The Memory Remains (solo) - Metallica
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Learn The Guitar Solo In 'The Memory Remains' by Metallica!
In this guitar lesson we will be taking a look at the first solo for the song “The Memory Remains” by Metallica. In order to play this solo you should know your minor pentatonic scale that has its root on the low E string starting with your 1st finger. If you don’t know this scale, check out the lesson Minor Pentatonic Guitar Scale. You should also know how to bend the guitar strings because there is quite a bit of bending going on throughout this solo. This song is down tuned to Eb so instead of tuning your guitar to standard tuning, EADGBE, tune it to EbAbDbGbBbEb. Most of this solo takes place on the minor pentatonic scale shape that starts off with your 1st finger on the 12th fret of the 6th string. We have included the TAB and sheet music for you so you can see exactly what is going on.
Let’s go over some spots in the solo that are a bit more difficult. The very first note of the solo is a whole step bend on the 14th fret of the 3rd string with the 3rd finger. Make sure to bend that note up an entire full step before you pick it. Once you pick it then release it. If you are new to bending this might be a bit difficult for you, but the strength will come to your fingers soon if you practice consistently.
The other bend that may give you some trouble is the one that occurs several times on the 14th fret of both the 2nd and 3rd string simultaneously. You will be using your 3rd finger to play both of the notes on the 14th fret of the 2nd and 3rd strings. Bend both strings down. The 2nd string should be a half step bend and the 3rd string should whole step bend. This may seem complicated but once you mess around with this type of bending you will see that the guitar kind of makes it easy to bend two different strings up to two different pitches.
The last part of the solo to watch out for is the second to last measure. Once you bend up the note on the 14th fret of the 3rd string you have to grab the 12th fret of the 2nd string and the 12th fret of the 1st string immediately thereafter. Making a small bar across the 2nd and 1st strings will make this passage a bit easier to play. Keep an eye out for the rhythms in this measure too. This is the only measure in the solo where you have triplets.
Use this solo to get more familiar with your minor pentatonic scale and add a few new blues licks to your arsenal. All of the bending in this solo is a really great way to keep your fingers in shape too.
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