About this riff
Gutter Shuffle is an eight-bar punk riff in standard tuning: Punk shuffle, E minor, open E pedal, open position. This is level 1 of 3, played at 120 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 120 to 160 bpm. It works on palm muting, power chords. 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.
Count each beat "1-trip-let". The two muted Es are downstrokes and the line note is a clean upstroke. Keep the palm resting near the bridge so the open E stays tight under every move.
The three levels
- Level 1 · 120 bpm · Punk shuffle, E minor, open E pedal, open position. Count each beat "1-trip-let".
- Level 2 · 150 bpm · Punk shuffle, E minor, open E pedal, open position. Pick only the first note of each hammer-on and let the fretting finger sound the second.
- Level 3 · 160 bpm · Punk shuffle, E minor, open E pedal, open position. In bar 6, pull off from the 3rd fret through the 1st to the open string in one motion, then slide up into the vibrato.