Comparrison of Metal and Grunge Music

The musical genres for metal and grunge are often mistaken for the same genre. Many people make this mistake because the two are often loud, and the person listening to it does not give the music a chance to show its differences. Nevertheless, the two genres of music have some similarities, but also several important differences.

One similarity that the two genres share is their guitar tones. Both of these genres use extreme amounts of distortion in their guitar playing. Both also have the high settings on their amps set to a higher level than their mids, to give the guitar tone a crisp crunchy sound. Grunge and metal are also known for their driving bass tone, which comes from the over driven bass guitar.

Though these two genres are very similar in tone, they are dramatically different in the style and techniques of the guitar playing. Grunge guitar playing is usually characterized by a sludgy and sloppy style of playing; whereas, metal guitar playing is known for being fast and precise. Metal music is also known for its complicated and intricate guitar riffs. Grunge however, is generally sloppy and repetitive guitar riffs. Also, most every metal guitar player takes pride in his writing and style of playing; grunge guitarists take pride in not trying at all.

Both metal and grunge have aggressive screaming and yelling vocals. Both genres, along with the aggressive vocals, mix melodic singing into their songs. Even though the two genres use the same style of singing, they have very different lyrical styles. Most grunge lyricists write of either real, personal experiences, or someone else's tragic experience, making grunge much more personal to the listener. Metal lyrics generally consist of fictional events and characters.

Metal drumming, like metal guitar playing, requires extreme skill, and talent. It is often fast and aggressive. The drummer uses either a double bass pedal, or two bass drums for an even faster sound. The drums in metal are used to give a driving feeling. Grunge drumming is usually simple and steady. This drumming style, unlike metal drumming, is slow, and used to give the music a heavy, big feel.

These two genres of music share many similarities, as well as differences. However, there are enough differences for the two genres to not be mistaken for the same genre, or for each other.