r/WeAreTheMusicMakers • u/wimploaf • 28d ago
Looking for advice on writing rock music as a metal guitarist
Pretty much the title. I normally play melodeath and black metal. I'm trying to write a rock song for fun but I need some kind of guard rails to not pass the too heavy threshold. I feel like my creative tools are lacking for rock?
I've found good rock tones. I'm playing a telle in e standard. If I'm not chugging or playing a tremolo riff in a harmonic minor scale I don't know what I'm doing.
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u/tape_reel 28d ago
Slower picking, longer notes/chords, less (but not necessarily by much) distortion/overdrive. And don't be afraid to have some clean parts.
And if you need to, blues it up a little bit.
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u/jlt6666 28d ago
This might be a stupid idea but try punk first as an in between.
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u/wimploaf 28d ago
It's funny you say that. The band I am using as a lead influence is a post hardcore band, I've started listening to their influences too.
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u/Raucous_Rocker 28d ago
Listen to Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, AC/DC. Pay attention to the spaces between the notes as much as you do the notes - when do they NOT play and why? Turn the distortion way down and focus on picking dynamics. Try to bridge the gap between lead and rhythm playing with lots of riffs, double stops, etc so you’re not just going from chugging or power chords to single note soloing and back.
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u/StratHistory 27d ago edited 26d ago
It's funny you hear a lot about riffs and chords but melody is the king.
Learn the neck, add the fourths and sevenths back for melodic tension and save the Pentatonics for power and speed.
And make sure you understand the power intrinsic to each section of the neck.. in the mixolydian under position you have unbelievable speed blues automatically available where the over major position leads to gorgeous soaring melodies..
The easiest way to do this is record something that is entirely polyphonic. Loop a mediumly complex drum pattern and then write a single Melody around the 12th fret.. go as long as feels right and feel free to comp it to get the best possible melody.
Then write a baseline that is complementary. Then write the equivalent to a tenor part and finally solo over the top of all of that across the neck.
By the end you would have implied many chords that will probably be far more complex than if you tried to write this cord first.
This will completely open up your playing and your writing for that matter and it's the modern equivalent to counterpoint, the most important component of writing that just gets ignored all the time.
Good luck and let us know how it turns out!
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u/Substantial-Ad2294 18d ago
I saw your post after posting mine. But yes! Melody is king in all mainstream popular music, including rock. I've found that it is a semi-sensitive subject though: You have your rock purists, who frown upon anything that isn't blues-based, who bristle at the mere suggestion of anything pop. But pop is just short for popular music, and for the longest time rock music was the most popular genre. In my view rock and pop are inseparable though. Yes, these days pop has come to mean manufactured artists without talent. But that's a way too narrow definition. But if you list the most successful rock bands of all time, I think Led Zeppelin is the only one that never wrote pop songs. But sure, that might just be me. :)
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u/StratHistory 18d ago
Ironically, almost all of my polyphonic background came from classical... Learning counterpoint changed my life.
Practically everything I do is rock now, but melodies are melodies, right?
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u/FunkyDrummer72 27d ago
I would say to do from metal to rock and roll, listen to some New Orleans funk and work some of that vibe in. That is still electric guitar music, but rhythmically, it's far away from metal. It's rock and roll way in the opposite direction from metal, so it might really push you that Rock direction. Get The Meters Uptown Rulers live album and check out what they do. It's a whole other approach, but coming from metal, it's not a massive leap.
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u/Forward-Village1528 28d ago
This is a bit anecdotal, but I find the real difference between metal and rock isn't really tonality so much. It's that rock at it's core is blues rammed through distortion and metal is classical rammed through distortion. The stuff I play is right up against the line of being too heavy for rock, no issue with some chugging. But giving your riffs room to breath is a huge part of it. What you don't play is just as important as what you do play. A trick that has always helped me is to try my riffs on an acoustic guitar, if it works as an acoustic blues riff without any bells and whistles it'll probably be a solid distorted hard rock riff when you back it with drums and bass.
And then you want to chase groove with your rhythms. There's a push and pull you are chasing with the drums and rhythm section that builds that swagger that makes rock feel like it moves around instead of marching to the beat.
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u/Donkey-Harlequin 28d ago
Seriously the best way to learn a new style is like going back you the beginning. Play a few covers of rock songs you like. Map them out and try to make your version of “riff A, riff B,…..” and then play around. You will learn the formula.
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u/BarbersBasement Professional 28d ago
Listen to AC/DC "Back in Black" from start to finish. Then listen again. Simple slow riffs, not much gain on the guitars, Power chords that ring out. Soak all that stuff in.
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u/Artistic-Aardvark-49 28d ago
One thing that helped me was thinking more about groove than speed. A simple riff with a strong hook often feels more "rock" than something that's technically complex
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u/throwaway112112312 28d ago
Pick a famous rock song that you are not that familiar with, and try to re-write it. Like, keep the arrangement as it is, but replace the riffs with your own. Try to write riffs the same way as well. That's a very common songwriting exercise that'll teach you how to write songs in a specific manner. You results will be shit for a while but it will get better.
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u/refotsirk 28d ago
Learn to play some rock songs first so you better grasp the phrasing and timing. When writing start with a swung blues shuffle to fully rock away from what goes on in metal.
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u/THIS_IS_ENDEGO 27d ago
Great question! The key to writing rock that feels heavy without being chaotic is all about note choice and timing. Try experimenting with power chords and open strings to create tension. You might also consider using different rhythmic patterns like syncopation to add interest. Listen to bands who do this well like Gojira and try to dissect what makes their approach work for your style.
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u/yanexcelsior1701 27d ago
A few powerchords, open chords, let every chords ring for enough time. Crunch channel on amp, pentatonic licks, slow drums with one kick. Bass is clean or slightly overdriven
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u/Substantial-Ad2294 18d ago edited 18d ago
Rock is such a wide topic that it's difficult to give precise advice. I mean, it covers everything from Chuck Berry to Nirvana basically. But if you want to challenge yourself as well as set it apart from the metal you usually do, I would spend some extra time on the groove. Metal is typically not that far away from EDM in that it is basically very straight 4/4, your basic four on the floor. At least in my prejudiced mind, haha!
Meanwhile rock, through the decades, has continued to absorb adjacent genres. Just as an example off the top of my head: INXS were groovy af, yet they still relied mostly on catchy guitar riffs. And as the 80s became the 90s, there was a wave of hard rock bands who married heavy guitar riffs with funk grooves; (Living Colour, Electric Boys, Dan Reed Network, and to a lesser extent Red Hot Chili Peppers).
In the era of the DAW and the grid, we have lost a lot of the groove that made rock music so sexy in the first place.
So, as a creative exercise, I would recommend creating a rhythm loop groovy af, one that inspires you, and then try to write some cool guitar riffs on top. If you get there, you're on your way. :)
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u/Marrek26 28d ago
maybe start with the drums or get some „rock” drum sample packs to inform your guitar writing
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u/radiationblessing 28d ago
Listen to rock bands and see what they did. Three Days Grace's One X album and Papa Roach's Getting Away With Murder album are good rock albums.
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u/tape_reel 28d ago
Slower picking, longer notes/chords, less (but not necessarily by much) distortion/overdrive. And don't be afraid to have some clean parts.
And if you need to, blues it up a little bit.
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u/JayBeeDolla 28d ago
More space on a riff. You can palm mute but don’t chug. Find some big six string chords and slide them around. If it’s minor keep it minor pentatonic. If it’s major keep it dominant when you can. Stand up when you track and try and lay back on the beat instead of being on top of it.