Pedal-point riff in Drop D
The open low D chugged on every other 16th while a melody in D minor moves on the A string in between: F, E, D, C and back up, the pick crossing between the two strings on every note. A pedal point, one note held under a moving line, is a staple of metal riffs from the 1980s on, and the challenge is keeping the alternate picking even while the fretting hand plays a tune on the next string.
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
Downstroke on every low D, upstroke on every melody note; the palm mute stays on the low string only.
Tune the low string down to D. Every other 16th is the open low D, palm-muted; between them the A string plays a melody: F, E, D and C at frets 8, 7, 5 and 3, then back up to G at the 10th.
The second bar goes lower, to B flat at the 1st fret, and ends on C. The last bar runs down from G at the 10th fret all the way to the open A and the B flat above it, which leads back to the start.
Pick down on every D and up on every melody note. The pick crosses between two strings on every note, so keep the motion small and close to the strings.
Mistakes to watch for
- Palm-muting the melody notes too, so the tune disappears into the chugs.
- Losing the alternate picking at the open A string in the last bar.
- Melody notes cut short because the finger lifts before the next one is ready.
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 Pedal-point 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 a pedal point?
A note that stays put, usually in the bass, while the harmony or a melody moves over it. In metal riffs it's usually the open low string, chugged between the moving notes.
Can I play this in standard tuning?
The fingering stays the same: the pedal is just the open low string. In standard tuning it's an E under the melody instead of a D, and the riff sounds harsher. Drop D is what it's written for.
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