Learn how to play "Cowboys From Hell" by Pantera, the song that made them a household name. The song has an instantly recognizable guitar riff and showcases what Pantera is all about: groove metal.
Taught by Dennis Hodges in Metal Songs with Dennis seriesLength: 40:00Difficulty: 4.0 of 5
Learn to rock out to the heavy metal classics throughout history.
Lesson 2
Dennis Hodges teaches "Beast and the Harlot" by Avenged Sevenfold.
Length: 59:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 4
Dennis brings you "Toxicity" off of the 2002 album from System of a Down. Get your metal face ready.
Length: 29:22 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 5
Learn "Laid to Rest" by Lamb of God. Released in 2004, this action-packed tune is the first track on their third album, Ashes of the Wake.
Length: 25:34 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 6
"Symphony of Destruction" is track #2 on Countdown to Extinction. This tune is a Megadeth fan favorite.
Length: 26:43 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 7
Off their 1992 album Vulgar Display of Power, this Pantera song redefined "respect".
Length: 32:46 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 11
"Inside the Fire" is the first single from Disturbed's fourth studio album, Indestructible. Dennis teaches all parts of this song including the solo!
Length: 33:28 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 14
Dennis Hodges teaches Bullet For My Valentine's "Waking The Demon" off their Scream Aim Fire album.
Length: 41:54 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 16
This is the title song from Cannibal Corpse' first EP. Released in 1993, this is the bands most popular song mainly due to an appearance in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
Length: 33:05 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 17
Dennis Hodges shows you how to play this Judas Priest classic, which is actually a cover of a Fleetwood Mac song.
Length: 30:06 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 18
Released in 2008 on The Showdown's third record, Back Breaker. This song features pummeling rhythm guitar and a tricky solo.
Length: 35:47 Difficulty: 2.5 Members OnlyLesson 19
Learn how to play "(sic)" by Slipknot in this lesson.
Length: 20:12 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 20
Dennis puts a heavy metal spin on this classic Christmas song.
Length: 18:04 Difficulty: 1.5 Members OnlyLesson 21
Dennis Hodges teaches this pummeling metal song from the band Meshuggah.
Length: 56:12 Difficulty: 4.5 Members OnlyLesson 23
Learn this great Megadeth song from their album Cryptic Writings.
Length: 39:39 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 24
Learn this Megadeth classic from Rust In Peace.
Length: 53:39 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 25
Learn this Megadeth classic from the Countdown To Extinction album.
Length: 36:16 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 26
Learn this great ballad from the Youthanasia record.
Length: 36:32 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 27
Dennis Hodges teaches this Metallica classic from the band's 1988 album ...And Justice For All.
Length: 69:02 Difficulty: 3.5 Members OnlyLesson 28
In this lesson, you'll learn how to play "Quintessence" by progressive metal band, Mastodon. The song is on the critically acclaimed album Crack the Skye, which was released in 2009. Dennis Hodges...
Length: 33:01 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 29
Dennis Hodges teaches this Dokken classic note for note. From the signature riffs to the blistering solo, Dennis breaks it all down for you in this lesson.
Length: 41:39 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 30
Here is a lesson on this devastating piece of classical music written by Niccolò Paganini in the early 19th century. The lesson is aimed at shred guitarists because of the high level of technical proficiency...
Length: 49:14 Difficulty: 4.5 Members OnlyLesson 31
Learn how to play "Cowboys From Hell" by Pantera, the song that made them a household name. The song has an instantly recognizable guitar riff and showcases what Pantera is all about: groove metal.
Length: 40:00 Difficulty: 4.0 Members OnlyLesson 32
Here is a lesson from Dennis Hodges on Disturbed's most well known song, "Down With The Sickness". The song is a concert staple and the album was certified platinum. Dennis breaks down all the parts and...
Length: 26:00 Difficulty: 2.0 Members OnlyLesson 33
Dennis Hodges teaches all the parts to this power ballad by heavy metal band Pantera. At over 7 minutes, this is the longest Pantera song ever recorded. This song has one of "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott's...
Length: 65:30 Difficulty: 4.5 Members OnlyLesson 34
Learn one of Dimebag Darrell's most famous riffs with this lesson on "I'm Broken" from Far Beyond Driven. This song is a "must-learn" for metal students.
Length: 31:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 35
Channel your inner hate and turn it into something productive with this lesson on "Mouth For War" from the metal band Pantera. This song is from the record Vulgar Display of Power, which was released...
Length: 30:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members OnlyLesson 36
Learn "This Love" by the metal band Pantera. Released on Vulgar Display of Power in 1992, this ballad has both haunting clean parts and brutal distorted riffs.
Length: 50:00 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
About Dennis Hodges
View Full Biography
For better or worse, Dennis Hodges cannot stop playing music, and (he hopes) will never stop playing music.
Growing up in Flint, Michigan, Dennis had a tremendous passion for drawing. He couldn't stop copying moves from bands he saw on MTV, though, and it didn't help that his parents filled the house with Santana, Stevie Ray, and Allman Bros. (on real records, no less!) so it wasn't long till he got his first guitar. It was junk. Within a few weeks his parents traded in a poor acoustic for a less junky 3/4-size electric.
Dennis started lessons right away at the age of 8. He still remembers hating it for awhile, and not taking it seriously until he was 12. He is thankful his parents forced him to practice early on and kept paying for lessons,
even though rational thinking should have stopped them after a year.
Around this time drawing became less important, and guitar consumed all his attention. After 6 years of lessons he parted ways with his teacher and, after trying out two others with no results, decided to continue alone.
His nerdistic tendencies paid off, as he put in hours working on picking and left hand exercises and learned as many Randy Rhoads and Kirk Hammett solos as he could.
Luckily, there were playing opportunities at school talent shows and church. Dennis was playing bass at his church when he was 13, helping to hone his performance skills in a group setting.
In high school, Dennis joined the marching band on sousaphone for all 4 years. It was as awesome as you could expect. He was also fortunate enough to be in several different metal bands, still play at church, and get the
incredible opportunity to play guitar for many local community theaters. This kept his sight-reading in shape and gave him an appreciation for different styles of music (and paid pretty well, from a high
schooler's perspective).
In 2001, Dennis came to Bexley, Ohio to study guitar at Capital University with Stan Smith. His studies emphasized jazz and classical guitar. Here his metal past merged with a deeper understanding of the instrument and
music in general, and the basis for most of his teaching style was set in motion.
Dennis now plays guitar for Upper Arlington Lutheran Church every Sunday, for St. Christopher in Grandview, Ohio, with the youth group, and also plays for touring Broadway shows that stop in Columbus. Occasionally,
he plays weddings and private parties, and he is starting a new cover band with some friends, called Dr. Awkward. He is blessed to have his understanding and supportive wife Kate, and is glad to be at JamPlay!
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Steve Eulberg does a quick review of this lesson series and talks about moving on.
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Free LessonSeries DetailsAward winning, Canadian fingerstyle guitarist Calum Graham introduces his Jamplay Artist Series, which aims to transform...
Free LessonSeries DetailsHawkeye teaches several Robert Johnson licks in this lesson. These licks are played with a slide in open G tuning.
Free LessonSeries DetailsLesson 7 is all about arpeggios. Danny provides discussion and exercises designed to build your right hand skills.
Free LessonSeries DetailsJamPlay welcomes bassist and founding member of Godsmack, Robbie Merrill. In this short introduction lesson, Robbie showcases...
Free LessonSeries DetailsErik expounds on the many possibilities of open tunings and the new harmonics that you can use in them. He explains what...
Free LessonSeries DetailsIn lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries DetailsOur electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Billy starts his artist series off with a lesson on something he gets asked the most to explain: right hand 3 finger technique.
Free LessonSeries DetailsSo how does Andy Wood pick so quickly and with such precision? Level up your speed and accuracy with Andy's near-flawless...
Free LessonSeries DetailsHone in on your right hand and focus on getting in the groove. You'll only play one note during this lesson, but it'll be...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin Joe as he shows one of his favorite drills for strengthening his facility around the fretboard: The Spider Technique.
Free LessonSeries DetailsBryan Beller of the Aristocrats, Dethklok, and Steve Vai takes you inside his six step method to learning any song by ear....
Free LessonSeries DetailsTake a new look at the fretboard and learn where to find a voicing that works. There are techniques that simplify the fretboard...
Free LessonSeries DetailsDavid MacKenzie introduces the tapping technique and teaches a fun exercise. This lesson includes a backing track.
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I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
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Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.hey Dennis, can you do inflame "take this life"?
cool riff
this is an amazing lesson Dennis, please do more Pantera, pleeeease cheers!!
you're just plain awesome!
hey man this is really good one.. could you also show how to play hallowed be thy name by iron maiden.. keep rocking..
this is the best lesson of cfh. fuck yeach
wooohoooo!
Yes.
Excellent. Perfect timing, my metal zone pedal arrived yesterday. Rocking to Pantera