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Metallica - One - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
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...And Justice for All (Remastered Deluxe Box Set) album cover
...And Justice for All (Remastered Deluxe Box Set)
1988 7:26
Listen on Spotify
Metallica Thrash Metal 1988 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About One

"One" by Metallica is a landmark heavy metal track from the 1988 album ...And Justice for All, written by James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. The song tells the story of a World War I soldier left blind, deaf, and immobile after a land mine explosion, begging for death. For electric guitarists, it is an essential study in dynamics, moving from clean, melodic passages into one of the most technically demanding thrash metal riff and solo sequences in the genre.

  • The song transitions from clean picked arpeggios to aggressive down-picked thrash riffs, making it a workout in both technique and control.
  • "One" was released as the third and final single from ...And Justice for All, Metallica's fourth studio album.
  • The iconic machine-gun triplet riff in the outro is a benchmark exercise for developing right-hand picking speed and precision.

How to Play One

The song moves through: Intro, Intro Solo, Interlude, Verse, Guitar Solo, Chorus, Bridge 1, Bridge 2, Bridge 3, Harmony Solo, Outro.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 110 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The song's core challenge is managing the dramatic shift in intensity across its sections: the clean arpeggiated intro demands precise finger placement and controlled dynamics, while the later machine-gun triplet riff in the outro requires locked, consistent downpicking at speed. Work through the song in order, since the clean sections are genuinely learnable before tackling the heavier material, and the outro triplet riff should be isolated and looped at reduced speed until the picking hand stays tight and even. A very common mistake is tensing the picking arm when the tempo demands increase, which kills both speed and accuracy on those sustained triplet bursts. The harmony solo section also rewards slow, careful practice before attempting it at full 110 bpm.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 110 BPM to build it up to tempo.

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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