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Metallica - And Justice For All - Guitar Lesson

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Key E minor
Metallica - And Justice For All guitar lesson video
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...And Justice for All (Remastered) album cover
...And Justice for All (Remastered)
1988 9:46
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music
Metallica Thrash Metal 1988 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About And Justice For All

Few tracks on the 1988 album demand as much from a rhythm guitarist as this one. Metallica built the song around relentless palm-muted riffing in Eb Standard tuning, which drops just enough tension into the strings to give every chug a slightly heavier, more elastic feel than concert pitch would. The key of E minor sits naturally under the fingers, but the challenge here is not the shapes. It is sustaining precise, consistent palm muting at 102 BPM through very long riff cycles without letting the attack get sloppy or the muting hand creep. The song is also structurally demanding: it shifts through multiple distinct riff sections with irregular phrase lengths, so knowing where you are in the arrangement is half the battle. Pick the section that keeps tripping you up and use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until the muscle memory is solid. The Thrash Metal feel here lives entirely in the right hand, so that is where your practice time should go.

  • The entire song is played in Eb Standard tuning, loosening string tension slightly and giving the palm-muted riffs a heavier, thicker low-end response.
  • Consistent right-hand palm muting at 102 BPM across very long riff cycles is the core technical challenge; any drift in muting pressure kills the groove.
  • The arrangement moves through multiple riff sections with irregular phrase lengths, so mapping the structure carefully before playing up to speed will save a lot of frustration.

How to Play And Justice For All

Tuning: Eb Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 87 BPM

It is played in Eb standard, a half step down, so tune down before you start or every position and bend will sit a half step sharp against the recording. At 87 bpm the slow tempo leaves every note exposed, so timing, vibrato, and dynamics matter more than raw speed.

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 87 BPM.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Kirk Hammett's vintage 1959 'Greeny' Les Paul Standard delivers warmer, more dynamic PAF-style tones that contrast his EMG-equipped ESP guitars, adding organic sustain to his lead work. This guitar's traditional construction gives his solos a thicker, less compressed character than his signature models.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not Hammett's primary choice, the Les Paul Custom shares the Les Paul's warm PAF pickup character and thick body resonance, offering heavier players an alternative to Strat-style designs for achieving Metallica's crushing rhythm tones.

Gibson Explorer
Guitar

Gibson Explorer

James Hetfield's early Gibson Explorer established his signature angular shape and thick body tone, delivering the aggressive midrange attack essential to Metallica's crushing rhythm style before his ESP signature models became his primary tool.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

Kirk Hammett's Dual Rectifier heads provide the high-gain, midrange-forward aggression that lets his solos cut through Hetfield's scooped rhythm tone, creating definition and clarity in Metallica's dense wall of distortion.

EMG 81
Pickup

EMG 81

Hetfield's bridge EMG 81 delivers the hot, compressed output with tight low-end that defines Metallica's palm-muted riffs, the ceramic magnet and active preamp cutting through heavy arrangements with focused, aggressive attack.

EMG 60
Pickup

EMG 60

Both guitarists use the neck EMG 60 for warmer, more articulate rhythm tones and smoother lead voicings, balancing the 81's aggression with clearer note definition across Metallica's dense arrangements.

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