frank gambale - guitar sweep picking

7/30/2019 Frank Gambale - Guitar Sweep Picking

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Pickingfor Ridiculousglide over thestrings and get more,notes per stroke

or many years I devoted mysel fto perfecting my sweep picking-a technique that can be used

place of (or along with) alternate pickingdevelop considerable speed. Many players

sweep picking licks without realizingcan be taken.

The most common flatpicking methodstrict alternate strokes (down, up, down,

some players opt for a lessd effect, where the picked note is

by hammer-ons or pull -offs. Inp picking, the same pick stroke is used

play from two to six notes. Depending onphrase, some alternate picking may also

required. The economy of sweep pickingyou p lay a lot of notes with minimal pick

making it easier to play at high

Look at Ex. 1, an A major scale fingering.

tendency to give it a triplet feel, so be sureit in groups o f two or four notes

At first, practice only the ascending

Gambale

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notes. When youre comfortable with that,work on the descending sequence; manyplayers find ascending sweeps feel more nat-Ural.

When sweep picking, remember:1. Keep the notes as separate as possi-ble-almost staccato (short) at firs t, espe-

ating yourself.4. Its harder to sweep at slower tempos, so

start with medium ones: For sixteenth-notepatterns, the quarter-note should be setbetween 60 and 100.The odd/even rule

cially when crossing strings. Newcomers to Sweep-picking licks require an odd number ofsweep picking tend to run the notes togeth- notes per string. In Ex. 1, notice that there areer. three notes per string going up and three

2. Make sure your right hand is executing a notes per string going down. To reverse thesingle movement when crossing strings, not direction of the sweep stroke in a line, youtwo successive strokes. need an even number of notes on the string

3. Practice with a metronome or drum where the reversal takes place. The two con-machine, and make sure the notes are clean setutive notes on the first string in Ex. 1 facil-and even, Be critical and honest when evalu- itate the change of direction.

The sweep pattern in this example is ccal, since practically any scale (and its insions) can be fingered using three notes string. This vastl y simplifies the numberpatterns you need to know. More importanteliminates problem spots in conventionscale patterns, where two notes per stoccur in certain places. The ideal scheme tures three notes on the E, A, 0, G, anstrings, and two notes on the high E, whallows you to reverse pick-stroke direction a descending sweep.Ex. 2 is a sweep conf iguration for apentatonic scale; notice that the sweeps cthree strings. The odd/even rule still appSince there are only two notes on the

Ex. 1 A major scale

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Ex. 2 A minor pentatonic 3A 1 2 4 3l A:, :4 2 I. m a. - e .. m .

d * - - 4 z I 4 1 2 =427*s 4I II i n n v n n n v n n n v v v n v v v n v v +I II

Ex. 3 Amaj7 arpeggio . ?

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Ex. 4 Am7 arpeggio

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begin with an upstroke so that you can but the right-hand motion is logical, quick,p onto the fi fth string and set things up and effor tless.

The entire pattern goes: Itvo notes on thethree on the fi fth , one on the

rth, three on the third, and one on the sec-e are two notes on the first string f ordirection change. This example requires

bit of left-hand stretching; allowingthumb and fingers to move

ly will help you reach the notes. For exam-you play the fifth-s tring D, release itand then release again for the G, and

on-instead of stretching for notes, justyour hand. These left-hand fingerings

very different from conventional scales,

Harp on itArpeggio shapes are probably the most exci t-

G#s a half-step.

ing aspect of sweep picking-once you get afeel for them, they can be played at mind-bog-gling speeds. Ex. 3 is a very useful Amaj7

The sweeps in Ex. 4 move across three

arpeggio fingering from which many otherscan be derived. For example, to convert it to

and four strings. I f you count each sweep as a

an A7 pattern, simply lower each G# a half-step. For an Am7 arpeggio, lower the C#s and

single stroke, then each two-octave arpeggio

requires only six pick strokes-in other words,six strokes are used to articulate 16 notes(compared to 16 strokes for 16 notes with con-ventional alternate picking). The result?Ridiculous speed with minimal right-handmovement.The simple triadic arpeggio in Ex. S-dif-ficu lt with alternate picking, since it quicklymoves across the strings-is easily tackledwith sweep picking.

Statement, an original exercise that featuressome of the most extreme possibilities osweep picking. Its a real challenge, a roller

Once youve got these patterns solidlyunder your fingers, tackle Sweeping

coaster ride over the whole fretboard. nEx.5 C arpeggio

Sweeping Statement

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slowlyAm11

* fi_ 11 Dmaj7 Dmaj7Ami ln

80 HOW TO PLAY GUITAR / VOL.3 NO.6 I

frank gambale - guitar sweep picking

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