Distant Steeple (hard) · level 3 · goal 148 bpm

Distant Steeple is an eight-bar lead riff in standard tuning: Neoclassical-tinged metal lead, F# minor, tenth to twenty-first position, strings 1-3. This is level 3 of 3, played at 148 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 100 to 148 bpm. It works on hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides, vibrato. 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.

Every slide targets a note on the beat. Look at the destination fret, not your finger. In bar seven pick once per pull-off pair and keep the run even, so the root arrives in bar eight like a period.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 100 bpm · Neoclassical-tinged metal lead, F# minor, twelfth position, strings 1-3. Stay in one spot: index on 11, pinky on 14, and stretch the index back for the 10ths.
2. Level 2 · 124 bpm · Neoclassical-tinged metal lead, F# minor, twelfth position, strings 1-3. Make the question and answer sound different: lean into the high held notes with vibrato, then let the answer relax.
3. Level 3 · 148 bpm · Neoclassical-tinged metal lead, F# minor, tenth to twenty-first position, strings 1-3. Every slide targets a note on the beat.