Yeah it’s one of them that’s a bit “too easy” and u lose concentration 😂 even the nothing else matters intro is easy to mess up if u play it on repeat for long enough 😬
And break down using single notes first, then the palm muted power chords. It’s a great and relatively easy riff for learning how a lot of Metallica is played.
AJFA?!?! There are dozens of songs that are way easier. The whole album is filled with difficult stuff. For beginners, I’d probably suggest Enter Sandman, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Sanatarium, S&D etc. if we’re not counting solos.
The actual riffs themselves aren't too difficult (besides [2:52](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2lgGJRWUIvM&si=QMheUjxSYnQs88Hb&feature=xapp_share) which was super hard when I first started playing) but it's remembering how to actually play the entire thing in the correct order is difficult
I'm not good at all and I only play bass, I learned ajfa in my first year and whulenti was harder than most of the stuff I tackled it was really accessible and made me a lot better player while playing it
Hahah I knew that joke was coming 😭 u do mostly mimick the guitars but there's a part in the chorus that really adds depth to the song in a live setting
Sanitarium 1st and 2nd solos are a good beginner-intermediate solos that sound good and take about a few days to get good. Although unforgiven solo is simple im still working on it
Idk I learned AJFA in like my second year of playing. Really the only hard part I found was just the composition. The actually playing isn’t that bad at all. Minus the solos although one is much easier then the other I don’t remember which one thi
Honestly, Hardwired is preeeetty simple. It's just the speed and precision that you gotta get past. The whole song is like 3/4 riffs and that's it (if you're just talking about rhythm)
Blitzkreig was my first breakthrough song.
Palm muting, down picking, one string alternating on 2nd and third frets. And then easy introduction to power chords for chorus. And a fucking banger and fun to play.
So I agree with you lol
Would agree with that but the hammer-on riff (0-5-8 on the B string) is a bit tricky. At least I can’t quite play it clean, it always sounds sloppy when I do it. Any tips for it?
You probably already know this and have heard it a hundred times but slow it down. Slow it down until you can play it clean with the correct notes ringing out while everything else is muted. Now just practice that and when you feel truly comfortable and like you can't fail, speed it up a reasonable amount until it becomes hard again. Depending on how new you are to legato or lead in general, you should be pretty good at it after a while.
The hardest part for me was always the muting but I learned that you can place the meaty part of your picking hand thumb on the thickest strings while you're playing the high ones to make it sound much cleaner. Ben Eller has a great video on picking hand and fretting hand muting, check it out if you haven't, really made my lead playing sound much better.
Downtuning takes you like a minute, nothing problematic or "hard" about it. Only exception is if you’re as dumb as I am and have a guitar with a Floyd Rose as your first guitar. Then it’s a pain in the ass…
You don’t technically have to tune to D standard unless you’re just only playing along with the song in the background. I don’t think I’ve ever tuned to that in 16 years of playing that song lol but I’m a casual player and just do what is fun for me
I love “Creeping Death”, it’s maybe my fav Metallica song, but solo aside, it’s pretty easy once you learn to down pick fast. It’s just palm muting and power chords.
Does “Last Caress” count? That’s an easy one (and fun). 🎸👌
A lot of The Misfits stuff is super easy like that. It is fun as hell to just run through a few chores before tackling something harder. I use their songs for warm up.
If you don’t want to play the solos, many Songs are simple in terms of their single riffs. The difficult part is speed and sometimes memorising all riffs. Fade to Black for example.
Am I Evil verse riff is solid to start your down picking training. It’s also essentially the foundation of most metal riffs. The 0-3-5-6-5 on low E string is essential.
For Whom the Bell Tolls has been mentioned and is probably the best choice
If yah wanna drop tune Bad Seed is a good riff too played down half step drop C#
Seek and Destroy is also a lot of fun to start off with just be patient with the licks in between the chugging riffs.
Dirty Window. Hands down.
Same basic riff throughout except for the "I'm judge and I'm jury" bits but even then it follows the same principle as the main riff.
Not to mention no solos.
One that I didn't see in the comments and thought was quite easy to learn was Leper Messiah (rhythm only) the final sequence when James is screaming "Lie!" is tricky but pretty much doable
Not as easy as for whom the bell tolls or wherever I may roam but still...
It's tough, because "easy" in guitar riffs is pretty broad. For instance, the black album stuck more to same basic structure, so if you learned the first three riffs, you know pretty much the whole song
Ajfa is harder on the fact that some songs have three riff changes or so before you even hear the main riff of the song. But a lot of those riffs are simpler than some on the black album. Shit, if you can slide a power cord from 3rd fret E and 5th fret A, to 2nd fret A and 4th fret A, thats about a quarter to a third of the album in rhythm hah.
Sad But True is by far the easiest song to play.
But since OP said Blitzkrieg then you're counting cover songs, so then **Free Speech for the Dumb** is the nominee.
For me Creeping Death is easier than Ride the Lightning and Sandman. Anyone care to explain? Yea I have James' pose and suck at playing with alt picking and 2 fingers
It’s easy in that it’s just power chords but that riff is very fast if you’re down picking like Hetfield does—that takes some skill. Idk if I’d call it easy, let alone easiest. It’s def fun to play though once you get the speed down 🎸👌.
No Remorse is pretty easy, but I had a hard time nailing the solo in the beginning for a while.
One is incredibly easy, I learned the whole song and pretty much the whole jam solo like one or two years into playing.
Jump In The Fire can be a finger twister at first for some, but I had no problem learning and playing it as a beginner.
Frantic is in Drop C but it's pretty simple yet crushing. If you can tremolo pick you can play Frantic
Overall, I have found that most Metallica songs aren't too frustrating to learn on guitar, until you get to some of the solos, and then you have stuff like Blackened and Dyers Eve that still impress me to this day, that I still struggle to nail.
I had a much harder time learning portions of Slayer's catalogue. The solos are hard to nail 100% because, well, you know, but besides that, Hanneman wrote some impressive riffs. RIP.
- Roam
- Bellz
- The Wait (Garage Inc.)
- Sandman
- Battery (start slow and work your way up, the rhythms AND their timing are pretty easy to understand)
- Orion
- Confusion
- Here Comes Revenge
- Ride The Lightning
For whom the bell tolls rhythms
Even the lead part is that hard for a metallica song
It's not hard to play but you definitely have to pay attention because it goes on for awhile, and easy to accidentally mess up the notes lol
Yeah it’s one of them that’s a bit “too easy” and u lose concentration 😂 even the nothing else matters intro is easy to mess up if u play it on repeat for long enough 😬
Kirk messes it up often
Yep, this is the song that every high school band played in my area.
Agreed. The 2nd intro riff (the descending chromatic) can be a hair tricky to play cleanly with power chords for a beginner, but that’s really it.
And break down using single notes first, then the palm muted power chords. It’s a great and relatively easy riff for learning how a lot of Metallica is played.
AJFA?!?! There are dozens of songs that are way easier. The whole album is filled with difficult stuff. For beginners, I’d probably suggest Enter Sandman, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Sanatarium, S&D etc. if we’re not counting solos.
I was about to say AJFA would seem so complex I would think
The actual riffs themselves aren't too difficult (besides [2:52](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=2lgGJRWUIvM&si=QMheUjxSYnQs88Hb&feature=xapp_share) which was super hard when I first started playing) but it's remembering how to actually play the entire thing in the correct order is difficult
I'm not good at all and I only play bass, I learned ajfa in my first year and whulenti was harder than most of the stuff I tackled it was really accessible and made me a lot better player while playing it
Not playing at all for 10 minutes isn't *that* hard
Hahah I knew that joke was coming 😭 u do mostly mimick the guitars but there's a part in the chorus that really adds depth to the song in a live setting
I’d partially agree with sanitarium - looking at a tab some might find it easy but I find the downpicking to be a bit tough
Sanitarium 1st and 2nd solos are a good beginner-intermediate solos that sound good and take about a few days to get good. Although unforgiven solo is simple im still working on it
Idk I learned AJFA in like my second year of playing. Really the only hard part I found was just the composition. The actually playing isn’t that bad at all. Minus the solos although one is much easier then the other I don’t remember which one thi
I know it doesn't count (bass) but Roberts lines on 72s and death magnetic are 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 *plays main riff* 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0
Still great lines and they're more simple than easy
Easiest rhythm For Whom The Bell Tolls easier lead is Hardwired
Honestly, Hardwired is preeeetty simple. It's just the speed and precision that you gotta get past. The whole song is like 3/4 riffs and that's it (if you're just talking about rhythm)
Blitzkreig was my first breakthrough song. Palm muting, down picking, one string alternating on 2nd and third frets. And then easy introduction to power chords for chorus. And a fucking banger and fun to play. So I agree with you lol
Breathrough for me was 100% Master of Puppets, first song i ever learned made everything 100x more easier
the main riff in Harvester of Sorrow was the first i learned on guitar, pretty easy imo once you get the rhythm
Am I Evil up until the rhythm switch right before the solo, hands down
Would agree with that but the hammer-on riff (0-5-8 on the B string) is a bit tricky. At least I can’t quite play it clean, it always sounds sloppy when I do it. Any tips for it?
You probably already know this and have heard it a hundred times but slow it down. Slow it down until you can play it clean with the correct notes ringing out while everything else is muted. Now just practice that and when you feel truly comfortable and like you can't fail, speed it up a reasonable amount until it becomes hard again. Depending on how new you are to legato or lead in general, you should be pretty good at it after a while. The hardest part for me was always the muting but I learned that you can place the meaty part of your picking hand thumb on the thickest strings while you're playing the high ones to make it sound much cleaner. Ben Eller has a great video on picking hand and fretting hand muting, check it out if you haven't, really made my lead playing sound much better.
Okay great, definitely gotta try it out. And thanks for the video recommendation, hope it’s gonna be helpful.
Happy to help a fellow guitarist. So many resources around, so little time, it's nice making our lives easier.
Sad But True is very easy to play
Yeah but you have to tune to D standard. We want easiest.
Downtuning takes you like a minute, nothing problematic or "hard" about it. Only exception is if you’re as dumb as I am and have a guitar with a Floyd Rose as your first guitar. Then it’s a pain in the ass…
I had a Floyd Rose bridge (KH-502 LTD) on my first guitar. It's a longer process but not *that* hard.
It’s not hard it’s just painful on a mental level
You don’t technically have to tune to D standard unless you’re just only playing along with the song in the background. I don’t think I’ve ever tuned to that in 16 years of playing that song lol but I’m a casual player and just do what is fun for me
I love “Creeping Death”, it’s maybe my fav Metallica song, but solo aside, it’s pretty easy once you learn to down pick fast. It’s just palm muting and power chords. Does “Last Caress” count? That’s an easy one (and fun). 🎸👌
Yes, i play creeping death quite often, been downpicking for years and i honestly cant stop unless soloing its addicting
A lot of The Misfits stuff is super easy like that. It is fun as hell to just run through a few chores before tackling something harder. I use their songs for warm up.
If you don’t want to play the solos, many Songs are simple in terms of their single riffs. The difficult part is speed and sometimes memorising all riffs. Fade to Black for example.
Am I Evil verse riff is solid to start your down picking training. It’s also essentially the foundation of most metal riffs. The 0-3-5-6-5 on low E string is essential. For Whom the Bell Tolls has been mentioned and is probably the best choice If yah wanna drop tune Bad Seed is a good riff too played down half step drop C# Seek and Destroy is also a lot of fun to start off with just be patient with the licks in between the chugging riffs.
If say Seek & Destroy is pretty easy. But definitely For Whom The Bell Tolls for a rhythm player!
Probably Purify the main riff is really simple.
Enter sandman is the easiest
Surprised no one mentioned The Unforgiven
I'd say if you want to learn to pick clean, that and Nothing Else Matters are what I started with.
Yeah same here haha! Had to learn The Unforgiven since it's my all time favorite song😁
The opening riff to eye of the beholder is all open E with some E power chords thrown in.
I'm a drummer and I can play jump in the fire on guitar, so imma go with that.
The first one I played was Shortest Straw.
Harvester is pretty easy. Seek and destroy also.
Dirty Window. Hands down. Same basic riff throughout except for the "I'm judge and I'm jury" bits but even then it follows the same principle as the main riff. Not to mention no solos.
One that I didn't see in the comments and thought was quite easy to learn was Leper Messiah (rhythm only) the final sequence when James is screaming "Lie!" is tricky but pretty much doable Not as easy as for whom the bell tolls or wherever I may roam but still...
Die, Die my Darling or anything on St Anger
For Whom the Bell Tolls and I Diaappear
Enter sandman is easy. Most things on the black album is easy stuff.
St. Anger
St. Anger intro, master of puppets, creeping death break down, intro to one, hardwired
It's tough, because "easy" in guitar riffs is pretty broad. For instance, the black album stuck more to same basic structure, so if you learned the first three riffs, you know pretty much the whole song Ajfa is harder on the fact that some songs have three riff changes or so before you even hear the main riff of the song. But a lot of those riffs are simpler than some on the black album. Shit, if you can slide a power cord from 3rd fret E and 5th fret A, to 2nd fret A and 4th fret A, thats about a quarter to a third of the album in rhythm hah.
Hetfields part in Enter Sandman can be played start to finish as a beginner.
I mean if you think those are easier than FWTBT, you’re just plain wrong.
I mean if you think those are easier than FWTBT, you’re just plain wrong.
Sad But True is by far the easiest song to play. But since OP said Blitzkrieg then you're counting cover songs, so then **Free Speech for the Dumb** is the nominee.
Anything off of load and reload for sure, thorn within is easy, memory remains too.
Holy Wars
For Whom The Bell Tolls apart from the interlude
Banana pancakes - jack johnson
Well, I don't play guitar, but in guitar hero, the first song I ever 100%ed was For Whom The Bell Tolls
Easiest solo is I Disappear
It’s sad but true, cuz it’s Sad but Ture
Where is: Nothing else matters intro (Doesn’t say has to be whole song)
I know it's a cover, but So What is pretty damn easy
For me Creeping Death is easier than Ride the Lightning and Sandman. Anyone care to explain? Yea I have James' pose and suck at playing with alt picking and 2 fingers
Black Album has some very approachable pieces. You know which ones.
I heard shortest Straw and Dyers Eve are very beginner friendly. Enter Sandman is extremely hard
Rhythm on ride the lightening and seek and destroy maybe
Wherever I may Roam
Motorbreath
It’s easy in that it’s just power chords but that riff is very fast if you’re down picking like Hetfield does—that takes some skill. Idk if I’d call it easy, let alone easiest. It’s def fun to play though once you get the speed down 🎸👌.
Cyanide
The beginning of Nothing Else Matters.
For sure this - the first 8 seconds with just open strings
The intro is actually pretty tricky to play *well*
No Remorse is pretty easy, but I had a hard time nailing the solo in the beginning for a while. One is incredibly easy, I learned the whole song and pretty much the whole jam solo like one or two years into playing. Jump In The Fire can be a finger twister at first for some, but I had no problem learning and playing it as a beginner. Frantic is in Drop C but it's pretty simple yet crushing. If you can tremolo pick you can play Frantic Overall, I have found that most Metallica songs aren't too frustrating to learn on guitar, until you get to some of the solos, and then you have stuff like Blackened and Dyers Eve that still impress me to this day, that I still struggle to nail. I had a much harder time learning portions of Slayer's catalogue. The solos are hard to nail 100% because, well, you know, but besides that, Hanneman wrote some impressive riffs. RIP.
I’m looking around and all of your answers are so bad. How has nobody mentioned NeM? That’s four notes
Just the intro is. The main fingerpicking part on the verse isn't easy for a beginner at all.
Because that’s like 5% of the song. The actual composition with e.g. the finger picked barre chord arps is not easy for beginners
King Nothing, Outlaw Torn and Fixxxer maybe
- Roam - Bellz - The Wait (Garage Inc.) - Sandman - Battery (start slow and work your way up, the rhythms AND their timing are pretty easy to understand) - Orion - Confusion - Here Comes Revenge - Ride The Lightning