Yngvai X said:
But then you're ignoring those particular arpeggio shapes. You want to play the intro to Smoke and Mirrors? You have to play those barre shapes. You want to play Serrana? You have to play barring shapes. Don't get me wrong, Im sure this mode of practicing works for you, but you seem to be looking at it like "well, I can't fit those shapes into how I practice, so just don't do them."
Well, I guess it's important to you to play arpeggio shape X, Y, and Z. That's okay for you, but I fundamentally disagree with this approach to guitar playing. When playing a fast passage, what's important (to me) are the notes, not the shapes. You can and should play any arpeggio more than one way, even if you're playing fast. The pattern is unimportant (to me). The notes tell the whole story.
If you're learning to play by shapes and patterns then you're essentially applying the Suzuki Method to guitar. If it works for you, then that's okay, but this is a serious pedogogical difference in perspective that you and I have, and one that is frequently debated among music educators.
YngvaiX said:
Wrong. The issue isn't speed, its synchronization. I've seen lots of guys who can move their right hand very fast and who can also move their left hand fingers very fast, but they're not synchronized so it sounds sloppy as shit. Perhaps for *you* the issue remains soley within the left hand, but the right hand needs to develop control as well. Of course when sweeps reach really high speeds the right hand looks like its not doing much other than raking across however many strings really fast, but the point is, there is a large amount of control that (should be) present. And you should have that control at *any* speed, not just fast speeds. The issue of control is even more apparent when economy picking.
Well, one thing I think you're ignoring is the fact that you can AFFORD to miss with your right hand if your left hand is playing precisely. This, once again, is a difference in pedogogical perspective between us. The fact of the matter is that if you can play these arpeggios effectively without using the pick at all, you can play the song or the solo in question. How important is it really to use the pick if you don't have to?
It comes down to whether you feel like you're playing an arpeggio made up of individual notes that relate to a song, or whether you feel like you're playing a sweep-picking pattern.
Ideally, both hands should be perfectly synchronized. As I said before, if your left hand can play these arpeggios without effort, then it is NOT difficult to add the right hand in later if you decide it's necessary (but it's not).
YngvaiX said:
Conversely to what you are saying, I've had some of my students practice just their right hand technique when sweeping so the pick attack is extremely even and they aren't rushing (especially when doing a series of successive downstrokes in a row) by just doing the right hand motion while muting the strings with the left hand.
The problem I have with this is that muting the strings and practicing your sweeps doesn't make any music, it only makes a ticking sound against the muted strings. How much fun is that? Not much fun.... Practicing the left-hand-only still makes the notes sound, despite the fact that you're not using the pick. Of the two, I would rather my students be making music than ticking sounds. It's a difference of opinion, I guess...
