A DIME A HALF DOZEN

EMULATE DIMEBAG DARRELL'S BLISTERING RIFF-WRITING STYLE AND LEAD-PLAYING TECHNIQUES WITH THIS SIX PACK OF DIMEINSPIRED RIFFS AND LICKS

- CHARLIE GRIFFITHS

THE LATE, GREAT Dimebag Darrell Abbott continues to be one of both Texas' and modern metal's most celebrated and influential guitarists. His bone-crunching power chord and single-note riffs, hauntingly beautiful clean, mellow arpeggio passages and wailing, goosebump-inducing leads, as featured in such Pantera classics as "Cowboys from Hell," "Floods," "This Love," "Cemetery Gates," "Primal Concrete Sledge," "5 Minutes Alone" and others, continue to inspire metal and hard rock guitarists the world over. In this lesson, we present a handful of short, Dime-influenced phrases that offer insight into the legendary guitarist's unique, innovative style.

Dimebag's lead playing was characterized by slick, wide-stretch legato passages, fast alternate picking and his trademark screaming natural and artificial "pinch" harmonics and gut-wrenching whammy bar manipulations, often underpinned with an aggressive Texas blues flavor. Mastering Dime's lead style will take time and practice, so play these musical examples slowly at first, and focus on accuracy and clean note production above speed.

FIGURE 1: POWER CHORD RIFFING