15 new metal exercises: Drop D riffs, sweeps, tapping and more
The Metal division grows from 6 exercises to 21: more downpicking and rhythms, riffs in Drop D, tremolo across strings and on chords, and lead technique.
The Metal division has grown from 6 exercises to 21. Each new one is a four-bar riff or run with a distorted guitar and a drummer playing in its style, counted in at 60% of its goal tempo and speeding up as you go.
- Downpicking. A thrash riff of unbroken downstrokes to build stamina, and a riff that makes the pick jump between the low E and the strings above it.
- Rhythms. Reverse gallops, bursts of 16th-note triplets, and a syncopated 3-3-2 riff, each with the kick drum hitting the rhythm with you.
- Riffs in Drop D. A new section: one-finger power chords, a pedal-point riff on the open low D, and a chromatic riff with the tritone. The player's tuner shows the Drop D notes when one of these is open.
- Tremolo picking. A melody across three strings, and two-note power chords over a blast beat.
- Lead technique. Another new section: Phrygian dominant runs, four notes a string legato, three-string sweep arpeggios, two-hand tapping triads, and pinch harmonics with a wide vibrato.
The Metal page has new practice routines built from them, and every exercise has its own page with the tab, how to play it and the mistakes to watch for.