Gallop rhythm exercise for metal guitar
The gallop: an eighth and two sixteenths over and over on the palm-muted low E, ending on two accented power chords. It's one of the defining rhythms of heavy metal, and locking it to the beat trains precision rather than just speed. Played loose it slides towards a triplet; played right, the sixteenths are tight and the eighth lands squarely on the beat.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with the metronome on, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 140 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 140 bpm
- Starts at
- 84 bpm
- Length
- 2 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
How to play it
Down, down-up for each gallop; the eighth lands exactly on the beat.
Each beat is an eighth note and two 16ths: da, da-da. Pick it down, down-up, palm muted on the open low E, six times. The second bar ends on two accented power chords, G5 and A5, held a beat each.
Count the beat as "one, two-and" in 16ths: the eighth takes two 16ths, the other two follow. If it starts sounding like three equal notes, you're playing triplets.
Mistakes to watch for
- Turning the gallop into a triplet: the two 16ths must be fast and tight against the eighth.
- Letting the power chords ring past their beat into the next gallop.
- Lifting the palm for the power chords and forgetting to put it back for the next bar.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 84
- 91
- 98
- 105
- 112
- 119
- 126
- 133
- 140
That's 16 loops and about a minute before you're playing at 140 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 Gallops?
The goal is 140 bpm in 16th notes, which is 9.3 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 84 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
Which songs use the gallop?
It's the signature rhythm of a lot of classic heavy metal, from the late 1970s on, and it's still everywhere in metal today, often doubled by the bass.
Can I play gallops with all downstrokes?
Some players do at slower tempos, but down, down-up is the most common way, because it keeps the hand moving on every 16th.