How to Write Thrash Guitar Riffs

Last Updated: December 23, 2021

Thrash Metal is one of the fastest and ferocious forms of music there is and is one of the most exciting to play. However writing great thrash guitar riffs is no easy task so here are a few steps to become a Thrash God.

Steps

1
Become familiar with Thrash Metal. You can't write something you know nothing about. Find what kind of Thrash Metal you like best whether it is the heavier form (Slayer, Evil, Testament, etc.) or the somewhat softer form (Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, etc.) and choose which one you would rather play. There are actually many forms of thrash. These forms are blackened thrash (Sodom, Toxic Holocaust, Venom, etc.), crossover thrash or a combo of thrash and hardcore punk (Municipal Waste, Anthrax, DRI, SOD, Nuclear Assault, etc.), death/thrash (Kreator, Slayer, Morbid Saint, Possessed, etc.), melodic thrash (Overkill, Havok, etc.) and technical thrash (Metallica, Kreator, Destruction, etc).
2
Learn guitar scales, chords, and note locations in order to find out what notes go together and what notes do not.

Advertisement
3
Learn alternate picking. Thrash Metal is a real fast genre of music so learning alternate picking (picking up and down quickly) is essential. Also power chords are also a large part of Thrash Metal so get used to using them.
4
Be determined. The main step of writing Thrash is just like writing any other form of music and that is determination. You usually aren't going to write the best Thrash Metal song in one night so work at it. Work with notes, power chords, etc. to give you some sort of idea.
5
Play songs by other Thrash Metal bands and mess around with their riffs. Doing so sometimes can give you ideas of your own.
- Do not copy other bands' riffs at all. First of all, it doesn't help you out learning to write your own riffs by just copying everyone else all the time, and you could also run into some copywriting problems.
6
When you have a basic riff put together work with it until you decide it is acceptable. Sometimes you have to throw out riffs completely because either they sound too much like another bands riff or because they just don't sound good. Be open to improvement and don't be afraid to change something.
7
If you are in a band, play your riff for the rest of your bandmates and get their opinions on the riff. Listen to their suggestions and ideas and see if any of them work.
8
When you have a riff that sounds good but maybe isn't fast enough, use the double picking form. Double picking is mostly used on an open note, especially the Lower E, so use this in your riff to make it faster and more ferocious.
9
Also make sure to know that not all Thrash riffs are fast. Some are slow and chugging-sounding so use this other form of riffs in your music as well. Don't be depressed if your riff doesn't sound good when played blistering fast.
10
Have fun and be open to anything. Only use other bands' riffs as a template if you are beginning to write. When you write a lot of riffs you will develop your own style of playing and then you don't have to rely on other bands' material. Also, don't be afraid to be unique. It is often the most unique thrash bands that are the best.

Warnings

Copying other bands' material could result in copyrighting issues.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 8 Not Helpful 1
Even if you write your own original riffs, be sure your style is as original as possible.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 4 Not Helpful 0
Learn theory! Don't listen to metal bands that say theory is not important. Those are the ones who gave up too easily and never got big. Listen to bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Destruction, Sodom (at least their solos), Kreator, Accuser and even some non-thrash bands like Black Sabbath, Dragonforce, Ozzy Osbourne, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Symphony X. All these bands made it big and took the time to study music theory, and also learn lots of styles totally opposite of metal. Sabbath's music was influenced by jazz, blues, psychedelic rock, and darker classical songs. Yngwie's playing was influenced by classical music. Priest's and Maiden's music had it's vocal influence from opera music. Sepultura's music (which was some of the most brutal back in the day) was actually influenced by ancient Brazilian music. Thrash metal as a whole is also influenced by hardcore punk. Artillery's more recent stuff is influenced by folk music, and some of Overkill's bass lines are slightly influenced by funk.

⧼thumbs_response⧽
Helpful 6 Not Helpful 4