5/21/2015

SweepPicking

SweepPicking

ByNealNagaoka
Thisisatechniquethatwasadaptedtoguitarfromviolin.Acommonlyusedtechniquethatisusedtoexecute
arpeggios.ManypeopletendtothinkthatthistechniquesoundsveryClassicalsoundingwhichitcanifusedwitha
Classicalsoundingprogression.WellhopefullythiswillbreakthatmythbutIsuggestwetaketheseinstepssowewill
startwiththetypicallygenericsoundingClassicalexamplesfirst.
Letsstartwiththebasictriads.MajorshapeandtheMinorshape.Iusuallytendtorelatethemwithopenchordshapes.
WhatImeanbythisisforexample,take1a.ThispatternisaAmajorArpeggiobutifyoulookclosly,thepattern
remindsofanABarrechordatthe12thfretoryoucanlookatitasanopenAchordbut12fretshigher.Example1b.is
anAminorarpeggiothatlookssimilartoanopenAminorchord.Example2alookslikeanEchordand3alookslikea
Dchordwhile2blookslikeanEminorchordand3blookslikeaDMinorChord.
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Hereisacoupleofvideoexamplesonmyyoutubepageusingsomeofthesetechniques.
VideoExamples1:
VideoExamples2:

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ThekeytoexecutingthesecleanlyisbasicallytodothemoverandoverbutIhighlyreccomendpracticingthesewitha
metronomeataslowspeed.Theobjectofmakingthesweepssoundgoodistomakesuretheyareevenandintempo.
Letstakeexample1a.Sincethispatterncontains12notes,wehavetosystematicallybreakthemupinto2groupsof6s.
Thinkoftheacsendinghalfasgrouponeandthedescendinghalfasgrouptwo.Anotherthingtokeepinmindiswhen
thereare2notesonastring,pickjustthefirstnoteandhammeronthesecondnote.Theonlyexceptiontothisiswhen
youareactuallyusingthesecondnoteasapivotpointlikeinthe7thnoteintheexamplebelow.Onceyouhave
masteredthis,thetechniquewillgraduallybecomemucheasiertodowithanyarpeggio.

Exercise4b.showstheactualdirectionofthepickingandwhichnotestohammeronandpulloff.Justrememberwhen
youpracticethesetokeepthemasevenaspossibleandintime.

Sonowyouhavethebasicideaofhowtosweepanarpeggiobutthenextquestionusuallyfollows,"HowdoIuse
themwhenIamplayingasongorwhenIamimprovising?.Onecommonwaytousethemistofollowachord
progression.Letstakeexample5withagenericIviIVVprogresioninthekeyofCMajor.

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Thenextstepistodecidewhicharpeggiostousetofollowthisprogression.Thisonesuptoyoubutfor
practicalpurposes,Ireccomendmixingdifferentinversionsaroundsoyoudonthavetojumparoundthe
entirefretboardtofollowaprogression.Below,Ihavegivenseveralpossibilitiestofollowtheprogression
sotrytofindonethatyouthinkfeelsmostcomfortableforyouatfirstandthentryexperimenting.

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Oneotherthingisthatyoudontalwayshavetostartfromthebottomnote.Forachange,reversingthe
patterncanbeanicewaytobreakthemonotony.

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Anotherpossibilityistousesmallersizedarpeggiosorportionsofthesweeparpeggios.Rememberthat
theydontalwayshavetobereallylargesweeps.Sometimesthesmalleronescanbejustasdifficultor
attimes,evenmoredifficult.

AdvancedSweepPicking

ByNealNagaoka

Inthissection,wewilltrytousemorecomplexshapesandpatternsforsweeppicking.Sweepingof7th
chordarpeggiosisalsoagreatwaytousethemtogiveitamorejazzyflavor.

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SweepPicking

Youcanalsosubstitutearegulartriadarpeggiowitha7tharpeggioiftheyareusedcorrectly.Belowis
anexampleusingthegenericI,VI,IV,Vprogressionagain.

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Anotherpossiblity,sweeping7th'swithslidesandinoctavespairing.Thismethodwillallowyoutodo
thosereallylongandcontinuoussweepsonceyoumasterthetechnique.

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Sameideabutinaminorkey

Asequencedsetof7tharpeggios.Oneofmypersonalfavorites.Belowareexamplesofcombining
differentarpeggiosinasequentialpattern.

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Finally,wecanusethe7thsarpeggioswitha2noteperstringidea.Thistechniqueisnotreallymean't
forsweepingbutmorefordoingsequentialrunswith7tharpeggios.

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SequencedCMajor7thruningroupingsof3's

Diminished7thSweeps
Lastbutnotleast,nosweeppickingmethodwouldbecompletewithouttheDiminished7tharpeggios.
Thediminished7tharpeggiosareverydistinctsoundingarpeggioswhicharederivedfromthe
HarmonicMinor.Duetothedarkqualityitpossesses,manypeopletendtothinkthatitsoundsvery
Neoclassical.Duetothenatureofthisarpeggiobeingevenlydividedby4minor3rdintervals,the
arpeggioisverysymetricalinshape,(Hencetheterm"SymetricDiminishedScale").Hereareafew
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examplesusingtheDiminished7ths.

Back

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