ONTHE CD TRACKS 29.35 gm ~~ GT RATING MODERATE nina . : Triads are best played using sweep picking arpeggios work best three-notes- perstring,” YOUR GITUTOR Sea p9 rove no onal he GT tors 88 Guitar Tectia APRIL 2003 SWEEP PICKING ARPEGGIO PRIMER This month's Guitar Gym session is devoted to a workout that will allow you to focus on the role of the picking hand when sweep picking arpeggios... SWEEP PICKING ARPEGGIO PRIMER the distraction of bi action with the left han @: SOUND ADVICE THAT SWEEPING SOMETHING For the clean exercises! used my eream Fender CCustom-shop Relc'57 Strat through thee’ chanel of a Marshal JMP-1 valve programmable preamp (vith the'tas shi’ on) and 3 Palmer speaker simulator The JP. was on the flowing etings For the distorted Example 3:1 used my Relic Strat again, through a Cornford mk SOH valve head and, agai, 2 Palmer speaker simulator The Cornford was on the following settings and the ‘overdrive button was on:By holding down a chord shape with no distortion, itis possible to imitate a fingerstvle-type effect using sweeps, ‘Us allow you to isolate the role of tke picking hand The aim isto try to make this sound convincing to the lstener. As we keep reminding ourselves in these Guitar Gym workouts, our dear listener isn't interested in which particular technique we are applying, th hear the rusie we're making. ‘Ty recoriing your efforts and, when listening back, ask yourself whether al ofthe 10 palin volume and equally spaced or are you mashing at th sweeps? The sweets should not be aulible TECHNIQUE When you sweep pick, its important to try to use a wrist action wherever possible, because the ain isto integrate it naturally into the rest of your picking (all picking should be executed using a combination of wrist and, ‘occasionally, slight amount of finger and thr movement), Purthermore, the pick should be angled on each down-sweep, but should be held straight for each up-sweep. deal, you shoul show a very stall ammount of plectram to the string when picking (about 2mm), When sweeping, the frgers and thurnb of the pickint hanel act tke stabilisers on a chil’ bike, This is achieved hy rosting on the Ick of fingernails during down sie (Go that they are in contact with the adjacent ile treble strings) and on the skle of the thumnb during up-sweeps (which rests on the adjacent idle bass string), Both of these actions help to angle the pick in the appropriate way. Note that i you show too much ofthe plectnam to the strings when you are doing this, the ehange of pick angle between down-strokes and up-strokes wil be ARPEGGIO EXERCISES Inthe future, we will ook at ways i which you ean ‘combine sweeping with various legato techniques However, we're not dealing with vocabulary here, lustead, we are dealing purely with the mechanics of sweeping, Once yout hive developed your basie technique, you can apply i in any way that yew ehoose ‘Once again, try to remerber that the following fexereises shonin sound sweepy Although many of the notes are played with one continaous strumming, action, each exerci aight L/AGtH notes, In ther words, the gaps between the notes are even, comprises EXERCISE | With this fist example, is good to focus on the highest and lowest notes. Ty preparing for this exanylo by Alternating between an E on the A string (usin an upstroke) and a G# on the thin B string (using a down- Sroke), Look at FIGURE 1, so lat you can see the pathway that should be traced out by the pick as you pas betseecn these to nates During the ful ick (EXERCISE!), you simply play the sane thing, but passthrough al of the other notes in the process. Many of you may experience problems clipping teach ofthe outer strings on the way hack as vou change rection with the pick "The picking action moves ina straight line during each sweep. However, the last note is picked in a diferent way, whereby the wrist turns, causing the pick to rise away from the strings. This has the effect of not only preventing you from clipping the sting accidentally on the way back, but also keeping the picking hand within le perineter of the strings (tis ine, look at FIGURE 2 for piek- paths’ dieetions) ‘Try practising an exaggerated twisting movement with we wrist as you meet each endnote. Remember, an orn of practice ike this is always the developing a particular skill or habit ‘quickest way TIMING ni ister tt hove wierd le pst te ‘then sweeping forthe rs inet common fr th Seep to became rushed an fr aly in ti mary players then break the sweep action into separate strokes this not sweeping Its important hat you omni to the seep, an then wor om mpm the timing ofthe seep Contrling the speed ofthe sweep requires a mixture of appronches both involve exersing otra withthe picking hand onder to prevent the swe fem Tra say ha IT slow dwn the pick, sve players Eke to think of sweep asa snscostion of cane-yle es stok05 mere, upon plekingastcrg, the pick fellows a ‘apea. 2003 Guitar"Techniques 69 ‘WORKSHOPWORKSHOP EULESS ‘ough and comes to rest upon the neghbourng sti upon the pie (with the der to force it through this second the third, and so on, ‘The pressure is then increas picking hand), in string, so tha it comes to rest 2 Inthe past, we've looked a the "otation? method, ‘whereby itis possible to practise a repeated figure such a way that you ean focus on targeting each of it’s rnbeat (metronome: click EXERCISE 24, ‘This is the first in a series of rotations using the sam repeated fi Tn show, ifyou have a fournote repeated lick, you can practise iin four clferent phases of rotation, depending, m the starting note; this concept is also referred to as i EXERCISE 2(a) siars wih Uv lowest note placed on the fst beat of the bar 1 ompises one upstroke followed by a continuous down: stroke across three strings, Most of you will experience dificuty darting back te the lowest nove th an upstroke each tne. FIGURE 3 outlines the pathway that shoul be traced out by the pick du in Uhis particular exerci EXERCISE 28 Here we play the same patter with the second note of the original patter on th downbeat (the Gi note at the start ofthe ¢ Only, now we're starting SA (60) 0) (10) Cay (60) (20) (100) EXERCISE 2¢ Now the B note is placed on the downbeat, This will ncus othe precise placement of the ner sin the middle ofthe down-sweep, EXERCISE 2D. Finally, play the sane four-note sequ vith the B note on the B string, which will allow you ti practise targeting town sweep snc by starting srs on the end ofthe with both the ne and Yous taping Fact. EXERCISE 3 This exercise is, effectively, two ofthese four-note pallems stacked on op of each other EXERCISE 4A-D This series of exercises repr Shown i) EXERCISES lad EXERCISE 5 Finally, this exercise is the rev EXERCISE 3 [ve done a lot of work it the various different ways (often derived ‘mathernatically) of bot fingering and executing arpegaios. ve that triads are best played using sweep 0s work fs for ome to the conctusi picking, whereas arpe ‘best when arrange three ve eft hand and notes ‘appes! using string skips approach — only arranged fournotes-penstring (three notes for the eft hand and one note tapped “More about the latter two approaches in the future. In the meantine, if you can play along tothe fastest workouts on the GT CD, try pushing each exercise by 10 bpm. Next month, the fst of our Another 10 0 right-hand tapping workouts, a 90 Gana Ridvious apes(60) 60) (100) EEN ST (60) (60) (100) ENE (60) (20) (100) e ‘eri. 201 Guitar Techniques 91WORKSHOP Pe = Sa a | ee retorts ip tre tft (60) (20 (100) EEE (60) 80) (10) (60) (20) (100) 92. Gitar Techniques APRIL 2003