Slow Thunderhead (easy) · level 1 · goal 100 bpm

Slow Thunderhead is an eight-bar classic rock riff in standard tuning: Classic hard rock, B minor, half-time, low strings. 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 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.

Let bars 1-4 ring their full length and count out loud. From bar 5 the notes double each step: quarters, then eighths. Downstrokes only, and dig in hardest on the accents in bar 8.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 100 bpm · Classic hard rock, B minor, half-time, low strings. Let bars 1-4 ring their full length and count out loud.
2. Level 2 · 120 bpm · Classic hard rock, B minor, half-time, low strings. Feel the snare on beat three and keep the long chords steady against it.
3. Level 3 · 140 bpm · Classic hard rock, B minor, half-time, low strings. Reverse gallops are down-up on the sixteenths, then a down on the eighth.