Looking Back: Enter Sandman Practice
Early in June 2023, when I started on Fender Play, they did a very slowed down, simplified version of Enter Sandman from Metallica. The Fender practice riff version plays at 70 bps. (Rock, Electric Guitar Level 1, Course 10 with Matt Lake). I found the practice song so slowed down and simplified that I could hardly recognize the song let along enjoy practicing with it. Despite that, I stuck with the song and eventually got good enough at it that I could move on to the next exercise.
As I get better and advance through the levels, I sometimes go back though my Fender Play account and look at Levels and Courses that I’d previously worked on. Enter Sandman was one of those songs. I still don’t like the exercise, but it did push me to start looking into the real Enter Sandman song. I found a free Enter Sandman tab on Songsterr.com and looking at it closer really got me into trying to learn parts of the song again.
The Songsterr.com tab for the song runs at 123 bps and is more complicated: Enter Sandman Tab by Metallica – James Hetfield (Clean) – Electric Guitar (clean) | Songsterr Tabs with Rhythm. Naturally, it’s more challenging than the Level 1 exercise: (https://www.songsterr.com/a/wsa/metallica-enter-sandman-tab-s19t1). It’s been super fun trying to take my practice to the next level with this. For the Fender Play students out there, I encourage you to go back, review, and push outside of the Fender Play box. You find a lot more to enjoy and a new appreciation of where your guitar skills once were, what your challenges are, and how you’ll grow.