[klp2332]

Whats a rake, i searched it and still cant figure out what it is. I have the overall idea of what it is but i jsut cant do it.
Heres a peice from For The Love of God

---------|22-19-------|
--12s15-|------20-----|
---------|--------21---|
---------|-----------19|
---------|-------------|
---------|-------------|
| RAKE |

4:08 to 4:14 in the song

 

[moro]

For the last four notes, you're using a (mostly) continuous upwards motion with your picking hand. That's the "rake." (I think "sweep" is the more common term.) For me, it helps to think of it as pushing through the strings. So when you pick the high E, go through the string so that your pick comes to rest against the B. Pause. Pick the B and let the pick come to rest against the G. And so on. So it's all upwards motions, but it's not the same as strumming a chord with an upstroke. It's more like a thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk motion.

With your fretting hand, you want to be muting each string after it's picked.

As with everything else, it helps to start out insanely slowly. Like 2 notes per second. Or slower.

John Petrucci explains this well in his video.

 

[Koss]

For the last four notes, you're using a (mostly) continuous upwards motion with your picking hand. That's the "rake." (I think "sweep" is the more common term.)

If im not mistaken, a rake is a motion in only one direction (one upstroke, or one downstroke.) Unlike a sweep where it is continuously up and down strokes. Something like the beginning of the first comfortably numb solo by Pink Floyd is a good example of a rake.

I may be mistaken however and it may be also known as a sweep...

 

[moro]

If im not mistaken, a rake is a motion in only one direction (one upstroke, or one downstroke.) Unlike a sweep where it is continuously up and down strokes. Something like the beginning of the first comfortably numb solo by Pink Floyd is a good example of a rake.

Oh, that makes sense.

So a rake is somewhere between a strum and a sweep?

 

[Koss]

Oh, that makes sense.

So a rake is somewhere between a strum and a sweep?

Pretty much. Just think of how you would actally rake your yard, and how *some* people sweep their kitchen. You don't take a rake in the yard and swing it back and forth :wink:

 

[moro]

Pretty much. Just think of how you would actally rake your yard, and how *some* people sweep their kitchen. You don't take a rake in the yard and swing it back and forth :wink:

What if you have a leaf blower?

 

[Koss]

What if you have a leaf blower?

Then get ready to purchase new strings.

 

[klp2332]

thanks guys...

 

[gmoneymcfly2k]

it's all part of the economy package anyway. right guys?

 

[elcid]

Seeing as the rake is in the first measure, and what I know of raking isn't raking when you sweep trhough a couple of muted strings before you play the notes?
Maybe there should be a couple of XXX on the d and g strings

 

[AirGuitarHero]

I agree with elcid. I've always thought of 'rake' as a 'muted sweep', and it is usually transcribed as XXXX. Perhaps the legend on the tab should be 'sweep'?

 

[Shep]

I agree with elcid. I've always thought of 'rake' as a 'muted sweep', and it is usually transcribed as XXXX. Perhaps the legend on the tab should be 'sweep'?

Yes .thats right...it's a sweep where the note's are really just clicks....

 

[Koss]

Yes .thats right...it's a sweep where the note's are really just clicks....

Like the first comfortably numb solo

 

[fettouhi]

If im not mistaken, a rake is a motion in only one direction (one upstroke, or one downstroke.) Unlike a sweep where it is continuously up and down strokes. Something like the beginning of the first comfortably numb solo by Pink Floyd is a good example of a rake.

I may be mistaken however and it may be also known as a sweep...

Muted sweep .

Regards

André

 

[sniperfrommars1]

I would call a rake a completely muffled sweep. A muted sweep on the other hand is just a muted sweep to me

 

[nickcoumbe]

I know with these things everyone says to start slow, but does anyone else find that there is a kind of critical speed, below which sweeping just doesn't really work? I know for practice you out to follow the maxim, but I am just curious.

Back on Topic:

I have always thought a rake was when you scratched your pick down (or up) the strings. As in to rake your fingernails acorss a blackboard.

 

[sniperfrommars1]

Back on Topic:

I have always thought a rake was when you scratched your pick down (or up) the strings. As in to rake your fingernails acorss a blackboard.

Thats a pick scrape. completely different. Your rate their is a point where slowing sweeps down is to me pointless. I usually prefer to attempt picking them whenever I can anyways. Besides that the average person watching you has NO IDEAL WHATSOEVER what sweeppicking is or sounds like, most people think its tremolo picking when I ask them and even then im not sure they would care if they did know the difference. Whens the last time you heard someone sweep picking on top 40 radio?

 

[gmoneymcfly2k]

Thats a pick scrape. completely different. Your rate their is a point where slowing sweeps down is to me pointless. I usually prefer to attempt picking them whenever I can anyways. Besides that the average person watching you has NO IDEAL WHATSOEVER what sweeppicking is or sounds like, most people think its tremolo picking when I ask them and even then im not sure they would care if they did know the difference. Whens the last time you heard someone sweep picking on top 40 radio?

that's assuming that your target audience is the top 40 listeners. guitar dorks like us seem to know all too well the differences.

 

[nickcoumbe]

Yeah pick scrape sounds better. I was just caught up in the image of that guy scraping his nails down the blackboard in "Jaws".

If raking is just sweeping whilst muting, then that sounds like a logical to me.

I have to say that I probably sweep more than I initially intend to. There are some runs that you just seem to do that with naturally. I have always thought that sweeping was another good way to develop speed, and to be honest spent many of my formative developing that technique to avoid the hassle of learning to pick fast. I am left handed (and play right handed) so picking has always been comparitivley more difficult for me as I am using my weakest hand. I am now (and have been for a year or so) praciting very hard to rectify this.