Highway Ghost (easy) · level 1 · goal 90 bpm

Highway Ghost is an eight-bar lead riff in standard tuning: Blues-metal lead, A minor pentatonic, fifth position. This is level 1 of 3, played at 90 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 90 to 130 bpm. It works on 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.

One finger per fret: index on 5, ring on 7, pinky on 8. Pick everything, let the long notes ring, and breathe in the rests. When it feels easy, add vibrato to the long notes.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 90 bpm · Blues-metal lead, A minor pentatonic, fifth position. One finger per fret: index on 5, ring on 7, pinky on 8.
2. Level 2 · 110 bpm · Blues-metal lead, A minor pentatonic, fifth position. Phrases, not scales: play each two-bar line like a sentence and leave the rests empty.
3. Level 3 · 130 bpm · Blues-metal lead, A minor pentatonic, fifth to eighth position. Keep the long notes long even when the pickups get busy; the fast notes serve the slow ones.