Callum Ashgrove 
Protecting your hearing at concerts comes down to three things: wear earplugs that actually seal, put real distance between you and the speaker stack, and take quiet breaks on a schedule rather than when your ears force you. Get those right and you can stand in the pit all night and still hear everything the … Read more
If you play most days, plan on fresh strings every three to six months. If you pick up the guitar on Sunday afternoons, four to eight months is realistic, and a touring musician can burn through a set in a couple of weeks. How often should you change guitar strings? The honest answer is that … Read more
Pick a double-cutaway solid-body electric with humbucker pickups, a thin fast neck, 24 jumbo frets, and a fixed or locking bridge, then set aside amplifier money in the same budget instead of after it. Comfort and a proper setup decide whether you keep playing. Brand names barely register. That is the whole short answer, and … Read more
If you are wondering why metal guitarists use seven string guitars, the short answer is range. The seventh string adds a full fourth below the standard low E, so you can play low riffs without retuning and without giving up the top of the fretboard. The usual arrangement is a low B next to the … Read more
Learning how to palm mute like a thrash guitarist comes down to one thing: rest the fleshy edge of your picking hand on the strings just behind the bridge saddles, keep the pressure light enough that the note still speaks, and drive the part with relaxed downstrokes from the wrist rather than the fingers. Get … Read more
Thrash metal started in the United States between 1981 and 1983, when players welded the fast, precise guitar work of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and early speed metal onto the relentless drum pattern of hardcore punk. It grew out of the San Francisco Bay Area and the East Coast, peaked commercially between … Read more
What to wear to a metal concert comes down to four things: a dark band tee, dark jeans or similar bottoms, boots you have already broken in, and a layer you can take off when the room heats up. Add a belt, zip your phone into a closed pocket, and you are dressed for the … Read more
To headbang without neck pain, drive the movement from your whole body rather than your neck alone, keep the bend of your neck under about 75 degrees, flatten the angle as the tempo rises, and spend four weeks building neck strength before you go hard. Warm up first, work in short bursts, and stop the … Read more
The fastest way to get into heavy metal for beginners is to pick one subgenre that matches music you already enjoy, queue three albums, and give each one three full listens before you decide anything. That plan takes about an hour a week, costs nothing to try, and requires zero musical background. It also skips … Read more
A guitar solo fits a song when every note belongs to the song’s own harmony and every phrase sits in the right part of the arrangement. To learn how to play a guitar solo that fits the song, map the chords, land a chord tone on each change, borrow the vocal’s rhythm and shape, then … Read more