Technique - sweep picking
(i dont know how far away from a gnx the topics can stray but feel free to close this post if its too unrelated, but it is about guitars)
now, since i respect the users on this community more than random people on say ultimate-guitar i thought this would be good.
i dont want to learn sweep picking because i find it to be similar to tapping,using a wah pedal, or owning a whammy bar. its become over used and can very easily become annoying but... some songs use it right and i guess its time to learn a new technique. the only kind i can do is what im going to refer to as a shape sweep, where it isnt nessesary to change your hand position to play all the notes like this example.
12
12
---12
12--
13--13----
14
now my problem is that it just doesnt sound like a sweep pick to hold the chord and arpegiate it. am i missing something?
now, since i respect the users on this community more than random people on say ultimate-guitar i thought this would be good.
i dont want to learn sweep picking because i find it to be similar to tapping,using a wah pedal, or owning a whammy bar. its become over used and can very easily become annoying but... some songs use it right and i guess its time to learn a new technique. the only kind i can do is what im going to refer to as a shape sweep, where it isnt nessesary to change your hand position to play all the notes like this example.
12
12
---12
12--
13--13----
14
now my problem is that it just doesnt sound like a sweep pick to hold the chord and arpegiate it. am i missing something?
Comments
so long as they post them pics up publicly im fine with it
Are you letting the notes ring? If so, that's your problem. Each note is supposed to be played alone. Let your fret finger off the note before you hit the next note. It's a very simple technique once you master it slowly. You will notice your speed will increase substantially once you master the basics
yeah im probably just doing it wrong, i dont practice things slowly cuz i feel like then you gotta overcome a handy cap so i do at tempo untill its right. prolly a dumb idea but its worked on everything else, maybe its met its match
Practicing something at reduced speed is a good technique - it lets you understand the fundamentals of what you're learning, and helps develop the \"muscle memory\" of the thing you're learning. i've done this a few times myself when trying to learn a complex passage. Which - YES - I have actually done... :oops:
lol im sure you have. i have noticed that when i show my friend how to play somthing really fast and complicated that i can play it right to tempo but have no clue what im doing slowed down and then when i figure it out slow it sounds even better at tempo. so im doing what is best with one too many steps i guess lol im gettin there
But keep in mind, when you play at a slower rate, still maintain your count and play in the tempo.
Especially with arpeggios and sweep picking, you might tend to play the up strokes faster than the down strokes.
You can break up the sequence by strings or by notes.
My sweeping technique is fairly simple when it comes to muting. It's actually a combination of Petrucci and Angelo approaches. Going up, the left hand mutes the previous string, and going down, the right hand does.
Here is a good exercise; I love this for warming up.
[code:1]
d d d d u u d d d u u u d d u u u d d etc
|
5
|
8
6---6
8
etc-
|
7---7---7
7---7---7
7
|---6
8
8
6---6
|-5
5
|
[/code:1]
And the reverse:
[code:1]
d d d d u u d d d u u u d d u u u d d etc
|
8
|
5
7---7
5
etc-
|
6---6---6
6---6---6
6
|---7
5
5
7---7
|-8
8
|
[/code:1]
Of course slowly with a metronome is the way to practice this.
EDIT: added picking direction; d = down; u = up
great excersise and advice thank you. ( if you listen to death metal it sounds like they are actually practicing the technique sometimes where theyll devote a minute or so to just sweep picking where i think it should be a technique used for fills, just my opinion)
Yes, exactly - arpeggios are an inescapable part of playing, and sometimes the logical way to get from point A to point B is in position across several strings.
Here is another good one, from Paul Gilbert - triplet feel (which is good for alternate picking as well) and combines sweep and single-string picking. You can basically take this all over the neck in any key - here are the three main patterns for a major key (in C).
[code:1]
d u d u u u u d u d d d
|-15-13-15-12
12-
|
13
13----
|
12
12
|
14-12-14
|
|
d u d u u u u d u d d d
|-17-15-17-13
13-
|
15
15----
|
14
14
|
15-14-15
|
|
d u d u u u u d u d d d
|-13-12-13-10
10-
|
12
12----
|
10
10
|
12-10-12
|
|
[/code:1]
Also once you have it up-to-speed, it's a good stretching exercise going down the neck, stretch-squeeze for the left hand.
ive never attempted anything from gilbert before, he is one of those people that i could never imagine getting any better. ill practice the first excersise a bit more and then move on to this one as it looks more complex but im sure it will get me used to add sweep picking to my playing since it starts with alternate picking. once again thank you.
So thats whats its called.
Iliace, that appears to be what alot of my leads derive from. Kinda cool seeing it on paper.