Learn Sheet Music For Guitar | Haunting Thrash Riffage In A Minor

What's the best way to silence a guitar player? Give them sheet music. Do you wanna be another statistic in that cruel joke? You owe it to yourself to get at least a basic understanding of standard notation because it's the traditional written language of music.

Once you know how to read music, the only person who can take that ability away from you is yourself if you're not consistent with using it.

While it has a strong learning curve, sheet music gives you the best way to interpret music using theoretical analysis in a way that's far superior to chord diagrams and tabs. Plus, it'll give you the power to play music meant for other instruments and give you another way to communicate with other musicians in a band. Today I'll show you a friendly exercise for metalheads to dip their toes in the pond of sight reading. We'll be covering how to read the notes A, B, and C, as well as the rhythms. Then, we'll put all the pieces together in a super fun, thrashy, haunting metal riff.

Notes A, B, and C

All notes depicted will be played on the A string.

A
Simply play the open A string.

On sheet music, this note sits 2 ledger lines below the staff.

B
Place your middle finger on the 2nd fret of the A string.

On sheet music, this note sits just below the first ledger line under the staff.

C
Place your ring finger on 3rd fret of A string.

This note sits on the 1st ledger line below the staff.

Rhythm

4/4 Time Signature
This exercise is in 4/4 time (otherwise known as “common time"). This simply means that there are 4 quarter note beats per measure.

Quarter Notes
There are 4 quarter notes per measure in 4/4 time.

Eighth Notes

• Equal to 1/2 a quarter note
• 2 eighth notes=1 quarter note
• 8 eighth notes fit in one measure in 4/4 time

16th Note Triplets
One 16th note triplet is equal to an eighth note divided into three notes.

Below, you can find a measure of four 16th note triplets with eighth note rests in between them.

Triplets With Ties
The eighth note rests make the music sound too abrupt for what I’m shooting for with the final exercise. Instead of cutting the triplets off with a rest, you can let the third note of each triplet ring out as indicated by a triplet tied to an eighth note. It looks like 4 notes, but you only pick 3 of them since the last note just rings out for the duration of the two notes connected by the tie.

The Haunting Thrash Riff

Try to play it for yourself by sight reading before watching the video and listening to how it's played.

Conclusion

Now you know how to read the notes A, B, and C on the A string using a variety of thrashy rhythms. While this exercise is in the style of metal, your ability to read the notes and play them will carry over to any genre. The only person who can take that away from you is yourself if you don't stay consistent with it. Stick in and you'll be playing Vivaldi violin concertos before you know it!

Watch the full lesson here: Learn Sheet Music For Guitar | Haunting Thrash Riffage In A Minor