sweep picking help - need help with sweep picking

[kingpheeel]

:help:

I've just started to learn sweep picking and was wondering if anyone could explain the best techniques for this.... or any help whatsoever eg exercises and the best way to learn this picking style

loads a thanx in advance

Pheeel

:angel:

[Two hands31]

I'd like to help, but I need help myself! lol

[kingpheeel]

:doh: *Doh *

Anyone from berkley out there to help us both??????

[littlegreenman]

YAY, something I can contribute to in this section! *My sweep picking, while maybe not quite as radical as Yngwie, is pretty good, I've worked quite hard at it, here's a couple tricks I've found that make it go along a little better.

1. *Use a hard pick, the smaller the better IMO. *I use the Dunlop Stubby 2.0mm picks. *

2. *Choke up on the pick as much as you can, leave only enough pick hanging out of your fingers as you need to brush the strings, you can never get a clean smooth sweep with a half inch of pick hanging out.

3. *Hold your pick loosely so it is always trailing the strings, when you sweep from 6 - 1, you want the end of the pick pointing towards the sky, when you sweep 1 - 6 you want the end of the pick pointing to the ground. *If you hold the pick loose, it will just follow the strings, but of course you still have to have enough grip to hold it and allow some pick attack on the strings, you'll find the right grip.

4. *I use a circular motion when I sweep, not just straight up and down, when I sweep down (6-1) I arc my sweep towards the neck and continue in a circular shape (it looks like a tight oval actually) and arc towards the trem on the up sweep. *This just allows a constant motion in your picking hand, you're not stopping to change direction which can slow you're picking hand down in respect to your fretting hand.

5. *Next, pick easy arrpegio's or phrases to sweep when you're starting. *The standard minor arppegio is a very good one to start out with. *I'll show it in A minor.
* * * * * * * * * * * * h *p
-------------------5-8-5----------------------------------------------
----------------5---------5-------------------------------------------
-------------5---------------5----------------------------------------
----------7---------------------7-------------------------------------
-------7---------------------------7----------------------------------
--5-8---------------------------------8-5----------------------------
* *h * */up * * * * * * * * * * * down\ * p

Practice this one until it is fluid, nice and smooth, then you can try the major arppegio, I'll do it in A as well.
* * * * * * * * * * * * h * *p * * * *(9) is just a nice touch.
-------------------5-(9)-5----------------------------------------
----------------5------------5-------------------------------------
-------------6-------------------6---------------------------------
----------7-------------------------7------------------------------
-----4-7------------------------------7-4-------------------------
--5------------------------------------------5---------------------
/up * h * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * p * *\down

that one's tougher, but it gets your fingers thinking more too. *Then you can start to use sweeps as a way of entering another sequence of notes rather than just a stop and change.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *h *p
------------------5-7-8-7-----------------------5-8-5--------------
----------5-6-8------------8-----------------5---------5-----------
--4-5-7-----------------------9-----------5---------------5--------
5---------------------------------10-9-7---------------------7-----
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * \up * * * * * /down * * * * *\up

Have fun with it and practice practice practice. *Sweeps aren't easy to learn initially, but once you get a technique you like, you can do almost anything you want with sweeps.
Good luck!!!
Jeremy

[J Todd Beachler]

could you post short .mp3s of these so we could here it? *TIA

[kingpheeel]

yeah - some mp3's would be great

thanks for the advice littlegreenman,
Anymore help would be much appreciated.
Also, do you fret the chord shape whilst sweeping or do you need to fret each note individually? (which i have been trying to do so far)

thanks again

[mrthingyX]

muhahahaha... each note individually.

Don't expect it to come overnight, though. LOTS of practice.

[Kevan]

When I started out learning to sweep, I (of course) started at the top- learning some Malmsteen. *I never said I was smart. *:-)

Jeremy's exercises are cool, but covering all 6 strings at once is a bit tough for those just jumping in. *Let me offer one of my favorites as an option for you to get started and get your right/left hand coordination going.
This was originally done for my buddy Shannon's 7-string site.

This is one of my favorite sweeps, probably because it's the most versatile. *Here's the first part of the pattern:
(The up-sweep the notes are marked with a "*", and the down-sweep notes are marked with a "^". Pulloff= "p" )

E--19^--16*-----------------------------------------------
B------------17*----------18^--15*---------------------
G---------------19*--16^----------16*------------------
D-----------------------------------------18*---15^------
A------------------------------------------------------------
E------------------------------------------------------------

So, you would DOWN pick(^) the 19, then UP (*) sweep the 16, 17, and 19 in one fluid motion, then down pick the 16th fret on the G string, getting ready for the next set of sweeping. Follow me here? Try the same thing on the second one (starts on the 18th fret). Same pattern, but one string lower and a half step (one fret) down the fretboard. Keep following those same pattern, all the way down...like this...

E-------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------
G--17^--14*-----------------------------------------------
D------------15*--------16^--13*------------------------
A---------------17*--14^--------14*---------------------
E--------------------------------------16*--13^-----------


E-------------------------------------------------------------
B-------------------------------------------------------------
G-------------------------------------------------------------
D--------13^--16--14--13--------------------------------
A-----14^--------------------16--14--13--14~~~~----
E--16^------------------------------------------------------

******** For some variation, the last seven notes can be done legato, individually picked, or (if you have enough sustain...heh heh) try sliding inbetween them...whichever works for you. Hell, change that whole section if you want! :-D
Don't forget to play it SLOW at first, and work your way up to your desired speed. ALWAYS practice with a metronome or drum machine, and keep the notes sounding clean.

These sweeps are very versatile and can be used all over the fretboard once you get the first section down. Try it out on the lower frets (1-12). Fun, huh? :-) You can also pick each note individually if you like. **
It's just one of the bajillion different ways to express yourself.

Jeremy- thanks for the ideas. *I'll be practicing those.
EDITS- Changed to ASCII; transposed for 6-strings.


(Edited by Kevan at 9:27 pm on May 28, 2001)

[30yroldpig]

Hey Kevan

Your ***
arent comin' up!!!

Want learn, must learn!

[J Todd Beachler]

Quote: from Pat7 on 4:00 pm on May 28, 2001
Hey Kevan

Your ****
arent comin' up!!!

Want learn, must learn!

right click -> Show Picture

[kingpheeel]

i can't see the pics either...
even with right click show picture

Thanks for the help so far guys :thumbsup:

[J Todd Beachler]

Quote: from kingpheeel on 6:23 pm on May 28, 2001
i can't see the pics either...
even with right click show picture

Thanks for the help so far guys :thumbsup:

are you right clicking on the place holder for the picture(box withe the red x)?

[Kevan]

Sorry folks. *Works fine here.
Don't ya just love this...ahem..."superior" forum software? *It's so....stable, and user-friendly...LOL

[Josh Blagg]

I will confirm the non-working pictures. *"Show picture" shows nothing.

[Kevan]

I changed the pics to ASCII. *Scroll up.

If I get enough requests for a video of that, I'll hire some strippers as background action to distract you from my hacking. *:biggrin: