who is the best sweep picker?

[aiwass]

All high tech shredders(Yngwie,Rusty,Stump,Forte,Romeo....) are technically capeble of playing the most advanced jazz stuff ı am sure.yes jazz is very diffucult teorically but technically metal shit is the thoughest because its much much more faster than other styles.But its just my opinion ı never seriously studied jazz.

Marcus Paus is another amazing sweeppicker.

There is lots of jazz/fusion stuff that is much faster and much harder to play than metal. Besides, it's usually improv, which makes it even worse. Check out Gambale, Lane, Harrison and Holdsworth.

Marcus Paus doesn't sweep, at least not on the few known recordings there are of him. The Mr. Cucumber demos had TWO guitarists, him and Håkon Hogganvik - Hogganvik was the guy doing all the sweeping and legato, while Paus relied exclusively on alternate picking (at least for the solos, anyway). Paus also has a treblier tone, while Hogganvik has more warmth to his sound (Paus used .007 strings, so that could have something to do with it).

 

[soulshred]

There is lots of jazz/fusion stuff that is much faster and much harder to play than metal. Besides, it's usually improv, which makes it even worse. Check out Gambale, Lane, Harrison and Holdsworth.


so you are saying there are jazz players who plays faster than Rusty cooley?
shawn lane maybe though. ı agrree about the improv madness thats hard

 

[ChrisM.]

Not replying to the jazz versus metal discussion here, it's pointless. Just back to the original topic. The best sweep pickers I've ever heard are:

Frank Gambale - he can sweep anything that comes to his mind, scales, arpeggios, 2-5-1 progressions, modal jazz lines, etc., the most complex fingerings over the most complex changes without using hammer ons and pull offs at all - that guy has taken sweep picking to a completely new level

George Bellas - Unreal technique. Even those lightning fast scales that sound like alternate picking are actually swept. Again, not limited to certain patterns, it's unbelievable the way he combines arpeggio/wide intervallic stuff with scales in the same lick; listen to turn of the millenium, he can do non stop sweeping across the whole fretboard without stopping for minutes. Way underrated.

Jason Becker - Everybody here seems to know him. I'm still amazed how he connects those shapes so fluent. Far from basic minor/major triad sweeps, although he can do those damn well, too.

Vinnie Moore - Simply brilliant and accurate with sweeps, everything's so claen and precise, and he can combine his sweeps perfectly with legato and tapping stuff to create mind boggling sounds. Those sweeps in Race with destiny scare the hell out of me.

Yngwie Malmsteen - Okay, now he doesn't use shapes out of the ordinary really, but the WAY he plays them, the way he hits every note with such conviction makes him and outstanding sweep picker. Just listen to the intro of Fire and ice, some of the best SOUNDING sweeping I've ever heard. Also economy picks for his ascending runs at times.

That's it from me. 5 of my all time favorite players!

 

[NGC 3370]

Frank Gambale

 

[Yngtchie Blacksteen]

Marcus Paus is another amazing sweeppicker.

Indeed, very accurate and fast.

 

[Mr. Shred-ididle]

I like jazz more than metal now, and I can safely say that it's alot harder than metal theoretically and jjust generally, even if metal might have more fast playing. But I'd rather hear something innovative, original and beautiful over a complex chord sequence than someone picking/sweeping/tapping as fast as they can over a heavy E power chord. But thats just IMO. But most of the REALLY good jazz isn't played by guitarists, its played by guys like Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Monk, Chic Corea and more. But alot of jazz is wankage, like alot of metal too. Theres amazing jazz and amazing metal.

now back on-topic....Gambale really is a superior sweeper than guys like Cooley and Angelo. The metal shredder guys might be able to play it faster than Gambale, but who cares faster does NOT = better.

 

[joeshabadoo]

Micheal Angelo has the fastest picking hand, but he plays and creates the cheesiest music in the world.

 

[ABQShredHead]

One phenom missing from these lists - Mike Campese. Talk about a guy who can play comfortably in all styles. I highly recommend his stuff if you can't quite figure out what style of music you want to listen to. And his columns on the Guitar 9 website are excellent.

 

[mmmsplay10]

If I do say so myself.
Micheal Angelo is quite clean, but at high speeds its not perfect. Yngwie is perfect and but is not quite as fast as MA.

I think Bumblefoot or Scott Mishoe are the fastest sweep pickers. (scott mishoe is super underrated and probably unheard of by most of you. Check him out).

But I haven't heard enough sweep picking yet to make a great decision.

 

[CantoX]

Your first post on this forum was to dig out of the grave a 6 year old thread?

C'mon.

 

[masqueraded]

I like jazz more than metal now, and I can safely say that it's alot harder than metal theoretically and jjust generally, even if metal might have more fast playing. But I'd rather hear something innovative, original and beautiful over a complex chord sequence than someone picking/sweeping/tapping as fast as they can over a heavy E power chord.

I like these words.

My favorite sweep picker is Michael James Romeo. Becker is in my list as well.

 

[EyeballKid]

Wow. This is old. Wow.

 

[razoredge]

Wow. Sweep pickers. Wow.

 

[Kenneth R.]

i can pick all your noses before you knew what happened.

 

[schenkadere]

I think once someone has the technique down, they all sound the same...it's a rather sterile technique. Gambale is the only one who really has a unique take on it. I could never hear another sweep arpeggio and be just fine.

 

[schenkadere]

Vinnie Moore - Simply brilliant and accurate with sweeps, everything's so claen and precise, and he can combine his sweeps perfectly with legato and tapping stuff to create mind boggling sounds. Those sweeps in Race with destiny scare the hell out of me.

You will notice that as Vinnie Moore has grown and matured as a player, sweeping is a rarely heard technique in his repertoire. He now incorporates much more blues based lines which not only shows in his soloing with UFO, but also on his latest solo instrumental. I'm a much bigger fan as of recent...he's got great feel and killer chops...always did, but it shows more now.

Sweeping...snore.

 

[The Emptier]

i'm not a fan of sweeping anymore, at least not conventional sweeping. Gambale is the man IMO, his fucking altered dominant, maj/min 7th fucking sweeps are so hard. his technique is perfect and totally locked, its impossible to pull his shit off

 

[Meedleyx10]

It's a technique that's become cliche in most rock/metal contexts because 99% of those guys' concept of the technique are the basic, stock triadic (maybe a few 7th chords if you're lucky) arpeggio patterns that were played to death in the 80's when it was a bit less of a novelty. It ends up being a big "hey look at me, I can sweep pick and now I'm going to showcase it for you" kind of thing. They don't see it as a technique that it is highly useful and that can be used in far more beneficial (and musically pleasing) ways. As many have said, Gambale probably has the technique down better than anybody...and while I do think is playing get get a little monotonous, I don't think it's due to his picking technique. It comes down largely to the fact that for him it's a means of executing musical ideas whereas a lot of guys, mostly younger/immature players, do it more as a right of passage kind of thing...something they feel they are supposed to do because all their shred-heroes do it and it becomes a competitive/technique thing rather than a musical thing. I think we're all guilty of things like that, but it seems that not as many of us get past that point.

The same thing happened to tapping...a highly useful technique, but people fall into that trap of overdoing the Eruption-esque tapping ideas and it turns into a cheesy kind of thing.

 

[Detective Clarence Beauregard]

I don't know who the best is technically, and I don't really care. Most of the time I feel that sweep picking sounds out-of-place, anyway - it's hard for me not to think that it's simply unnecessary wanking. However, I've never heard MJR do this - it always seems to fit the song with him (e.g. Smoke and Mirrors intro). I remember when I first started listening to Symphony X, I thought MJR swept in every solo, but it's just that crazy legato tap thing he does. I find this far more impressive than sweeping when done right - it sounds more fluid to me.

 

[razoredge]

Oh, some guys do it well, others never stop

A bit off the BEATEN path but Steve Morse has done some awesome solos on many Deep Purple albums, been hearing a bunch of them lately