#55: Best Beginner Sweeping Exercise!

Great question! I personally like to go for a light grip, pretty much in any situation :)

Bernd Brodträger

Just a short question! When you hold the pick during this sweep picking, do you hold it strongly, firmly, or the opposite, softly, gently?

Balázs Takács

oh geez, I was watching the public video like a schlub! THERE'S MORE!

Nick Peth

I'm just starting to try and learn this technique. I didn't see any discussion in the video about muting technique. Are there some tips for that? I am trying to use part of my right palm to position it so I don't mute the string when I pluck it, but as soon as I reach the next string it is muted. Is that how I should be trying to mute? Also, I have a problem that after I pluck the high e and try to go back to the D string the strings are ringing creating unwanted noise. Do I mute with my left (fretting) hand right after? I may take the masterclass during the holidays after I figure out what I don't know from these exercises. When will I know I'm ready for the sweep picking masterclass?

Jeffrey Moy

Amazing man!!! Thank you for the reply! You Rock!!!

Bruce Klickstein

Thanks so much for sharing that Bruce, that's very interesting! Whenever I encounter issues with my left hand/fingers, I tend to work on legato exercises that take the focus from the picking motion away. That way, I can really check what's going on and why I struggle with certain things! This episode (#87) showed me how much I still have to work on my fingers, the workout is really effective: https://www.patreon.com/posts/87-hammer-on-off-37575329

Bernd Brodträger

I have been working on this lesson #55: Best Beginner Sweeping Exercise!. I am making progress EXCEPT the C arpeggio pulloff from the 8th fret back to 3rd. My 1st finger comes off or shifts when I hit the 8th fret C. That messes up the pulloff from C - G. Is there a trick?? I have pretty big hands and I can do this for the rest of the chords. I have played your video back slow motion and it doesnt look like you are stretching as much as I am...... THANKS!!! loving your lessons.

Bruce Klickstein

Thank you very much dude, really appreciate that. You can see that you've put a lot of hard work into your craft dude, and I hope your success continues to grow mate, I know you'll work harder than you need too, so I hope it pays back what you want out of it. Most importantly, I wish you to have more happy days than sad ones, they can't all be good after all, but you seem like a very kind and helpful person, so all the best to you too man. Cheers for that dude, nice to know I'm on the right track. Thanks for the insight man, that's good idea to change up the feel, I've only just started focusing on my dynamics when playing so it's not all one constant volume level. I also forgot to end my subscription, not even mad though, you deserve the money for your work, buy yourself a beer on me man.

I've been there, I know it's very hard to build a career - I really wish you all the best my friend! You are right, it's always a great reference for me to focus on the notes that hit the beat there. With swing or jazz/fusion phrasing it's extremely important to feel 2 + 4 to avoid sounding too mechanical - but that's exactly what we are going for with these shred licks, machine gun precision :) So I try to balance both feelings in full solos but I thinks it's good to focus on 1 + 3 with these workouts!

Bernd Brodträger

One last question before I can't afford you anymore bud. I would like to say it's due to times being rough, but I'm an unemployed musician in training so $5 is a lot. But your lessons are worth every penny and more. So, I promise as soon as I break my way into the top levels, of mcdonalds managment, I'll chuck you some more dollar dude. Anyway heres the question. Am I right in saying at high speeds you mainly focus on beats 1 and 3?

Thank you very much for the answer dude. That is probably the best way I've heard it phrased. ( "similar to thinking about every letter when you are reading - your brain recognizes the words and not the individual letters). Very true mate, I always prioritise hitting the notes that fall on the beat above everything else. It's amazing how smooth and fluid your playing sounds, even when you feel like you've left a lot of space between each phrase. Guess it just gives your brain time to think. Those milliseconds feel like minutes sometimes though. I like to have a system to think of every note that works at low and high-ish speeds. But definitely agree with you at higher speeds I just focus on a few points and "Imagine" I thought of the rest. ( So this would be thinking in words instead of letters) But, I like to know that I have them pre-assigned, in case I want to stop on any note in the sequence. I think people aren't taught, that this is why using a metronome during practice is very important, and to always try both slow and high speeds. There is this myth that you play it slowly until you get it down and then add 5-10bpm, and so on. This is good for technique and memorization, not the best approach to build speed, doing so will more often than not, reach a plateau sooner than it should. as the thought process and actions of playing at low and high speeds are so different, you may as well practice tapping to learn how to bend, it's like night and day. I mean can play some things at 150 bpm+ and feel like I could fall asleep but at 40 Bpm I'm focusing like a priest in a kindergarten And if you try counting every note ( 1 e and a... ) when doing fast alternate picking above 120 bpm, genuinely feels like your head is going to explode, then you become tense and obviously fail. Nice to pick someone else brain on this subject ( pun intended ... I'll get my coat ) I believe music to be a language, as all language including sign language, comes from the same region of the brain, and playing music is an action used to produce sound. Pick angle and all that stuff is important and definitely something to consider, but If I can think it, for the most part, the rest just falls in line. Never learnt much that improved my playing so vastly, as I did when I discovered rhythmic solfages and realised that to play it I have to be able to think it / say it. Thanks again man, Glad I decided to give you some money for your work instead of just playing along to the videos like I was. Hope you and your loved ones are all safe and doing well dude.

Hey, thanks so much for asking that - what an important topic! When I'm playing fast I always think in 'chunks' - I focus on the entire phrase and on hitting the notes on the beat correctly :) It's impossible to think about every single note when you are playing fast (similar to thinking about every letter when you are reading - your brain recognizes the words and not the individual letters). So I make sure to find some 'anchors' in the licks, with repeating arpeggio shapes it's mostly the first note and the 7th note (after the first group of 6) - both of these should land on the beat so I really focus on nailing these, hopefully resulting in a fluid and well-timed arpeggio! So I tend to think in groups of 6 and not groups of 3 because I end up with a downstroke again after a group of 6 in the case of alternate picking - I also keep that approach for sweeping! Hope that helps a bit :)

Bernd Brodträger

Got a questiong for you bud, on the advanced sweeps, how do you count the 16 note triplet sweeps at high speed? ( atm i count the Downward sweeps as: 1e and a... 1e <- for the hammer on and the sweep fits nicely in to the -> and a. And for the upward sweeps I count 2 e tri o la and ... again the hammer on fits in to the ->2 e . And the tri o la and is the upward sweep. ) Just wondering what goes through your head when you are sweeping at speed, I find that having a good way to count is the best way to have smooth playing, that stays in time. thanks dude. I have asked a similar question on a different video.

Thanks for the quick reply, Bernth.

Steve Shaw

Hey Steve, yes - I'm using my middle finger to bar the arpeggios there! This is quite tricky and the only case where I do need my right hand (palm muting) to keep the notes from overlapping too much! But there is still a small rolling motion with the finger here, this is definitely a video topic for the future :) Thanks for the reminder!

Bernd Brodträger

I have just one question Bernth, When you play the C,F,G, do you barre the chord when sweeping , its a little to quick to see if you use other fingers, I hope you know what I mean.

Steve Shaw