I was surprised to find nothing when I searched black metal in this forum, and I know there has to be some people who are into black metal and play it. So how about some tips? Aside from just listening to black metal bands and being inspired by how they play.

Chords? Tunings? Effects? Equipment? Techniques?

Add anything! I've been trying to play with a drop D tuning, and even with drop d flat (I think flat notes are referred to as half steps.) But I don't think this drop d business is working out so well, it's actually too thick when I go to use the sixth string. So feel free to add all the things you use to create your music.

The thing about black metal is, it's very easy, there is no big magickal secret behind playing it, some of it is almost like punk. If you wanna play some decent black metal, learn to tremolo pick and palm mute, that way you can do sliding tremolos and create a deep, rolling sound. For chords, I have two simple words for you: Power chords. Why? Because they're simple, deep, sound good, and are just good for black metal. The real trick to black metal is creating an atmosphere, with that said, arpegios are your best friend. They create a deep gothic athmosphere, and a medevil sound, if you play some of the deeper ones, that is. So I hope that helps!

Aye, from what I've looked up in tabs it appears that black metal is very simple. Creating an atmosphere, that seems rather obvious but a good pretense to create under. As far as power chords go I've been just messing around with the really unskillful one finger across strings six, five and four, and as I said the drop D and a half sounds too thick, I will have to try and tune the D flat back to E. I think I've been doing tremelo picking, and I've tried a bit of arpeggios. I'll have to go back to the drawing board or rather the fret board and see what comes out.

Edit/Update: I found a technique that is pretty simple and has a neat sound to it. Simply play power chords inverted. So instead of playing fifth string fret 5 and fourth string fret 7, one plays fifth string fret 7 and fourth string fret 5. I found the tip on a differant forum, but I'm not sure how the poster did it, but I just put my fingers over the top of the neck instead of the normal underneath, it seems to work.

Written by Bitter Dawn on 23.10.2006 at 05:01

Edit/Update: I found a technique that is pretty simple and has a neat sound to it. Simply play power chords inverted. So instead of playing fifth string fret 5 and fourth string fret 7, one plays fifth string fret 7 and fourth string fret 5. I found the tip on a differant forum, but I'm not sure how the poster did it, but I just put my fingers over the top of the neck instead of the normal underneath, it seems to work.

blasphemy!!!!
the basic definition of a power chord is 2 notes played at the same time with 7 half steps between them,or i am stupidly wrong
but hey,who am i to stop you? you should try the verse riff to slayer's seasons in the abyss-it's wonderful tremolo picking

I notice that black metal is alot about the drumming...you can play relatively slow with some chords and create a black metal atmosphere. also what I find thats important is that they dont downtune and most stay in standard E. If you know the modes of major scale, the phrygian and locrian scale contain the notes that are usually orchestrated in black metal.

I find that experimenting with various 2/3 three note chords can give you some cool sounds, not only for black metal though. Necrophagist for example uses
1
2
quite a lot. along with the octave pchord
3
x
1
as for BM id agree with scarrow muse
1
3
sounds very bmsih

the
3 4
1 1
combo work very well too

The thing about black metal is you can do it the simple way which consists of tremeloed power chords or you can learn how to sweep and have some seriously wicked solos. Most people say that black metal is simple and it can be but same goes for everything you can have a country band and only play chords or you can bring up your game and throw in some complex riffs with pull-offs and hammer-ons that eventually go into legato. It depends on what level you are as a musician on how you want something to sound. Obviously the more often you play the better your riffs are going to be. So try to use as many techniques as possible to your advantage as long as you know where to draw the line.

Yeah I feel that BM can and really does vary in it's complexity, and it being either simple or very complicated doesn't necassarily predetermine how good it is. Darkthrone is one of my favourite BM bands and look how simple it is, I'm also pretty fond of Dimmu which compared to Darkthrone is fairly complexed.

The idea that it's all about atmosphere seems like a great pretense to go under when not only creating but even listening to the music, at least that's how I am starting to feel.

cursed: One of the first things I learnt (such as that is) on guitar aside from Iron Man, was the high strung riff to Slayer's South Of Heaven, which seems to be a lot like some of Kings other older stuff, ala Seasons In The Abyss. I've kind of tried to incorperate that kind of layout when I play around on my guitar too.

But generally I agree that it would be ideal to learn or at least know some differant chords and techniques so there is more room and oppurtunity for diversity, thus why I've created this thread.

for playing good black metal there's something you have to feel.. Passion.. after that, start to play... black metal can vary a lot even the same band can change.. a good example for this could be Nargaroth (a one-man band) if you listen to "Manchmall wen sie schlaft" (sorry if i misspelled it I cant speak german) is very atmospheric but very heavy as well... and it'a a great song but you can also look for Nargaroth's Black Metal ist krieg or "Erik, May you rape the angels" and those are faster but still Black Metal. BM is most an art thing than a technique contest.. and if you really think that BM is an easy thing to play (good Bm.. anyone can play crappy one) then I want to see you playing a last beat followed by fast "fills" and changes of beat with ridiculously fast double bass drums for a 10 minute song. Good music is not easy. I play drums and flute but my main thing is the singin... I've been in Black Metal bands.. and you realize how good someone needs to be when you share a stage with the band... a real stage.. not a msn space thing.. nor a recording studio where only your band is listening to you...

I have played in a black band and i have mabye some tips for you


1)Be open minded...it is something that black metallers never do
2)Do not play 16th notes at high tempos just to show that you play fast BM
3)If you have studied classical music then why don't use it?
4)Blastbeats must be used...but not neceserilly all the time in a song...
5)Don't pretend to be evil or satanist without beeing it
6)Feel it...

Written by Guest on 24.01.2007 at 16:33

I have played in a black band and i have mabye some tips for you


1)Be open minded...it is something that black metallers never do
2)Do not play 16th notes at high tempos just to show that you play fast BM
3)If you have studied classical music then why don't use it?
4)Blastbeats must be used...but not neceserilly all the time in a song...
5)Don't pretend to be evil or satanist without beeing it
6)Feel it...

Praise Allah to that post. Lol. No, but being serious. I definitly agree with you. I just had this conversation with someone else. It's quite annoying to hear the constant alternate picking and blast beats.

I have to add another one though. Don't use crap recordings...

This is the reason i left the band i played...the rest of the band wanted to
play with the opossite i wrote above and i kinda freaked out...today i went
to their rehersal(we are still friends)and i was dissapointed...just fast black metal with blastbeats and what dissapointed me even more
is the fact that they have becoming NSBM and talking with a style"BM was a music created for Europeans,white race and it is fasist music"

What????????

They are just ignorant.

Most BM bands play in standard E tuning because they are looking for that higher pitched sound. Though, some bands play in D. It's rare that BM bands tune lower than D, unless they are Death/Black hybrids.

That being said, I love playing Dark Fortress on guitar, especially the Tales Of Eternal Dusk album. Also, Catamenia is really fun to play.

My tips for playing good BM

1.- Before writing or try to play anything spend sometime in contact with nature (it really helps me)
2.- Classical and medieval music are your alies, listen to some Wagner and even gregorian chant.
3.- If you don't belive do not write about it, I mean if you are not satanist don't write how cool is de devil or something, simply because you will look like slipknot
4.- Be open minded, it is really importand
5.- Don't take yourself very seriously, look at immortal how big they are and how they make fun of all the BM grimness
6.- Ambient is the key, in my opinion suicidal, raw, and bedroom BM are really crapy (well some raw stuff is really good, ex: Pentagram by Gorgoroth) but blast beat cannot be forgotten

That is all I can think right now, maybe later I will post more

1-buy 1000 guitar picks (I thing pick is more important than guitar itself!) don't worry! you will break them all soon (like me)
2-begin teremelo picking on string 1st-E,then B,then G,D,A and E. when you learn it teremolo them all together
3-when you practiced step two for 20 hour!!! try playing power chord and every notes you like....
4-now that you have learned teremolo picking you have learned playing black metal
5-play every notes you like and don't care about scales and... you learn them all in future

in the beginning you'll suffer the pain of your finger and hands but it will be solved after two or three weeks

1 - Middle guitar registers riffs!
2 - Use moles!
3 - No solos
4 - Tremolo picking, something like MA do
5 - have female member!

Written by Lord Grim on 28.01.2007 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 24.01.2007 at 16:33

I have played in a black band and i have mabye some tips for you


1)Be open minded...it is something that black metallers never do
2)Do not play 16th notes at high tempos just to show that you play fast BM
3)If you have studied classical music then why don't use it?
4)Blastbeats must be used...but not neceserilly all the time in a song...
5)Don't pretend to be evil or satanist without beeing it
6)Feel it...

Praise Allah to that post. Lol. No, but being serious. I definitly agree with you. I just had this conversation with someone else. It's quite annoying to hear the constant alternate picking and blast beats.

I have to add another one though. Don't use crap recordings...

No crap quality? HERESY!

Written by Too many fail. on 23.10.2006 at 19:00

I find that experimenting with various 2/3 three note chords can give you some cool sounds, not only for black metal though. Necrophagist for example uses
1
2
quite a lot. along with the octave pchord
3
x
1
as for BM id agree with scarrow muse
1
3
sounds very bmsih

the
3 4
1 1
combo work very well too

3 4
1 1

yeh thanks,

that is a really awesome combo!

Written by Guest on 10.10.2007 at 13:24

Written by Lord Grim on 28.01.2007 at 17:30

Written by Guest on 24.01.2007 at 16:33

I have played in a black band and i have mabye some tips for you


1)Be open minded...it is something that black metallers never do
2)Do not play 16th notes at high tempos just to show that you play fast BM
3)If you have studied classical music then why don't use it?
4)Blastbeats must be used...but not neceserilly all the time in a song...
5)Don't pretend to be evil or satanist without beeing it
6)Feel it...

Praise Allah to that post. Lol. No, but being serious. I definitly agree with you. I just had this conversation with someone else. It's quite annoying to hear the constant alternate picking and blast beats.

I have to add another one though. Don't use crap recordings...

No crap quality? HERESY!

Haha, that's the way it seems. No, there are a lot of good BM bands that have good quality recordings.

I like to use the tritones a lot (back in the baroque the church would kill you for sounding a chord like that. therefore it must be used!) I also like to augment and diminish chords and do double stops. don't get me wrong, the powerchord is a must, but i tend to use it with an extra pedal tone underneath the root note. I also tend to play around with exotic scales, like hungarian minor(really cool) and gypse scales. i find using a minor scale helps produce a darker atmosphere. Personally, i think keyobards are a must, from creating ambient atmospheres to running through arpeggios. It's kind of a goofy thing we do, but my band writes and rehearses in candlelight. idk, i think it gets use in the mood, and with our vision dimmed we concentrate on the sound more. plus, it's fun. Finally, don't stick with the staples, explore with sounds, all of the blast beats and trem picking has been done for 20 years. throw an clean guitar droneing through the chord progression or something.

Black Metal, as I see it, is more about the atmosphere than about the chords and effects and stuff, it's very simple and this I think is what sets it apart from other types of music that are trying to always do something harder than ever before, Black Metal is not played or written, it is felt in the blood and bones of the writer and listener alike, you can't just sit down and say "let write a BM song", you must write it from the heart, from haterd and pain, from real hard emotion, otherwise itwill not have the atmosphere needed for a good BM song.
If you can't find insperation or real hard emotion to write from just write things from Tolkien's writings, this will do, and read the 101 rules of black metal, this is garenteed to make you laugh your ass off, and then you'll be able to write and compose the song to perfaction

Ha, godamn I forgot I ever made this thread.

Berfones, you're absolutely right!

Written by Bitter Dawn on 22.04.2008 at 10:38

Ha, godamn I forgot I ever made this thread.

Berfones, you're absolutely right!

I'm glad I could help

Written by Valentin B on 23.10.2006 at 16:15

Written by Bitter Dawn on 23.10.2006 at 05:01

Edit/Update: I found a technique that is pretty simple and has a neat sound to it. Simply play power chords inverted. So instead of playing fifth string fret 5 and fourth string fret 7, one plays fifth string fret 7 and fourth string fret 5. I found the tip on a differant forum, but I'm not sure how the poster did it, but I just put my fingers over the top of the neck instead of the normal underneath, it seems to work.

blasphemy!!!!
the basic definition of a power chord is 2 notes played at the same time with 7 half steps between them,or i am stupidly wrong
but hey,who am i to stop you? you should try the verse riff to slayer's seasons in the abyss-it's wonderful tremolo picking

I realize this was writen a really long time ago, but I had to comment. A "power chord" is the tonic note, played with the dominant (or sometimes the fourth), occasionally with the added octave. Your "inverted power chord" is basically playing a tonic with the minor third, creating what is basically a minor triad without the added dominant.

Here are some things that I used when I used to attempt to make Black Metal:
1. Chromatic Riffs - You don't need to play within the key.
2. Tremolo Picking - You don't need it, but it's used quite often.
3. Repititon - You can make a 5- minute song with only two riffs repeated over and over.
4. Minor/ Major Chords - Instead of just using "power chords" play the minor or major third. It gives a cooler cound sometimes (but don't use it too frequently, like throughout an enitre song.)
5. Bad production quality - Up to you really, if you want a more traditional BM sound like Darkthrone, or Immortal I would suggest it, but it's not for everybody.
6. Standard E tuning
7. For get my guiar tone, I use bridge pickups, with high treble ad distortion. Something like that usually sounds good for BM.

I can't really think of any more right now. These are just suggestions, things that I see commonly used.

It's actually funny how this thread has been revived because lately I've been having troubles writing new music again. Being ignorant about guitar technicality doesn't help, but from the tabs I've looked up for a number of bands I enjoy it doesn't seem like most well known BM bands are very complicated at all.

I keep on doing the same sort of rythem over and over on my guitar, the switches are very similar regardless of what frets and strings I play on - it's a bit frustrating, and it doesn't seem to matter whether it's tremelo, strumming or arpeggiated.

I got out of the rut finally, and have been spending alot more time in the studio recording a new track! Ah, it has been relieving to get back in there, I just need to hammer a few things out and then start writing the drum track.

Written by Bitter Dawn on 23.10.2006 at 05:01

I just put my fingers over the top of the neck instead of the normal underneath, it seems to work.

It's much easier to just play them normally. Flipping over the neck only makes it look different.

Written by Hangar XVIII on 07.05.2008 at 15:13

Written by Bitter Dawn on 23.10.2006 at 05:01

I just put my fingers over the top of the neck instead of the normal underneath, it seems to work.

It's much easier to just play them normally. Flipping over the neck only makes it look different.

Yeah I've never actually tried to use this inverted chord idea before while writing or recording a song, and when I have played it I just put my hand around the top of the neck instead of underneath it. It's not really that neat of a sound though..