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SweepPickingByNealNagaoka

Thisisatechniquethatwasadaptedtoguitarfromviolin.Acommonlyusedtechniquethatisusedtoexecutearpeggios.ManypeopletendtothinkthatthistechniquesoundsveryClassicalsoundingwhichitcanifusedwithaClassicalsoundingprogression.WellhopefullythiswillbreakthatmythbutIsuggestwetaketheseinstepssowewillstartwiththetypicallygenericsoundingClassicalexamplesfirst.Letsstartwiththebasictriads.MajorshapeandtheMinorshape.Iusuallytendtorelatethemwithopenchordshapes.WhatImeanbythisisforexample,take1a.ThispatternisaAmajorArpeggiobutifyoulookclosly,thepatternremindsofanABarrechordatthe12thfretoryoucanlookatitasanopenAchordbut12fretshigher.Example1b.isanAminorarpeggiothatlookssimilartoanopenAminorchord.Example2alookslikeanEchordand3alookslikeaDchordwhile2blookslikeanEminorchordand3blookslikeaDMinorChord.

Hereisacoupleofvideoexamplesonmyyoutubepageusingsomeofthesetechniques.VideoExamples1:VideoExamples2:

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ThekeytoexecutingthesecleanlyisbasicallytodothemoverandoverbutIhighlyreccomendpracticingthesewithametronomeataslowspeed.Theobjectofmakingthesweepssoundgoodistomakesuretheyareevenandintempo.Letstakeexample1a.Sincethispatterncontains12notes,wehavetosystematicallybreakthemupinto2groupsof6s.Thinkoftheacsendinghalfasgrouponeandthedescendinghalfasgrouptwo.Anotherthingtokeepinmindiswhenthereare2notesonastring,pickjustthefirstnoteandhammeronthesecondnote.Theonlyexceptiontothisiswhenyouareactuallyusingthesecondnoteasapivotpointlikeinthe7thnoteintheexamplebelow.Onceyouhavemasteredthis,thetechniquewillgraduallybecomemucheasiertodowithanyarpeggio.

Exercise4b.showstheactualdirectionofthepickingandwhichnotestohammeronandpulloff.Justrememberwhenyoupracticethesetokeepthemasevenaspossibleandintime.

Sonowyouhavethebasicideaofhowtosweepanarpeggiobutthenextquestionusuallyfollows,"HowdoIusethemwhenIamplayingasongorwhenIamimprovising?.Onecommonwaytousethemistofollowachordprogression.Letstakeexample5withagenericIviIVVprogresioninthekeyofCMajor.

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Thenextstepistodecidewhicharpeggiostousetofollowthisprogression.Thisonesuptoyoubutforpracticalpurposes,Ireccomendmixingdifferentinversionsaroundsoyoudonthavetojumparoundtheentirefretboardtofollowaprogression.Below,Ihavegivenseveralpossibilitiestofollowtheprogressionsotrytofindonethatyouthinkfeelsmostcomfortableforyouatfirstandthentryexperimenting.

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Oneotherthingisthatyoudontalwayshavetostartfromthebottomnote.Forachange,reversingthepatterncanbeanicewaytobreakthemonotony.

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Anotherpossibilityistousesmallersizedarpeggiosorportionsofthesweeparpeggios.Rememberthattheydontalwayshavetobereallylargesweeps.Sometimesthesmalleronescanbejustasdifficultorattimes,evenmoredifficult.

AdvancedSweepPickingByNealNagaoka

Inthissection,wewilltrytousemorecomplexshapesandpatternsforsweeppicking.Sweepingof7thchordarpeggiosisalsoagreatwaytousethemtogiveitamorejazzyflavor.

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Youcanalsosubstitutearegulartriadarpeggiowitha7tharpeggioiftheyareusedcorrectly.BelowisanexampleusingthegenericI,VI,IV,Vprogressionagain.

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Anotherpossiblity,sweeping7th'swithslidesandinoctavespairing.Thismethodwillallowyoutodothosereallylongandcontinuoussweepsonceyoumasterthetechnique.

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Sameideabutinaminorkey

Asequencedsetof7tharpeggios.Oneofmypersonalfavorites.Belowareexamplesofcombiningdifferentarpeggiosinasequentialpattern.

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Finally,wecanusethe7thsarpeggioswitha2noteperstringidea.Thistechniqueisnotreallymean'tforsweepingbutmorefordoingsequentialrunswith7tharpeggios.

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SequencedCMajor7thruningroupingsof3's

Diminished7thSweepsLastbutnotleast,nosweeppickingmethodwouldbecompletewithouttheDiminished7tharpeggios.

Thediminished7tharpeggiosareverydistinctsoundingarpeggioswhicharederivedfromtheHarmonicMinor.Duetothedarkqualityitpossesses,manypeopletendtothinkthatitsoundsveryNeoclassical.Duetothenatureofthisarpeggiobeingevenlydividedby4minor3rdintervals,thearpeggioisverysymetricalinshape,(Hencetheterm"SymetricDiminishedScale").Hereareafew

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examplesusingtheDiminished7ths.

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