sweeping!!!

I am an intermediate guitar player and I have been at this stuff since I was 6, now I am 19. Can someone please advise me the best way to practice sweeps, this technique looks like a lot of fun. I think I understand them to just be quickly played arpeggios with a low amount of picking. Am I right or is there a lot more to it. I just started and I don't sound anything like I should. I just sound like I am playing an arpeggio. Thanks

Here's a few tutorials that covers the subject of sweeping.

simple sweeps
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=8750

Applied sweeps
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=408

sweeping tutorial
http://www.guitartricks.com/lesson.php?input=9869

I play by ear so I won't attempt to explain anything to do with theory but I can sweep pick handy enough, just to add some tips to nailing the technical side:
1) type a double octave arpeggio up in midi, loop it, then play along at whatever speed you can manage - if you don't have a midi sequencer download Reaper for free or if that's not an option, play to a metronome
2) hold the plectrum the same way you do for alternate picking
3) play each note at the same rhythm - focus on the hammer ons and pull-offs making ure they maintain timing
4) lift the pressure on each fret immediatly after the note has been picked - helps maintain clarity
5) Learn to roll your pointing finger if it is barring a number of strings so that the pressure lifts from a note a soon as it is picked
6) practice the same arepeggio up and down untill you get it, then practice running up with one arpeggio and down with another
7) use the neck pickup when you start and reduce the gain on your amp - when you think you have the technique down then try it off the bridge (you will find this a lot more difficult if you have high output/hot pickups!)
8) when you are picking a sweep run use the thumb of the picking hand to mute as well as the ridge of the hand - very important if you want to be able to play cleanly without having notes ringing out all over the place.
9) once you know the shape you want to play and can do the left hand movement, spend some time visualising the technique. Because it is very different to regular alt picking a lot of guitarists find it very difficult to get their brain to accept the simple movement generating the difficult sound. Think about it, visualise it and understand the movement and you will find it 100% easier to do. The biggest difficulty in sweep picking is getting the penny to drop in your mind.
Hope this helps!

Super Post, Superhuman.....................

The list provided by Superhuman was pretty darn accurate but the one on the list I found to be most critical was number (4. ) it's very important not too bring your finger off of the following string too fast or too slow or you'll sound sloppy and basically missout on the fluidity that makes sweeping so elusively fast , you've really gotta time it accurately... I love sweep picking and feel I have a strong grip on the technique , and an example of this could perhaps be described in a SIX STRING A MINOR SWEEP ARRPEGIO (firstly I would advise anyone attempting to perform this sweep to notice that it outlines the A minor pentatonic scale perfectly)... that said , fret the low E string w/ your first finger 6th string 5th fret , then hammer from the A note 5th fret FIRST FINGER 6th string to your PINKY on the C note 8th fret 6th string... now this is where you begin what S.human was talking about on step 4... your first finger followed by your pinky kills the A note and the C note (pinky) EIGHTH fret , then while switching from strings 6 TO 5 you've got to be careful to lift your pinky ONLY SLIGHTLY AFTER YOU ARE FRETTING THE "E NOTE on the 5TH STRING SEVENTH FRET w/ your third finger or ring finger" , from here the timing becomes even more critical as far as lifting from and fretting and "rolling" the following notes... from E seventh fret 5th string , third finger , the third finger must roll onto the A seventh fret FOURTH string fom the tip of your third finger almost to the boney part of your third finger (your third finger will roll even more across as you begin fretting over and across to the A note OCTAVE SEVENTH FRET FOURTH STRING THIRD FINGER)... NOW BEGINS THE REAL "ROLLING METHOD" now we're approaching the G string 5th fret first finger and what you've gotta do is roll your FIRST finger over the A minor triad that makes up the G , B , and HIGH E strings across the 5th fret (the notes you've gotta succsessfully roll over are C 5th fret third string , E 5th fret 2nd string , and the A 5th fret 1st string ... the roll of the first finger is critical and it starts from the tip and by the tiime you''ve reaced the 1st string the boneist part of your first finger should be what is mainly fretting the high A note ... the notes you'll be hitting are LOW STRINGS IN CAPS , HIGH STRINGS IN LOWERCASE LETTERS : A and C (6th string , first finger to pinky) , E (5th string third finger) , A (4th string third finger) , "c" (5th string tip of first finger) , "e" (middle fleshy part of first finger as you are lifting the tip off the prior C note) , then "a" (the boniest part or edge of bone in first finger)... this followed by a trill from the A to C ON THE 1ST STRING MAKES FOR A SWEET SWEET SWEEP ARPEGGIO... IN A MINOR OF COURSE... there are alot of other way to fret higher intervals of the same arpeggio 1 is by sliding with the first finger from the C note 5th fret 3rd string to the 9th fret E note on same 3rd string w/ first finger to the
second finger fretting the 10th fret of the 2nd string then jumping w/ yer first finger scross the 2nd string to the 8th fret of the high E string to yer pinky on the 12th fret of the high E string... alotta info but , hope it was helpful...

Originally Posted by: FMURPHYFrnkyThe list provided by Superhuman was pretty darn accurate but the one on the list I found to be most critical was number (4. ) it's very important not too bring your finger off of the following string too fast or too slow or you'll sound sloppy and basically missout on the fluidity that makes sweeping so elusively fast , you've really gotta time it accurately... I love sweep picking and feel I have a strong grip on the technique , and an example of this could perhaps be described in a SIX STRING A MINOR SWEEP ARRPEGIO (firstly I would advise anyone attempting to perform this sweep to notice that it outlines the A minor pentatonic scale perfectly)... that said , fret the low E string w/ your first finger 6th string 5th fret , then hammer from the A note 5th fret FIRST FINGER 6th string to your PINKY on the C note 8th fret 6th string... now this is where you begin what S.human was talking about on step 4... your first finger followed by your pinky kills the A note and the C note (pinky) EIGHTH fret , then while switching from strings 6 TO 5 you've got to be careful to lift your pinky ONLY SLIGHTLY AFTER YOU ARE FRETTING THE "E NOTE on the 5TH STRING SEVENTH FRET w/ your third finger or ring finger" , from here the timing becomes even more critical as far as lifting from and fretting and "rolling" the following notes... from E seventh fret 5th string , third finger , the third finger must roll onto the A seventh fret FOURTH string fom the tip of your third finger almost to the boney part of your third finger (your third finger will roll even more across as you begin fretting over and across to the A note OCTAVE SEVENTH FRET FOURTH STRING THIRD FINGER)... NOW BEGINS THE REAL "ROLLING METHOD" now we're approaching the G string 5th fret first finger and what you've gotta do is roll your FIRST finger over the A minor triad that makes up the G , B , and HIGH E strings across the 5th fret (the notes you've gotta succsessfully roll over are C 5th fret third string , E 5th fret 2nd string , and the A 5th fret 1st string ... the roll of the first finger is critical and it starts from the tip and by the tiime you''ve reaced the 1st string the boneist part of your first finger should be what is mainly fretting the high A note ... the notes you'll be hitting are LOW STRINGS IN CAPS , HIGH STRINGS IN LOWERCASE LETTERS : A and C (6th string , first finger to pinky) , E (5th string third finger) , A (4th string third finger) , "c" (5th string tip of first finger) , "e" (middle fleshy part of first finger as you are lifting the tip off the prior C note) , then "a" (the boniest part or edge of bone in first finger)... this followed by a trill from the A to C ON THE 1ST STRING MAKES FOR A SWEET SWEET SWEEP ARPEGGIO... IN A MINOR OF COURSE... there are alot of other way to fret higher intervals of the same arpeggio 1 is by sliding with the first finger from the C note 5th fret 3rd string to the 9th fret E note on same 3rd string w/ first finger to the
second finger fretting the 10th fret of the 2nd string then jumping w/ yer first finger scross the 2nd string to the 8th fret of the high E string to yer pinky on the 12th fret of the high E string... alotta info but , hope it was helpful...

PARAGRAPHS ARE COOL :eek:

duely noted... jeez i read thru my whole schpeil and realized it looked like reading chinese... yeh i'll be careful to do that paragraph thing next time...
hope someone managed to make some senseoutta all that f**king writing !!! haaa ha ha !!!

fair enough bro , Franky M. :confused: :eek:

Although it was a little hard to read, I thought it fitted the subject matter pretty well...

Sweeping does kinda happen all at once... :)

indeed.

while i am pretty slick with sweeps, i always had trouble becuase my fingers are very stiff and don't bend backwards well (some people may call this being "double jointed" but i find alot of people are capable of doing this). so, i had the hardest time rolling my ring finger without feeling sloppy. i've come to accept this minor hinderance in my finger ability, and i feel that i can more than make up for it in my alt picking runs and other nimble things where my sturdy fingers feel more comfortable.

one of the many reasons why sweeps come so easily to some and so difficult for others.

Bro you are one of the few w/ this kind of problem... all mI can say is when you notice the offending fingers not doing their job ya kinda got an uphill battle to re-train the "said fingers" ... may I go further by saying that sweep arpeggios are almost an illusion , a trick of the mind... personally I find it much moew difficult to play "micheal schenkers live U.F.O. "ROCK BOTTOM" solo that doing sweep arpeggios... if need be put the sweep aqrpeggios away for a bit and then pick 'em up one day next summer after the REALLY important stuff like bending , phrasing ,,,, note value etc... I'll bet the sweeps may come much easier by then... sweeps appear faster and more leathal than they truely are , learn the HOTEL CALIFORNIA solo or ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER or the dreaded STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN SOLO (which is a full on masterpiece regarding note value)... , IT TAKES FAR LONGER TO UNDERSTAND FEEL AND NOTE VALUE...!!! THAN SWWEEPS !!! :p :cool:

my 2 cents , anky M.