SAW IZE {¥ OF INSTRUCTIOI HIEVERYONE, Dive Mustaine here. Welcome tomy frs-ever atcempest weting 2 guitar col- ‘uma, Were sbout to embark ‘on a mymterious guitar journey together-—and since Treally don't know what im éoing, it should be an interesting cnet Pyeread other players col lume inthe pact and alwaye hhoped that someday 'd be able ro do something sill Butbelag self-taught. Thad to wonder what {could possibly reach anybody, siace [have no real dea what I'm. doing when it comes to talking about seals and amuse theory. For me, the exiting thing about ‘writing an instructional column. for Guitar Word a that gives me chance totell and, via the CD- ROM video, chow you in great de= tailthe various techniques [use inthe creation and performance of Megadeth’s mus ‘My hands are the most impor- tant pert of my sound and playing style; they make al the differ: ceuce in che world. Ofcourse, ay Dean guitars, Marshall amps and effect pedals ane extreme rm portant to my tone, but because Pan always using cry hands Dean pick up pretty much any guitar higged into any amp and still found like me. My sound is ar. sult of how Tuse the flesh of my pick hand redamp or mute the Strings on one side and the way T frot the strings on the othor side. also do alot of muting with my fret hand, which might come as a suprise te most people, look atthe guitar as being both a percussive and melodie instrument, because it ean be played either way. Sometimes Tifchoke the strings with my frot hand while I'm picking ot Pick-hand anchoring, varying degrees of muting and “cheating” at chords. strumming, which creates low, pitchless and percussive chee sound, The sound is tim lar to that ofa guiro, a ribbed wooden Letin percussion insiru- rent whose surface you scrape with astick, FIGURE! is asimple example that demonstrates what I'm talk- Ing about. all do iestrum the strings while lightly laying my fret-hend fingers ncross ther, ‘without pushing them down againsc the frets Ifyou watch the EUR» footage on the CD-ROM, you'll notice thet Pm muting with more than one finges. Ido chis30 that T don't inadvercently sound hharmenie chimes, something that can happen ifyou usc one finger tomute the strings and touch, ‘them atone of the harmonic node points, suchas directly over the nth, soventh or fifths frets Reep in mind that distortion accent ates harmonies, so this issue becomes mare acute the more sin you dia in. Mind you, there are times whem you may want 19 induce those chiming sounds, but ‘this parteular expe we don't ‘You can bear me play the guitarin this percussive way ‘on“Train of Consequences” (Yoachanasia). Looking back, 1 think 1 got into this techriqueby learning the UEO sang “Mother Mary” (Fore Ir), where isan in- tegralpartof tha main rif. "Muiting withthe picking hand is a major part of my playing syle Palm muting involves pressing the fleshy heel of your ieking hhand’s palm against the sings. ‘The positioning ofthe hand is eritical inorder to mute the ssrings whenever and wherever yrs choose Some players will ltuM WITH DAVE MUSTAINE thee palo erally oat over the strings, but I cheat (and I thinks lot of metal piayersdo the same exact thing: I curl my pinkie around the plastic pickap ring that frames the bridge pickup and lecte heel of my hand roll across the string saddles on the ridge (see PHOTO A). [think Ideveloped thisebiewhen I sarted play- ing guitar I was atempingto perform simple fingerpicking pat tem from Beatles songs with a pick, and I fgured that anchoring: ny pinkie in stationary position would develop muscle memory tad allow meto jursp tothe right string without looking. ime to apply varying layers or de- srera of damping (palm muting 1 Tlteraly roll my paly over the ridge in either direction PHOTOS Bt illascrate afew ofthe degrees of damping thatyou can tain: from none (FHOTO B) to litle (PHOTO) toa lo (PHOTO 1). Te hear the diflerences, ry applying them to AGURE2, which Isarhythm pawternsimélar the intro vf from "Sleepwalker (Wnited Abominations), the song, we've been opening our live set with lately. As you ean see in the taband bear on theCD-ROM, the riff comprises only one note the open low E—and allews you to focus your attentionen what your pick hard is doing. as you fan aleo see.and hear, ccing thie not only “chokes up” the string in varying degrees but alsa prnciuces ‘weird, butecol, sound as you move the palm down the string to where itk positioned direcziy over the rear pickup's pole pleced. "CHEATING" AT GHORDS ‘Often whoa I'm playing chords 1 pal off ancther cheat by play- Inganly acouple ofthe noes Farexam ple instead of playing 1 fllopen E chord (see Diagram 1 below igure), Il play jst thetwo notes a the second fret on the And 1 strings, which tre the ith, Band the octave of the root note, E (eee Diagrart 2) Like Isai earlier, I don really exe what Im dl or whac this s called, but he guys at Guitar frld tall me that the result is an {inverted power chond. Whatever it s,Tuse ta lod And the cool thing about doing this inthis particular bey is that it enables meto pedal ts pul-mutedopen low E note between chord stabs, asdemon- sarod in GUE 3 ‘Aa [just mentioned, Ido this in alot of songs, one of ‘diem being "Reckoning Day" (outhanasia). Due to apublish. ing licensing ise, ICURE 4 is the main riff to “Reckoning Day? ‘only played backward. As you ‘can see, while pedaling on the ‘palm-muted open low Enote I ‘play inverced power chords that ‘limb up the neek chromatically (one fret sts time). Specialy, Pm playing inwerted GS, GBS and AS chords ageinst the pedaled E note, which builds tension. As TTeotnd each af these ewo-note ‘chords, he bassist plays the core responding root neie down Low. ‘Thecombination ofmy distorted, two-note, inverted power chord ‘yoicings and the low, clean-tone bass notes souads relly full and. clear because the Frequency map isn't cluteered. Inthis case, rot playing the Tow root note on the iuitargives the chords more air And punch ‘That's it for my frst column, Thoge ital made sense to yout Dissecting what I dosand then tryingto putt into words ha already taught me a thing or ‘wo, and T think ie'sgoingto help sake me 1 beter player. Ths is cally new territory for me, and Tmbaving a blast exploring it vwith you, Here's to the “old dee learning same new tricks.” See pounent month © FIGURE 1 1 =dowumoke win pict V=ipsneke wi pi FIGURE 2 rhythm pattern, Ala “Sleepwalker” v wan Dagan Fe — oagam 2 exe (avered E50) vg FIGURES 58 = Fog POCO OO OOS Oo Vnvny voopeeo oD OD FIQURE 4 “Reckoning Day” main rif, played beck 650 NCES) Se No.5) pe Gésotucie) ase oe oooe =