Hi ,
I try to play the main Cowboys From Hell main riff, and I find it difficult.
There’s a lot of inside picking and I can’t play it clean at normal speed.
I’m working on it but I don’t progress or very slowly.
Would you have advices or tricks for that ?
Thx 
??
You mean
E 0 3 0 3 5 3 5 3 6 3 5 3 A 0 2 5 x 3
E 0 3 0 3 5 3 5 3 6 5 3 0
I only see one string change from E to A string. you probably play the a-note on the a-string and alternate between E and A string. Good exercise, but I’m sure even Dimebag didn’t play it that way, for sound reasons. I love that riff… The verse riff is killer too.
Thomas
Sorry, here the riff :
e|------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------------------|
D|-------------2----2------------------0-|
A|-------------0----0—1---0—1h2—|
E|-0-3-0-3-----3----3—3---3--------|
I remember reading somewhere that Dime didn’t play it on the E string like you have it written and that he actually played it with the string changes…I’m not sure if that’s true, just what I read on the interweb somewhere.
Seems like it would be much easier the way you wrote it though
I think it might be a matter of slowly working out all the picking motions to best fit your particular pick slant style. Maybe try starting with an upstroke first?
I personally find inside changes easier than outside changes. But yes, this is a tricky riff, for sure.
The intro is higher up the fretboard, and use some string shifts to the A string.
You can play this an octave lower, but on one string it just sounds better to me.
Btw its a perfectly doable solo for novice shredders!!!
Hope it is a joke
I’ll admit I don’t know a whole lot about Dime’s picking technique but from what little I do remember reading and hearing abut him, he wasn’t known as being particularly good at picking. Most or all of his most difficult sounding lead guitar licks were accomplished with a highly developed left hand technique and very little picking - mostly hammer-ons and pull-offs. I realize that this is a rhythm guitar riff but if he wasn’t known as being particularly skilled at picking, his riffs shouldn’t present too much of a problem to anyone’s right hand unless they are at a beginner level. Is that correct, or did Dime actually have a fairly advanced picking technique that I’m just not aware of?
I saw him and Pantera play at the 1997 Ozzfest where Black Sabbath reunited. Painter were touring for the Great Southern Trendkill album and Dime was playing his Confederate Flag guitar that night. I remember him doing an impressive guitar solo but it was almost all left hand techniques and vibrato bar use.
I agree with @guitarman, the solo can be seen as a good exercise for beginners. Obviously, you probably won’t play it to tempo on your first try if you’re a beginner. The two runs below are excerpts from the solo. They are good picking exercises for beginners IMHO since the fingering is easy and there are no position changes along the neck (i.e. these licks are stuck in a box).
This was my first shred type solo i could play. (Only half year ago)
Those first lines was an excercise i did for a couple months. Its at around 110 bpm. My max speed back then for this kind of runs.
This solo is just a bunge of tricks tastfully connected together, and fun to play!!!
