Pale Meridian (hard) · level 3 · goal 160 bpm

Pale Meridian is an eight-bar melodic riff in standard tuning: Melodic death, E minor, half-time riff at the 7th fret with chord hits. This is level 3 of 3, played at 160 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 110 to 160 bpm. It works on palm muting, power chords, hammer-ons and pull-offs, slides. 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 reverse gallop (16-16-8) leans into the next hit, so accent the chord, not the chugs. Bar the top two chord notes with one finger. Choke the hits flat in the stop bars.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 110 bpm · Melodic death, E minor, half-time riff at the 7th fret with chord hits. Keep your hand parked around the 7th fret.
2. Level 2 · 140 bpm · Melodic death, E minor, half-time riff at the 7th fret with chord hits. Palm-mute the gallops tight, then lift your palm for the chord hits so they bark.
3. Level 3 · 160 bpm · Melodic death, E minor, half-time riff at the 7th fret with chord hits. The reverse gallop (16-16-8) leans into the next hit, so accent the chord, not the chugs.