He describes his lead style as “neoclassical dad solos”, but Trivium’s Matt Heafy is a giant of modern metal playing – and he has plenty of ideas that will take your rhythm game to the next level

Matthew Kiichi Heafy is a giant of modern metal. He has been the frontman of Trivium for over 20 years, releasing 10 albums and headlining tours and festivals all over the world.

He also has a black metal side project called Ibaraki, and has made numerous guest appearances with other bands. This year, though, he has taken a completely new career step, releasing his debut masterclass through JTC Guitar.

In Modern Metal Masterclass, Matt shares the knowledge, skills and experience that he has built up over his long career. There are exercises, licks, stylistic demonstrations and plenty of long lessons. He even provides an in-depth warm-up and practice regime for metal vocals. Go on, guitar fans, have a go!

Heafy doesn’t consider himself a specialist lead player, describing his lead style as “neo-classical dad solos”. But he still covers a lot of musical ground, freely mixing rhythmically complex metal riffs with spicy chords, melody lines and a tasty bit of shred. We’ve selected three examples to give you a taste of modern metal, Heafy style.

Example 1

A fundamental aspect of the Heafy style (and modern metal in general) is downpicking. While alternate picking is the most efficient use of energy, there’s always a difference in tone and dynamics; downstrokes are more powerful, so it’s worth building your downpicking speed and agility as you gain so much extra impact.

Example 2

In common with many other 21st-century metal players, MKH occupies an interesting middle ground where riffs, rhythm and melodies blur together organically, sharing a lot of the same techniques.

This neoclassical flavoured pattern in drop D tuning using two D strings could be a solo excerpt or a sequencer-like riff.

Example 3

This riff straddles the rhythm and lead worlds. Take care with the first half of each phrase, because we’re switching quickly between eighth and 32nd notes. Use downstrokes for the powerchords and alternate picking for the quick blasts.