9 Gojira Riffs to Practise Guitar Techniques - with Tabs!

9 Gojira riffs to help you practise various guitar techniques including tapping, tremolo picking, natural and pinch harmonics, and of course the infamous pick scrape!
These are all clips from existing covers on my channel so check them out if you want to learn the full songs!
Tunings and techniques:
Love: D Standard - Tremolo
Backbone: D Standard - Octave Tremolo
Global Warming: D Standard - Tapping
Born In Winter: Drop C - 2 Finger picking hand tapping
Unicorn: D Standard - Natural Harmonics
Magma: D Standard - Pinch Harmonics
From Mars: D Standard - Arpeggios/String Skipping
The Way of all Flesh: C,G,C,Eb,G,C - Gallop Picking
The Heaviest Matter of the Universe: D Standard - Pick scrapes
Hope this video gives you some ideas of Gojira songs to play and the different techniques to look out for and practise!
Gear - Dean Cadillac Select, Ernie Ball 11-48, LTD B-254, UA-25EX interface, Logic X, , Steven Slate Drums, JBL305 monitors.
______________________________
Gear I Use and Recommend! (Thomann affiliate link)
thmn.to/thocf/...
______________________________
Links - Original Music/Merch/Socials
linktr.ee/shad...
______________________________
Original Music on the Shadow Mantra website -
🎶 www.shadowmant...
Or search on Bandcamp, Spotify, Deezer, Apple Music, Amazon Music, all of them!
T-shirts available on the Shadow Mantra website too! -
👕 www.shadowmant...
______________________________
My Patreon is now LIVE! You can support the channel from as little as $1 per month and can change the amount you have pledged at any time. You can start and stop being a Patron at any time too. All support is greatly appreciated! Thanks 🤘
/ shadowmantrasteve
Patreon Thanks to Brad G. 🤘
______________________________
#gojira #riffs #metal

[@mikereyes2488]

First time I saw Gojira was back in 2007 in Austin Texas at a Lamb of God show, we had no idea who they were and the first song they played was the Heaviest Matter of the Universe, man we were front row and holy shit that was the baddest sound I've ever herd live!

[@espiritucallejero9127]

Dude was it with trivium too?? I saw them on tour with Lamb as well, and they opened up and yes dude ill never forget how they blew me away. Instantly became a fan. When Joe would do those guitar rakes that shit sounded like a legion of roaring tigers or some shit. They were my favorite performance that day easily.

[@mikereyes2488]

Yes, it was Gojira (opening act) Machine Head, Trivium, and Lamb of God my friends and I were in Lamb of God Walk With Me in Hell DVD at the Austin part when the fans started walking down the path to the concert, it goes by super quick lol

[@Zephr238]

2019 for me was the last time

[@robadobflob3405]

A bunch of Gojira riffs are basically etudes, and you can probably develop killer technique just by playing Gojira's stuff.

[@DstandsforDoomed]

I broke my wrist 6 times in one day learning backbone

[@burnedknight6547]

only six? you must be a demigod among men

[@296801]

At least you didn't break your backbone.

[@generaldamage3282]

Yeah I’m having trouble with the main verse galloping riff

[@thewhale8835]

Bro learning backbone straight up gave me carpal tunnel syndrome 😂. It’s incredibly worth it once you have it down, best breakdown ever in my opinion

[@CopanheiroCandeeiro]

00:05 Tremolo Picking - Love 00:27 Octave Tremolo Picking - Backbone 00:46 Tapping - Global Warming 01:10 Two Finger Picking Hand Tapping - Born in Winter 01:37 Natural Harmonics - Unicorn 01:47 Pinch Harmonics - Magma 02:13 Arpeggios/String Skipping - From Mars 02:31 Gallop Picking - The Way of All Flesh 02:55 Pick Scrapes - The Heaviest Matter of The Universe

[@digitalcamaro9708]

Nice work

[@Yhill_nn]

Me: i cant play solos/legatos, so im just gonna concentrate on awesome badass riffs like gojira's. My arthritis: well, hello there old man

[@DanishAra]

bruh same, i feel like i’m going nowhere with solo stuff. i’m feeling myself better with riffs and rhythms

[@wllulu]

Same

[@jakepayne2985]

The main opening riff of The Gift of Guilt has my favorite tapping section of any song ever. It almost reminds me of a lost John Carpenter theme ala Halloween or some shit. Amazing.

[@guitaristkuro8898]

Esoteric Surgery has some wicked galloping.

[@mqro1915]

You could list 9 songs that use each one of these techniques, shows that Gojira has a really unique style - you have a song after you write something with each of them

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I'm thinking maybe a small series of videos for writing a song in the style of Gojira could be interesting. Mix of analysing and then utilising the techniques.

[@aleksandarborenovic353]

Happy New Year's, Steve!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Happy new year!

[@NoBandwidthHere]

Your videos are gold and you are an inspiration! Keep up the great work!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you, glad you've found them helpful!

[@alexandrehopeson3048]

The axe is also a great song to practice tremolo picking. Also love the Gojira content♡ Happy new year Shadow Steve!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks, happy new year!

[@someone7692]

Tremolo picking of Love made me cry so many times over the past years

[@brucenatelee]

I *_LOVE_* that first riff...!

[@brucenatelee]

Gojira is one of those bands that tries to do every kind of guitar technique used in metal, combined with heaviness, beauty, groove, and technicality.

[@Brothelm]

Man....i love Gojira....

[@Weavaloid]

Thanks for uploading this helpful video, I do like Gojira alot and this keeps me motivated to practice them!

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Their riffs are a lot of fun to play 🤘

[@XxDeadromuxX]

FROM MARS TO SIRIUS is the best album of Gojira.

[@Ejmillanv]

Magma pinch harmonics forever giving me nightmares haha, it is tough to learn indeed

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

They really are a pain. I understand why it's never played live!

[@bobu5213]

Man, you take all the work out of finding something to practice. I'm very thankful.

[@user-fl9th2ts2m]

The Wild Healer is also good for tapping

[@alexandrec.desouza5511]

My problem has a name...Galloping. Great video, bro

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thanks 🤘

[@bradg.726]

Shadow Mantra Steve. You are the best. Rock on, man. Thanks for all of the badass content.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

You're welcome 🤘

[@reneraymond7807]

Bravoooo!

[@ptbempire]

Brilliant fretwork brother

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 🤘

[@attempt58]

backbone for gallops as well

[@toreole5831]

Oroborus also works for tapping

[@Fuxkthecap5555]

Brooo i love your guitar facee😂 already Sub👊🏻🤘🏻💪🏻

[@_Henrique66]

Nice as always! the best exercises are in the songs.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Agreed, lots of good things to practise in Gojira's songs.

[@_Henrique66]

@@ShadowMantraSteve really for sure!

[@jorawarsingh8414]

Do Where Dragons Dwell Next!

[@harryriv7421]

You are the best 👌 brother I going to practice 🙏

[@brandonrogers5207]

I have the same ibanez art series guitar. I wish they made that quality with their 7-9 string guitar. They are amazing

[@fds7777]

Best way to end the year !

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Happy new year!

[@2928e8]

i started playin gojira and advanced 2 years i lost of not playing in 2 months

[@shawncamp333]

You should have added the amazing practice lick From another world. Gojira has a lot of Quick pull off licks and that was is amazing for practicing

[@MsDavo123]

Amazing video thanks

[@gardenofbleeding]

2:54 **loses hair due to heaviness**

[@ANGEL-kh1zh]

Gojira 🤟

[@xenonvinc]

I love love

[@LycanTroop3]

They pretty much take a technique and just take it to the extreme. I never thought sticking to just one technique for a whole song could be viable.

[@jaegerlol4844]

very nice steve very nice

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Thank you 👍

[@raffysg1990]

Thank you so much

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

You're welcome!

[@benjaminturnbull-pitts2265]

dope channel my man

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@Batcat2004]

Yep

[@Minister1988]

Nice riffs! Happy New Year🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

A slightly late Happy new year!

[@xdothree4454]

I swear, I'll never be able to tremo pick octaves, that shit hard AF

[@guitaristkuro8898]

I felt the same way for quite a while, but then I could just do it. If you think backbone is bad try Wolf Down to Earth.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Just a case of practise doing it little and often to build up the stamina over time. Try tweaking how you hold the pick a bit or changing the angle slightly and seeing what works.

[@dominicisnthere9687]

Nice Ibanez, wonder where I've seen that series before

[@FrankSkywalker]

Their songs have a lot of techniques, but why do I find them very easy to play?

[@luisrosario3781]

Possibly because lots of their songs really play into the low D (or low C if in Drop C) string.

[@ea6442]

fr

[@StrangerE0ns]

*hello there*

[@webinfront]

I think notewise they’re pretty easy, but rhythmically and stamina wise they can be pretty punishing

[@luisrosario3781]

@@webinfront The tremolo breakdown, or just the entirety of Backbone, is a test of endurance, albeit notewise not very complicated. Maybe the long jumps from the 2nd fret of the G string to the 9th fret during the main riff, but most of the song is just endurance.

[@Crazyclay78YT]

from mars is one of those songs you want to learn to impress people

[@dancash5353]

Nice deal man !

[@shawncamp333]

Do mark Mortan please

[@p3dro734]

what if you make one but for the bass???

[@iwillspam5985]

I thought From Mars was tapping as well

[@ManapartOfficial]

Hey bro! its kickass! can you make a cover of our songs?

[@hugodeduit6062]

OMG 2:31 .... it felt really weird for me to see you playing with a guitar which is not your beautiful white dean

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

The Ibanez comes out on rare occasions!

[@legarssuryoutube0876]

1:46 the sound when your PC crashe

[@aidynwyatt5415]

The first song I learned on guitar was the gift of guilt

[@REIRBL]

Amazing!👍👍👍👍

[@ouie-fl4qo]

How do you pick the notes (like in the backbone one) with hitting the string in the middle?

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

You can use the underside of your first finger to mute the middle string

[@shecter81]

I blame you for all the gojira I now know 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

You're welcome!

[@ravikant840]

Where is CLONE?

[@JohanVega-wc2zb]

dude, do you have those tabs with GuitarPro?

[@ryanealaschuk1384]

For the octave tremolo picking in backbone, do you recommend a certain pick?

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

I personally prefer very pointy plectrums. I'm using D'Addario duralin precision picks at the moment

[@wypimentel]

Thanks for putting the names of the techniques, I always wanted to know what was this "octave tremolo picking", I know that black metal uses it a lot, but I searched on YT "black metal guitar technique" and found nothing.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

No problem, glad it helped. It seemed sensible to label everything and make it useful video for everyone.

[@stholtzinwinter1155]

That's whaleuble riffs for practice! I'm sorry

[@dominikweber4305]

You should be😂 dankest joke i've heard in awhile

[@gasmrdotexe5798]

Backbone, that song kills my arm lol

[@CienciayServico]

Can someone explain what is the meaning of the tab symbols at 0:19?

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

The angled brackets mean natural harmonics

[@CienciayServico]

@@ShadowMantraSteve Thank you!!!

[@kybamclane9357]

I'm pretty sure that From Mars is finger plucked

[@brendanb2517]

When it got to two hand tapping my right hand just said no

[@kayhaginwald]

i don't even get how we can skip one string while picking so fast for the octave tremolo picking (backbone) it must be so hard

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

It's not an enjoyable part to play, something I need to practise more. You don't really skip the middle string. It's just muted using the first finger to lightly touch string and stop it from ringing out. So you still will hit it but it comes out as a muted this that gets lost in the other notes.

[@kayhaginwald]

@@ShadowMantraSteve well your skills are already awesome, hope you'll unlock this achievement lol. Thanks a lot for answering and helping :)

[@tylerammons1]

Man there ain’t no way I can pull this off 😂

[@danamendes1130]

I'm just a beginner but I want to play riffs like this and shred like Shawn Lane. How should I practice to get on that level?

[@guitaristkuro8898]

Check out Steve Stine he could help. Otherwise just pick a song you like and have at it, practice as much as you can, and HAVE FUN. Don’t be too harsh on yourself, from my experience this can do more harm than good in some cases although it helps to make sure things are perfect. Something I regret doing is not challenging myself more.

[@danamendes1130]

@@guitaristkuro8898 I'll give it a shot. Steve Stine is someone who I've heard is considered the best guitar teacher ever and he has free lesson's on youtube and stuff.

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

As Kuro has said, find songs that you like. Practising something you don't enjoy will just make it a lot tougher. I started off learning System of a Down songs and Trivium songs from Ascendancy which I found incredibly tough but I enjoyed the challenge so found the drive to keep trying. Breaking riffs down into small chunks will help too, learning a few bars at a time. I've found guitar pro very helpful over the years as it has a metronome and you can slow down a tab to 50%, increasing back up to 100% so you're gradually picking up speed. Currently I'm looking at Delusion Pandemic by Lamb of God and I'm using guitar pro to get the speed up.

[@stilanbant2198]

Me: trying to learn to play from mars finger style and making slow process. Me: jealous he can play it with a pick

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

Keep at it, you'll get there 🤘

[@randyeppyt]

Backbone breaks me

[@ShadowMantraSteve]

It still causes me problems when I don't practise it often enough!

[@mehmetkocak7363]

Magma is fckn cursed

[@ben-jamin4154]

Dude global warming is an experience

[@hydrasalesman9629]

Walmart Chris Pratt

[@bindingofzieglers6372]

None of these riffs sounded good to me.