Tolling Bastion · level 2 · goal 132 bpm

Tolling Bastion is an eight-bar gallop riff in standard tuning: classic heavy metal build-up in G minor, syncopated. This is level 2 of 3, played at 132 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 104 to 156 bpm. It works on gallop picking, 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.

The rests matter as much as the hits. Kill the chord with your fretting hand on each rest. In bar seven, the Eb gallop follows an accented off-beat G, so keep your picking hand moving down-up without a hitch.

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.