Latest articles by Metal Mike Chlasciak
How to clean your guitar: the Guitar World guide to keeping your guitar in premium condition
Get your electric guitar looking like new in just four steps inspired by the car detailing world
How to Construct Classic Eighties-Style Metal Guitar Parts
Learn three “classic” metal-style riffs packed with melodic movement.
How to Reinvent a Modal Melody by Changing Only One Note
Learn a simple, effective way to take any Aeolian line and change and mutate its character.
Combining Metal-Style Rhythm-Playing Techniques to Create Memorable Riffs
Learn a handful of riffs designed to sharpen up very specific and different aspects of your heavy-metal guitar technique.
Examining Five Essential Minor Mode Scale Patterns
Focus on two essential minor modes, Dorian and Aeolian, with these scale patterns.
Discovering New Ways to Use the Minor Pentatonic Scale
How to break away from the “bluesy” sound with which the scale is so often associated.
10 Tips to Boost Your Practice Session
Sure, there are days when we are all inspired to pick up our guitars and play. But what about the other days?
How to Incorporate Suspended Chords into Heavy Metal Rhythm Guitar Parts
Learn a few different examples of rhythm-guitar ideas that jump around harmonically and also feature the incorporation of suspended chords.
How to Fortify Power-Chord Ideas with Single-Note Lines and Diads
Learn a variety of ways you can bring more melodic content to your power-chord-driven ideas through the use of single-note lines and small two-note chord voicings.
How Guitarists Can Build Super-Human Legato Chops
Get your fret-hand chops in shape and develop excellent fretboard “traction” with this lesson.
A Fresh Batch of Technically Challenging Exercises to Keep Your Chops Fired Up
Some fresh guitar playing exercises/calisthenics that you can use to quickly and efficiently get your pick- and fret-hand chops back in shape.
Build Up Your Chops with These Challenging, Molten-Hot Metal Riffs
Mastering these riffs will get your chops razor sharp and stronger than ever.
Exploring Drop-D Tuning’s Unique Melodic Possibilities
Some cool things you can do with drop-D (with an emphasis on unusual melodic intervals).
Killer Runs to Sharpen Your Pick-Hand and Fret-Hand Skills
Fortify your fret-hand/pick-hand coordination while strengthening your overall chops and ability to play fast and clean.
Building Crushing Riffs from Complex Single-Note Patterns
Learn how to construct interesting, heavy and deceptively complex single-note riffs in this lesson.
How to Use the Dark Sound of the Phrygian Mode’s “Flatted” Intervals
Examine how the Phrygian Mode can be utilized for heavy-metal riffs and solos.
Mastering the Fundamental Modes Across the Entire Fretboard
Get a more complete understanding of the seven fundamental modes.
How to Inject Unusual, Jarring Chord Voicings into Metal Rhythm Guitar Parts
Dress up your riff ideas with murky, monstrous-sounding, aggressively attacked chord figures and patterns.
Challenging Phrases Designed to Lift Your Chops to the Next Level
Learn a couple of fast, challenging lead-type phrases that are designed to lift your chops up to the next level.
