Fast Runs: Starting Out




Joined: 03/29/24
Posts: 0


Joined: 03/29/24
Posts: 0
06/24/2000 6:03 pm
I've been playing the guitar religiously for about 8 months now, and can get some pretty fast solos using hammer ons and pulloffs, but I want to expand my repetoir to include some runs and stuff. You know, the fast picking stuff. Can anyone point me in the right direction to start runs and maybe some sweet picking (I'm familiar with the concept but don't know how to do it)?
# 1


Joined: 03/29/24
Posts: 0


Joined: 03/29/24
Posts: 0
06/25/2000 4:44 am
Thanks for the advice Luigi. And yes I did mean "sweep picking", ehe. So "runs" just refer to playing down or up a scale really fast? Is that how they're most often used in soloing? Do you know where I can find some excercises of scale patterns to try some fast runs?
# 3
LuigiCabrini
Senior Member
Joined: 06/23/00
Posts: 207
LuigiCabrini
Senior Member
Joined: 06/23/00
Posts: 207
06/25/2000 5:19 am
I think you mean sweep picking. Anyway, for fast runs, there's no secret to it. Get yourself a metronome (I use the seiko one, it's about $25, but trust me it's worth it.) And start playing scales and scale patterns (going up in triplets, groups of four, etc.) at the highest speed that you are TOTALLY comfortable with. That doesn't mean try and show yourself how fast you are, that means start picking at the speed that you can very comfortably pick, and slowly move it up. It's very dangerous to try to play faster than you can, I've seen the results of this. I have a friend who does it, it leads to choppy playing ALL THE TIME, not just with fast runs. Think of it this way, don't practice at speeds that you wouldn't be comfortable performing with.
Stuff to practice would be the aforementioned scales and scale patterns, arpeggios (picked and swept) and if you have any solos you'd like to learn (i do it with classical pieces) play them to the metronome too.
As for sweep picking, the idea is to play arpeggios with a continuous upstroke or downstroke, going across the strings, rather than starting a new motion with your pickign hand for each note. I might get some flak for this, but I don't think its a particularly useful technique outside of showing off. Their application outside of metal is very, very limited, if existant at all. Even in the style where they are at home (shred/metal) you can't rely on them to much, because there is only so much you can do with them. If you want to practice them, do so, I admit that I do, but I think that getting good at normal alternate pickign and economy picking (read open discussion: picking hand" is more useful. Also, remember, not all arpeggios must be swept, I practice a lot of 2 octave 7th (maj7 min7 dom7 7b5) arpeggios that don't use sweep picking, just regular alternate picking. If this all sounds like a bit much, don't try to take it in all at once, the key is to be comfortable with what you are practicing at the moment, not to try and do everything at once, fail, and get discouraged.
# 2
LuigiCabrini
Senior Member
Joined: 06/23/00
Posts: 207
LuigiCabrini
Senior Member
Joined: 06/23/00
Posts: 207
06/25/2000 5:11 pm
Runs don't really have a specific meaning, they can refer to part of a solo. For excercises, you could check out a lot of the tricks here. Many of the hosts have fast picking excercizes. Try Robert Bennet's tricks or Troy Von Halbach to see what you can do if you set your mind to it. If you are able to find a book in the Guitar Grimoire series, the excercise book, I would look at it very closely if I were you. I wouldn't buy it, because its really repetetive, (they'll write out an excercise, then write it out again but moved up a few frets, when you could do that yourself without having them write it.) The excercises they have there are exactly what you want i think. They have sweep picking, alternate picking on scales, and alternate picking for chromatic passages. They also let you know what you're doing, its not entirely technique (though it mostly is.) If you were to learn some of the excercises in that book (dont have to buy it, but could) and really practice them a lot, you'd improve your technique quickly.
# 4

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