It is possible to identify portions of the fine structure appearing in the x‐rayKabsorption edges of pure metals with their respective energy bands. The areas of these portions are proportional to the density of unoccupied states in each band and changes in their occupation density accompanying alloying. Face‐centered‐cubic Ni, Co, and Fe have similar fine structures that are characteristically different from that of body‐centered‐cubic Fe. An analysis of the latter suggests that the overlapping 3d+4s+4pbands in &agr;‐Fe are split into two sub‐bands separated by ∼8 eV. A direct comparison of changes in the areas under the curves of Cu‐Ni alloys shows that a systematic decline in Ni 3dholes and Cu 4sholes takes place with increasing copper content. An apparent saturation takes place at 56 at.% copper in agreement with magnetic saturation and NMR measurements.