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If you are reading this piece then I am assuming that you have been
practicing some sweep picking techniques and are struggling to improve
it. If this is the case then read on, as I explain how you can avoid the
four most common technical errors that many guitar players come across
when they attempt to improve on their sweep picking technique.
Normally if you a problem in anyone of the four areas as described below
you will have problems in all four areas to some degree. The good news
is that as you improve in one area the others tend improve. Read on and
you will understand why this is.
Separating the notes:
Many guitar players have troubles separating the individual notes of an
arpeggio because they do not release their fingers from the notes that
have been previously played, the results are that all of the notes ring
together. Though keeping your fingers on the fret board goes along with
the theory of minimum motion of the fingers, it goes against the rules
of clean sweep picking: all notes have to sound individually and
clearly! It is very tempting to want to reduce the motion of your
fretting hand as much as possible, but you also have to make certain
that the notes sound cleanly.
The secret is to find a balance between raising your fingers off of the
fretted note after you have picked it, while being careful not to let
your fingers come up so far from the strings of your guitar that it
makes it hard to bring them back down to play the next series of notes.
You need to learn how to lift your fingers slightly off of the strings
after it has been struck to stop it from sounding, You will also have to
learn how to mute that string with your picking hand.
Even though releasing your fingers from the fretted notes that you have
just played is not an application of “minimum of motion”, it is
required that you do this in order to play the technique clearly and
cleanly. Although this makes perfectly good sense when reading about it,
a lot of guitar players have a hard time with finding the correct
relationship between the economy of motion and playing notes cleanly,
not only when it comes to sweep picking, but all other techniques as
well.
Rolling:
Rolling is another technique that is used in sweep picking. Rolling is
simply playing notes on the same fret, but on adjacent strings. The most
essential part of using the rolling technique is to make certain that
you mute the string that you are leaving. To get the idea of using the
rolling technique place the tip of your index finger on the A string 5th
fret and play that note, now roll the flat of your index finger to the
play the note on the 5th fret D string, make certain that the tip of
your index finger stays in contact with the A string to keep it from
ringing, remember that you only have to contact the string very gently.
This is extremely important, so that you get a clean sound. Then roll
your index finger back to the A string 5th
fret, making certain that the underside tip of your index finger remains
in slight contact with the 4th string to keep it from sounding. Take
some time to practice playing these two notes using only your index
finger working back and forth in a rolling motion while making certain
that you are muting the previous string that you played.
This will most likely take a bit of time to get it right, don’t become
impatient keep practicing it; it is well worth the
effort!
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