Saltglass Hymn · level 2 · goal 140 bpm

Saltglass Hymn is an eight-bar melodic riff in standard tuning: Melodic death, F# minor, syncopated open-position riff into a lead line. This is level 2 of 3, played at 140 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 115 to 160 bpm. It works on palm muting, power chords, hammer-ons and pull-offs, 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.

Gallop, then stab on the off-beat: the chord should feel late. Keep the palm on for the gallop and off for the chord. In the lead half, pick only the first note of each hammer-on or pull-off pair.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 115 bpm · Melodic death, F# minor, syncopated open-position riff into a lead line. In bars 1-4 the accented chords fall on the "and", so keep the picking hand going down-up in eighths and let the stabs land on the upstroke.
2. Level 2 · 140 bpm · Melodic death, F# minor, syncopated open-position riff into a lead line. Gallop, then stab on the off-beat: the chord should feel late.
3. Level 3 · 160 bpm · Melodic death, F# minor, syncopated open-position riff into a lead line. Alternate the gallop and the reverse gallop in each bar so the stab moves around the beat.