As guitar players, perfecting different types of rhythm is essential, and one particularly demanding example is the gallop. This is a powerful driving rhythm pattern that's widely associated with rock and metal, but which can also be heard in pop and funk. Well-known purveyors of gallop riffs include Iron Maiden, Metallica, Judas Priest, UFO, Dio, Heart, Queen, Black Sabbath, Slayer and many others.
The gallop is a short rhythm created in one beat: an eighth note followed by two 16ths. It's important to understand that although you are playing three subdivisions per beat, the rhythm is not a triplet. The first eighth note lasts as long as the two 16ths combined.
