Ashwind Vigil (hard) · level 3 · goal 160 bpm

Ashwind Vigil is an eight-bar melodic riff in standard tuning: Melodic death, G minor harmonic, stop-time single-note riff at the 10th fret. This is level 3 of 3, played at 160 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 120 to 160 bpm. It works on palm muting, power chords, hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides. The player loops the riff with drums and bass, starts at 70% speed and steps up 5% after every clean pass until you play it at full tempo.

Each sixteenth pickup must land exactly on the next chord, so practice them slowly as pairs. Choke every chord hit flat. In the full bars, keep the reverse gallops muted and tight against the kick.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 120 bpm · Melodic death, G minor harmonic, stop-time single-note riff at the 10th fret. In the stop bars, kill each hit right away with both hands and count the silence: "1, and, 2, and".
2. Level 2 · 150 bpm · Melodic death, G minor harmonic, stop-time single-note riff at the 10th fret. The gaps must be truly silent: fret-hand fingers relax off the string after every hit.
3. Level 3 · 160 bpm · Melodic death, G minor harmonic, stop-time single-note riff at the 10th fret. Each sixteenth pickup must land exactly on the next chord, so practice them slowly as pairs.