Whiskey In The Jar Guitar Lesson – Metallica

In this guitar lesson series we will take an in-depth look at Metallica's cover of the well known Irish traditional song "Whiskey In The Jar".

Metallica's take on this classic song is by far the most well-known, and even won them a Grammy in 2000 for best hard rock performance.

As far Metallica songs are concerned, this Whiskey In The Jar guitar lesson will be one of their easiest songs to play. The rhythm guitar chords are very simple with nothing that will challenge any player that is at least a lower intermediate level player.

In the first video lesson below, I will cover all of the rhythm guitar parts and the main melody that is performed throughout the song by James Hetfield. This melody is played using an octave pedal so that is why you will hear it a little differently in the video lesson (I don't have an octave pedal hooked up). You will need an octave pedal in order to make it sound like the record. What I have done in the lesson is play the melody just like James Hetfield does live.

In the second video I will cover the guitar solo and the harmony guitar section as well. It is a rare song for Metallica where James Hetfield takes a majority of the lead guitar work. Once again though, even the solo for "Whiskey In The Jar" is highly playable by the intermediate level guitarist. There are no fast licks to worry about at all, just some nice melodic playing.

Keep in mind, the octave pedal is being used during the solo as well.

There is also a harmony guitar section being played by both James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett, I will cover that after the guitar solo.

This Metallica cover song is one of the most requested songs here at GL365 so I hope you guys enjoy it!

Carl...

If these free lessons help you, please donate to keep new ones coming daily. Thanks!! 🙂

Whiskey In The Jar Guitar Lesson - Part One

Whiskey In The Jar Guitar Lesson - Solo