Dimebag Darrell wrote the book on the art of shredding – but his rhythm style took metal riffing to a new level

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Pantera began life in the early ’80s as a glam metal band, before recruiting Phil Anselmo on vocals and becoming the much heavier band that forged the groove-metal genre.

Much of the band’s weight can be attributed to Dimebag’s rhythm guitar work. His combination of aggressive tone along with precise muting made way for tight, powerful phrases.

To fill out the sound, Dimebag interjected high melodic motifs and low, chromatic power chord sequences alongside the main riffs. This brought variety to his rhythm parts while giving the impression of a second guitarist filling in the gaps.

Get the tone

Amp Settings: Gain 7, Bass 5, Middle 3, Treble 8

For an aggressive tone, use your bridge pickup and add a decent amount of gain on your guitar amp. Dimebag had a lot of bite to his sound, so leave your bass setting at 12 o’clock, cut some of the middle and boost the treble on your amp’s EQ. To keep things tight, turn your reverb off.

Example 1

This study uses swung eighth notes to create a heavy shuffle feel. Alternate picking is used for the main phrases, as this helps to maintain the groove at high tempos. Down picking is reserved to add weight to the chromatic powerchord sequences or single-note lines at the end of each phrase.

Example 2

This study uses eighth-note triplets to establish pace, while the blues scale brings familiarity to the fills.

To get the pinched harmonics in the fourth bar, angle your pick at 90 degrees towards the floor, and brush against the string with the side of your thumb after the plectrum strikes the note. Experiment with where along the string the harmonics jump out best.

Take note of the slides within each phrase, as they maintain the fluidity while changing fretboard position.