Customer Reviews

Metallica - Riff by Riff - Guitar

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Riff by Riff Series is intended to allow guitarists or bassists the chance to learn the most important riffs from their favorite artists' songs. This is exactly what Mark Phillips and Cherry Lane make possible in this great book. It includes all of the main riffs ( rythm tracks, mainly) from Kill 'em All to The Black Album in Play-It-Like-It-Is format. So for introductory players or pros, wheather your tonking out "The Four Hosemen" or ripping through "Blackened", Metallica: Riff by Riff is the book for you!

I enjoy looking at this book and seeing Metallica's first five albums tabbed out. I don't like the fact that this book only shows the IMPORTANT riffs, it doesn't show variations or anything. I guess you do have to keep a space limit, though, if you want to make a book for this cheap. Some cool features I like in this book include a Metallica timeline and Equipment Setup details. I also enjoy the commentary on the riffs, but if you don't know theory very well the commentary gets a little confusing. Not everyone will know what a "dyad" is. (It's two notes played at once, since it takes three to make a chord.) This book has helped me learn how to play better Metallica, so I guess it's pretty much accomplished its job.

4 out of 5 stars.

This book has music and tabs for every song by Metallica through the Black Album. It includes most of the rhythm riffs from those songs and in very few cases, a few solo bars. Advanced guitarists should look into the "Play it like it is" books because they contain entire songs, and not just 2-page rhythm examples (which is essentially what this book contains). But if you're just beginning or if you only want basic Metallica rhythms, look no further than Riff by Riff.

I picked up this book just to learn some of the main riffs of the black album, but then discovered that the earlier songs were what I really enjoyed playing. This is the perfect book if you want to try playing all of Metallica's songs and gives you plenty of insight on theory, equipment, band history and other info.

The only thing I didn't like was that the theory explanation to the riffs were like greek to me, although a more experienced player might be able to make sense of it.

The book is a bit outdated as Metallica have about 4-5 new albums since it was published, but if you like the earlier material this is the book to get.

You get as much music for each song as they could stuff onto 2 pages per song! Think about that! So a song like "To live is to die", you know they can't fit all onto two pages.
But i'd have been satisfied learning the main parts but there is a nasty habit of completely skipping intro riffs! The "Four Horseman" intro is not in this book! That is THE signature riff to that song and it's not there. Along with a lot of other holes. Sorry.

This book breaks down the intricate, complicated arrangements of Metallica into manageable chunks that are a bit easier to get a handle on.

Even so, it's not for novices or those who are just starting out on guitar. Get a good grasp of the basics before you try to tackle the monster that is Metallica!

Book is very thorough and helped me with learning to play the main riffs of their songs. It was everything I had hoped for.

This book does not contain every single riff Metallica wrote. It does contain many major riffs from the songs from the first 5 albums. Each riff included has knowledgable commentary from a music professional who breaks down and dissects the music. It provides in depth understanding of the musical intelligence behind Metallica's music. There contains no negative criticism and the author obviously loves Metallica (I believe he admits it). If you already believe Metallica to be musical geniuses you'll agree with all the commentary and really enjoy this book! While I own all the complete tab books from those albums, this book is good because it tabs out certain songs with improved clarity than the others. For instance, Blackened from the ...And Justice For All book tabs out the rhythm sections in rather weak and awkward arrangements. This book simply has far more accurate tablature on certain songs. Overall, it's a good book to own for back-up reference, or for the guitarist looking to simply learn a variety of Metallica's main riffs.

Buy This! It is a very good book for anyone who likes Metallica or just wants to play some awsome guitar riffs! Buy this book!!!

I bought this book for my son as he is playing learning to play both the electric and acoustic guitar. He seems to like this book okay but doesn't use it as much as I thought he would. Good deal for the price...