Kirk Hammett has been the target of criticism and jokes on the internet because of his guitar solo Metallica 's most recent singles .
Disgruntled internet users opined that this was Hammett's "worst solo," while others posted their own "improved" versions on YouTube. The scale of the criticism was so great that the guitarist defended himself and spoke out about the matter recently.
In an interview with Total Guitar , Hammett rejected the idea that his solo was bad simply because it was easy to play, explaining that it was a solo in service of the music. “Yes, the friends who live on my street could probably play a better solo on 'Lux Æterna', but why bother? For me, what’s appropriate is playing for the music and in the moment,” he argued.
Hammett also said he laughs at the online criticism and people who tried to recreate his solo in a more elaborate way. The guitarist said he could play a more complex sequence and even do an arpeggio, but that kind of technique "wouldn't work in any Metallica song."
“I know modules, I know the Hungarian scale, symmetrical scales, I know all that,” he continues. “Is it appropriate? Maybe a few years ago, but not nowadays. What’s more appropriate is creating melodies that sound more like vocal melodies. And guess what? The best scale for imitating vocal melodies is the pentatonic scale.”
The pentatonic scale mentioned by Kirk Hammett is known for being easy to apply and adapt, and is commonly used by "beginner" musicians. It is the set of all scales formed by five musical notes or tones.
Finally, the Metallica guitarist denied the suggestion that he wasn't a fan of guitar technique, explaining: “I love people who play intuitively, and I've heard a lot of real technique from people who play intuitively. Allan Holdsworth , Eddie Van Halen , Joe Satriani, Yngwie [Malmsteen] – they all play intuitively, but for a lot of guys it's like a sport or like the Olympics.”
“Music is [made] to reflect beauty, creativity, feeling, life. There is a place and an audience for all [technique], but I feel that sometimes people get tired of it,” he concludes.
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