A Minor Metal Backing Track

Build your own band: 16 moods and 20 styles in any key and tempo, with drums, percussion, bass, two chord instruments, a pad and lead fills, each with its own sound and volume.

This is an A minor metal backing track: a galloping metal riff: bass and guitar locked to the kick drum’s eighth-two-sixteenths gallop. It plays the i – ♭VI – ♭VII – i progression in A minor at 150 BPM in 4/4, round and round, so you can practise soloing, rhythm or both.

The player above is set to this track. Press Play, slow it down or speed it up, mute the guitar to play the chords yourself, or mute the bass to play the bass line. You can also switch key or style without leaving the page.

How the band plays it

A galloping riff, an eighth and two sixteenths, played by the kick drum, the bass and the palm-muted guitar together, in a dark minor key.

The chords

i – ♭VI – ♭VII – i: natural minor chords, played as power chords under a gallop. In A minor that is Am, F, G.

1Am
2F
3G
4Am

In numbers: i = Am · ♭VI = F · ♭VII = G. The numbers count from the key’s root, so the same progression works in any key.

The shapes the guitar plays

Power chords: the root and fifth, with the octave on top. Palm-mute them for the chug, let them ring on the accents.

Am12F123G3fr123

Play the rhythm part yourself

Use down-up-down picking on each gallop, palm-muting the low strings, and hit the open power chord on the first beat of the bar. Mute the guitar in the player and the band leaves the part to you.

What to solo with

Natural minor or harmonic minor runs in three-notes-a-string patterns, with fast alternate picking and wide vibrato on the long notes.

Notes to aim for

Scales get you through the track; landing on the chord tones makes a solo follow the changes. The strongest notes over each chord are its 3rd and 7th:

ChordRoot3rd5th7th
AmACE–
FFAC–
GGBD–

How to practise with it

  1. Listen to one time round the progression and count the bars.
  2. Play the root note of each chord on the beat, then the whole chord with the band.
  3. Solo with A minor pentatonic, starting and ending phrases on A.
  4. Aim for the 3rd of each chord as it arrives (the table above).
  5. Raise the tempo by 5 BPM when it feels easy, or try the same track in another key.

Common questions

What chords are in this A minor metal backing track?

Am, F, G, in the order Am | F | G | Am.

What scale do I use over an A minor metal?

A minor pentatonic (A C D E G) is the first choice; A natural minor and A blues also work.

Can I change the tempo or key?

Yes: change the tempo or tap another key in the player and the band follows from the next bar. Every track is made live, so any tempo sounds natural.

Can I download it?

Yes: from the menu, save it as an MP3 or WAV file, as MIDI for your music software, or print the chord chart.

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Metal backing tracks in other keys

More backing tracks in A

Practice tools

Backing track player: every style, key and tempo · All free tools