The RIDE THE LIGHTNING TAB BOOK Messed With My Head!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

One missed detail: On the repeating lick in Bells, Kirk plays the E note on the D string (14th fret) and not the G string (9th fret). Thanks to mattorourke83 for catching that.

[@JPBrooksLive]

I came here to say that! I spent SO much time watching live to figure that out. Had a bass player friend try to get me to play it IN OPEN POSITION. lol

[@工藤隆一-t8e]

Funny thing I noticed about ride the lightning Intro, James changed how he plays it. He used to start around 12th fret then move to mid neck then move up again. By lat 80s I think he starts staying around 12th fret.

[@rockapartie]

7:15 that's the first riff I played with spider chords, because playing it the "normal" way is just insane.

[@eddominates]

SO. MUCH. VALIDATION. I gave up on a lot of these songs when I was first learning, because "they're official tab books," no way they were WRONG, I just figured I'd never be good enough to play it properly. I love this series because I always had that little voice in my head saying "maybe they ARE wrong"

[@stolenlaptop]

I gave up on some of these songs too. Be damned if I didn't learn crazy train wrong tho... These guys messed up a ton of youth.

[@TallicaMan1986]

I actually straight up quit tabs for a long time because of these books and just learned by ear instead and occasionally going to tabs.

[@drfishhead3333]

@@stolenlaptop Been cheated of my youth, you turned this tab to truth!

[@guitarfan84]

agreed

[@n3rdg4m3r]

Totally!! I would have been a better guitarist by just using my ear instead of trusting a book that steered me wrong. After 25 years of playing guitar I strongly feel these books have left me astray. I don't know why I got hooked on believing that because they are "official" that I would be good to go.

[@phantomjoad3376]

I had all these Metallica books. Never could figure out why "The Shortest Straw" always sounded wrong. Thanks to these vids, I now know why lol.

[@eternal_sl4ughter]

i mean...at least they look cool in the book shelf 🤘🏽

[@floydargue]

The Justice book made me think I was simply unable to play Blackened. Some of the worst tabbing I have ever seen, in retrospect. Check out the first riff, especially the bridge of that same riff...it is so insanely wrong. hahaha.

[@Jayteaseepiirturi]

Hah. What really unlocked Straw for me was hearing a live version. I was like, wait, why are you counting it in like that... and then it hit me.

[@ultrahighgain412]

The Justice tab book is probably the worst.

[@BlakeSpohn]

A new BAD TAB, LETS GOOOOO

[@milesteg8183]

All my homies love BT ❤

[@somebodyandthem]

THIS IS A MOTHER FUCKIN INVITATION

[@JDUBB2399]

It's definitely the best guitar series on KZbin.

[@leland4207]

what i’m sayin🗣️🗣️

[@bubbaeisen]

This book was such a mess. Walking through it with my guitar teacher In high-school, he definitely earned his paycheck. He noticed almost everything you did in this video too. This was nostalgic as hell. Thanks man!

[@blakeseymour5]

Carl Culpepper was actually one of my instructors at Atlanta Institute of Music and was a great guy and an amazing guitarist in his own right. I recall him telling us about this particular transcribing job, as it was not a pleasant experience for him whatsoever. Not only was he on a severe time crunch from the publisher, but also had a lot of difficulties with them in the actual publication, as you alluded to. With the level of respect I have for Carl, I appreciate you not coming down on him too hard on him in this video.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

I have a ton of respect for anyone who had to transcribe these back in the day. I'd love to have him on a podcast someday.

[@joshuawilkinson4524]

Dude I literally just made the same comment. I went back in 09 when did you go?

[@blakeseymour5]

@@joshuawilkinson4524 Went there and graduated 2014.

[@joshuawilkinson4524]

@@blakeseymour5 that’s rad I went for guitar in 09’

[@timraulerson6793]

06' here, I brought this book in one day and asked Carl about it.

[@evanelliott8231]

I appreciate how kind you were being to the author of tab book. The poor dude was out there in the wild making tabs before the web.

[@joshuawilkinson4524]

Dude! I just watched this video today and it blew my mind that Carl Culpepper made this tab book! He was one of my guitar teachers at Atlanta Institute of Music! He used to tell us stories about how he and his roommates would be up all night trying to figure this stuff out back in the day. Thanks for the great video and memory rehash!

[@squishy312]

These are a huge part of the reason why I was frustrated trying to learn guitar in the early-mid 90's. I had all of these books/tabs and it was all so impossible!

[@jayemm4]

This has been one of my favorite series on any guitar channel for a while. I think is resonates because ALL of us have been there, following some garbage tab and thinking “this doesn’t sound right at all.”

[@redrobinand3]

These tab books haunt us so we're forever seeking validation from someone who has transcribed these riffs meticulously.

[@mikekelly1771]

Those major chords in Fade to Black had me giggling. That's just criminal.

[@tippiergnome8471]

Fade to black, but prog

[@catalinm756]

The tapped harmonics for fade to black are supposed to be the harpsichord from the mix.

[@pietroborgesparri]

9:40 Bro just played Fade to White

[@yesseru]

Swelling to White

[@eamonahern7495]

I borrowed that book from one of my brother's friends in the 1990s and he never asked for it back. I still have it. I could play all James' parts in Fade To Black and some of Kirk's parts because of it. I didn't learn every song but it was part of my guitar learning process back then. When I took up playing guitar again in the past couple of years (after 12½ years of not even owning a guitar) I pulled out that book from the bottom drawer to remember how to play the acoustic part of fade to black, which I could play and sing along to with my eyes closed back in the day. I use the semi-quaver lick in the intro solo as a warm up exercise as part of my warm up and warm down routine when I get my Jackson Randy Rhoads out to play. The Call of Ktulu is another one I like playing the rhythm guitar to. That song also helped me with learning the verse/chorus section of Hangar 18 by Megadeth, which I have tabbed in an old guitar magazine from over 20 years ago.

[@Taxable_Trophy]

Just because he didn’t ask it back doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it back, Maybe he was too shy to ask something back from you. It’s your responsibility to return it.

[@drgetwrekt869]

as someone that used tab books back in the days, this series feels so fun and nostalgic. well done dude. I can suggest as a next one, if you have it, the Superunknown tab book. That album has such a variety of original riffs, but the tab transcription had some issues I m sure.

[@AngeloTheGreat1]

I own this book myself, and trying to go through it with my dad brought so much concern that I emailed the art of guitar about this very book! It feels so liberating that my dad and I's confusion trying to go through Creeping Death, Bells, and such is justified. Another mistake I noticed well after fighting with it for so long is that they tabbed out some parts of the bass in Ktulu as guitar fills with no 'bass arr.' notice or even a full solo out of it. Even for bass arrangement, the fills are wrong, with one being going just pulling off to open on 2 and 3 on the D string, which is nothing like any of the bass licks. Even the outro ascension, the clearest part, they didn't mention it was bass!

[@turboturtle01]

My first songbook, and at the same time the first songbook I ever looked into. I still remember that I was completely overwhelmed by the content and thought I would never be able to do anything with it. But I stuck with it and it slowly got better. I still remember all the things mentioned here. Thanks for the video Mike! If only that had existed 33 years ago :)

[@vayne92]

As nice as it is to find a perfect tab, it's very satisfying finding out on your own not just how to play a part easier but also making it sound better

[@finelerv]

Awesome! I just rewatched the Justice video yesterday, coincidentally. That tab was such a big part of my young adult life!

[@mstewart248]

I had this book when I was kid in the 90s. Any time I got to the part with two notes I would try to play them both. This was before the internet really and I thought the book was the authority.

[@Kriegter]

just wanna say those shoes at 0:35 are amazing

[@ItsPizzaTime1501]

If you look at the clip at 7:56 Kirk actually plays it with his index on the 11th fret and he hits the 14th fret on the 4th string instead of the 9th fret on the 3rd like most people tab it out and he downpicks every note. I've only ever seen it tabbed out properly once and I find the way most people do it easier but that's how Kirk seems to play it in every live clip.

[@glenncooper3524]

1:47 the 5 slide down to the 4 on G string. I noticed a couple years ago its a 1/2 step prebend release on the 4th fret. I had some high end earbuds that just really brought it out. Listen closely its definitely the case.

[@alexalbert7529]

Bad tab videos are the best!

[@stuartmcintyre74]

I can't get over the fact that the tab book is still so pristine!

[@ed4008]

Love this series!! I remember when I was in high school I had a ton of these tab books and struggled with so many songs that would’ve been so much easier had I been shown the correct way to play the songs to begin with

[@TheSteFanden]

On tab books in general: A few years back, I was playing The Final Countdown in a cover band. I was going to play the solo and went to the library to find a tab book to play by. After some searching I found one that was literally called "The Final Tab book - The Best of Europe, complete with solos". That's the bunny! I checked that The Final Countdown was in there, checked out and went home. When looking up the solo, to figure out the best way to do the sweeping weedily-weedily-part, i found blank bars, withthe text above: "Solo to be ad libbed". Yes, that's how you tab out a book, complete with solos!

[@TheArtofGuitar]

The worst!

[@stevenaustin4591]

i LOVE that song, probably one of my all time fav solos on that track!

[@shreddinjoe]

The great thing about tab books, we didn't have any other reference points in the 80s and early 90s. I had to follow tab books and compare it to what's on the records to learn anything. So at least the tabs got you close.

[@wyattblackwood3927]

I don't know how many cassette players that I blew the gears out of going back and forth trying to learn guitar parts before tablature came out. I think I just aged myself, Yeah i'm old !!

[@nicolastambuyser3822]

I had this book when I first picked up a guitar in 94 and youre spot on I struggled with some of the same parts because of it

[@RamonK.]

I love these bad tab videos! I grew up with those books and some of them I still own today. Funny how the bad tabs tend to be way more difficult than the correct ones...

[@mikeL65000]

I love it how it just popped up and I'm like...YES!!!!

[@lynchie137]

Love this series. Hopefully next time out you can do one on the tab book for Slayer's Show No Mercy. It's not God awful, but there's a few transcriptions on it that are a bit off and make things a lot harder than what they should be...

[@MisterPatente]

I can't stop watching your videos! Thanks for your work

[@MetallicuddZ]

I'm glad The Call of Ktulu is right. I just dusted this tab book off and I'm giving that track a go Excellent Bad Tabs video as usual! Keep them coming🤘🏾

[@lorenzomartone1476]

I just wanted to say that I find you really likable and incredibly talented on the guitar. Your playing skills are impressive! However, after spending some time watching your videos, I've come to realize that I'm not really learning anything or making progress as a guitarist.I genuinely enjoy your contents, but I was wondering if you could consider creating different types of videos where you explain step by step how to learn famous guitar riffs or solos. I think it would be incredibly valuable to aspiring guitarists like myself who are looking for practical guidance and tangible progress. Keep up the great work, and I hope you'll take my suggestion into consideration. Thanks for your time! Best, Lorenzo

[@nine9whitepony526]

I had those books too when I was a beginner. I more ot less just used em as a guideline to put me on the right track. A lot of times my taking the easy way out when learning this stuff turned out to be the correct way to do it.

[@Manuel-ek2cf]

I like that you reply to comments regardless of how old the video is

[@getsmartozzy]

It would be great if you could interview some of the guys who did any of the books from that time,greetings from Argentina 🇦🇷

[@daygofuego]

love watching these tab vids while i’m eating

[@bradwood6807]

High School talent show memories (nightmares) from this book as well. “Harder than it needs to be” theme is what put me off of these and I suffer(ed) learning as a result in the long run.

[@BL-cc1vm]

Love this tab series brings back some old memories 😁 I had all the older Metallica tab books when I started playing. I never thought I'd be able to learn the solo to the song ride the lightning. Not until I tried Songsterr a few years ago did i finally do it! Highly recommend Songsterr for acurate tabs.

[@sjung66510]

Awesome and totally relatable video. To see day, I still play these songs the way I learned from book, i.e. the RTL intro. Glad to see I'm not alone.

[@jaimeflor4181]

I borrowed some of these Metallica tab books from friends. I didn’t think about it until this vid, but there were definitely some inaccuracies. Even w/ Guitar Magazine tabs, there were some inaccuracies. The random tabs online are oftentimes worse though. So much so, that I’d rather learn a song by ear or watch a live version of it instead.

[@HawkOfGP]

Random tabs online are often worse, but at least you have no expectations since you know that they are made by amateurs and are free! My pet peeve was when people did inaccurate standard tuning transcriptions for songs that are in an alternative tunings.

[@aaronporras2605]

Your videos are so amazing. I've watched every single one of these bad tab videos, they are all super amazing. You know how to explain in detail how it should be, and give examples from your childhood. You are the best guitar youtuber🔥

[@mutti6452]

New day, new Mike video, new BAD TAB VIDEO?! 😍 That's like second Christmas. Thank you so much, kind sir! ❤️

[@jaylee8542]

I think alot of these old metal tab books suffered from the same thing. They were often tabbed by guys who were great but probably didn't have an awareness of the subtle techniques that make metal guitar unique. For example the palm mutes on the E before that dual harmony line.

[@trentdibiasi7976]

i love these bad tabs videos! I've been collecting tab books since i was a kid & yes they did throw me off.

[@Wh33lsofFortune]

You need to get a slayer tab book from back in the day. I'm not sure if you're a huge slayer fan but it would still be great to see.

[@WillWilsonII]

Ha! Love this! I had 2 a Black Sabbath "Anthony" book that had Iron Man a half step higher, at the 3rd fret 5th string (we all know Iommi uses the 6th string anyway)

[@trude1494]

Bro your tone is so gooodd, sounds just like ride the lightning tone

[@Fender178]

Me and my 2 cousins and Played for whom the Bell Tolls and we did pretty good. I played the bass part including the into the only thing that I did differently is that I didn't do it distorted because I didn't have the proper equipment. Man you got hear and see that there was a rush/crunch time in order to meet a deadline and it shows. Anyone who owned this tab book probably realized there was some crunch time job in there with all of the mistakes after seeing unofficial guitar tabs from tab sites back in the day on top of hearing the actual songs and seeing them being performed live.

[@tooofart]

I spent a lot of time trying to learn guitar to this book, and others. I knew nothing back then, but i knew enough to see some parts were just wrong. These videos do provide closure! The E5 and F5 notation was confusing, but to be fair, the cord shapes (and starting fret) were illustrated at the beginning of the tab page.

[@harrisontownsend910]

Will you ever do a Tom Morello artist series? I really want to see your interpretation of his playing style.

[@HannahCope88]

Congrats on 808k Subscribers! 🤘🏻🔥 Another awesome BAD TAB video! It's crazy how different the inaccuracies in the book make it sound when you play it compared to the actual song and how the band plays it. That tapping part in For Whom the Bell Tolls looks and sounds so weird haha.

[@b.cguitarcovers2347]

Hey man hope you see this comment...the song 72 seasons ,the breakdown is in G# , whe they play it live Kirk frets G# , but James plays an open A , and plays just that section differently , but goes back to playing the remaining song normally......wondering your thoughts and maybe interested in why that is , maybe u could make a video , im guessing it's a drop pedal

[@ZTPGA]

These are hilarious. But it also shows the struggle of learning the guitar. When I was learning,I had a tab book that I know now was awful and tried to get you to do some stuff that was impossible. As someone who was learning, it was demoralizing to have to go “welp I don’t think I’ll ever be able to learn these kickass songs”. It actually made me quit for a while but thankfully I picked it back up. I am so happy that we can now just look on KZbin for another way of playing something 😂😂. Great job of making light of a bad situation.

[@selfhelp9685]

I always just thought of tab books as a guide.(some are flat out horrible). A decent tab books imperfections helped me with ear training to figure out the rest.

[@lonniusmaximus3836]

I own this book and watching your video helped me realize why I stopped using the book! I just thought I was a lazy guitarist (I mean, I am, but not because I wouldn’t try to follow this book!)

[@mattorourke83]

In Bells, Kirk actaully plays that repeating lead riff before the verses like : 12 on the G, 14 on the D, 11 on the G, 12 on the D, 14 on the D, then 11 on the G. If that makes any sense. You can see him playing it in the video you sliced in. Check out his hand position.

[@TheArtofGuitar]

I knew it had to be one or the other but def not what’s in the book. Good call. I had trouble seeing exactly where he was on the neck from the vid clips.

[@orishem8392]

Always fun to come back to one of if not THE best metal album of all time! Thanks for the video I love hearing these riffs and getting down to the details :)

[@JacobNNorton1982]

I love Ben Eller. I’ve known him since we were kids! I’m so proud of him and now I know he’s famous since you’re mentioning him lol! Also y’all have the same shirt.

[@SPONGEY-cg5jf]

these bad tab videos make my day keep up the good work Mike !!!

[@noisyfailed]

that tone is perfect

[@skarmanriffs]

Your tone is amazing

[@KamekoTsuruga]

im not really a metallica fan, but this is one of my top5 albums for sure.

[@JJS138]

Your guitar tone is near perfect RTL Metallica! What is the set up on the rig?? .

[@powerslave6944]

I have all those Metallica tab books and I used to think they were absolutely correct 100% no wonder I found it quite hard to learn Metallica but you’ve done an awesome job pointing out the errors of these tab books.

[@COU51N.Kyle.]

This was my first tab book. RIP

[@JBrooksNYS]

Man you save everything. Im the same age as you and I had a lot of these books. No clue where they ever went. I remember the Korn - Life is Peachy book had A LOT of mistakes.

[@jeremierussom2231]

carl did his best, back then we had to listen to the recordings then imitate it.

[@anthonyw5261]

Bringing back old nightmares 😂👏👏 love the snarling Jaymz😁

[@trashklown]

I actually have this book on my shelf right now. Looks cool and all, and some of the songs are decent but yeesh… I’ll definitely just keep it for the aesthetics

[@MrChopsticktech]

Those harmonised twin leads are usually written in most tab books. I know l have seen them in Iron Maiden and Thin Lizzy books too.

[@orlowski2018]

I love the bad tab series!!

[@retronemesis7064]

The bridge in the title track is the best couple minutes of the band period

[@nikainthejaro]

the major chords in fade to black are actually correct! i never play them when i play the song, because i kinda overheard them until now, but as you played the riff i knew that it wasn‘t off. take a listen to the song again, i swear i can hear the major chords!

[@awesometownmatt9349]

I got a Whitesnake tab book when I was a kid and tried learning “Here I Go Again” After about 10 minutes I realized something wasn’t adding up as it didn’t sound anywhere close to the record. From that moment on, everything I learned was by ear. I look at it as a good thing because it forced me to work things out for myself.

[@bryanfowler5449]

Man, these are the absolute best.

[@joeaxe]

I have a Defender and a Robotron next to me too... but the whole machines.

[@ZeesNature]

7:12 that part of for whom the bell tolls sounds even better on the SM album with strings. Such a good, heavy riff.

[@prisonpov]

I learned all the slow lead work from Fade to Black from this book I think they got it mostly right

[@pcbullets8726]

These are definitely my favorite videos that you do! Bad tab has stung me a few times hahaha!

[@BLUECIFER]

yea i had this book and the kill em all one, they were full of weird/wrong notations. i remember being very frustrated!

[@scabo33]

Can you do a video on how to get that Metallica tone you have?

[@SviatoslavKaverin]

Along with my laziness, these tab books had demotivated me from trying to reach an advanced level of playing. Many parts occurred to be mind blowing and finger breaking -- in the tabs. So I surrendered and switched to playing the old-school post-punk with gothic vibes.

[@switch1e]

Dude, this is so funny. A few months ago my guitar teacher and I decided to learn Ride the Lightning's title track and he sent me a photocopy of the tab from this book. There were a few inconsistencies/weird tabs that I pointed out to him that didn't match up with other sources I saw online and he was *so* stubborn about it. He kept telling me that these tab books are "official transcriptions" so they're always correct and the "online sources" were from people who didn't know anything. Awesome video though, I was looking forward to this one because of my own experience with it, haha

[@lslslsfrfr]

OMG man thanks for these series. I was buying these "opissial" books late 90s / early 2000s before I had internet. I thought I sucked at guitar so much I couldn't play ANY of these songs properly

[@nuke97]

DUDE!!! Thank you for doing this!! I bought that same tab book in high School, I was like there are some flaws going on here.

[@bobjoe7508]

There is actually a guitar part in the For Whom the Bell Tolls, but it’s very quiet and only in the studio version.

[@isaytheenay5961]

I usually go to youtube videos to learn songs, nowadays. And those are sometimes played wrong too (usually to cater to newbies like me lol), but I can just keep searching until I find someone that does it right. But back in the day when learning songs on piano, I used to play and rewind cassette tapes to learn songs. Because the music sheets were ALWAYS wrong. And I could never understand why stores would sell books full of wrong notes. Now I understand that people who do this professionally don't want to spend time getting it right. They want to churn out music sheets as fast as possible and get paid. And the company that pays them is usually led by non-musical businessmen who don't know the difference.

[@blasphemor]

I borrowed a friend's tab book for Rust in Peace about 14 years ago, and I was SHOCKED at how bad it was, especially lead-wise. If I still had it I would mail it to you. Luckily even back then I knew it was bunk, but I feel for players who tried to learn with that book because I'm sure it only makes learning Marty parts bewildering.

[@j_freed]

One of the best videos, thanks. 👍

[@misterrelatable3049]

I know everyone be talking about the tabs, but i have to know your settings for that phenomenal tone.

[@adrianximenez7097]

I’m glad to see I wasn’t the only one having those issues with that book. I’m also glad that I was smart enough to go around those errors and still play it *mostly* correct lmao!

[@IvanStoynev]

The Nirvana vide with wrong tabs was mmmmwaaah chef's kiss =] Keep it up. All the best from Bulgaria =]

[@LicksoftheLegend]

I love these videos! I remember even when I was 13 picking up the black album tab book in my local guitar store and thinking this seems off? Haha

[@nunyabusiness6529]

Yessss bad tab is back!!

[@mintwestwood7827]

This series is super entertaining since I never had to deal with these issues 😂