7 Reasons Cliff Burton F***ing ROCKS (+Bass Lesson Tips)

How did Cliff Burton become a metal bass hero? Here’s my take on Metallica’s legendary former bassist, plus tips to level up your own playing. Sheet music bass tab for all the Cliff riffs I played - What really freaked me out when I first heard Cliff was when he’d shred his bass like a lead guitar - so first we’ll break down part of his solo on “Orion”. I’ll show you 3 guitarist-style tricks Cliff uses to make that solo shred hard. Then we’ll talk influences, metal legends like Steve Harris, Geezer Butler, and Lemmy Kilmister had a big impact on Cliff, and you can see that influence directly in the bass line examples we’ll check out. Cliff was also majorly influenced by listening to Johann Sebastian Bach and other baroque composers. I’ll break down exactly how that influence showed up in his playing - and how it didn’t. (nobody ever talks about this!) As any fan knows, Cliff wrote super cre