as all get out no shit😅

[@ysuflix]

İbrahim abi tek başına Metallica Türkiye şubesi bildiğin cansın

[@michaelerenstoft2021]

Just awesome. Love the SOA shirt.

[@GEORGE_JATZ]

GORGEOUS JAMES

[@rastabananaman206]

They may have fucked Jason over in AJFA but I’ve gotta admit it’s got some of the best riffs in their whole discography. Eye of the Beholder and To Live is to Die are my personal favourites.

[@felixnass4867]

Who is this man? So heavy and clean. On point! Great guitar playing

[@isukatgeetar15]

The middle riff to Blackened should be on here.

[@jamesb95]

Yes for sure.

[@imagereflection4826]

One of my favourites

[@snoozer46]

you should do Greatest clean riffs in metal!!!

[@Shubhgoshere]

No remorse and holier than thou one of my favs

[@vincevm1120]

Absolutly right brother and you get some that never take in best James riffs.....Thanks my friends to put some of great riffs from hem.people put always same but they are not the best à d Metallica gots almost all the best riffs with Slayer and Megadeth too.....🤘🤘🤘Nice vidéo. Respect from Belgium

[@altintekin390]

And you recorded this video nonstop!!!

[@ItConfuses]

Thanks for starting with the most underrated song in their entire catalog!!! 🤘🤘🤘

[@ThisHandleFeatureIsStupid]

An absolute riff festival. In my opinion, Frayed stands out against the entire discography of Metallica. There's just no other song that achieves so many moments of badassery. It's like their magnus opus of "let's see YOU play this shit!" songs. 🤟😆🤟

[@Михаил-о8ч3з]

Ibrahim your channel is awesom, your videos make me take guitar and play riffs with you. How did you get so Juicy guitar and bass tone (and drums too). Hello from russia, sorry for english

[@ibrahimbirdal]

Thanks for your comment, all guitar and bass tone comes from Axe-Fx III (the best modeller on the market) unlike all other well know modelers, you do not lose the power of the tone in processes such as mixing and mastering, I use GGD ONE Kit Wonder Metal for drums, and using waves audio plugins for mix

[@Hettmar]

Thank you for playing the Damage Inc riff correctly!

[@YunusBerkay-p8j]

Abi eline koluna sağlık yapıyorsun bu sporu ❤

[@Trucker-Belly]

Hell yeah brother! Im new but I MIGHT be able to play the single note riff😂

[@JohnInnes-g8d]

Fantastic dude

[@yannara]

great material for self-study!!!

[@thecelt4807]

MY 60 YEAR OLD WIFE CAME AND TOLD ME TO TURN IT DOWN AND GROW UP LOL i told her to rock on with the hand symbol heh heh heh , awesome mate jusy got back into the guitar (with a fucking head phone lol ) rock on

[@fallenabr7654]

Holy hell what are you 20?

[@darth_vyper]

Did you pitch shift for Sad But True with a pedal or is the video a mime to a pre recorded medley? Im just curious lol

[@MultiHoweee]

Next video MUST be best 20 Mustaine riffs. Support this comment with 👍

[@nguyenoan8399]

totally agree!!!

[@sjeisbroochem1976]

Great vid, good downpicking tempo. I thought there were some notes/chord here or there james plays a little different but hey, who's paying attention right. Liked the tone to, great work.

[@Itchy-Sphincta]

papa het bro riff master 🤘🤘

[@RayLee-cl4qw]

BEST BAND EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@floorbooij4109]

The magic is in the right hand. Same as a night alone on the couch.

[@james.8442]

He's living legend!

[@TheMaxyms]

Man I wish I’d be able to straight up play these songs that clean. I’m still training and I’ve made some nice progress throughout the month.. approaching but still not here! Nice playing though, and nice riffs. Something felt strange though during pre-chorus riff in Moth into Flame though.. on the 2nd string I personally go 8-5-7-3-5-0 and I feel like it sounds better!

[@brianingell3174]

g'damn. your stamina is amazing! shredding for the masses! nice.....

[@daisruhiyat7533]

Aku sangat mencihuykan musiknyah asik asiiik

[@53waldus53]

This guitar sounds great

[@Mkdiesel24]

The first part of the One riff you played had to be the most evil sounding thing ever played