Buzz
'Djent' is a term coined by the distinct riffing of Meshuggah and other bands. It's commonly associated with a variety of progressive metal bands sharing a similar sound or style. If you're interested in learning how to play djent riffs and achieve the characteristic djent sound, you can start by understanding the basics of tone and mastering the riffs.
Key Steps
Immersing Yourself in Djent Music
Grasp the Concept of Djent. 'Djent' is an onomatopoetic term used to describe both a guitar tone and a stylized riff found in a specific subgenre of progressive metal music. Initially coined by Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal to describe the type of tone he sought, it has since been adopted by fans and critics alike to characterize a particular group of bands utilizing such tones, particularly in primary guitar riffs and breakdowns.
- Within the metal community, there exists some debate regarding whether 'djent' constitutes a distinct genre or style, or whether it possesses any enduring significance.
Explore djent bands. While Meshuggah is often credited with popularizing the djent tone, the term now encompasses a range of progressive metal, pop metal, and metalcore bands incorporating djent breakdowns into their music. If you're interested in the 'djent' sound, consider checking out these bands:
- Periphery
- Animals as Leaders
- Tesseract
- Monuments
- Born of Osiris
- Cloudkicker
- Bulb
Explore djent riff compilations on YouTube. To immerse yourself in the distinct djent sound originally referred to by Fredrik, numerous 'djent comps' on YouTube compile the heaviest and most 'djenty' riffs. It's an efficient way to conduct research.
Explore other genres for djent influence.
While the classification of djent as a distinct genre is debated, it emerged as a trend in some metalcore bands during 2010-2012. Although few bands self-identify as 'djent,' you may detect its influence or style in various genres, as it denotes a particular tone and riff style. Listen for djent influences in:
- Deathcore or pure death metal
- Metalcore, pop metal, or screamo
- Prog metal or math rock
Achieving the Djent Sound
Obtain a guitar with additional strings. Typically, the chugging djent riff is played on the lowest string of a guitar with extra strings, often downtuned to D or lower. While it's feasible to play djent riffs on a six-string guitar, a guitar with more strings simplifies playing the breakdown riff without sacrificing a specific string for it.
- Djent guitarists commonly tune the six strings to standard (EADGBE), then downtune the lowest string to match the song's key.
Adjust your gain settings. Despite common belief, achieving the Djent tone requires relatively low gain compared to other heavy styles. Once your multi-string guitar is plugged in, increase the gain on either your distortion pedal or amplifier until soft playing just begins to break up and low notes sound almost unaffected.
- When using an amplifier, consider reducing or eliminating other effects, especially delay, tremolo, or reverb. Djent tone thrives on crispness and dryness, so aim for sharpness.
Incorporate an overdrive pedal or effect. When gearing up for breakdowns, adding a bit of volume boost and punch is common to enhance djent riff delivery. An overdrive pedal is ideal for achieving this effect. Combining overdrive with high gain produces the crunchy tone essential for djenting.
- Utilize a compressor effect to maintain signal consistency and ensure uniform note amplitude. This helps to balance the djent riff with other notes in the song and equalize individual riff notes. Given its percussive nature, this pedal is crucial in your setup.
Experiment with chorus effects or octave units. While not mandatory for playing djent riffs, these effects contribute to the distinctive and intriguing tone of the djent riff, which simultaneously spans high and low frequencies on a single note. Incorporating a chorus or octave unit into your pedal chain, with the volume set relatively low, accentuates this effect.
- Depending on your equipment and guitar, these additions may be unnecessary and could compromise your tone. If you're satisfied with your djent-style riffs without these pedals, feel free to omit them from your setup.
Executing Djent Techniques
Master palm-muting. Palm-muting is fundamental to djent and most metal riffs. Mastering alternate picking while muting all strings on the guitar, or at least those being played, with the edge of your hand enhances control and emphasizes the percussive chug characteristic of the djent riff.
- Position your picking hand so that the space between your pinkie and wrist rests on the strings, between the bridge and neck pickups. Execute an alternate-picking pattern on the lowest string of your guitar. You're on your way to mastering djent.
Create polyrhythmic riffs on a single note. Polyrhythms are a defining characteristic of djent and most progressive or 'math' metal. Essentially, this involves playing the riff with a distinct rhythm compared to the rest of the music or the beat. It can be synchronized with the verses and choruses or aligned with the drums within the riff itself.
- If the concept of polyrhythms seems complex, think of it as playing 'off-time' riffs, as if you and the drummer were playing slightly different songs at the same tempo but working together to create a cohesive effect.
Emphasize the chug. Repeat the word 'djent' rapidly five times. That's the sound you're aiming for with your riffs. Imagine using your lowest guitar string like a snare drum to deliver a rhythmic and melodic 'fill' that induces headbanging. The heavier and more rhythmic, the better.
- Most djent riffs consist of one or two notes and are typically played on the lowest guitar string without fretting.
Elevate breakdown riffs as a focal point of the music. A hallmark of mathcore is the sudden shifts between song sections. Djent riff breakdowns often involve a slight decrease in tempo compared to the verses and choruses. It's common to initiate a djent song with the breakdown riff, accelerate into the verse, transition to the chorus, and return to the breakdown.
- Sweeping arpeggiated solos
- Catchy choruses
- Frequent djent breakdowns and blast beats
- Sharp tempo changes
Expert Advice
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Invest in quality guitars. Being a successful djentleman necessitates owning exceptionally high-priced guitars. Extra credit if they're custom-built by an obscure luthier.
The insights provided in this section are drawn from the real-life experiences of Mytour readers like yourself. If you have a valuable tip to share with Mytour, please don't hesitate to submit it below.
- If you're limited to a six-string guitar, consider tuning your low E string down to either a low C or B while keeping the other strings unchanged. Although this won't replicate the authentic djent sound, it serves as a temporary solution until you acquire another guitar.
- An eight- or nine-string guitar is highly recommended for djenting, but more strings equate to better performance!
- Invest in a quality noise gate to achieve the crisp and percussive sound desired for djenting.
