sweeping form problem

[MACvodka]

if i have such an arpeggio 7
8
9
9
10
how i should fret it?
i dont know if to move the pinkie fro the 10th fret to the 9th or fret the to notes on the 9 frets with the ring finger

sorry if it's a stupid queastion or out of place for this kind of forum

 

[Ermz]

Try doing the 10 with the pinky, barring with the ring to cover both 9's, middle finger to play the 8 and then index to play the 7.

That's actually the first five string pattern I ever learned. It was one of the most frustrating things to get clean initially, but now nothing could be easier! Keep at it, man.

 

[MACvodka]

oh hell, barring with thw ring finger.....my fingers are short s hell...ok i'll keep at it tnx

 

[guitarguru777]

Learning to bar with all your fingers is one of the secrets to sweeping.

 

[JBroll]

If you can't do it, start working on it:

E-5---6-7---8-9---8-7---6-----------------------
B--5-6---7-8---9-8---7-6------------------------
1 2 3 4 4 3 2 1

and so on and so forth. Eventually add on the G strings, and if you're a real nut, the D as well. You'll need it, so suck it up and practice.

Jeff

 

[Vic Rattlehead]

I also have a small sweeping question. If you were doing something like this:

e|--------4----------
B|------3---3--------
G|----2-------2------
D|--1-----------1----
A|-------------------
E|-------------------

How would you get that note on e while keeping the flow of the sweep?

 

[MACvodka]

use your pinkie for the e string
i hope i understood your queastion right.....

or if you meant this-
i think you should downstorke the first 3 notes and the 4 that left starting fron the 3 string is upstrokes

 

[Dying Freedom]

I'd downpick the first four... to me that would be the smoothest and most comfortable way. It's just a matter of preference.

 

[JBroll]

It basically comes down to how you prefer to alternate pick. There are two ways to cross strings with AP - inside the string (where your pick travels... you guessed it, inside the string) and outside the string (where your pick goes over the string and hits it the other way around - completely counterintuitive, I know, but that's the way it goes). If you were picking one note on the B string and one on the E, hitting the B on an upstroke and going to the E with a downstroke would be inside, whereas a downstroke on the B and an upstroke on the E would be outside. Figure out which one you do more evenly/cleanly, and plan it around that - if your inside picking is better, do downstrokes for the first four notes and then upstrokes on the G, B, and D strings as you descend the arpeggio again; if your outside picking is better, do three downstrokes and then come back around on all four strings descending with an upstroke.

Note that a ton of players use arpeggios that let them hammer-on and pull-off another note (or two) on the highest and lowest string of the arpeggio - this helps a great deal with smoothing the sound out. Example:

E------------------12h17p12-------------------
B--------------13------------13----------------
G-----------14------------------14-------------
D--------14------------------------14----------
A-12h15-------------------------------15p12h15
E-----------------------------------------------... and so on

so keep that in mind if you have problems 'turning around' over one note.

Jeff

 

[Vic Rattlehead]

I seem to have the best luck doing the last four notes with an upstroke but either way the flow ends up getting screwed up. The only thing to do is practice more I guess.

 

[JBroll]

You might have more luck at keeping it smooth if you practice your outside picking on those two notes - hopefully you're familiar with the Paul Gilbert picking lick (from the Intense Rock video):

E----------12----------------12------- and so on, and so forth
B-12-13-15----15-13-12-13-15----15-13- with v representing
v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ downstrokes and ^ representing upstrokes.

You can also repeat the D and E after each other a few times, which will be just the string-skipping part on its own (but not nearly as easy to do consistently).

Jeff

 

[Noumenon]

I think I've gotten myself into something really annyoing, trying to pick those note at the top/bottom string in arps, alternating them :S

  U  D  D  D  D  D  U  D  U  U  U  U
E----------------12-17-12------------
B-------------13----------13---------
G----------14----------------14------
D-------14----------------------14---
A-12-15----------------------------15
E------------------------------------

 

[JBroll]

Yeah, I was actually told to do that when I started, but I liked how it added to the liquidy, flowy feel of the arpeggio (which is what I was going for anyway), and if I were to do taps on the top string (ha!) it would be pretty hard to pick in a good-sounding place and then move fast enough to tap the note.

Jeff

 

[guitarguru777]

Like This Vic

    D D D U U U D
e|--------4----------
B|------3---3--------
G|----2-------2------
D|--1-----------1----
A|-------------------
E|-------------------

 

[Noumenon]

Yeah, I was actually told to do that when I started, but I liked how it added to the liquidy, flowy feel of the arpeggio (which is what I was going for anyway), and if I were to do taps on the top string (ha!) it would be pretty hard to pick in a good-sounding place and then move fast enough to tap the note.

Jeff

You just made me give up this!
If I ever want to be able to add the taps I most likly have to do the legato thing.

 

[JBroll]

I can't do taps on the top string myself, for the record, I'm still working on the first arp solo on Psalm Of Lydia and I either have problems with timing or with open string noise.

Jeff

 

[Noumenon]

I'm working on the diminished and the arp part in TGE.
Lost my tab on psalm of lydia

 

[Fragle]

You might have more luck at keeping it smooth if you practice your outside picking on those two notes - hopefully you're familiar with the Paul Gilbert picking lick (from the Intense Rock video):

E----------12----------------12------- and so on, and so forth
B-12-13-15----15-13-12-13-15----15-13- with v representing
v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ v ^ downstrokes and ^ representing upstrokes.

You can also repeat the D and E after each other a few times, which will be just the string-skipping part on its own (but not nearly as easy to do consistently).

Jeff

´
mh...guess i'm more of an inside picking guy. playing this lick the way you transcribed it just feels weird to me.
but then again, i just cannot get any decent speed when starting fast runs using a downstroke, like 3 notes per string patters etc. i struggled forever trying to get these licks up to speed starting with a downstroke, but it didn't work out. when i switched to upstrokes it was like a night and day difference to me. nowadays i start almost every lick using an upstorke....maybe it's weird, but if it's not broke, don't fix it

 

[Noumenon]

with an upstroke?! yes it's wierd. atleast it feels wierd hehe.

 

[Fragle]

well, the reason why it feels more comfortable to me is that i'll do a downstroke when switching to the next higher string, essentially performing abovementioned inside picking.