'Master of Metal' was written to represent Cliff Burton, the legendary Metallica bassist who recorded with the group on their first three albums. Cliff was an integral part of the band and was largely responsible for their use of irregular time signatures, harmony guitar lines and the use of different musical styles within one composition. This fast rock track contains all of those elements, alongside a lengthy bass solo which features many of the hallmarks of Cliff’s playing.
If you enjoy working through this piece, you might also find the following courses useful (Access to ALL of our courses is included in the subscription cost):
Don’t forget to hit the Download Resources button above to get the PDF transcription and the audio files for this piece (available to subscribers only).
This course is 1 HOUR long and contains the following videos, each of which can be selected from the video player above:
This video is a demonstration of ‘Master of Metal’, performed on a Zon Sonus bass strung with stainless steel Rotosound strings.
This video gives a brief overview of this difficult piece and the challenges that it presents. Advice is also given on finding a suitable tone.
This video covers the short two-bar intro section, followed by the main riff that is played throughout the A Section. This lesson covers bars 1-14 in the transcription.
This lesson covers the B section of the piece, which features a simple line which supports some harmony guitar lines. This lesson covers bars 15-22.
This short video covers the C Section, which re-uses the main riff from the A section, but without the 5-8 bar. This lesson covers bars 23-30 in the transcription.
This lesson will show you how to play the opening section of the bass solo. This lesson covers bars 31-38 in the accompanying transcription.
The second part of the solo contains an arpeggio-based line similar to parts that Cliff played in ‘(Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth’. This lesson covers bars 39-48.
This lesson covers the next part of the bass solo, which features some lead guitar-like lines which are played in the upper register. This lesson covers bars 49-56.
This video covers the final section of the bass solo, which is built around an ascending lick. This lesson covers bars 57-68 in the accompanying transcription.
This lesson will show you how to play E section of this piece. This is a new part, with a new key, time signature and bassline. This lesson covers bars 69-84.
This lesson covers the final section of this piece, which features a challenging unison riff that is played with the guitars. This lesson covers bars 85-92.
In this final video of the course I’ll be talking about Cliff Burton’s tone and offering some advice on how you can achieve something similar.