Sweep Picking is hard!! + how to play with a metronome + marty friedman

Hi guitarists,

I am a big fan of Yngwie and I have been "trying" to play guitar for almost 2 years through the internet and books!! I know the major, minor, pentatonic, harmonic minor and blues scales. I know the theoretical part of modes etc.

I started practising sweep picking 6 months ago,but I can't get it right..Can anyone tell me how much time it takes to sweep pick like yngwie?

I read everywhere practice with a metronome!! But I don't know how to do it!! Please can anybody help me?

I am learning to play the solos of tornado of souls by marty friedman, I am getting problem with one of the arpeggios...I'm not fast enough or either my economy picking is not good!! does anyone know how to play this solo, i would like to know how to pick it!!

Thanks,
Yann

Sweep picking is the only technique that I had to get instruction on. It doesnt matter what you read, you will only grasp the trick behind the technique by actually seeing someone play it up close. Either get some lessons by someone competent or get an instructional dvd. The best sweep dvd's I have seen are "Sweeping All Night Long" by Theodore Ziras (there are some good clips on his website), "Speed Kills" by Michael Angelo or Frank Gambale's "Monster Licks and Speed Picking".
I found this the most difficult technique of all, it ook me about 6 months to get it. You might be better off leaving it for a week or two, then going back to it. Sometimes you can actually get quicker after taking a break.

Hope this helps.

Yeah, sweeping is definitely hard to get used to, but you'll know it when you've got it down. Any idea what the primary problem is? Are you just not moving fast enough or are you having trouble muting the strings? Or accuracy? John Petrucci's Rock discipline has a pretty good section on sweeping, but it's not too in depth.

Hi Super Human and Cryptic Excretions,

Thanks for replying!!:-) Unfortunately I don't know anyone who knows how to sweep pick..I will get the videos you mentionned Super Human!!

My problems are speed and muting!

My picking hand does not go down fast enough.Same thing for my fretting hand. I've been practising sweeps for 6 months now and I am now quite discouraged about it!!

When I sweep with distortion turned on, I always make a lot of noise. Can you tell me how to mute?

Whenever I play an open string(E.g E3) with distortion I use palm muting...if I don't I just generate a whole lot of uncomprehensible melody..I use palm muting for:
The intro of Rising Force by Yngwie,
Intro of Cowboys from Hell by pantera
The headless game by edguy etc etc..

Is it normal to palm mute when playing an open string?
Thanks
Yann

Hi Akira,

In your opinion how much time per day do I need to practise the sweep picking? Did you have atime table?
thanks
Yann

Regarding your timing, what I did was take a metronome at a slow tempo and only play one note per click and gradually speed up from there. Also, 3 string sweeps would be good for a starting point but I don't think I'd condemn working with more. Just get comfortable with what you can handle before getting carried away. Regarding how much time do we practice sweeps, well, that differs between us all. I do a lot of sweeping so I got reasonably good ad an adequate pace, but compared to the guy next to me who's doing fewer sweeps , it just depends, but you'll get out of it what you put in.

Yo,

I learned to Tornado of Souls solo a while back. If possilble, which arpeggio part are you having trouble with? Is the the three strings accending ones, cause if so, he does not sweep on that part. He just down picks very fast.

But if you mean that 4 string sweep with alot of legato at towards the end, then I recomend learning the sweep with out doing legato, or less legato to make is simpler.
e|-------------------------------------|
B|--------------8h11/14p11------------|
G|------------9------------12----------|
D|----8h11-11----------------14-12----|
A|-/9------------------------------14--|
E|-------------------------------------|

play this for practice:

Each fret finger corresponds with each fret.
M I M R/R I M R I R
e|-----------------------------------------------|
B|----------- -----11(R)/14(R) p11(I)----------------|
G|--------------9(M)-------------------12(M)-----------------|
D|---8(I) h11(R)---------------------------14(R) p12(I)-----|
A|-9(M)---------------------------------------------14(R)--------|
E|-----------------------------------------------|

[U]FRET HAND FINGERING[/U]
I = Index Finger
M = Middle Finger
R = Ring Finger

It sounds basically the same. And once you can do that, then the original shouldnt be to hard.

As far as muting the strings goes, the best way to do it while sweeping an arpeggio is with a combination of the palm heel of your picking hand AND the side of the thumb holding the plectrum. There is a useful pic of this on the Ziras website, check it out: http://www.theodoreziras.com/
I used to have the same problems all of the time with noise, this does not always have to do with your technique, you may be using too much distortion, also try using the neck humbuckers. I have a fair few sweep patterns in a demo track of mine at:
http://mp3unsigned.com/Showmp3.asp?mp3id=9603&aid=4890
They are far from perfect but I used the technique above with the thumb and palm muting.
Stick with it

Hi alucard0941 ,

many thanks for replying!! Would I abuse of your kindness if I asked you how to pick this part as well? Should I start with an upstroke or downstroke? thanks a lot!!


14h10----10-14h10-14h10----10-14h10-14h10----10-|
--------12----------------12----------------12----|
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--15h10----10-15h10----10-17h10----10-15h10----10-|
--------12----------12----------12----------12----|
--------------------------------------------------|
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Hi superhuman,

WOW!!:) I checked ur MP3...it's mindblowing!! Your solos are amazing I am still listening to it!!!! Can you tell me for how long have you been playing guitar??

Originally Posted by: ngcheongmHi alucard0941 ,

many thanks for replying!! Would I abuse of your kindness if I asked you how to pick this part as well? Should I start with an upstroke or downstroke? thanks a lot!!


14h10----10-14h10-14h10----10-14h10-14h10----10-|
--------12----------------12----------------12----|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|



--15h10----10-15h10----10-17h10----10-15h10----10-|
--------12----------12----------12----------12----|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------------|

Ahh that part was killer for me cause there is no chance in hell my fingers can reach from 10 to 17.

Therefore, the way I play that part is by tapping.

I use three fingers.
I keep my left index on the 10 fret on E string at all times. I tap my right hand index on what ever needs to be pulled off on the E string. And tap with my left hand middle finger on the 12 fret in B string

Originally Posted by: ngcheongmHi superhuman,

WOW!!:) I checked ur MP3...it's mindblowing!! Your solos are amazing I am still listening to it!!!! Can you tell me for how long have you been playing guitar??

Thanks! I started playing about 15 years ago but (in my opinion) wasted a lot of time playing covers and mindless up and down runs. Just when I started being able to pick properly I stopped playing all together for about 5 years. I think I became a better player during this time while I listened to other players and different types of music. When I went back to playing (about a year ago) I picked up everything in about a month and was able to play stuff I never would have been able to before. For me, I only started to improve when I started playing my own stuff and got a style of my own. Still plenty of room for improvement though! Practise is the problem, I usually practise as I compose (about twice a week for about 2 hrs per session). I would love to have more time but life is too busy!

I agree with Cryptic. Baby steps. I too started sweeping about 2-3 months ago.

I began with just sweeping the 1,2,3 strings at the 12,11,10th frets in that order. Then slide down to the 2,34 frets, very meodic sounding.

Also, an exercise I've been doing is "drumming" my fingers. we usually do it from pinkey to index, braap, braap, braap. Try druming you fingers from index to pinkey-- In the opposite direction.

This has helped me a great deal in co-ordination development. And you can do it anywhere! Pinkey to index and index to pinkey. As fast as I can and keep a beat.

ALso PICK ECONOMY. Never heard of it till this site. **And I'm a veteran Bluegrass picker! I learned to cross-pick like a mad fool only to learn that moving your left hand around a bit will keep sir-pick moving in the same direction more often. Not eliminating X-picking, put minimizing it.

ANyway, from one novice shredder to another. Start small, 2-3 strings. That's where I am and it does sound BOSS once MR. Marshall is sweating a bit!

Cheers...Randy

Superhuman, I did not find the pic on theodore's website but I downloaded his videos and I am amazed...Guys like Yngwie, Vinnie, steve vie etc...can you tell me exaclty where i can find it!! by the way do you have more compositions? thanks

Hi randy,

I don't understand what "drumming your fingers" mean!! Would you mind explaining me!! I come from Mauritius, a small island in the indian ocean where people generally speak French.

thanks for the tip alucard, i will try the tapping trick...this forum is very useful!!

ngcheongm,
Here is the link, it's actually from the forum.
http://theshredzone.com/content/article.asp?pageid=265

I have a few more tracks on that site, just click on the following and you will see the links for the extra tracks below the player. I'll be putting another one on this weekend with a lot more difficult solos, let me know what you think. Thanks for listening!
http://mp3unsigned.com/Showband.asp?id=4890

Hi Dave (Superhuman)!!

Your songs are real cool and real heavy....Warpspeed is the most catchy in my opinion (the intro riff is really powerful by the way). It's technical and at the same time gives you the feeling to headbang.Fleasheaters is brilliant... I like the solos but they are far too fast and complex for me to play. I wish I could play this!!! Have you ever released an album before? I like your style very much!! Your should sincerely "commercialize" (don't know if the word exists) your materials.

Still downloading powerspill.....

My brother thinks you should add some vocals to your music but that's just because he doesn't play guitar!!! If you come in my country you will be the best guitarist coz here nobody sweeps at that speed!!

Would you mind giving me some advices please?? I have been learning guitar since 1year, 11 months and 9 days exactly! Everyday I practice scales, tapping and sweeps... Is there anything else I should do to become better faster?

superhuman's song is no where near the word hard, it's quite easy - and i've only learnt guitar for 3 years but yet it's an amazing song

by the way, you can't be good at playing guitar just by listening to Yngwie - lame talented but boring guitarist who only based on shredding, listen to more music like blues - bb king, eric clapton, jazz - allan holdsworth or john mcLaughlin, and more classic rock like led zep, ac/dc, sabbath, queen, cream ...

fast sweeping ain't too hard, but playing fast doesn't mean anything - you need more than that to be considered as a good guitarist ...

Originally Posted by: timesignalby the way, you can't be good at playing guitar just by listening to Yngwie - lame talented but boring guitarist who only based on shredding, listen to more music like blues - bb king, eric clapton, jazz - allan holdsworth or john mcLaughlin, and more classic rock like led zep, ac/dc, sabbath, queen, cream ...

:) Yngwie is my favourite guitarist but I surely don't restrict myself to his music.... I like Vinnie Moore, Paul Gilbert, Steve Vai, Al Dimeola, Eric Johnson, Satriani, Jason Becker and many other bands like Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Dio, Megadeth, Angra etc and I kind of practice everyday!!

Timesignal is right, those tracks are not very hard to play once you know the basics. I'm no expert so my only advice is not to listen to other guitarists too much, otherwise you won't be able to get your own style. Other musicians can give you a great sense of what you can do when you put all of the pieces together to make nice progressions and licks eg alternate picking, phrasing, arpeggios, tapping and all of the other lead techniques. But I think its most important to just play without trying to sound like anyone else. That's why i never play other peoples music. I never practice scales and I don't know the names of most of the notes on the fretboard. However, I can play piano and can understand music theory on that instrument. I think that helps give a different perspective sometimes.
The way I write lead is pretty simple, I write a backing track, then imagine the lead in sections before I even lift my guitar up. Your mind can play solos a hell of a lot better than your hands can (unless you are a true virtuoso like Vai). I fiind that I play shapes and progressions that I would never normally jam when I imagine the music first. It helps me to stay away from playing up and down scaley solos. As far as speed goes, that's something you will achieve more quickly when you're playing your own music because you are not trying to bend yourself to someone else's technique. At least that is what works for me. Best of luck, if you record anything post it in the Listening Post and I'll check it out!

^ you are the man
he does sound pretty cool and yet he's an expert, no kidding

anyway, try to wtite your song and your own stuff, but i recommend you listen to blues to improve to guitar skill. Learning theory is also important.