One thing that helped me immensely with getting more fluid / quicker arpeggios is implementing pick slanting, basically angle your pick towards you on the downs, and away from you on the ups - there's less resistance in each pick and can make you feel like you're really gliding through the strings. Best way I can describe it is if you imagine a 'spin the wheel' at a carnival - the pointer at the top is free to move away from the pegs reducing resistance.
Great insights here, well done for this video, you are 100% correct about the arps being pushed is spot on, I love the one movement with the right hand, you have definitely helped me 100%
Interestingly enough, yesterday I was practicing sweeping only downwards with three easy open chords (G5-D-C) and intuitively I ended up doing it this way a couple of time. Next time I find myself practicing sweeping I'll implement these advises. Thanks, you're helping me improve a lot!
Two not-so-common things I've figured out about sweeping: Pushing down (towards high notes), I prefer to hit each string with the "flat" of the pick, because I like hearing the note separation. I don't like the liquid/smooth sound of a lot of sweep pickers. Which almost just sounds like a chord strum. Pulling back (towards the low notes), I angle the pick so that it doesn't get accidentally caught on any string. Practicing the Paul Gilbert way of alternate picking one note per string helps me a lot in terms of staying in tempo for when switching over to sweeping at a faster speed.
Hey Mike, how would you pick that long sextuplet arpeggio section of J.B.'s Altitudes on the top 3 strings? Up/(pulloff)/Up/D/D/D ? It's the switching from up to down picking in that pattern that's a real you-know-what, since it requires skipping over the string one way or another. Honestly if anyone knows how to do this properly, I figure you'd know how to do this.
Hi Mike, only want to say thanks for your videos and share knowledge. Would be interesting if You can do a video about how to practice a very long and non stop phrase. There is a solo of Angra performed by Kiko Loureiro called 'Spread your Fire' that are sixteens at 170 bpm and the solo is about 30 seconds 🤔🥵 .... I mean is not only faster but very long. Regards 💪🏼 @HowToPracticeGuitar
80% of my problems are with the left hand. I struggled a lot with flying pinky whenever I moved the ring finger. So I practiced to relax both fingers. Now I forget my ring finger extended over the low strings completely relaxed! So say I'm playing a basic ascending mixolydian shape, by the time I get to the second string and need my ring finger, it's extended touching lightly on the 6th string very lightly lol. Of course it takes time to get it down to fret the 2nd string. Of course in sweeping this problem is even worse...
Usually noise comes from the lower strings as your hand passes them without muting properly. I tend to just always mute the e and a string by resting my hand on them. Noise also comes from unnecessary extra movement. Just slow it down and get the technique perfect first.
I think you need to take a lesson from Mr. Caterpillar: play note 1 then 2, then play note 2 then 3, then combine and go 1-2-3. Presto! It’s a lotta practice, but you’re going to be a finger-rolling master. NOEXCUSES!!!
@@Matthew_Klepadlo yes! it's important to dumb down everything, start even with only 1 note, then 2, 3, then mix fingering, fingers, positioning, even different strings! for example, I have more problems with thinner strings (with my picking hand) than with fat ones (first 3 strings), so I spent more time practicing on 4-5-6 and 3-4-5th strings, triplet arps. You have to find your weakness and then work on it slowly...
I think you're a brilliant teacher and player but I've got to say I really don't agree with any of this advice. If you slow down the video you can hear all of the notes in your sweeping sort of bleed together. If that's the kind of sound you're going for then fair enough. Jeff Loomis' sweeping sounds like this too and I know you're a big fan of him. Personally, I prefer the Steven Taranto sound where every note is clearly articulated. If you practice the motion you describe as 'dragging the pick through 3 strings at once' you're not gonna get a clean sound because you can't practice it at slow tempos to synchronise your hands. If you try to do that technique slowly the note in the middle won't be in time. The motion you need to practise is actually dragging the pick through the strings one by one. I can see you doing this in the video when you play the sweeps at low tempos. It's sort of like when you're a kid and you drag a stick along a chain fence. I did the whole 'sweeping is one motion with your picking hand' for a few years and never really developed clean sweeps. It's only in the last few months since I bought Claus Levin's course 'flow control' that I have cleaned up my sweeps massively. This is the advice that he gives, if anyone is struggling like I was I'd highly recommend buying that course.
your comment has sense, but I would say it's impossible to drag (the stick trough the fence) at like super high speeds. When I play mid tempo arps, I even go with alternate picking to get different sound, but if you go to warp speed you just have to sweep this way. Now, there are other things also affecting the overall sound of the arps, like distortion, effects, position of the pick and the most important one, how much you palm mute with picking hand, and how much you can mute with your left hand... so many factors are included in creation of the sound, that's why music is unique from player to player, even thou they can play same notes :))) also, I would say, this video is really really GREAT for intermediate players. It would definitely save me 100s of hours of practice 15-20 years ago as my left hand was lightning fast, but my right hand was struggling so much to follow...
@EvanEDavies You're talking about the rest stroke, which is actually the core motion of sweeping. I would agree that treating each note as separate is a better way that will you get cleaner results. However I would not recommend buying anything form Claus Levin, and caution anyone from spending money on on-line courses as they offer little more than what you can find already out there for free, and are designed to keep you paying by using well-known marketing strategies.
I caution anyone from spending time on “free” info online. It is designed to keep you confused af by using contradictory and incomplete advice... and offers little more than what you can find already out there by paying for a good course. - Guy with courses to sell.
I guess I'm in the minority. Sweep picking always came easy to me because it was the one technique where i wouldn't tense up. I could just relax and let the pick glide. Fast alternate picking took me longer to get down because i would get overly tense.
Problem is that you are also a sweep talking person and you don't give much time to digest your instructions. If you would do it with a calming voice and take a breath in between words instead talking like a runaway express. :(
Wait? I gotta learn chords? As a guitar player? And I have to learn how to use them in order to shred? Oh no! Whatever will I do? I thought there was no such thing as musicality in shred guitar, only speed and technique! There’s no way an instrument with 6 strings and 24 frets could EVER be used to play multiple notes at once, right!? …right?
![Learn Sweep Picking - How to SHRED teh ArPegGiO [Guitar Lesson]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/gChLdrC57hw/mqdefault.jpg)
![Learn Sweep Picking - How to SHRED teh ArPegGiO [Guitar Lesson]](/img/tr.png)
![[TH] VCT Masters Shanghai Playoffs DAY 5 // 100T vs PRX | FUT vs TH](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/q75pv359eP4/mqdefault.jpg)
Once again you are the only online teacher addressing the problems Im having. Thanks for helping my improve my chops.
One thing that helped me immensely with getting more fluid / quicker arpeggios is implementing pick slanting, basically angle your pick towards you on the downs, and away from you on the ups - there's less resistance in each pick and can make you feel like you're really gliding through the strings. Best way I can describe it is if you imagine a 'spin the wheel' at a carnival - the pointer at the top is free to move away from the pegs reducing resistance.
Very good but I wish you would show the pattern for longer.
You should look into Jason Richardson. That dude is a sweep picking god.
DJ Khaled is even better, watch the video of him playing Bob Marley signature guitar
Great insights here, well done for this video, you are 100% correct about the arps being pushed is spot on, I love the one movement with the right hand, you have definitely helped me 100%
Interestingly enough, yesterday I was practicing sweeping only downwards with three easy open chords (G5-D-C) and intuitively I ended up doing it this way a couple of time. Next time I find myself practicing sweeping I'll implement these advises. Thanks, you're helping me improve a lot!
Two not-so-common things I've figured out about sweeping: Pushing down (towards high notes), I prefer to hit each string with the "flat" of the pick, because I like hearing the note separation. I don't like the liquid/smooth sound of a lot of sweep pickers. Which almost just sounds like a chord strum. Pulling back (towards the low notes), I angle the pick so that it doesn't get accidentally caught on any string.
Practicing the Paul Gilbert way of alternate picking one note per string helps me a lot in terms of staying in tempo for when switching over to sweeping at a faster speed.
Immensely useful and straight to the point, brilliant
An actual instructor who keeps it simple? - subbed!
Excellent, thank you.
Man... thank you the h/o p/o was wrecking me every time
By Odins Balls !! I just got it. Relaxing the hands and just letting the pick glide with very little effort made it sound great.
Wow, thank you ❤
3 min in and I'm already like "WHY HASN'T ANYONE TOLD ME THIS BEFORE!"...would have saved me hours upon hours. Thank you uploader!
Well taught
If I saw this guy at the streets, I would never think that he sweep picks like that
Hey Mike, how would you pick that long sextuplet arpeggio section of J.B.'s Altitudes on the top 3 strings? Up/(pulloff)/Up/D/D/D ? It's the switching from up to down picking in that pattern that's a real you-know-what, since it requires skipping over the string one way or another. Honestly if anyone knows how to do this properly, I figure you'd know how to do this.
Sweep picking got my ass for a bit lol, thanks for the video
Hi Mike, only want to say thanks for your videos and share knowledge. Would be interesting if You can do a video about how to practice a very long and non stop phrase. There is a solo of Angra performed by Kiko Loureiro called 'Spread your Fire' that are sixteens at 170 bpm and the solo is about 30 seconds 🤔🥵 .... I mean is not only faster but very long. Regards 💪🏼 @HowToPracticeGuitar
Yep, this did it for me! Nice one
80% of my problems are with the left hand. I struggled a lot with flying pinky whenever I moved the ring finger. So I practiced to relax both fingers. Now I forget my ring finger extended over the low strings completely relaxed! So say I'm playing a basic ascending mixolydian shape, by the time I get to the second string and need my ring finger, it's extended touching lightly on the 6th string very lightly lol. Of course it takes time to get it down to fret the 2nd string. Of course in sweeping this problem is even worse...
Finally!!!
My sweeping is very noisy. How do I mute the strings properly?
Usually noise comes from the lower strings as your hand passes them without muting properly. I tend to just always mute the e and a string by resting my hand on them. Noise also comes from unnecessary extra movement. Just slow it down and get the technique perfect first.
Finger rolling has always been a bitch for me
I think you need to take a lesson from Mr. Caterpillar: play note 1 then 2, then play note 2 then 3, then combine and go 1-2-3. Presto! It’s a lotta practice, but you’re going to be a finger-rolling master. NOEXCUSES!!!
@@Matthew_Klepadlo yes! it's important to dumb down everything, start even with only 1 note, then 2, 3, then mix fingering, fingers, positioning, even different strings! for example, I have more problems with thinner strings (with my picking hand) than with fat ones (first 3 strings), so I spent more time practicing on 4-5-6 and 3-4-5th strings, triplet arps. You have to find your weakness and then work on it slowly...
My problem is to get clean middle notes when doing fast downward sweep
Read my comment on the video
How about muting strings when sweep picking?
Thats the hardest part
And also : Am minor7 = CM major6.
Wow the hammer on pull of may just be an Aha moment ty
Legato is harder than sweep picking (to do fast) - fight me.
You are not showing the tab long enough to see what you are doing
Slow it down, the settings on every video allows you to slow them down
Umm, Pause? Then do a snip and paste into a word doc so you can have the doc & this video (in your browser) side by side.
Theres a pause button 🤦♂️
I always screen shot them then crop them if you write them down after it helps to remember them easier
Wow 😅
I guess you don’t know that Andy James doesn’t sweep pick because he hates it.🤪
I think you're a brilliant teacher and player but I've got to say I really don't agree with any of this advice. If you slow down the video you can hear all of the notes in your sweeping sort of bleed together. If that's the kind of sound you're going for then fair enough. Jeff Loomis' sweeping sounds like this too and I know you're a big fan of him. Personally, I prefer the Steven Taranto sound where every note is clearly articulated.
If you practice the motion you describe as 'dragging the pick through 3 strings at once' you're not gonna get a clean sound because you can't practice it at slow tempos to synchronise your hands. If you try to do that technique slowly the note in the middle won't be in time. The motion you need to practise is actually dragging the pick through the strings one by one. I can see you doing this in the video when you play the sweeps at low tempos. It's sort of like when you're a kid and you drag a stick along a chain fence.
I did the whole 'sweeping is one motion with your picking hand' for a few years and never really developed clean sweeps. It's only in the last few months since I bought Claus Levin's course 'flow control' that I have cleaned up my sweeps massively. This is the advice that he gives, if anyone is struggling like I was I'd highly recommend buying that course.
I'm proud to be as sloppy as Loomis.
Well, make a video and show us how to do it. It probably doesn’t take half as long as it took to write that wall of text.
your comment has sense, but I would say it's impossible to drag (the stick trough the fence) at like super high speeds. When I play mid tempo arps, I even go with alternate picking to get different sound, but if you go to warp speed you just have to sweep this way. Now, there are other things also affecting the overall sound of the arps, like distortion, effects, position of the pick and the most important one, how much you palm mute with picking hand, and how much you can mute with your left hand... so many factors are included in creation of the sound, that's why music is unique from player to player, even thou they can play same notes :)))
also, I would say, this video is really really GREAT for intermediate players. It would definitely save me 100s of hours of practice 15-20 years ago as my left hand was lightning fast, but my right hand was struggling so much to follow...
@EvanEDavies You're talking about the rest stroke, which is actually the core motion of sweeping. I would agree that treating each note as separate is a better way that will you get cleaner results. However I would not recommend buying anything form Claus Levin, and caution anyone from spending money on on-line courses as they offer little more than what you can find already out there for free, and are designed to keep you paying by using well-known marketing strategies.
I caution anyone from spending time on “free” info online. It is designed to keep you confused af by using contradictory and incomplete advice... and offers little more than what you can find already out there by paying for a good course.
- Guy with courses to sell.
I guess I'm in the minority. Sweep picking always came easy to me because it was the one technique where i wouldn't tense up. I could just relax and let the pick glide. Fast alternate picking took me longer to get down because i would get overly tense.
Problem is that you are also a sweep talking person and you don't give much time to digest your instructions. If you would do it with a calming voice and take a breath in between words instead talking like a runaway express. :(
Wait? I gotta learn chords? As a guitar player? And I have to learn how to use them in order to shred? Oh no! Whatever will I do?
I thought there was no such thing as musicality in shred guitar, only speed and technique!
There’s no way an instrument with 6 strings and 24 frets could EVER be used to play multiple notes at once, right!?
…right?
Sorry but can't watch your video, it's like you don't stop to take a breath. It's exhausting!!