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Megadeth - Tornado of Souls - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Megadeth - Tornado of Souls guitar tab video
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Rust In Peace album cover
Rust In Peace
1990 5:23
Listen on Spotify
Megadeth Thrash Metal 1990 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Tornado of Souls

"Tornado of Souls" is a thrash metal track by Megadeth, appearing on their 1990 studio album Rust in Peace. Never released as a single, it became a cornerstone of the band's catalog through sheer musical reputation alone. The song is a landmark study for electric guitarists, built around Marty Friedman's celebrated solo, widely regarded as one of the greatest metal guitar solos ever recorded and a serious technical challenge for any player attempting to learn it.

  • Marty Friedman's solo in this track is consistently ranked among the greatest metal guitar solos of all time.
  • The song was never released as a single, yet it remains one of Megadeth's most recognized and studied pieces.
  • It is widely considered one of the hardest guitar songs to play, making it a benchmark for advanced metal guitarists.

How to Play Tornado of Souls

The song moves through: Intro (pt. 1), Intro (pt. 2), Verse 1, Chorus, Verse 2, Verse 3, Break, Verse 4, Interlude, Solo, Verse 5, Verse 6.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 202 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

At 202 bpm in Eb Standard, the main riff demands tight alternate picking with clean palm muting, and many players underestimate how physically demanding maintaining that precision at full tempo actually is. Prioritize the riff sections before approaching the solo, since Marty Friedman's lead is a genuinely advanced undertaking on its own, featuring unconventional phrasing, wide intervallic jumps, and legato passages that sit outside typical metal vocabulary. The most common pitfall is rushing into the solo before the rhythm parts are locked in, which leaves you with shaky fundamentals under an already difficult piece. Use the speed control to isolate the solo section and work it in small phrases, because treating it as one continuous run is the fastest way to ingrain mistakes.

Loop the hardest passage and creep the speed up from around 70 percent until it holds at 202 BPM.

Gibson Flying V
Guitar

Gibson Flying V

Dave Mustaine's current signature Flying V delivers the V-shaped body geometry essential for accessing upper frets on his complex spider-chord voicings and fast lead lines. The guitar's thin, fast neck profile and fixed bridge provide the tuning stability and articulation Megadeth's precise, aggressive riffing demands.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Mustaine built Megadeth's signature razor-sharp, scooped-mid tone on Marshall JCM800s, with gain around 7-8 to retain pick dynamics and articulation under heavy palm-muting. The amp's responsive tube saturation transforms hot pickups into the controlled, fast low-end aggression that defines thrash metal rhythm tones.

DigiTech Whammy
Pedal

DigiTech Whammy

Marty Friedman used the Digitech Whammy as a lead accent tool, adding pitch-shifting texture to solos without cluttering Megadeth's minimalist effects philosophy. The pedal's harmonic richness complemented his warm, vocal-like Seymour Duncan humbucker tone during the band's classic era.

ISP Decimator Noise Gate
Pedal

ISP Decimator Noise Gate

The ISP Decimator is essential for Mustaine's high-gain thrash setup, eliminating feedback and noise between palm-muted riffs without compromising sustain. This noise gate allows him to push the Marshall into aggressive saturation while maintaining the tight, articulate attack Megadeth's complex rhythms require.

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