The Metal Sessions - Lessons - Table of Contents
When reading a lesson, please do not try to rush through it, and attempt to absorb the whole site in a matter of days. It will take a while, but remain patient as it will help your musical growth. We will continue to keep adding more and more free metal lessons as the site grows and develops. We rely on your feedback to grow in the right direction. If you have any requests, ideas for lessons, or comments/problems, please email me at questions@themetalsessions.com
Click on a link below to quick jump to the section.
| Guitar | Vocals | Theory | Metal Synthesis |
Complete beginners (Read: Never played before, or played very little) should read these lessons in order, as they have been placed from simplest to most difficult, and some lessons use techniques and skills used in previous lessons. Be patient, and practice slowly, the speed will come on its own.
BEGINNER
Basics: The Left and Right Hands
Hammer Ons, Pull Offs, and Trills
How to Efficiently Practice Guitar Pt. I
How to Efficiently Practice Guitar Pt. II
Intermediate
Chords Pt. II - Barre Chords
Harmonics: Artificial and Pinched
Developing your Vibrato
Advanced
Sweep Picking Pt. I - NEW!
Sweep Picking Pt. II - NEW!
String Skipping
Alternate Picking Pt. II: Melodic Death Metal
The vocals we will cover here are growls, screams, shrieks, and rasps. We will not be teaching clean singing. Practice these at your own risk, and make sure to properly rest. Though it is strongly recommended to figure these out on your own, these articles can be used as a stepping stone to begin learning.
An Introduction to Metal Vocals
How to do Rasps
How to perform Shrieks
These articles were written by Reggie Young. We have placed them in the order we think will make it easiest to understand, and at the end of each article there will be a short summary that will help make clear what you should memorize. Should you have any questions, email us at rcyoung3@wisc.edu
An Introduction to Music Theory
Diatonic Minor Chords and Arpeggios
Variations on the Minor Scale (Harmonic and Melodic)
Harmonic Minor Chord Construction
This section is exactly as described; A place where you can learn to create music, or more specifically, metal. Here we will go over the basics for various subgenres, and provide some research and material to inspire your music.
How to Write Death Metal: The Basics
Change and Growth in your Music
Inspirational Folklore: Norse Mythology
Inspirational Folklore: Egyptian Mythology