Chromatic riff in Drop D
A beat of palm-muted 16ths on the open D, then one-finger chords walking up and down a fret at a time, E flat 5, E5, F5, and in the second bar a held G sharp 5, the tritone above D. Chromatic movement and the tritone are where metal gets its darkness, and the riff trains clean, quick shifts of the whole chord shape between the chugs.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 120 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 120 bpm
- Starts at
- 72 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- Drop D
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Intermediate
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
The first finger slides the chord up and down; keep it touching the strings so the shifts are quick and quiet.
In Drop D, a power chord is one finger across the three low strings. Each bar opens with four palm-muted 16ths on the open D, then two accented eighth-note chords at the 1st and 2nd frets, two more 16th chugs, and a chord at the 3rd fret.
Bars 1 and 3 end walking back down, the 2nd fret then the 1st. Bar 2 ends instead on a held chord at the 6th fret, G sharp 5, the tritone above D. Bar 4 starts its chords at the 3rd fret and walks down to the 1st, which leads back to D.
Alternate pick the 16ths, and downpick the chords for weight. The shifts are a fret at a time: slide the barring finger rather than lifting it.
Mistakes to watch for
- Chords that buzz because the finger shifts before it has pressed down.
- The 16th chugs rushing into the chords.
- Letting the held tritone chord stop early; it rings for a whole beat.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 72
- 78
- 84
- 90
- 96
- 102
- 108
- 114
- 120
That's 16 loops and about 3 minutes before you're playing at 120 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Chromatic riff in Drop D?
The goal is 120 bpm in 16th notes, which is 8 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 72 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
What is the tritone?
The interval of three whole steps, here D to G sharp. It sounds tense and unresolved, which is why it was once called the devil in music and why it turns up in so many heavy riffs.
Why do chromatic riffs sound so dark?
Moving a fret at a time leaves the key behind: notes like E flat and F next to D clash with it before they resolve. The half-step above the root, E flat here, is especially menacing.
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