Metallica's Kirk Hammett has opened up about his guitar lessons with Joe Satriani.

The rocker was taught to play guitar by Joe over 30 years ago and revealed he asked him for lessons after seeing his friends turn into ''incredible guitar players overnight'' thanks to Joe.

He told Vancouver radio station CFOX: ''I took lessons from him in 1981. We knew each other way back when. He gave lessons out of a small music store in Berkeley, California. And all of my friends were taking lessons from him and they were becoming incredible guitar players literally overnight. So I found him and said, 'Hey, I wanna become an incredible guitar player overnight too.' And so I took lessons from him for a while -- for about a year or so.

''His first lesson to me was, 'Learn your lesson. Don't waste your time, don't waste my time. I expect you to know everything that I gave you in a week's time.' I was, like, 'This guy is serious.' But you know what? I did it, and he kicked my ass. But after a while, I was taking two lessons a week from him. I became so thirsty for what he had to offer me, I was just, like, 'Bring it on! It's all making sense. I wanna learn more.'''

And Kirk says his former teacher is one of the best musicians he has ever met.

He said: ''I have to say, Joe Satriani has always played that way. Ever since I first met him, he's always played incredibly - with all the sounds and all the bar stuff and tapping and crazy licks that no one's ever played, and still probably never plays. I mean, he's just such a unique individual as a musician.''