Drop B Tuning Etude

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Instructor: Lucas Fowler Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: Hey guys, this month we're going to look at Drop B tuning. This tuning(B-A-D-G-B-e) simulates the sound of a seven string guitar and allows for some cool chord shapes and heavy riffs. Check out the short track I put together and then we'll break down each section slowly.

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Instructor: Lucas Fowler Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: In the first section, we focus on creating a pedal tone off of the low string. Remember to use downward pick strokes on every note for maximum aggression. Notice that I am using a fairly heavy distortion sound, but cleaned up by rolling back the volume on the guitar.

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Instructor: Lucas Fowler Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: In this section, we are going to use the same melodic idea from the previous figure, but amped up with the guitar turned up and adding in hammer-on and pull-off techniques to the higher notes as embelishments. This gives us a cool thrashing sound that is still very locked into a groove. Remember to use downward pick strokes on the picked notes.

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Instructor: Lucas Fowler Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: In the final section, we'll explore the octave shape that this tuning affords us on the low string. Finish up with some nice aggressive galloping pick strokes and you have a killer metal riff!

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Instructor: Lucas Fowler Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: Enjoy this backing track for your own jams!

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