If the “Black Album” of 1990 presented a new Metallica for the coming decade, then Load upped the ante still further by going off in even more unpredictable directions. Case in point is the unusual textural offering Hero of the Day, a track that is a study in dark and light musical shading, and a brief glimpse at the future of Metallica and metal as it evolves into a hybrid for the alternative generation.
Tune all six strings down a half step. This was a career first for Metallica.
A mildly distorted guitar begins this atypical Metallica piece with an atypical Metallica riff. It plays a series of arpeggiated three-note chords, labeled Rhy. Fig. 1, which includes a diatonically ascending bass line on the 5th string. At the heart of the entire progression is the A5 power chord. The top two notes of the A5 (E and A on the 4th and 3rd strings, respectively) are maintained as common tones throughout the riff, while the bass line melody of A-B-C#-D is heard on the 5th string. This movement produces the voicings A5-A5/B-A5/C#-A5/D [Fig. 1]. The final chord of the series, A5/D, becomes the outline for the E chord found in measures 3 and 4 of the riff. Notice the physical similarities in both chords. The A5/D could just as easily be a Dsus2 [Fig. 2]. The pattern established in Rhy. Fig. 1 is also used for Rhy. Fig. 2 – a heavier, more distorted version of the riff – as well as in Rhy. Fig. 3, a more chordal variant.
The bridge is built on a heavy, mondo-crunch riff (Rhy. Figs. 4 and 4A) and gives us a taste of the old Metallica. Here, the F# power chord is at the center of the riff and a low-register, three-note bass line on the 6th string is added to the voicing. The melody notes are E-F#-G and they give the figure a Spanish Phrygian sound endemic to the heavy metal and thrash idiom of the 80s, of which Metallica was a leading exponent. Applying James Hetfield’s efficiency fingering concept for power chord riffs (see For Whom the Bell Tolls tabs), we can make the briskly moving figure a little more manageable. Try fretting the upper notes of the F#5 as a barre with either the third finger or pinkie and playing the F# and G on the 6th string with the first and second fingers [Fig. 3].
Kirk Hammett’s textural guitar solo is more rhythmic than melodic, and is another indication of the new Metallica. There’s not a hint of a string bend, wah-wah pedal, heavy gain and sustain, or rapid-fire virtuoso licks in this section. Instead, he milks an eighth-and-16th-note pattern in a manner more typical of a percussion instrument than a guitar. The melody is derived from the A major scale (A-B-C#-D-E-F#-G#) and is arranged in two composed, imitative phrases played entirely on the B and high E strings. The solo is very accessible and should present no problems for even a beginning guitarist once the basic fingerings and position changes of the two-string A major scale are mastered.
It’s a part of Metallica Hero Of The Day guitar tab and sheet.
Through the link below you can download a full transcription of
Hero Of The Day with backing track
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