i want to start writing metal riffs!

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hi guys, i really want to be able to start writing my own stuff to play on guitar, but i don't have a clue on how to start, and me and freinds are having talks of forming a metal band, and i wanna be able to help with writing some of the songs anyone able to help me get started?

Learn some songs by whatever band that your band want to sound like, or just practice songs your bandmates have written. www.ultimate-guitar.com
Study the "structure" of the songs abit and you will quickly get an idea about which melodies, harmonies and chords add for kind of "feel" to the song.

Then you might want to learn some basic music-theory if you haven't already, you could start with:
The key system and the major/minor scale
The pentatonic scale
(the "lessons" section at ultimate-guitar ftw)

Practice it like you've never practiced anything else in your life. Practice it in many places on the neck, and practice it untill you can't stand the sound of it anymore. Learn to walk through it from one spot on the neck all the way down. Many a solo has come out of the pentatonic scale. Also, look into sweep picking. Start with some simple 3 string sweep picking, and slowly work your way up as you get faster. Next thing you know you'll be shreddin like a mad man!
Other things to look into include 12 bar blues, picking techniques, and finger tapping. Many people will tell you not to worry about finger tapping untill you're an expert, but I didn't wait and I'm glad I didn't Its an easy concept to get down with some practice and it adds some variety to your practice routine. It's fun, and it doesn't take much practice to make it sound good. Try practicing it with some digital delay
Remember not to neglect the 12 bar blues. It doesn't sound very metal I know... but trust me, lots of songs have been built around it and its easy enough to learn. Talkin about 12 bar reminded me of this song.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mb7LvUnx_8s[/youtube]

right thanks, i really wanto be able to get into stuff like slipknot and as blood runs black, i wouldnt mind being in a band that my freind is in called Machinna, he has a couple of videos up on youtube, (the singer/vocalist whatever you want to call him is my freind) you wouldnt belice he was 15 from the videos

I been writin stuff, granted its not metal, but still. What you should do, is, write stuff, then sort it out with friends to help you write it/ sing it/play it/ whatever it is you wanna do. Im hopin to evetually make a track, but i know i wont. You have a chance.

The fastest way to get started:

1. Turn up the gain (distortion hides mistakes)

2. Tune the whole guitar half a step down (less string tension easier on newbie fingers and sounds darker and more ominous)

3. Tune to DROPPED D (this allows you to make power chords using only one finger on the bottom three strings and can be transposed to any part of the neck)

After following these three easy steps you and your friends will be well on your way to becoming the next Silverchair.

While these will make your playing a lot darker and more metal sounding... It'll also mean you'll have to tune your guitar more often. It'll go out of tune really easy, unless your guitar has a way of locking it in tune(which most don't). I also don't really recommend doing this unless you have 2 guitars. What I did, was I'd have one guitar tuned to D, and another guitar(my cleaner sounding one) in standard E. Then instead of having to tune 1 guitar back and forth constantly, I could just switch guitars depending on which song I wanted to play. Alternatively I guess you could just learn to play all your songs in that tuning...