Widow Lantern (easy) · level 1 · goal 110 bpm

Widow Lantern is an eight-bar melodic riff in standard tuning: Melodic death, D minor, syncopated call and response on fifth-string roots. This is level 1 of 3, played at 110 bpm; the three levels of the riff run from 110 to 160 bpm. It works on 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.

Count "1 & 2 &" out loud. The accented chords land on the "&" right after a rest, so let the rest be silent and hit the off-beat hard. Downstrokes only.

The three levels

1. Level 1 · 110 bpm · Melodic death, D minor, syncopated call and response on fifth-string roots. Count "1 & 2 &" out loud.
2. Level 2 · 145 bpm · Melodic death, D minor, syncopated call and response on fifth-string roots. Alternate picking in strict eighths, and keep the hand moving through the rests.
3. Level 3 · 160 bpm · Melodic death, D minor, syncopated call and response on fifth-string roots. Reverse gallops go down-up-down, with the eighth on the beat after.