Metallica's Most CONFUSING Intro...SOLVED!

[@lucalapaglia3941]

You can see lars counting over this intro in the making of Guitar Hero Metallica

[@jorozco13yearsago40]

Look up shortest straw live 1992. He counts the hi hat to keep time.

[@kingkeefage]

He almost couldn't play it at all for the mocap.

[@Quiltfish]

And "even" he had problems doing so. Edited for quotes.

[@mrskinszszs]

The GH session probably isn't the best example to use.

[@LightningJackFlash]

Luca yeah that's where I got the idea how it is constructed, from the man himself counting it ;)

[@BoxPounder]

The shortest straw intro and first riff is one of the grooviest Metallica riffs

[@Faks.09]

To live is to die, sad but true, some kind of monster (hate me) These riffs way groovier imo

[@tmarti3207]

My favourite Metallica song of all time

[@HunterCrawfordBrunomonk8]

Bro I'll never listen to it the same again

[@TheArtofGuitar]

For real right?

[@JaxTheRiffer]

@@TheArtofGuitar Now I will always hear the hi-hat when listening to it lol.

[@josephfoster3819]

I'm a drummer . The intro never sounded odd to me . I can hear the timing.

[@chocolate_squiggle]

I did one year of lessons once a week at school. Had a kit for a couple years after but I was always shit, terrible at timing lol :-) That were 25 years ago. But I'm the same - never sounded weird. It's one of my favourite Metallica songs ever and I can't help but start tapping a table, desk, knees or steering wheel whenever I hear it. It's just badass!

[@ColtonWeeks17]

Same here I didn't even know people didn't know the rhythm

[@ottolofstrom3896]

@@ColtonWeeks17 Yeah same here, its just a straight beat, very simple

[@Fister_of_Muppets]

Same here, I never took issue with the timing on the drums. And of the few decent clips out there of the band playing it live, Lars often kept count with the hi-hat in-between (which kind of threw me off a bit because his differential in time between the toms and the hi-hat sounded off to me).

[@not_a_hill]

same lol, ever since the first time I ever heard this song I've never had an trouble with the timing of it or anything and it's never been confusing for me

[@hokage102364]

It's never sounded weird to me personally until you played it slow. It sounds way weird slowed down, but at speed, it makes perfect sense.

[@dorksouls978]

Sounds even more disjointed with a straight beat

[@readingdaniel9485]

Came here looking for this comment. Yes, it sounded downright silly.

[@restojon1]

He's basically done the opposite of help as far as I can see. What an absolute clusterf**k

[@neoneherefrom5836]

I agree. Lol

[@ayoutubeaccount864]

Try to learn the Blackened intro without reversing the clip So the intro originally but learn it with the studio recording

[@Bazinga22199]

For me the toughest Metallica song I learned when I first started playing from start to finish was The Frayed Ends of Sanity

[@ErikGiovani]

yeyegame that’s a tricky one

[@russellhayden82]

That one still cramps my hand. I've never gotten used to playing it without pain. I used to stop playing after that song lol

[@CruciatusVXS]

@@russellhayden82 you mean the melodic part that starts with B? or the gallop riff after the drum break? other than that, it's not that tiring, I think

[@Kylora2112]

I always thought it was more tricky than hard...like, yeah, it's *hard*, but the feel really weird, even in the context of the rest of the material on AJFA.

[@gregk8246]

Yeah, doesn't seem that hard but really weird timing, if that's the right word.

[@TheJerseyNinja]

The way I always remember it is if you watch the Guitar Hero Metallica The Shortest Straw video you can see Lars struggling to get the intro timing down and then he figured out the beats in between when the drums and guitar come in and he snaps to it and it makes so much sense to follow that in your head. Dun dun dun...2...3...4...dun dun dun...2...dun dun dun dun...4...dun dun...2...3...4...dun dun dun...2...dun dun dun dun...4...dun dun...2...3...4...dun dun dun...2...dun dun dun dun...4...dun dun...2...3...4...dun dun dun...2...dun dun dun dun...4...(then the normal full riff)

[@Ibaneddie76]

A lot of Metallica's intros are all mostly feel. You can tell James has been playing with Lars for so long that he has his drum patterns memorized in his head. I listened to them for so long and so many times that their songs are really easy for me to learn but I can definitely see how a few of the songs from Justice could be a little hard to learn for some players. The beginning of blackened and dyers eve have some pretty tricky parts.

[@readingdaniel9485]

That must be it. Justice was my first Metallica album and so i have no trouble, nor did I back then, with timing. Maybe that's why this video confused me more than OP intended.

[@Nghilifa]

I just count "2-3-4" between each "hit" if that makes sense.. Like: ta ta ta 2-3-4 ta ta ta - ta ta ta ta - ta ta 2 3 4 (and so forth) (It's kind of difficult to type it out instead of humming it 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣) . It was pretty simple to me. They did it without the hi-hat "in-between" when they played it live for the first time in 1990 when they played a few shows in Europe & North America, but when they played it again in 92 (during the run with GNR), Lars added the hi-hat for some reason.

[@stev5582]

Agreed completely. I've known this for quite a long time. When Metallica did there recordings for guitar hero, lars did indeed say "2-3-4". I just thought it was common sense at that point haha

[@no_one563]

Exactly, that is wut I do

[@TD-bq5bo]

Yep. I learned it as: ta ta ta 1 2 ta ta ta/ ta ta ta TA ta ta 1 2 ta ta ta/ ta ta ta TA ta ta 1 2 ta ta ta/ta ta ta TA ta ta 1 2 ta ta ta/ ta ta ta ta Right into the next riff. I never thought it was that difficult but I didn't have formal music lessons until I learned piano as an adult. I can definitely see how someone with a formal training would have some difficulty with this. It hurts my head to think of how to write these notes out on a staff.

[@jeffb407]

It is a three count between tom hits.

[@KingRorix]

@@stev5582 Lars' mocap session for GH was exactly where I picked up on it.

[@panamachasely]

this pattern is used in SOOO many songs. intros where the rhythmic pattern starts on an upbeat, but there is no way to locate the downbeat until the drums or whatever come in

[@BluTheHonky]

I know this is off topic but I'm tryna learn the Over The Mountain solo and I wanna Yell so bad! I WANNA BREAK THIS INSTRUMENT

[@Scrimbus_McBimbus]

The first run is easy enough but the rest is so hard to mimic

[@nickcharles6530]

You’re at that fun stage, You have to ingrain the rhythms of phrases into your memory. Try listening to a phrase then humming it out loud. Hope this gelps.

[@JT-sl3ui]

Blu A. Over the Mountain is the greatest heavy metal song of all time! Don’t break your guitar. Randy Rhoads solos aren’t an easy task to follow. He was an exceptional guitar talent that left us far too young!

[@raymondlugo9960]

I love how it starts with the tritone

[@BlackDogSplit]

Brake it! ..please... thx

[@MichaelDFox]

Just discovered your channel. Love the Metallica content.

[@jalenali684]

This is honestly becoming one of my favourite channels! Keep making awesome stuff like this. Cheers Mike!

[@halecj1]

Sounds worse with the beat added. Like others I've never had a problem hearing the beat to this.

[@galenmarek8287]

Same, never considered this an issue before, it always felt timed correctly.

[@MHxD]

It never sounded wierd to me. You're making it way more complicated

[@malcolmkyeremeh5444]

Not to mention he isnt even playing the rhythm right when he adds the drums

[@skweksi]

In the live version Lars hits the high hat on the beats that the guitars don’t play

[@pmenzel86]

James Hetfield being a master of rhythms? *Pretends to be shocked*

[@lukeraimondi7117]

What's throwing me off are those first three notes, they're supposed to be spaced equally instead of the second being bunched up on the first like it's an anticipation

[@TheArtofGuitar]

If you check out the real version and slow it down you'll see they vary. Some are even some are a sixteenth into two eighth notes. I think it's because Lars is hitting both hands simultaneously for those hits and it's making them drift a bit.

[@infiction7651]

Had to scroll too far down to read this.

[@this_is_mahomie1536]

My dad and I have figured this out on our own. We play it together all the time, him on the guitar and me on the drums. I thought everyone knew how this went.

[@SuperRicko85]

BRO - I’m loving these Metallica vids, I always try and play exactly how they do and it’s hard to find, your my go to man.

[@Thomohawk21]

You sir, have changed my life!!!

[@bonehead7460]

I never actually counted I just memorised the gaps and it’s just instinctual now

[@hyalinamusic18]

This intro never sounded weird to me. I guess that's cause I listen to prog metal pretty much all the time. The riff that does sound weird to me is the other sort of main riff in the song that comes after the intro riff. That one is a little more like the other riffs you've covered in this series.

[@adameves5970]

Why would your guess be because you listen to prog metal? Can you people act more pretentious?

[@magnumhoff]

Haha man these videos with the metallica rhythms over straight beats are so good. Thanks for taking the time to do these.

[@andersjaevel]

Glad to see I wasn't alone on this. This intro always seemed completely random to me. I could play along to it fine, but didn't know there was supposed to be any timing to it. I then figured it out for myself after seeing them play it live, where Lars counted on the hi-hat during the intro.

[@heresjohnny999]

I honestly think Lars/James done all this by accident, a happy accident of right people, right time, right producers. Can never be replicated. Especially since you said it now sounds like Hardwired, he can't play like that anymore.

[@metalmaniac8640]

They both admit they dont know shit about music theory, they basically just write and jam without any sense of the technicalities behind it.

[@eriktitscher5397]

Love the guitar tone 🔥

[@alextehyoshi5504]

Please never end the Metallica content!

[@Hoscitt]

Well this has completely changed my perception of a song i know inside out! It's been 'DA da da' to me, now i hear 'da-DA da'... makes way more sense! Josh Steffen's version of Disposable heroes did the same thing for me. Good work! Thanks 👍🤘🤘

[@janugur2241]

I have never thought of it this way. I always thought this was something like an odd time signature riff, thank you for your teaching.

[@lizardspawnofdeath]

I just memorised the intro in 1989 from listening to the album. It's not weird at all really. With that beat though, he played the first two notes differently...which isn't the way it's meant to be played so yeah. It's in free time anyway and doesn't lock into a tempo at all.

[@Omnatten9]

I've always struggled to understand the intro of Holy Wars until recently. I could never predict the moment it transitioned into the main riff, until I reimagined the entire concept all over.

[@theambientsoundsproject3276]

I literally just started learning this song yesterday and was having all kinds of trouble figuring out the timing for that intro, thanks for the video!

[@JohnSmith-cl2sq]

Mike...you are a GENIUS! Thank you for this. It was driving me crazy for years!

[@sebastianverdugo2014]

Thank you markiplier

[@sagenator1272]

Everytime you don't end the riff I die a little

[@razeezar]

The Shortest Straw Intro and that beat inversion in the verse of Five Minutes Alone used to both get me. The Five Minutes riff doesn't even change, yet even knowing what's going on the drums still distracts me, in a good way. Like a magic trick that you know the secret of but is still odd to view as an audience, hehe

[@jc8178]

I didn’t know people struggled with this... before I played guitar I figured this out just from hearing it on repeat. Cool beans.

[@victorbuick3674]

Cool explanation, but you’re playing with a dotted 16th pattern on the second note. It has more of a “triple-it” feel.

[@janesto81]

I remember when I first saw Lars more than confused trying to play that intro. It was when they were recording the body motion for their self-titled Guitar Hero

[@itneverwasme]

I know this is 3 years old so it may have been mentioned: James did all the guitar tracks first with only a metronome, then the band recorded their parts over that. He stated this was strange in that they had always done bass/drums/scratch guitar for the base tracks then work over those. So that floating feel is really in time with the metronome James is using, and then Lars plays over the time signature on subsequest tracks.

[@carlosdigiorgi4856]

The drum track behind that intro made me not understand the riff anymore lmao

[@corporalclegg914]

Good Grief! the more you Dig, the more you find Mind-Blowing stuff, Man. Dang. Please Keep Digging & Sharing...I’ll be lazy & watch!

[@trevorgrindz5556]

I grew up jamming to this song & album. Metallica's final album of greatness... before Bob Rock got his hands on the band.

[@asdwz458]

the intro sounded fine to me but i love the syncopation in the straight beat

[@StudioMargalima]

As stated by someone else, it's a free form. You *only* can apply some time in the last ritenuto (that galloping "1&a2"), connecting that part to the first bar of the actual first full. verse What a badass free form intro it is.

[@m4nu003]

I think it‘s just a damn good cooperation of James and Lars. And also of James Voice. Best example the chorus of escape.

[@todds.6028]

Kinda the same with the middle section of Breadfan. When the clean-tone guitar starts, it's kinda hard to make heads or tails of it....then the drums come in and you're like "Ah, ok. Makes sense now."

[@darkghostrecords2735]

"Shortest straw has been pulled for you!!!" Great Riff

[@shtrudelmusic7653]

This makes so much sense now! Without the wrong context, it feels floaty because you feel the first E note like it's on the first beat of the measure while in fact, it comes before the beat (I believe the term is called anacrusis). The actual note/chord/power chord that lands on the beat is F. That's really strange, because when they play the riff after the intro, that E lands on the first beat.

[@mojoguy316]

The 30th anniversary deluxe box set of AJFA has some early demo recordings from James’ riff tapes. There is a recording from 1986 of the Shortest Straw intro where he and Lars (or maybe James multi-tracking on drums) play the intro over and over again with a drum click on the beat. Then later Lars goes off and riffs on the intro beat by himself. Makes it easier to hear the correct way.

[@rsc2573]

To this day "Shortest Straw" is my favorite Metallica song!!!

[@j_freed]

A funny example of this, a way simpler example is April Wine "all over town." The riff at first really sounds like it starts on the downbeat, but actually it starts between the first down beat in the first upbeat. In guitar terms, it begins on the upstroke of the picking hand.

[@KllswtchOvrDrv]

This seriously blew my mind. I'll always hear it different now

[@hioeo]

It's actually harder for me to count the beats when you have a drum track under the riff. During the intro what helps me for timing is counting to 3 between the second and fifth pause and I nail it every time.

[@jakesekellick6288]

Great video🤘 favorite band!

[@drio2020]

Never a mystery, learned it very quickly and in time

[@lucasbello117]

This video was very nice!! Although this intro doesnt sound weird for me, its nice to see your approach and how you help othersto get it right.

[@noeffnwaypal]

That was the first Metallica song that I learned how to play. Up until that point I'd been learning to play guitar by sounding out ACDC and Motley Crue tunes (online tabs didn't exist back then, had to do it by ear). Once I got in to Metallica and started grinding away on them for about a year, I laughed when I realized how much easier ACDC and Motley Crue were to play. Guess you could say Angus Young and Mick Mars were my initial instructors, then James Hetfield took the schooling to an entire new level!

[@maximilianroth9711]

I had a similar experience with nightwishs "wishmaster" intro. Figured out both eventually, though.😅

[@KllswtchOvrDrv]

This blew my mind!!!! Now I can hear it both ways

[@j_freed]

During the studio recording, they were listening along counting to a high hat, but of course when you're doing the mix you can just pull out the high hat so what you then have sounds fragmented and as you say "floating." This creates the illusion that the band can by great skill stay on the count from the one beat, but you have trouble finding the one.

[@Dweller777]

Dude.. I've been listening (and loving) this tune for thirty years.. and you just blew my mind... the first E is a *grace note.*...... OMG!!

[@aaronswearingen3708]

I...just...it's like..whooooooaaaaaa.....😦. It makes so much more sense! This was a very cool thing to share. Thank you!!

[@pascTV]

Knowing the song so well, the „Biohazard version“ sounded way off to me ... Definitely not „more digestible“ 😄 Thanx for breaking down all these riffs for us. It’s a good watch!!

[@Ytrearneindre]

i agree. seems like he couldn't quite keep time and kept playing too fast

[@ErrorMacroBand]

Great analysis! I could always play this on guitar and drums by feel but I never really truly understood how it was constructed. I think our ears always want to assume the first note that we hear is the downbeat but you've shown me that this isn't the case with this song. Mind blown!

[@bowbert23]

The riff really clicked for me the first or second time I started paying attention to Lars' hi-hat during the intro live. Turns out it made sense!

[@hyperfine3633]

To the other comments: I don't think people *struggled* with this, just adding a beat changes the way you hear it. It has for me. Simplify it; if you're nodding along to it with a 4/4 beat, you'll bring your head down on the second note of the guitar now (the F) instead of the first. Again, it isn't that he had to make this because anybody struggled playing it. It just slightly changes the way you think about the beat of it.

[@BigCleverName]

I watched the Guitar Hero Metallica bts and Lars was trying to relearn this for the game and it showed his process and that helps more than anything

[@manuelbarreto9093]

That intro is as clear as day. I don't know what you are talking about

[@dabj9546]

"I played the kick and hihat with my feet and the snare with this uhhh...uhm with my hands" That must be one of the smarter things I've ever heard a drummer say...

[@MechaAkuma]

There is a sound clip from a live concert back in the 80's/early 90's where Metallica plays 'Shortest Straw' live and during the intro, Lars clicks with his Hi-Hats between the guitar riffs. There are several videos on YT that you can look for. If you listen to that Hi-Hat click the rhythm to the intro makes a lot more sense. Find it and you will see. You're making it way too complicated in this video.

[@jeffb407]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3rZkpuJf6x4j7M

[@malcolmkyeremeh5444]

Agreed lmao, and it really didnt sound that weird in the first place anyways

[@MrBryanGatwood]

Love these Metallica videos! Don't know if it is worth covering, but I remember that outro on Harvester Of Sorrow giving me some problems.

[@jacklovell6839]

I am glad I was not the only one that was thinking this about shortest straw

[@underscoreisnotvalid]

This is mind boggling. AJFA is my all time favourite album, and I never got that intro either. I always thought the very first note was beat one, but Lars just skewed the timing of the long rests, which was why it didn’t quite fit to 4/4. But the very first note is actually an anacrusis on the ‘a’ BEFORE beat one. Because it is entirely flat in dynamics without the accent on the downbeat, it makes it sound weird. If they had just slightly accented the 2nd note of the song, the rhythm would have made perfect sense!!

[@arthurwood5405]

This intro now sounded confusing to me at all until I heard it with those beats behind it.

[@arhayner9080]

Keep em coming!

[@johnmm777]

Thanks for what you do!

[@johnnathan5894]

God this comment section is full of “wow i cant believe people didnt know this, i must be weird(smart)or something”. I highly doubt most of you knew that the middle note is on the first on beat

[@neuroxik]

One I've always told myself I'd sit down and analyse is Swap Meet by Nirvana (intro). I've always wondered if the riff stays the same and the drum groove throws us off (like Orion), or if Kurt readjusts once the drums kick in. I def' need to resolve that soon, or perhaps you if you need a small challenge!

[@GalaxyDinoPlayzjojobestshowlol]

i play along with it all the time i’m pretty sure the drums just throw you off

[@rockulikahuricane]

No one is gonna mention the Donnie Darko demonic rabbit from the future named "Frank" sticker on his guitar? Really I can't be the only one??!!

[@aaronsilver1975]

rockulikahuricane yeah....what about it..

[@keef71]

to me the riff was just the riff - lars punctuated the riff until it got to the point where the song (and everyone else) kicks in, then you have the beat, timing etc. the riff isn't exactly 'free form' but it is just what it is - it doesn't necessarily have to fit the overall beat/tempo. fair play for looking at it this way, but the analysis introduced confusion in me where previously there wasn't any!

[@ryanvergara3603]

Oh now I get it. Daaamnn!!! Thanks alot!!! This is a great video.

[@wasitthat]

That gate is killing me bro.

[@starkiller34]

I figured it out sort of the same way, although i more or less stumbled upon it. our drummer was having issues, so I told him to pretend all the hits were snares, and just mimed it out by clapping the snares. Lo and behold it ended up clicking for everyone. Ironically, they dont play the intro live because of Lars.

[@geaux13saints56]

It finally makes sense

[@hawk8403]

I was grooving to the intro the first time ever or the song. No question as to where the groove was.

[@johnnathan5894]

You really knew the onbeat is on the middle note?

[@adammm142]

This intro is like string theory. If it doesn't confuse you, then you don't know it as well as you think.

[@maxdurk4624]

Holy crap, I never thought this was in 4/4.

[@Bless-the-Name]

The only criticism I have is ... Every time you played that riff ... I was getting into it and wanted to hear you play through. Now I'll have to find the Metallica video to appease my OCD.

[@drinkspecials]

That's a badass sound bro

[@RodneyWallaceDynamoC]

Really cool video thanks for sharing. Is you Jackson from the 90's? Looks really cool

[@danav3387]

Many songs have a choppy portion that smoothes out to a rhythmic chorus. One that pops out to me is the offspring and the song self esteem.

[@MrReplica77]

The previous band I played bass for,we covered that tune, Escape & Damage inc. all fun but challenging songs to play. Not challenging in a dream theater way lol. But the work was cut out lol. Love your channel. If anything I wanna request is maybe do a video dedicated to Chuck Schuldiner’s playing & his music with Death & Control denied. And maybe Testament, explorer Alex and Eric’s guitar work. Hope all is well.

[@YavuzErol]

Sometimes, not counting and letting feel do the job is the best

[@VS0097]

I didn't figure this intro out until I watched the video of Lars failing to play it for guitar hero and in that video he counted it out and I was like OH

[@asymptoticspatula]

That’s really neat!

[@RyderHaas]

Suicide and redemption has a similar intro

[@_nurmi06]

But there the rhythm is way simpler