1: start slow and work your way up with a metronome. Whatever you want to learn, wether that be fancy shredding shit, complex rhythm parts, or just basics like tremolo picking or downpicking, start with the metronome at a tempo several bpm below what you're comfortable with. When you play that slow, your timing will improve, and your technique will tighten up. Start increasing the metronome by a few bpm at a time - I'll go for 10 for things I'm already pretty good at, 5 for most things, and 2 for things I'm struggling with. When you can play whatever you're doing for about two minutes straight, at tempo, with no mistakes, you're probably good to move on up. This process is fucking boring, and it's a lot of time and effort, but you put in the work, you get results.
2: number one rule of vocals - if it hurts, you're doing it wrong. Everyone has a different technique, but you should be able to do harsh vocals without any actual pain. Don't be an idiot and go for eight hours at a time straight off, you will wear out your voice pretty fast when you start - you're using muscles that aren't used that much in normal life, so it takes a while to build them up into something more powerful. Open your mouth properly. Drink lots of water, drink lots of green tea, avoid dairy. As said above, get some singing lessons. You'll be taught more about breathing and control than you can work out online. And you'll learn to sing a bit as well, which is only ever going to be a good thing.
3: tunings don't matter. E standard is heavy enough for the first couple of Black Sabbath records, almost all of Iron Maiden's career, and Manowar, so it's heavy enough for anyone. Pick whatever you want. I tend to play in E because I'm lazy and can't be fucked messing about with setups for downtuning, and I like being able to get the strings I use in every music shop. The best way to get better at writing songs is to write songs. Putting a few riffs together then scrapping it is not writing a song. If you want to get better at running a mile, you don't run half then give up, do you? You run the whole mile, check your time, then do it again and try and do it better. Write songs. I recommend writing some punk songs to start you off. They don't need to be any good, just finish them. What I've done a few times is analyse songs that I like, and borrow the riff structure - so maybe the song follows your usual verse/chorus structure, but maybe the bridge goes to half time, then back into the main riff for a solo, then a new riff or two, then back into the verse, or something. Maybe there's a total riff fest outro. Maybe there's no outro at all. Does the song start with just a guitar, or is it everyone in at once? Listen to the components of songs you like and take inspiration. If you really like a thing a band does, and it makes you think "I wanna write something like that!", then do it. The more you do it, the better you get.
_________________ Venomwolf - blackened speeding metalpunk - debut album Stormriding Power out now!
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