.gapnap.com

How to Sweep Clean

So why do you suck at sweep picking?

You cannot play it clean ..even at a slow tempo..

and the whole issue ..is all about MUTING MUTING MUTING MUTING MUTING

let us trace it back to a simple technique we learned few years ago called PALM MUTING .

Do you remember?

There was a time , when you were a kid , you love Metallica and their “chugga chugga” sound .The first day you found out about palm muting , you thought it was the COOLEST shit ever ..and you played SAD BUT TRUE non stop .

YEA

sad thing is , most guitarist actually took palm muting the wrong way …We think Palm muting is the same with muting …and because of this ..we made sweep picking much harder for ourselves..

the concept of PALM MUTING is to rely HEAVILY on your right hand to execute that technique. As time goes by , we (guitarist) got too used to it , we only rely on our right hand for muting shit.

there is a big difference between palm muting , and muting . Are you with me here ?

Muting is basically nothing , no noise . Palm Muting is ..err..got sound lah ..you can actually hear the notes and the pitch ..

Muting is the effort of your LEFT HAND and RIGHT HAND

Palm Muting is mostly the effort of your RIGHT HAND

Many guitarist got mixed up and assume ..

to palm mute - use right hand

to mute - also use right hand …

wrong .what is muting?

..is to mute the lower strings with the palm, and the higher strings with our left hand fingers.

can you read that again ? yes.read it again . that is the secret of how to sweep pick clean .

..is to mute the lower strings with the palm, and the higher strings with our left hand fingers.

You will notice that many guitarist who attempt a 5 string sweep ..will sound quite OKAY at the first the Low String ( A , D ) ..but as the sweep continues to the high strings ( E , B , G ) they completely screw it up ..( not clean ) things got sloppy..

the reason is simple , too much palm muting ( rely heavily on right hand ) ..until they forget how to use their left hand to mute ..

In Sweep Picking , the moment you played a note , you quickly mute it with your right hand if it is a low string and your left hand if it is the high string..with the combination of lifting up your fingers of course..

and you know what is harder than playing sweep pick clean ?

is not being lazy , and not cheating .

That means . Sweep Picking is no shortcut bullshit cheating technique .

you really gotta start from scratch , 2 strings to 3 strings …to 5 strings to 6 strings..

DO NOT SKIP . DO NOT TRY TO WALK BEFORE YOU CAN CRAWL

and , be honest . do not RELY on your Neck pickup to sweep . Try it with HIGH VOLUME and Bridge pickup to hear yourself ..test yourself , are you really that clean or not ?

another advice i would give is do not treat guitar playing like a plastic surgery

that means , do not study the angle of the right hand , the angle of the pick from a pro ..(being too detailed)

it will make your life harder ..and it makes the technique harder..

Everybody is unique . Everybody has their own style . What might work for him might not work for you and what will work for you , might not work for him .

Take this .Don’t care about the pick , the angle , the fingering etc etc etc .

GO FOR THE MOST COMFORTABLE WAY FOR YOU

with this thinking , you will improve really fast . so what if you’re comfortable method is different ? as long as it sounds good  , it is GOOD .

This approach also applies for alternate picking , tapping or whatever technique you are practicing .

Do not try to follow Malmsteen’s Fingering . If you want to Cover , take his notes and place it where your fingers are used to .

Malmsteen probably practiced Far beyond the Sun at 8th fret to 15 fret E Harmonic minor scale .

You practiced your E Harmonic minor scale from the 11th to 15th fret . Go for your 11th-15th fret . Screw the artist fingering .

Ok ,that is all the shit i wanna say today . Wait for me for the next , how to use sweep picking post . probably next week or something . good day .