Dead Air (easy) · level 1 · goal 115 bpm

Dead Air is an eight-bar thrash riff in standard tuning: Bay Area thrash, G minor, stop-time. This is level 1 of 3, played at 115 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 115 to 156 bpm. It works on palm muting. 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.

Stay in fifth position the whole way through. On the stop-time bars, mute with both hands the instant each rest arrives; the silence should sound as tight as the hits.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 115 bpm · Bay Area thrash, G minor, stop-time. Stay in fifth position the whole way through.
2. Level 2 · 150 bpm · Bay Area thrash, G minor, stop-time. Count every rest; the drums keep going while you stop dead.
3. Level 3 · 156 bpm · Bay Area thrash, G minor, stop-time. Play the doubled sixteenths before each stop with the wrist, then choke the string dead.