Drop D arpeggios — gallop pattern in B (modal vamp) New
On a power chord (root-fifth, no third), 'arpeggiating' doesn't mean plucking a full chord finger by finger like on an open chord: it means picking each note of the power chord (root, fifth, octave) individually, one after another with a pick — the 'gallop' technique so central to metal riffing. On the 4-chord loop in B (B5d, A5d, G5d, A5d), which moves back and forth between the root and two neighbouring chords instead of staying put, this note-by-note breakdown adds a distinct modal motion to the gallop pattern.
Tips
The classic gallop is played eighth-sixteenth-sixteenth (long-short-short) on each power chord: count it out loud before you play it.
Chord progression — B
Bar 1
B5d
Bar 2
A5d
Bar 3
G5d
Bar 4
A5d
Chords
Related sheets
- Drop D strumming — single accent in D (Dorian) (Level 5)
- Drop D riff — energy in D (Dorian) (Level 5)
- Rock in A minor — alternating bass fingerstyle (Level 5)