Expiration Date

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: Hey all! This is a piece I wrote called "Expiration Date". It has a good mix of metal, progressive, and hardcore elements. Once you've checked out the video, head on over to the next lesson and let's learn it!

Media Length: 1:20

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Rock

Excerpt: This first riff is pretty fun to play. The particular note choice coupled with legato gives this riff a subtle Asian sound. Keep in mind the use of legato throughout this riff. For example, check out the first 5 notes in the first measure. Then look at the pickstrokes indicated below the tab. See how there are only 2 picktrokes for the first 5 notes? You'l...

Media Length: 0:38

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: Here we have some tight rhythm playing along with the bass drum. I love this kind of metal riffing, where there are quick bursts of notes amidst short rests in between. The contrast of notes and silence can really add a lot of neat dynamic to your rhythm playing. Before trying the riff, look at the tab and look for all the eighth note rests. Make sure when y...

Media Length: 0:36

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Intermediate Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: This riff is pretty straightfoward. We'll be using all downstrokes as well. The picking in bars 19 and 20 might be a little tricky at first. We're basically switching a bass note melody from the 9th fret A string(F#) to the 7th fret Low E string(B), all while inserting two open D string notes in between each bass note. Practice bars 19 and 20 separately to ...

Media Length: 0:44

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: This might be the most difficult rhythm section in this piece. We have a lot of fast sixteenth notes and we need to make sure the notes are played cleanly and that we avoid unwanted string noise. Play it slow. Don't sacrifice accuracy for speed. Be sure to mind all the palm mutes and rests. And during the rests, make sure you avoid any open string noise. If...

Media Length: 0:27

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: And finally, we have the outro. The first 8 measures is a bit of a teaser for the following blast of metal madness. We're basically just playing the melody using quarter notes with all downstrokes. After that, we're going to play the same melody, except we're now going to be using 16th notes exclusively. This part is pretty fast. I'd recommend practicing w...

Media Length: 0:51

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Instructor: Sean Conklin Level: Advanced Topic: Cool Riffs Style: Metal

Excerpt: If you've learned the riffs, now it's time to play along with the backing track! Since the the first part of the song is just guitar, you'll just be playing along with the high hat counts. After 4 counts, you'll hear an open high hat. Right when you hear that open high hat, that's where you'll begin the first riff. If you make a recording of yourself playi...

Media Length: 1:18