Mastodon Show How to Play "Divinations" Guitar Lessons

For more of this lesson check out guitarworld.com
Mastodon guitarists Bill Kelliher and Brent Hinds show you how to play their latest hit "Divinations" in this exclusive Guitar World video lesson.

[@lucasfreefoot]

This Guitar Lesson taught me that my riffs are generic and I need a new hobby.

[@JakeMoresea]

Lmao

[@camdero3294]

Lucas Freeman or yknow you could delve deeper into it. Learn new chord voicing new techniques and sound making. Rather than dumping it. I know it was a joke but damn if I see that kinda stuff it gets me down cuz I was that way. Just do what Tom morello does. Make lots of sound with it and make it big

[@marksteele3026]

@@camdero3294 i could not agree more man! I'm no neo-theory rocker that can pull stuff out from nowhere. I took tides from bands such as the Melvins and Tool for example. Simple stuff that I think comes from just messing around. Well maybe not all of Tool, but you get it right? thanks -Mark C. Steele

[@paulmildner6093]

I thought the exact same

[@aislingdanwallace2201]

Yes this just confirms to me that I suck

[@caltrof]

I know people love Brent but Bill is way underrated. He's one of the best rhythm guitar players I've ever seen. His right hand technique is great.

[@puppetmaster8551]

Man is still underrated as fuck a decade later. He’s also been the main songwriter along with Brann their last 2 records. Brent gets all the love for his amazing solos but man Bill is a fucking fantastic guitarist and they’re and all time great duos

[@hagengilbert8102]

Great point! I was just watching how fast yet relaxed he is.

[@dolguldur4706]

Nahhh..will adler is better

[@posingnobody]

Hes the on who always gets interviewed though

[@walterhall3704]

​@@puppetmaster8551 Bill and Hetfield are the riff masters.

[@Jakeman90210]

Now I know exactly how to play it!

[@bmarrero]

Hahahahahahha, me too !! Luckily, Guitar Pro 6 has a slow play feature

[@captainpiefox9133]

cone its the x.25 speed option that helped me learn it

[@jbasti227]

Seriously lol. The hybrid picking in the intro is a bitch to learn

[@ATthemusician]

A lot of online tabs are wrong so videos like this significantly help. It's not too bad once you've gotten good at hybrid picking, which isn't necessarily the hardest technique ever.

[@Jakeman90210]

k1koth3gre4t nice

[@donniedollarhidejr.2766]

This video should be called "Forget it, too hard for you"

[@thehermeticgnostic66]

Donnie Dollarhide Jr. Lol that song isnt that hatd at all.....

[@ATthemusician]

That spiritual dude stop trying to sound cool. You need to be a master at hybrid picking just for the intro(if you want to play it properly), the main riff is also alternate picking hell.

[@Sha_Fermo]

Andrew Teller Hybrid and Alternate picking are the guitarists nightmare, but the banjo players most basic tools. You just can’t attack the song in the same way you did before.

[@alcoholya]

@@thehermeticgnostic66 always one guy who says this shit.. for the average basement/bedroom guitarist, this is pretty difficult. Great it's easy for you, but not the majority of non-professionals out there.

[@krauzz1611]

@@alcoholya its pretty easy once you get the pattern down speeding up is the hardest part of it

[@SethHesio]

I love how Brent is slowly turning into a wizard

[@papabeauxnaire]

or a sea captain

[@SethHesio]

Arrr

[@kellanshields]

Michael Young I AM AHAB!!!!

[@MylesMarrero]

***** Um, nah.

[@SethHesio]

Don't use the F word around me please.

[@rcooper9110]

How this is not considered one of the best tracks in metal is beyond my comprehension

[@trenzu2]

My man Zach Galifianakis killed it with that solo

[@jimmy5391]

trenzu2 hahaha Im done

[@nicolasdicesare1797]

What happened to him? Did he eat much carrot?

[@Sha_Fermo]

That moment when you go to like a comment but you must have watched this video before and it is already liked...

[@DaniEl-lb7bb]

lol

[@muhamadsyukribinhairuddin2028]

Come on Michael Cudlitz is not bad either slaying that killer riffs

[@Danyel76]

Brent is awesome and we all know that. But look at how fluid is Bill's playing. He's always relaxed, awesome.

[@JakeMoresea]

You're right!

[@yassenkrestev2816]

yeah, not a lot of people talk about how good Bill is, i'd say he's even as good as Brent even if he cant solo like him

[@lachlangriffiths6445]

Too right, he has amazing groove and he can keep up with any verse or chorus that Brent does, given they both write the music, they are two of the most important and most innovative guitarists in the modern day

[@ThrashRoC]

NOT only Brent is great , ok He mostly plays the Soli , but Billy K. is damm great and mybe a bit Underrated too, they are BOTH great , and lika ALL great Bands ,if you change one Member it breaks down ..Mastodon Rules , and the Upcoming Album will be Great !!

[@KB-vv8gr]

There's a few songs where Bill solo's I think but it's funny because if you notice, Bill kind of fucks up around 2:50 and then a little bit again later on in this video. I love Mastodon, and love this song!

[@petetownshend5297]

After watching this I played it all the way through the first time I tried. And I'd never even picked up a guitar before. Thanks guys. I can finally get some tail now!

[@BallsDeepInDahl]

🤭

[@mikemerkin1215]

after watching this, I was revived from the ice and killed and ate a metal band after playing their solo.

[@tomfraser7740]

Cool.. I think I can play it now I just need to buy a guitar

[@stepitupandgo67]

haha

[@demarchiordie]

And remember: Brent plays and sings at the same time.

[@rick085]

"Sings"

[@leviathan3630]

@@rick085 lol ur honestly not wrong

[@emigrant1510]

@@rick085 Divinations is always one of the few songs were Brent gives it his best live. You can tell he really likes it.

[@aberwood]

Seen them twice live, neither time did brent sing. But there was some sort of noise coming out of his mouth.

[@marrrkl]

And then some people say that Mastodon sucks. No, Mastodon is one of the most complex, melodic and nice metal bands there's. Once you get into Mastodon is hard to quit. It's like a drug that fixes your mood every fucking time.

[@KfirOchaion]

I love SG's...

[@nobody__1236]

Kfir Ochaion same

[@Combustion47]

The best

[@JesusLordOfLords455]

S.hitty G.uitar 😝

[@Igornopolis]

Yes. Especially with maestro vibrola. Which is a great vibrato unit if given a chance with proper conjoining parts and setup.

[@patrickolivier1]

Eeshhhh. I really don’t 🤣

[@saidoterodiseno]

...OK, this is more like a "Behold how Mastodon is awesome" Guitar lesson.

[@ambassadorofpain1]

The guitar work is mind boggling, so original and thought out perfectly.

[@TehEditor]

I love how they seem to just start playing different things and always come back at the same time to the main riff. So brutal :D

[@robs2579]

Fav Mastodon song of all time, the melody harmonies are orgasmic - best chorus to sing-along to ever written

[@smellyreally2562]

Their riffs are so unconventional and unique plus they harmonise them then just sounds other worldly same goes with vocal lines unique melodies and harmonisation great writers and players

[@evilbabaroga]

have u noticed how in the main riff at 0:40 they pedal on a note a semitone apart, on the 6th string (bill 3rd fret, brent 4th)? they play the most disgusting 'harmony' and it makes the riff super intense.

[@ATthemusician]

A big part of it too is that Brent hybrid picks a lot of riffs, bill doesn't. So they usually play slightly different variations of the riff simply because of that.

[@trooper1818]

I think one of the things that drew me to Mastodon is their choice of gear.

[@tn4234]

Yeah they are really into vintage gear also

[@Jakeman90210]

Same

[@ezzong]

They play complex prog metal on vintage guitars unoptimised for playing said music, the tone was amazing.

[@therwbrman]

2:53 "What the... You just skipped half a bar.... Ok, let's try to fix this." 2:56 "See? FIxed."

[@michaelschneider5574]

I know this comment is ancient, but who messed up? I still can't tell.

[@marinesquaddd50]

@@michaelschneider5574 I'm pretty sure it was Brent, which just made me appreciate a good rhythm guitarist like Bill so much more as he just corrects it on the fly

[@tomsxe]

@@marinesquaddd50 the legato at 2:47 was fast for the tempo, or maybe he missed one repetition of the legato.

[@abohsukampret]

@@tomsxe yes Brent skipped about 1/4 bar of that legato. Either way Bill covered up for it almost flawlessly.

[@tomsxe]

@@abohsukampret I gonna say, almost no metal bands make playthrough videos for the entire song with real audio. Everybody record the songs and then make a video and mix it. I listened Mastodon 2 times live, and the guys almost makes no mistakes, some songs Brann Dailor uses metronome and others he don't use, and songs are played almost like you listen them on spotify. So for a almost 4 min song, just one mistake, is pretty acceptable.

[@zerox85]

I know I'm not the only one singing "no escape, binding spirits" on the chorus!

[@gabrielm5114]

that's not the chorus

[@jacee8094]

Gabriel M it’s the fire in the eye part right?

[@abovethedownside2521]

Brent Hinds is Sludge-Prog in person

[@stepitupandgo67]

Seeing them playing it makes me love the song that much more...

[@MrStagepotato]

I watch this every day, I'm just amazed by Bill's guitar sound, so good

[@HellGoodDoogz]

Still watchin?

[@MrStagepotato]

@@HellGoodDoogz yeah! now that you commented haha

[@metallica2296]

i cant quit watching this...the guitar playing is so incredible and they harmonize so well.

[@TwentyTwenty90]

Not a huge metal head but I love Mastodon, the sound is so crafted. It's remarkable.

[@oisuxx]

"Aaaaaaaand there you go....just do that!"

[@TheGRANGER711]

some of the most amazing guitar ive ever heard, so beautiful

[@Rimondo3289]

Such inspiring musicians both in their ability at their instrument but also in the expressiveness and depth in their songs

[@justinbradley5294]

These 4 dudes were absolutely meant to find each other and form Mastodon!! There will never be another band like these guys and we were lucky enough to exist while it happened. some extremely talented musicians and the definition of original... Been a fan since the "Blood and Thunder" video released on headbangers ball. MASTODON

[@jonlate4581]

It baffles my mind how anyone could come up with something like this....and then remember how to play it!?!? (takes guitar and throws it into lake)

[@homelessathome]

your fingers remember this, not your brain. it's like you'll always know how to ride a bike if you've learned it in the past.

[@MontyCantsin5]

@@homelessathome: Your muscles are controlled by the brain.

[@TheWizard-yo8uv]

Guitar rises out of lake

[@breal1183]

That's why its called a gift. I know guys that it took about 15 years to play like this, then i have known guys that it took only 3 years to play like this. It's all the gift! Some got it, most don't!

[@ezzong]

@@breal1183 most a don't

[@leocorreia1162]

Absolutely fantastic, amazing and BRILLIANT!!! Just wow!!! 😳❤️🎸

[@FlareStorm10]

There's this fast epic awesomeness throughout the whole song. Perfect timing and perfect tempo. This is epic.

[@captainpiefox9133]

This guitar is made for chords, but sometimes you can play notes on it

[@stepitupandgo67]

dual ginger power

[@MrJeppelin]

Now that´s a guitarlesson! You just watch it a couple of times and BANG!, you´ve nailed it.

[@jeanyvestheriault8362]

These guys are my heros, love you man!

[@DelgadoOnaindia93]

2:53 Bill: Holy shit Brent, you entered too early. We ain't cutting this, right?

[@txixm]

Eleder Delgado Onaindia That's what she said.

[@adrianfytr35]

Hahaha he gave him a "look".

[@ThrashRoC]

+Eleder Delgado Onaindia LoL Yep , i see it too ...i mean we are just Human , if he don´t look , i wouldn´t feel this little error .. They are BRILLIANT Guitarists !

[@chrissjoroos9884]

Eleder Onaindia Delgado nah that was bills fuck up not Brent

[@tylerjacobson8012]

Yeah bill was behind. Brent finished the solo and hit it perfect. Bill was behind. Happens. Divinations is a rough song. Really noodley. Pretty sure Brent wrote it.

[@nastynate7772]

I mean mastodon could literally just release an album with just guitars and it would make perfect sense

[@Crack_the_Skye]

Nasty Nate I feel like I'm playing a techno-viking video game listening to this.

[@thecoderofyoutube]

Check out the instrumental version of the whole Crack the Skye album...

[@Violence1320]

@@thecoderofyoutube YES, I LOVE IT MORE THAN THE ORIGINAL. They should do this too all their albums and bands that actually care about using different instruments to make their music shine a bit more should do the same. Its another experience. Its not on spotify though coz its trash

[@thecoderofyoutube]

@@Violence1320 It is on Deezer, though...

[@MorbidSatan24]

I don't know why, but I laughed so hard at that comment? Their guitar playing alone already has so much philosophical emotions.

[@blackmanfri]

December 2018 and I'm still tripping listening to this playthrough

[@SuperToother]

god damn i love how flawless their timing is with each other

[@IkePhillipRuffin]

Please..get rid of the "How to" in the title, lol. Sick as hell though!

[@officialmetalwill]

***** The video used to be twice as long. There was another half where they actually broke down the sections and showed you how to play them. For some reason Guitar World got rid of that part of the video. =/

[@voteZDLR]

+Will Castillo I think it's just as suggested at the end of the video, they want you to go their website for the rest.

[@tsyrlb]

what i love about them is they dont use any fancy tuning, and the riffs are actually original, they bypass a lot of the stnadard power chords and the riffs carry a lot of the melody...its not just 'backing track' for the singer. good job mastodon. took me a while to discover them though....barely getting to them just recently..

[@rstark89]

Amazing video!!!! Saw them live twice and it's sick to hear it guitars only

[@dasbooof]

its amazing how really talented these guys are...

[@Kairou57]

Their sound is unbeliavable, and it's not coming from strange effects, or unusual sounds, it's just music, it's their music that's unusual and this is so difficult to find in a metal band...

[@KingWTFuck]

Haha that face Bill makes at Brent for going too fast at 2:52 is awesome

[@transient442]

KingWTFuck still very impressive how they kept in time together for most of that without any click track

[@m_alcoves]

I keep coming back to hear "this version" of the song.

[@kevind825]

Holy schitt.......... Never thought I would appreciate the insanity of crazy guitar but this is sooooo F'n good.

[@nothere941]

When Brent misses like a whole 4 bars Bill just looks over like 'wut' lmaoo

[@leeroden7900]

Not so subtle edit there

[@lancetrullinger3700]

Fucking amazing musicians

[@jackevans7336]

Every time I hear that solo I get goosebumps.

[@elkemm1]

These guys are harmonic's specialist ! Amazing!

[@eoattc]

You can see how perfect Bill is and how he keeps everything tight. Brent on other hand is extremely talented but makes mistakes, ive seen that live aswell, Bill always there to keep everything together. Both are amazing players, one of the best around.

[@jusia80]

It's not a directed lesson but you can clearly see the picking and fretting hand motions, combine that with some use of the pause button and you'll be able to figure it out

[@DarthSivius]

saw them live yesterday (@ Graspop Metal Meeting) and I was just blown away, these guys are great musicians!

[@TRUBADORtv]

that was gr8. love the tone and the way they move together. great stuff! - marcoe

[@meatymatmart]

I was really intimidated to try and learn this song, but I decided to just skip the opening arpeggios for now and just start from the verse. Taking me a while to get it sounding right, but it's becoming more fun the more I get used to it. Amazing band, great song.

[@Crack_the_Skye]

As someone else said, this is what vikings listen to before they go into battle.

[@angrykoolaidman]

Wow. Great lesson. I totally know how to play that now. Seriously, that was awesome.

[@brittneysanchez1167]

This song was the first music video I downloaded when I had my first I touch and man im here in 2022 and this song is literally still fire 🔥

[@SethHesio]

I…learnt… NOTHING… (and it didn't fucking matter)

[@mistamuthafuka]

I just wanted to see the guitar players work. I don't even own a guitar.

[@SethHesio]

Jeff Richards Ha.. I own guitars, I play badly. I LOVE this video still :D

[@rhinestonetigerinaleisures3155]

This is a hard song to play tho

[@officialmetalwill]

SethHesio There used to be another video where they broke down each section and showed you what they were doing. It was taken down years ago and no one has uploaded it again. =(

[@Eccentricjuices]

I’m a drummer, but I have a secret love for the guitar. Shh...don’t tell my drum set this.

[@TheGuitarifier]

Brent literally has the perfect picking technique. Barely moves his wrist at all.

[@brutalion2295]

Brendan McDonald he is finger picking the bottom strings.

[@ATthemusician]

There are a few songs on this album with some crazy hybrid picking. A very hard technique to master, but reduces string jumping and makes it more fluid to play.

[@adamnesbitt11]

@@ATthemusician P sure he started on Banjo

[@ATthemusician]

@@adamnesbitt11 yeah I know. I can hybrid pick these songs flawlessly now :p I'm currently working on developing pick slanting now.

[@PurpleDreki]

Hell yeah! Wicked collaboration!

[@apollyon7617]

That's some angus young quality solo structure. Really well put together.

[@das11270110]

Oh...now i get it...,

[@amadeusbirthingman7606]

fuckin incredible

[@BrianCRX90]

I love how they panned the guitars for this just like the album. Want to just hear Brent turn the balance to the left and to only hear Bill turn the balance to the right! This was a cool video Mastadon did btw. Thanks.

[@beenoopo]

the whole album is awesome just hearing this song makes me want to hear it again :P

[@neonblack88]

they are tight as fuck, and have great chemistry, they are perfectly in time with each other even without drums, im impressed. All mastodons guitar work is simple, easy to learn, but also really easy for a noob guitarist to fuck up and hard to perfect. Unique band

[@ForMindlessConsumption]

Well its simple to play, but the musical ideas are complicated as fuck. Like they have some weird ass chords are harmonies in this song.

[@mrpennyapple4217]

Nick Puente Brent started off as a banjo player and his whole playing style is based around banjo techniques and voicings so that's where some of the wacky chords come from. Some of the stuff is modal, as well, which is cool.

[@marcusmatamua4213]

Simple :o Idk about that they have some pretty insane songs, I think its just the time in timing for me in a lot of there other songs where I trip up..

[@MICKSHRED]

+Nick Becker i see now, I was like "he seems like he was a bluegrass picker or somthing." Makes total sense

[@guitarrilho502]

2:54 Bill's face to Brent when he advances the of the solo is incredible

[@StivHobbyKniv]

that's actually one of my favourite solo's, ever :) i like the surf-feel it has in the start.

[@aschneider70]

Jesus! Let me go back to my old fashion blues... this is awesome.

[@ot9vikj]

Where is the banjo?

[@svfutbol20]

Does Mastodon have a DVD like this? Or was it just this lesson from Guitar World

[@kaismith7004]

This video is braught to you by 2 fucking awesome guitars and guitarists

[@jamez1005]

such an incredible riff!!!!!

[@jimmy5391]

how the fuck do they remember this

[@smjjohnson]

Brains..

[@jkeitamo]

Music is easier to remember than corresponding mathematical notations because its about feelings , intuition and mindstate.

[@Faffel]

To be perfectly honest, something like this is gonna be way easier to remember when you create it than when you're learning it, because it comes out of your personal style and playing techniques and is probably playing to your strengths. It's only like 4 unique riffs and then two solos I think anyway. Still my favourite song by them.

[@TeddyRodriguez818]

I'm more surprised on how 2 geniuses could collaborate such riffs together. It's truly amazing!!

[@ThrashRoC]

Look @min 02:55 Brent Hinds "fucked up" the Chorus (After the wild solopart ) and the View of Bill Kelliher says all (Wtf Brent !) :-D, Imean Thats NORMAL , they are Humans , and Humans are making mistakes , the Important thing ,ist to keep the Groove , and Being Professional , and the do it VERY WELL . I am maybe the Biggest Fan of >>>Mastodon

[@tzo8653]

I came here to learn.Instead of learning I forgot how to play guitar.

[@chiefcornerstone]

Stunning!

[@Metirovan]

bill is so chilled and smooth

[@Shrbrt]

Ryan dunns aggressive twin brother in the left

[@PrismaticDemi]

I sat here for 3 hours learning this song from this >.< the Main riff at 0:41 - 1:07 is harder than the solo is to me. It's a string skipping riff :/

[@metallica66625]

Ha it's a bitch.

[@sixstrinngmunky]

+PrismaticDemi now learn it hybrid picking like Brent does it lol

[@jamesfinch691]

They're both doing it.

[@juanpablovivanco9254]

Yeah, hard as shit. The picking makes you ache. There are so much gems hidden within the song. The solo is so fun to play.

[@dtmjr34]

Love that tone

[@motocyco1331]

Holy shit! That was mind blowing.

[@BigBoatDeluxe]

This is not a "how to" video, it's just Bill and Brent sitting together playing Divinations with no bass or backing drums. I love Mastodon, but this isn't a video really showing HOW to play the song. I thought they were going to provide a simple lesson on how to play the riffs.

[@matttritton2354]

They did a proper lesson for it but it was on the website and now it's gone :(

[@tomsxe]

Well, you need to know this is not one of their hardest song, you know, without hybrid picking and these hard shits. If you really wanna know how to play this song buy the book with all the tabs.

[@ThorCarlton]

This isn't the full video. Just the performance part.

[@officialmetalwill]

Tomas Verdugo Muñoz Don't buy the tab books. Neither Bill nor Brent know how to read tabs. Any time a tab book is printed, it is submitted to them for review to make sure it's accurate and they are like, "We don't read tabs. Just go ahead and print it." I've seen tabs in books that are not even close to how it is actually played.

[@tnutts42]

Will Castillo Where the hell did you hear that? Saying they don't know how to read tabs seems highly unlikely due to the fact they write, record and play music so well. I learned tabs when I was probably 15, within the first couple years of when i started playing. Most tab books have standard notation too. Are you saying they can't read either?

[@Feledwards]

two-headed monster!

[@ThrashRoC]

ABSOLUTE Genial Gonna see this guys in July YEAHH

[@FunkMasterSteez]

They are so badass... love the originality also

[@jmfljmfl]

how is this a lesson XD

[@carlossantini4592]

Beats having to figure it out by ear

[@Crack_the_Skye]

It's a lesson in humility, lmao

[@transient442]

Jack cause you can see what they’re playing plus there’s no band to distract so it should be even easier for you to learn.

[@YeungyBassMasta]

they have such good chemistry even minus 2 band members it still sounds badass with the timing near enough perfect

[@blasterkid2014]

wow just amazing...

[@DannyGatton94]

Beautiful Gibsons.

[@mikul93]

Never listened to Mastodon before. This was awesome!

[@Sumphikt]

these guys are obviously in the zone, the force is strong in these ones...

[@manutdtreble7]

this is so much fun to play.

[@paulmorgan9775]

Hugely EPIC!

[@deadenddude]

I recall not liking Mastadon before but this was very cool. I may have to check them out again.

[@Crowliflower88]

I'm convinced this is the best band to ever exist, and every riff in this song was hand picked by god and gifted to them.

[@gere505]

Really good song, GREAT!!

[@dorianpod77]

Amazing stuff,loved it