Stairwell Hymn · level 2 · goal 120 bpm

Stairwell Hymn is an eight-bar lead riff in standard tuning: Melodic metal lead, D minor, tenth to seventeenth fret. This is level 2 of 3, played at 120 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 100 to 140 bpm. It works on 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.

Say "tri-pl-et" on the beat and land the long note squarely on beat two. Hammer the middle triplet note. In bar seven pick the first note of each string and pull off to the next one.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 100 bpm · Melodic metal lead, D minor, tenth to seventeenth fret. Every bar is the same shape one step higher: two eighths, a quarter, a long note.
2. Level 2 · 120 bpm · Melodic metal lead, D minor, tenth to seventeenth fret. Say "tri-pl-et" on the beat and land the long note squarely on beat two.
3. Level 3 · 140 bpm · Melodic metal lead, D minor, eighth to seventeenth fret. The sixteenth pickups are grace, not content.