If you're a fan of Metallica’s ...And Justice for All, you know that To Live Is To Die is one of their most hauntingly beautiful instrumentals. The interlude section, with its melancholic arpeggios and smooth transitions, stands out as an emotional centerpiece of the song. In this lesson, I’ll walk you through how to play the interlude using hybrid picking, a technique that blends the use of a guitar pick with fingerpicking for a smooth, articulate sound.

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Chords Used in This Lesson

The interlude revolves around four essential chords:

• A minor (Am)
• G major (G)
• E minor (Em)
• F major (F)

These chords are played in a flowing, fingerpicked style that creates the song’s signature ethereal feel.

Hybrid Picking – The Secret to Smooth Playing

For this tutorial, I’m using hybrid picking, which means I hold the pick between my thumb and index finger while using my middle and ring fingers to pluck the higher strings. This approach helps achieve clarit...