However, in recent months I have been indulging in this dark and guilty pleasure, head-banging shamelessly to Slayer as I have not done since high school. While one can argue as to the depth and/or moral context of most of the more traditional common themes found in popular metal lyrics, no one can quite argue with such an onslaught of sound. The music still blows my ‘effin mind, true – but I reckon that due to my progressing age, that air of defiance against authority is gone, along with some questionable wardrobe choices. Nonetheless, when browsing the Hype Machine for new tunes to feed the Pod, I was delighted to find this adorable little tale of elementary school rebellion inspired by Twisted Sister. Rock on, you little devils!

Ok, budding guitarists – wanna cross over to the dark side with some tasty metal tunes? First, get into gear and master that perfect metal tone with this comprehensive video tutorial from LickLibrary. The next step is to get familiar with the awesome guitar goods and gear that make metal into the musical beast that it is:

1. Practice Metal Riffs and Riffing Techniques:
In this guitar video tutorial, LickLibrary contributor Andy James demonstrates how to practice some metal riffing techniques.

2. Learn How to Use Palm Muting Techniques:

In this beginner-level tutorial from iVideosongs, instructor Danny Grady demonstrates how to perfect right-hand palm muting on simple chords and right hand patterns.

3. Nail Some Killer Rock and Metal Runs:

Learn how to play killer rock and metal runs on guitar with this video tutorial from LickLibrary.

4. Go Neo-Classical with Yngwie Malmsteen

Sure, it may have taken you a while to pronounce his name, but Yngwie is a bona-fide guitar god. Sit back, guitar in hand, and learn some neo-classical rock licks inspired by Yngwie Malmsteen’s unmistakable sound.

5. Master Melodic Rock Guitar Licks and Shred Away:

Somewhere back in 11th grade, one of my dearest friends decided to lock himself in his room armed with his two Gibsons, some canned goods, and a Steve Vai guitar boot camp DVD, only to emerge three days later, sleep-deprived but totally driven. Thanks to 5min, you can now get your own dose of Vai, and learn how to play melodic rock guitar licks.

1) Shay’s Pick: Something – The Beatles

Shay’s choice is the classic and premium , a song  of which Frank Sinatra once said: “I believe George Harrison’s hauntingly beautiful song is one of the greatest love songs ever written, and it never even says I Love You.”

2) Na’ama’s Pick: Sunday – Sonic Youth

Beautifully disturbing video aside (proving that child actors never grow up quite right and that Thurston Moore has the best hair in the music world), this has always been my favorite love song. In a genre full of clichés, this song stands out in its simplicity.  You know it’s true love when you find someone that makes you feel like Sunday never ends, or screams “aaaassssss yooooou wishhhhhhhh” while rolling down a mountain…but that one’s for a different V-Day list.

3) Roxana’s Pick: Where Do I Begin – Andy Williams

Many love songs make me wanna cry, dance, or sing like neighbors don’t exist. But only one makes me think that “love means never having to say you’re sorry”.

4) Ealeal’s Pick: Crazy – Patsy Cline

When he wasn’t busy hanging out with Kris Kristofferson, golfing or lighting up, Willie Nelson managed to write what would turn out to be possibly one of the best love ballads ever – Crazy. Catapulted to fame and golden country legacy by a mesmerizing recording by Patsy Cline released in 1961, Crazy is the literal love song equivalent of a kick to the groin – because honestly, who hasn’t been driven this far into a heart-wrenching stretch of temporary insanity, laced with pints of Ben & Jerry’s and self pity? *sniff*

5) Moshe’s Pick – My Heart Will Go On – Celine Dion

I know it’s cheesy, but on my second not-so-official date with a girl named Alma we rented Titanic and I wept like a baby.
Alma and I are celebrating our second anniversary, and I love her more than anything in this world. I can’t even imagine living without her. Alma , will you marry me?

Luckily for us, 5min is rocking steady with thousands of great guitar tutorials, many of them geared at newbies like ourselves. Alongside leading names in guitar and musical instruction such as iVideosongs, Spytunes, Lick Library, Live To Jam and DolphinStreet, there is also a long list of industrious guitarists who have been busy uploading their excellent guitar tutorial videos to the 5min platform, offering a rich variety of levels, styles and teaching methods for every aspiring guitarist.

But let’s aside our fantasies of rockstardom aside for a moment – after all, you gotta learn how to crawl before you can run, and before we can dream of hollering “THANK YOU MILWAUKEE!” at a crowd of thousands or dominating the stage at Madison Square Garden, we need to at least master a few basic chords.

Obviously, there’s still a long, long road ahead of us before anyone in the office can tear it up like Zakk Wylde, but at least now we have something to aspire to:

So you wanna be a guitar hero? The guitar is a wonderful instrument and can open up whole new worlds, but picking up a guitar and getting started can be intimidating. Here are some 5min guitar pointers for those of you who want to rock:

- Tune your guitar. When picking up a guitar with the intent of learning how to play, the ideal start is a well-tuned guitar. Don’t know how to tune a guitar? Fear not – learn how to easily tune your guitar here!

- Learn how to read guitar tabs. Guitar tablatures, or tabs, are a system of musical notations used when playing guitar. In tabs, each line corresponds to a string on the guitar, and each number displayed tells you which fret you should be holding down when plucking a given string string.

- Learn and practice your chords. While its true that the Ramones did just fine with only three chords, you may want to beef up on your chord knowledge in order to enable you to play a variety of musical styles and tunes. After all, Freebird can get a little dry after a while…

We will continue with our rigorous guitar training, and expect you all to do the same. In the meantime… Rock loud, rock proud, and rock on!

It’s not that I particularly wanted to learn guitar, either. It just upset me a great deal to be surrounded by individuals who could – with varying degrees of success – pick up a Les Paul Custom and rock out, while I could not. While Guitar Hero led me to a revival of glam-rock and some 80’s tracks that could only be defined as guilty pleasures, it also left me right back at square one – standing there with my toy guitar, fingers chafed and injured from pummeling my rock into plastic buttons, staring up at yet another “No Freebird!!!” sign.

Growing up I’d always had a deep and sincere respect for the power of rock, but I was too busy trying to convince my parents that drums would be a totally welcome addition to our household to ever even think of learning to play guitar. Since we were 4 siblings under the same roof, I was holding fast to the dream that we could have an in-house rock outfit, with a little Partridge Family twist thrown in. Unfortunately for me, our parents did not think there was enough sound insulation technology in the world to protect them from such a scenario, and a veto was called.

Thanks to the advent of the Internet and sites like this one, the rock-starved masses can still get their groove on, while actually learning the foundations as they go. iVideosongs offer exceptionally well-produced videos that will have you rocking in no time – iVideosongs showcase a great tool for aspiring musicians everywhere, with which you can learn how to play your favorite jams completely and accurately, whether taught by the original artists who wrote and performed them, or by expert guitar instructors. Each iVideosongs title is broken into segments, so you learn the intro, verse, chorus, bridge and outro. In addition, each includes an accurate performance, so you can check your progress against the complete track. Needless to point out, all the techniques, tips, tricks and professional guitar lingo are much more fun to learn if you’re belting out your fave songs while learning from the pros.

Looking for an extra treat? Be sure to catch iVideosong’s interview segments, where you can hear what was really the driving force which inspired the song you’re learning.

But, just as you must learn how to crawl before you can run, you must also learn to tune before you strum: