Hollow Standard (easy) · level 1 · goal 104 bpm

Hollow Standard is an eight-bar gallop riff in standard tuning: NWOBHM half-time stop-time in D minor. This is level 1 of 3, played at 104 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 104 to 152 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.

The rests are part of the riff, so choke each hit by lifting your fretting fingers off the strings without leaving them. Count "1 2 3 4" out loud through the silences so the full bars land right on the one.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 104 bpm · NWOBHM half-time stop-time in D minor. The rests are part of the riff, so choke each hit by lifting your fretting fingers off the strings without leaving them.
2. Level 2 · 132 bpm · NWOBHM half-time stop-time in D minor. Every hit is a downstroke and every rest is a dead stop with no ringing.
3. Level 3 · 152 bpm · NWOBHM half-time stop-time in D minor. In bar six the pull-offs fill the gaps between hits, so mute the chord first and snap each pull-off onto the open string.