The spider chord is a guitar technique popularized during the 80s thrash metal

Thrash metal

Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...

 scene. Regarded as being re-popularized by Dave Mustaine

Dave Mustaine

David Scott "Dave" Mustaine is the founder, main songwriter, guitarist, and lead vocalist for the American heavy metal band Megadeth. Prior to Megadeth, Mustaine was the first lead guitarist and a co-songwriter of the heavy metal band Metallica until he was fired from the band in 1983. In 2009, he...

 of Megadeth

Megadeth

Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California which was formed in 1983 by guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine, bassist Dave Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt, following Mustaine's expulsion from Metallica. The band has since released 13 studio albums, three live albums, two...

, it is used to reduce string noise

String noise

In guitar and string instrument technique, string noise is the noise created by the movement of the fingers of the left hand on the strings such as when shifting on one string or changing from one string to another....

 when playing (mostly chromatic

Diatonic and chromatic

Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony...

) riffs which require chords across several strings

Strings (music)

A string is the vibrating element that produces sound in string instruments, such as the guitar, harp, piano, and members of the violin family. Strings are lengths of a flexible material kept under tension so that they may vibrate freely, but controllably. Strings may be "plain"...

.

The chord

Chord (music)

A chord in music is any harmonic set of two–three or more notes that is heard as if sounding simultaneously. These need not actually be played together: arpeggios and broken chords may for many practical and theoretical purposes be understood as chords...

 or technique is used in the songs "Wake Up Dead

Wake Up Dead

"Wake Up Dead" is a song by Megadeth. It is the only single released from their second album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, and additionally the first single ever launched by the band. Along with the title track, "Peace Sells", this song is a live staple at almost every Megadeth show...

", "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" is the opening track of heavy metal band Megadeth's 1990 album Rust in Peace.The song has an unusual structure, shifting at 2:26 after an acoustic bridge by Marty Friedman to a different, slower and heavier section called "The Punishment Due", before speeding up...

" and "Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning

Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released on July 27, 1984 through the independent record label Megaforce Records. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on November 5, 1987 and was most recently certified 5x platinum on June 9, 2003...

".

Technique

   D5 Bb5

e|-------|

B|-------|

G|-------|

D|-7-----|

A|-5--8--|

E|----6--|

   3      <

   1  4   <--Spider chord fingering

      2   <

As seen in the above tab

Tablature

Tablature is a form of musical notation indicating instrument fingering rather than musical pitches....

, the two power chord

Power chord

In music, a power chord is a chord consisting of only the root note of the chord and the fifth interval, usually played on electric guitar, and typically through an amplification process that imparts distortion...

s may be played in succession without shifting

Shift (string technique)

On a string instrument, shifting, or a shift, is a movement of the fingers of the left hand from one position to another on the same string. Position is indicated through ordinal numbers . Strings may be indicated through roman numerals, I-IV, and fingering may be indicated through numbers, 1-4...

, making it easier and quicker, and thus avoiding string noise. The normal fingering would be for both chords, requiring a simultaneous shift and string change

String change

On string instruments, a string change is a change from playing on one string to another. This may also involve a simultaneous change in fingering and/or position , all of which must be done skillfully to avoid noticeable string noise. String may be indicated through roman numerals or simply the...

. Note that the two power chords are a major third

Major third

In classical music from Western culture, a third is a musical interval encompassing three staff positions , and the major third is one of two commonly occurring thirds. It is qualified as major because it is the largest of the two: the major third spans four semitones, the minor third three...

 apart, if the first chord is the tonic

Tonic (music)

In music, the tonic is the first scale degree of the diatonic scale and the tonal center or final resolution tone. The triad formed on the tonic note, the tonic chord, is thus the most significant chord...

 the second is the minor submediant

Submediant

In music, the submediant is the sixth scale degree of the diatonic scale, the 'lower mediant' halfway between the tonic and the subdominant or 'lower dominant'...

. The spider chord fingering also allows access to a major seventh chord

Major seventh chord

In music, a major seventh chord is any nondominant seventh chord where the "third" note is a major third above the root.Most typically, major seventh chord refers to where the "seventh" note is a major seventh above the root . This is more precisely known as the major/major seventh chord, and it...

 without the third

Third (music)

In music and music theory third may refer to:*major third*minor third*augmented third/perfect fourth*diminished third/major second*Third , chord member a third above the root*Mediant, third degree of the diatonic scale...

:

    AM7

e|------|

B|------|

G|------|

D|--6---|

A|--7---|

E|--5---|

    3

    4

    2

The spider chord requires the player to use all four fingers of the fretting hand, thus its name. This technique then allows you to run down the neck

Neck (music)

The neck is the part of certain string instruments that projects from the main body and is the base of the fingerboard, where the fingers are placed to stop the strings at different pitches. Guitars, lutes, the violin family, and the mandolin family are examples of instruments which have necks.The...

playing either of the two chords.