Ember Charge (hard) · level 3 · goal 160 bpm

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

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. In bar six, pick only the first note of each pull-off group.

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.