Frost Signal · level 1 · goal 150 bpm

Frost Signal is an eight-bar melodic riff in standard tuning: Melodic death, E minor, single-note riff on the low strings. This is level 1 of 3, played at 150 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 150 to 190 bpm. It works on palm muting, 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.

Alternate picking throughout. Mute the open E notes, let the fretted melody notes ring clean, and keep the pick depth the same for both so the volume stays even.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 150 bpm · Melodic death, E minor, single-note riff on the low strings. Alternate picking throughout.
2. Level 2 · 170 bpm · Melodic death, E minor, single-note riff on the low strings. The gallop on the open E sits under every melody note; think of the melody as landing on top of the gallops, not between them.
3. Level 3 · 190 bpm · Melodic death, E minor, single-note riff on the low strings. This is an endurance riff: relax the picking hand between phrases and keep the motion small.