Long Tide (easy) · level 1 · goal 100 bpm

Long Tide is an eight-bar lead riff in standard tuning: Melodic metal lead, D minor, fifth to tenth fret. This is level 1 of 3, played at 100 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 100 to 140 bpm. It works on power chords, 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.

Treat the two eighths as an upbeat that pushes into the long note. Pick both evenly, then hold the long note for its full value. Bar four is a two-string stop: fret both notes and let them ring.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 100 bpm · Melodic metal lead, D minor, fifth to tenth fret. Treat the two eighths as an upbeat that pushes into the long note.
2. Level 2 · 120 bpm · Melodic metal lead, D minor, fifth to tenth fret. Each pair of sixteenths launches a long note.
3. Level 3 · 140 bpm · Melodic metal lead, D minor, fifth to thirteenth fret. The runs feed the long notes, so play them light and land the target on the beat.