Ember Charge · level 2 · goal 138 bpm

Ember Charge is an eight-bar gallop riff in standard tuning: NWOBHM gallop in A minor. This is level 2 of 3, played at 138 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 112 to 160 bpm. It works on gallop picking, palm muting, power chords, hammer-ons and pull-offs, 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.

Pick every gallop down-down-up and keep the two sixteenths as short and even as the eighth is long. In the melody, pick the first note of each slur and let the hammer-on or pull-off sound the second.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 112 bpm · NWOBHM gallop in A minor. Count "one, two-and-a, three, four-and-a" and keep your palm resting on the bridge for every chug.
2. Level 2 · 138 bpm · NWOBHM gallop in A minor. Pick every gallop down-down-up and keep the two sixteenths as short and even as the eighth is long.
3. Level 3 · 160 bpm · NWOBHM gallop in A minor. The reverse gallop (two short, one long) should land its long note on the next beat, so keep your wrist loose and let the accent fall there.