Tips for playing metal guitar.?

Question:My taste in metal goes as far as Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, etc (i guess mainstream stuff). I'm not so much into bands that are mathmetical and have a bass drum going 310 bpm unless it flows and and sounds good.

I can play pretty good (just about the entire song of pantera's - revolution is my name and a bunch of riffs by slayer) but i want to extend my technique. I really dig primus and the whole funk/metal.

tips and advice is appreciated

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: My taste in metal goes as far as Slayer, Cannibal Corpse, Sepultura, etc (i guess mainstream stuff). I'm not so much into bands that are mathmetical and have a bass drum going 310 bpm unless it flows and and sounds good.

I can play pretty good (just about the entire song of pantera's - revolution is my name and a bunch of riffs by slayer) but i want to extend my technique. I really dig primus and the whole funk/metal.

tips and advice is appreciated

Well, you extend your technique by studying technique. Go out and get copies of guitar methods books (I would buy them used from a second hand bookstore or ebay). Won't matter which ones, they're all good and if you find you've bought one that's a bit too advanced for you, put it aside and try it again in a few months. Definitely get a copy of Segovia's "Major and Minor Diatonic Scales for the Guitar"--it's mouthwash for your scale fingerings!

The main idea for expanding yourself musically is to let yourself branch out into other genres. That's not to imply that metal is an inferior style--far from it!--but that you can stretch yourself out and inform your playing in metal better if you learn from classical, jazz, folk, prog, etc. And the best technique is the one used by the classical musicians, so go ahead and play scales like Segovia--all of the guitar gods do the same!

Picture a locomotive moving full steam, then try to mimic that sound on your guitar.

It works for me.

learn classical guitar first! it sounds stupid but after i learned some classical songs on guitar i was playing twice as good as i was before!