Riff mechanics · Michael Landau Group
A-section riff · B minor · ♩≈134 · the motions, the maps, the drills
The real tab's in your PDF — this trains the hands that play it. Anatomy of what he's doing, your scales on the neck, and six drills that replicate his exact movements with the articulation built into the sound.
Simple notes — one box — dressed in four techniques and a drifting tempo. The harmony moves underneath a near-static lead, which is why it sounds darker and busier than it is.
Three lenses on the same key. The riff lives in the pentatonic box; natural minor and Dorian are what you solo with. Tap a dot to hear it. (D Dorian is a myth here — over a Bm groove the mode is B Dorian; it just shares the key's notes.)
Peel them apart and each is easy. It's the stack that's hard — so you practise the layers separately, then reassemble.
A muted chug on the low B drives the groove between phrases. Most of the "busy" is this percussive motor, not the melody.
The ( ) notes are barely fretted; the X's are fully muted clicks. Half of what sounds fast is almost-silent notes between the real ones.
Hammers, pulls and slides inside the 7–10 box, and slides to enter position. Pick once, let the fretting hand do the rest.
The ¼ and ½ markings — vocal, crying bends to pitches with no fret. Pure ear. Get them in tune isolated or the phrase sounds amateur.
Original exercises that train his exact hand movements — the audio plays the articulation (dead notes thunk, ghosts are quiet, palm mutes are short, bends slide in pitch). Tap to hear, then mirror it.
The non-negotiable. 3× clean before you climb a rung; fail twice and drop back.