How to Play Bleed - the intro - on a 6 String Guitar

This lesson was made in response to a special request.

One thing to mention, is that I do not have an 8 string guitar; just a 6 string guitar. Bleed is played with an 8 string guitar. Thankfully, I was able to recreate the intro with my 6 string by tuning the low E string down a half step to Eb/D#.

Bleed's intro can be viewed in a very simple way. There is a short picking pattern that gets repeated throughout the entire intro, and carries over into the verse.

Below (near the end of this post) you will see 3 different tabs showing the picking pattern divided by bar lines. The rhythm will, essentially, be the same. You will always have 2 fast notes followed by 2 slow notes (half the speed of the fast notes).

Here's what the 3 ways of viewing the picking pattern look like:

                               Two 8th notes + Two quarter notes                Two 16th notes + Two 8th notes          Two 32nd notes + Two 16th notes

Because of how fast the song is played, and how long you need to keep this rhythmic pattern going, you will need to pick this with the strum pattern of:

|Down Up Down          Up          |Down Up Down          Up          |Down Up Down          Up          |

That was 3 repetitions of the picking pattern. I put a BAR line at the start of the first pattern, in between the other patterns, and at the end of the final pattern to help you visualize the way you will be picking this pattern.

The spaces in between the down, up, and the bar lines are to show you where you will have a gap (or slow down) in your playing.

In order to get this song up to speed, I recommend focusing on getting the picking pattern up to speed, or at least comfortable, before you begin adding in the bend sections. The bend sections will be shown in the tabs below.

USE YOUR METRONOME TO WORK UP THIS RHYTHM SLOWLY!!!!!!!!!!

The bend section is broken into 6 parts.

The open E string patterns, that have already been shown, can be counted in such a way to keep this intro somewhat simple.

Counting how many times the rhythmic pattern (picking pattern) is played, you will have this:

• Play open string 6x
• Play bend section
• Play open string 5x
• Play bend section
• Play open string 4x
• Play bend section
• Play open string 5x
• Play bend section

The final bend section WILL carry over into the beginning of the verse (when the vocals start). Just make sure you finish all 6 parts of the bend section, even when the verse begins, because that's just how the song goes.

This first tab is the easiest way to count the intro. You will have two 8th notes followed by two quarter noes.

The second tab is basically the same, but now you have two 16th notes followed by two 8th notes.

This third tab is how I count along with the song. You have two 32nd notes followed by two 16th notes.

​When I count this out, I'm only counting at the start of each section/bar/measure so I know how many times I've played the picking patterns, and I know when to go into the bend sections.

One last tab!!

This one is showing the song as it's probably intended to be viewed. The song is in 4/4 and the full rhythmic pattern repeats every 3 bars.

If you have ANY questions about this lesson PLEASE ASK!!!

This song is definitely NOT EASY and will prove to be a challenge for most people. Not only is the rhythm fairly unusual, but you need to have really good speed and stamina to pull this off.

Good luck!!!

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