Get the 80s Metal Sound in 10 Days
Shred like it's the 80s again.
Intermediate
This class is for metal guitarists who’ve mastered the basics and want to channel iconic 80s sounds.
2 weeks
Frankie will guide you through 10 days of instruction with daily practice plans and assessments.
80s metal mastery
Nail the sound of 80s metal by mastering riffs, tools, and the language of iconic bands and players.
Take the next step
This guided challenge is a perfect warmup for our full length Learning Pathways covering metal and more.
What you'll learn
Start shredding like a pro with the riffs, vocabulary, and mind-melting techniques pioneered by 80s metal legends.
- Capture the sound of decade-defining metal styles.
- Play like EVH, Yngwie, Randy Rhoads, & many more.
- Expand your vocabulary to craft your own licks.
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Curriculum
Stay focused with this step-by-step learning program designed by our expert team of music educators.
A guided learning experience
In this Master Class, you'll learn how to capture the sound of 1980s metal in your playing. With step-by-step lessons, daily practice routines, and interactive jams, the path to shredding is clearer than the crystals you'll need to power up your time machine and travel back to the 80s.
The most metal keys of all time 🤘🤘
In the first two lessons, you'll start riffing right away in the most iconic 80s metal keys: Em and Am.
Each lesson is based on iconic 80s metal bands – you'll kick off the challenge with lessons inspired by Bon Jovi and Cinderella.
Massive, suspended, tender sounds
Next, we'll dive into sounds that are bigger than all of Poison's hairdos combined.
In Day 3, you'll explore massive chorus sounds inspired by Warrant.
In Day 4, you'll learn how to inject tension into your playing with suspended chords.
In Day 5, you'll clean up your tone to learn the art of the power ballad.
Get heavy
For the back half of this course, we're putting gas on the fire with some seriously heavy and advanced sounds.
In Day 6, you'll head bang your way through the sound of thrash metal.
Then, in Day 7, we'll return to the roots of metal with an exploration of Randy Rhoads' blues playig.
Technique time
On Day 8, you'll learn to light your fretboard on fire by tapping like Eddie Van Halen.
Day 9 introduces us to the "more is more" madness of Yngwie Malmsteen's playing.
In Day 10, you'll get technical with neo-classical arpeggios.
After that, you'll tackle three performance pieces designed to take the concepts you've worked on and put them in a purely musical context.
Days 1 & 2. The most 80s metal keys of all time
Learn some bread-and-butter sounds to kick off the challenge
We're with you every step of the way in this 2-week challenge. In every lesson, Frankie will break down a new concept and run through guided practice exercises with you so you can lock it into your muscle memory. To cap off each day's work, you'll put what you learned in a musical context with a guided jam session.
Day 1. The most 80s metal key of all time
In the Metal Learning Pathway (the pre-requisite course for this challenge), we learned that – above all – riffs rule. In that same spirit, you'll kick off Day 1 by exploring a bunch of options for killer 80s-style riffs.
From faithful power chords to dyads, and even some single-note ideas – we’re leaving no stone unturned in our quest for monstrous riffage.
Day 2. The 2nd-most 80s metal key of all time
Next, you'll blast through some fresh ideas in the key of A minor while drawing inspiration from the iconic band Cinderella.
You'll also touch on tone choices for different dynamics and an open-string hack to make simple chord shapes sound more interesting.
Days 3-5. Massive, suspended, tender sounds
Continue your tour through the defining sounds of 80s metal.
Day 3. Big chorus chords
80s metal is known for its huge anthems. Riffs make the crowd headbang, but the big chorus is what makes them chant the often thought-provoking lyrics, like: Pour some sugar on me and She's my cherry pie, cool drink of water, such a sweet surprise!
In this lesson, you'll tackle open-string chords that'll give you a big sound without getting muddy.
Day 4. Suspended chords
In this lesson, you’ll learn how to crank up the tension in your metal progressions. The key to this is choosing voicings that avoid clashing notes, using passing tones to create melodic movement, and playing chords in a higher register to reduce muddiness.
Day 5. The power ballad
Metal has a reputation for being loud and aggressive. However, in the 80s, bands wanted to broaden their attraction – and what attracts more than a ballad straight from the heart?
Gritty, aggressive guitar tones just won’t cut it – we need to take the edge off, so in this lesson, you'll learn how to make the most out of a clean tone.
Days 6 & 7. Get heavy
In this portion of the challenge, you'll explore the meaner side of 80s metal.
Day 6. 80s thrash
No spandex today. This lesson is dedicated to the most brutal, hardcore genre to smash its way out of the 80s: THRASH METAL.
Thrash bands wanted to make their riffs as dark as possible. To do this, they utilized the flat 5th AKA the devil’s interval or tritone. One of the most dissonant intervals, the flattened 5th creates an unsettling vibe. You'll learn how to wield it in this lesson.
Day 7. Randy Rhoads' blues from hell
Blues is truly the grandparent of metal. the musical DNA is clear to see. Today, we’ll take some old tricks and make them metal! All the licks in these exercises live within the home-base shape from Grade 1 of the Metal Learning Pathway.
Days 8-10 & Performance pieces
Finish off the final lessons of the challenge, then sink your teeth into some songs.
Day 8. EVH's tapping licks
Eddie Van Halen is up there with Hendrix as one of the most innovative guitarists of all time. This lesson will focus on his signature two-handed tapping style.
Day 9. Yngwie’s diminished lick
Yngwie Malmsteen is an intense character, and it shows in his furiously fast, classically-inspired, shreddy playing. This lesson dives into his favorite scale: harmonic minor. Its unique flavor comes from the major 7th scale degree.
Day 10. Neo-classical arpeggios
Whenever something radical comes along, it inspires others. That’s exactly what happened with neo-classical influences in metal. Guitarists like Marty Friedman (Megadeth, Cacophony) and Jason Becker (Cacophony) started converting century-old musical motifs into face-melting metal solos.
The relentless use of arpeggios set this style apart, and once you get comfortable sweep picking, the sky’s the limit. You'll have had a little taste yesterday, but today, you'll really sink your teeth in.
Performance pieces
Having finished all the lessons, it'll be time to put your new skills into a musical context. Here, we have three songs designed to incorporate what you learned in the lessons so you can confidently sail off into the sunset and take on the next leg of your guitar journey.
REAL students
Don’t take our word for it, take theirs
What guitarists love about this course
FULL REFUND, NO QUESTIONS ASKED
Improve your playing or get your money back
We’re so confident that we can improve your playing that we’re underwriting your membership with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.
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Your Instructor
Frankie Lindia
Frankie is a certified shredder who's here to help you capture the soaring sounds that defined 80s metal guitar.
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Frequently asked questions
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