Tolling Bastion (easy) · level 1 · goal 104 bpm

Tolling Bastion is an eight-bar gallop riff in standard tuning: classic heavy metal build-up in G minor, syncopated. This is level 1 of 3, played at 104 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 104 to 156 bpm. It works on gallop picking, palm muting, 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.

Count "1 & 2 &" out loud. The accented chord lands on the "&" of two, so let the dotted quarter ring through beat two. Mute nothing until the gallops in bar seven.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 104 bpm · classic heavy metal build-up in G minor, syncopated. Count "1 & 2 &" out loud.
2. Level 2 · 132 bpm · classic heavy metal build-up in G minor, syncopated. The rests matter as much as the hits.
3. Level 3 · 156 bpm · classic heavy metal build-up in G minor, syncopated. In bar four, lift your palm off the strings for the F and G pickup so they sing into the lead.