Sweep Picking 8 finger tapping The ultimate guitar technique

Transcription

1 Sweep Picking 8 finger tapping The ultimate guitar technique Niels vejlyt

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3 Introduction Can you imagine yourself playing techniques that are so over the top and outrageus that everyone who see or hear them will be blown away thinking to themselves this should not be humanly possible. Do you want to be able to pick up a guitar and make anyone drop their jaws in awe of what can be done on a guitar. In this program I want you to destroy all limitations in your thoughts on what can be done physical. I will completely dissect the technique for you to easily imply them into your own playing. So this way something that looks pretty much impossible suddenly becomes something that you practice like you practiced your first scales and chops. I will give you the plan that secures the goal we set here in the program so following the direction I give you manifests the In this program I want to delve deep into a very specific and interesting technique. Sweep picking combined with eight finger tapping. The eight finger tapping part is actually left hand hammering on and pulling off with four fingers and the right hand is tapping with four fingers. This technique is the product of me thinking what is the most outrageus technique I can come up with? and the answer was sweep picking combined with eight finger tapping. So here I want to go into detail and show you precisely what to do to master this fun and completely over the top technique. Try to think back to when you where were a beginner how hard it was making the fretting hand do as you wanted? Looking at experienced guitar players making it seem so easy. To some degree you are starting over with the tapping hand. If you have some experience with tapping with one finger then you probably use the long finger so if you feel comfortable doing this the same kind of dexterity and needs to be worked up in the ring and little finger First of all I will refer to the fretting hand and the tapping hand instead of right and left to avoid misunderstandings The mechanics To be able to use all four fingers and play sweep picking is not possible unless you drop the pick once the sweep picking part is done or you in some way attach the pick to one of the fingers and I did not want to create some kind of apparatus to do so I have always been a believer in playing guitar and be able to do as much as possible without being attached to some kind of utility or effect. So I came up with the technique of sliding the pick up on the index finger with the thumb. Pretty sweet technique! this way I could play a technique that makes use of the pick and at the same time tap with all four fingers. So after coming up with the idea for this madness I needed to find out how it worked in praxis, and in the beginning I felt that the technique was very influenced by how well I was warmed up in the tapping hand also very much in if I had dry hands or sweaty hands. Very

4 dry hands made it hard to control the pick with the thumb and very sweaty hands made the pick stick to the index finger. But fortunately after I repeated the same movements thousands of time I eventually was able to do it in any situation. The worst was that the first few hundred times I did it I dropped the pick on the floor which made the technique very unsuited to use in a band or live situation. But today I actually use the technique all the time even when I improvise. This is pretty magical because when I first came up with the technique I could not imagine do something as insane as this in a real music situation like playing with a band or even more far out in a improvisation situation. Finger sliding drill This technique is an essential skill of making sweep picking tapping possible so we need to drill it thoroughly. As I touched upon earlier I definitively had some difficulties mastering this technique just holding on to the pick seemed pretty much impossible the first few weeks I did it. But as with all other techniques you already mastered after a number of repetitions you will start to get momentum and eventually feel really natural doing such an outrageous technique as this. In this beginning stage you might feel the benefit of washing and drying your hands and drying well because you don t want to have wet hands doing this technique because that makes the pick become stuck on the index finger. Of course the condition of the hands after washing and drying them does not last forever but I experienced that just keeping on keeping on with the movement made me being able to do the technique without a hassle in any situation even playing live which is the ultimate situation you can be in because you probably will be sweating from the stage light and maybe being nervous. So the repetitions will conquer all and make you play the technique in the most extreme environment. The tapping hand You might have experience with using one or more fingers tapping but no matter what the precision of the fingers on the tapping hand is certainly not as precise and agile as the ones on the fretting hand since in most cases you are using all the fingers on the fretting hand 95 procent of the time you play guitar so we need to get the tapping hand fingers moving and being able to do individual work as in the fretting hand. I want you to start out really gentle by just playing a chromatic drill with the tapping hand and whats special in this lesson is that you have to be aware if all the notes tapped are equally clear. Its not

5 about speed at all, only about getting individual notes of each finger. You might experience that its hard to play all the notes equally long, this is a problem we will go more into detail with in a lesson a little later on in this program. The other thing I want you to pay attention to is that the fingers on the tapping hand does keep as close as possible to the string while it is still possible to create sound from the tapping to increase the precission. Youll see that many of the concepts used by the fretting hand goes for the tapping hand. The little finger One of the first things I noticed when I first started to involve all my fingers when tapping was that especially the little finger on the tapping hand was really weak and even when the 8 finger tapping started to make some progress there was no doubt that the descending part of the tapping pattern was very weak so I created several drills to work exclusively on this part and I want to give you a very effective one here. I have chosen to do the lesson way up on the neck because I want you to be challenged with a few different tapping shapes and opening with the whole tone pattern where the level of difficulty is pretty high since you need to be able to do the same amount of stretch between all the fingers and for me the biggest problem is between the long and little finger. That being said since in most cases the hand that you tap with is also the hand you use for pretty much everything and therefore I belive it is for most also the strongest and maybe that is also why it is not as difficult to stretch between the fingers as it is for the fretting hand. One thing you should really be aware of is when you do these drills is that it is very tempting to use the tapping hands thumb to get extra control by resting it on the side of the neck but remember that this is not possible when you are playing sweep picking 8 finger tapping since the thumb is then holding the pick on the side of the index finger. So continue the drill with the control coming from the lower arm is resting on the top of the guitar body(vis dette på mini screen) now lets try a new interval where we play a seminote between the little finger and the ring finger. Next it s the semi note between the ring and long finger and finally between the long finger and index finger.

6 The combination of sweep picking and 8 finger tapping When combining long lines of legato and sweep picking there is definitively the possibility of a difference in speed between the two. Because once you get the 8 finger tapping down and it works and sounds great then you don t have a problem with the speed in that technique per se. now sweep picking is another story since you only have on note per string and maximum two notes in the sweep picking patterns plus the pick is also a part of that technique so we need to drill the combination of the two to a metronome to get the timing down. Another thing is that the shorter the sweep picking pattrn is the quicker you need to be when you move from using the pick into the tapping technique. So I created a drill specifically for this. You will notice that I did not use four notes in the fretting hand this time and the reason for this is that when I only have two notes in the fretting hand I have to be even quicker moving into the tapping part so theres actually a huge difference between two and four notes in the fretting hand because these two extra notes gives quite a bit of extra time to move the pick to the edge of the index finger on the tapping hand so you can tap with all to get the tapping hand in position

7 Serious business Now I want you to try this lesson which both is an important drill and also a killer lick. It is a combination of the dubble descending style tapping that we did in the previous drill but put into a sweep picking context as well. The reason that I want this to be a drill as opposed exclusively a lick is that in this lick you also get the experience of what I have talked about the possibility that the tapping part can easily become faster than the sweep picking and that is also the reason that I made the sweep pickinf pattern a four string pattern so you really get to work on specifically that part Playing on the fretboard Another challenge in the combination of sweep picking tapping is evidently the shift from the sweep picking technique to the tapping technique. In many cases it is because there is a large area between the spot where the picking hand is positioned compared to where the fretting hand is located. So the time it takes for you to do the hammer on that you do in sweep picking arpeggios on the high E string in most cases. The time it takes for you to do the hammer on is the only time you have to get the tapping hand in position so the less notes you have in the hammer on part of the sweep picking pattern the faster you have to be with the positioning of the tapping hand The sweep picking shortcut Legato part I will give you three techniques to choose between to make the process a little easier to get from one technique. The first obvious one is the obvious one that we already touched upon, the idea of adding notes to the legato part of sweep picking 8 finger tapping.

8 Diagonal sweep picking This is an idea I came up with when I started to create and play a lot of sweep picking tapping. I start the pattern out in the way I would normally do if I was just playing regular sweep picking with no tapping added but as soon as the sweep picking progresses down the strings my picking hand slowly moves towards the fret board and this way getting closer and closer to the part of the fret board where the tapping is taking place This is a really usefull technique especially for situations where you are making use of several different techniques like in improvising Fret board sweep picking This is a technique that takes some getting used to, it was for me anyway. The theory of this technique is simply to keep the picking hand as close as possible to the fretting hand without being in the way of course. The rason that this technique in my opinion takes a little more work than it might seem is that there is less possibility of getting points of control for the picking hand when you are playing with the picking hand on the fret board. Actually the only control you have is from the side of the guitar body. I really felt that I had very little control of the pic when I started using the technique but I also saw the benefits of mastering the technique so I kept working on it until I felt comfortable with it and I want you to do the same. The fretting hand intervals Its funny how the fretting hand is the one doing most of the crazy stuff on the fret board but stretching wise also the less flexible one. The intervals that are the hardest to play are not necessarily the ones with the widest stretches. And I think that it varies from person to person what are the most challenging but for me personally it is actually when I play four notes per string patterns with the interval from the index finger being whole note between index and long finger, whole note between long finger and ringer and then half step between the ring and little finger and actually I think its much easier to do a whole step between all the fingers. Its simply because the first example I gave you requires quite a lot of control of the ring and little finger and as you probably know already the ring finger is the one with the least amount of control. Even though the little finger is smaller than the ringer finger it is much easier to control it for most people. So here is a little legato lesson that will help develop the control of your fretting hand fingers especially for playing four notes per string. This is not a lesson that I want you to spend large amounts of time on but just a little lesson that can help kick your fretting hand control in the butt. And you can just do it a few minutes here and there before and after the lessons in this program.

9 Individual finger work A lot of people experience a big difference in the quality of the sound between each finger. Especially the pinkie and ring finger. So try this little drill. You place all four fingers on the fretboard, anywhere you want and the start tapping with only the little finger and don t use force its only the technique you are working up and the precission. Next try the same with the ring finger and when both the hammer on and the pull of make equal amount of sound. Also keep in mind that there still is a difference between doing this drill and then playing the licks using the technique first of all because the tapping has to work first time in a fast pace. So if you do this lesson and the tapping starts sounding good after a few times then you know why it does not necessarily sound good in the licks every time.

10 Licks The time has come to introduce you to some killer chops utilizing the amazing technique sweep picking 8 finger tapping. They are all four note arpeggios with at least a complete scale in the tapping part. In these licks I will make use of the fret board sweep picking technique as we discussed earlier in the program. The first lick is a C major seven lick where the sweep picking part is played over four strings and makes use of quite a few hammer on s and pull off s to be able to add the seventh in the arpeggio and this is also the reason for the specific fingering im using. First I want you to do the lick by playing it once back and fourth because this way is the biggest challenge in the technique of moving quickly from one technique to another. Now try to play the same lick but when you reach the high E string do the hammer on and pull off part twice and see how it feels to get more time to do the sliding of the pick over the index finger. Lick 1 Lick 2 Diminished 7 lick This lick is a five string sweep picking arpeggio combined with the diminished scale which is made up of eight notes so contrary to the two previous licks we don t repeat the octave of the root in the scale. Lets talk a little about the sweep picking part for a while because as in the previous sweep picking arpeggios this also requires a particular fingering to make it work. This pattern is pretty new to me but I was just tired of the old three string sweep picking arpeggios and I wanted something that I could compare to the major and minor triads that are extremely flexible in the different ways they can be played as three, four five and six string sweep picking arpeggios. This particular shape is really awesome I think and it did take me something like a week or so to make it work at a fast pace. Its interesting and a bit unorthodox because you play two notes on the high E string and on the D string but only one on the A string which is the lowest note you play in this shape. Another thing is that since we are making use of the Dimished or eight note scale which is a symmetric

11 scale we can play two different scale patterns on the high E string one that is the traditional diminished scale which starts with the whole note step and the one that starts with the half note step that often is used as a altered scale that can easily be used over a dominant chord So lets go though both those scale examples to get the most out of the diminished or eight note scale. Lick 2 example 2 Lick 3

12 Lick 4 Minor 7 lick The minor 7 sweep picking 8 finger tapping lick again requires a quite unorthodox fingering and the reason is to get all four notes of the arpeggio crammed into this little shape and preferably played more than once. Again I tap the complete scale pertaining to the arpeggio which in this case is the Aeolian scale. In this example I also prefer to play on the fretboard with the pick so I am again as close as possible to the tapping part and this is often the case when you are playing scales as opposed to continuing the arpeggio in the tapping part. The technique sweep picking 8 finger tapping will in most cases be a combination of an arpeggio played with with sweep picking and a scale played with the use of Legato and tapping. Since we are playing 8 finger tapping it is mostly not possible to play arpeggios because often times arpeggios have larger intervals than scales and if we want to use all four fingers of the tapping hand we had to have an extremely large hand to play something like a triad arpeggios or four note arpeggio for that matter.

13 Sweep Picking 8 finger tapping Original concepts

14 Now I want to show you some of the different awesome possibilities you can make use of in this technique. Ex. 1 This one is really cool, it s a new way of combining sweep picking with 8 finger tapping. The sweep picking patterns are shorter in order to cram 8 finger tapping patterns on the way to the end of the sweep picking patterns end. It s a standard A minor triad but we both add an 8 finger tapping pattern on the G string and then continue the rest of the sweep picking pattern from the G string. Actually what happens in the first tapping pattern and legato pattern is that you play a complete C major scale, of course the A minor and C major scales share notes so you keep the sound of the A major throughout the lick. And on the high E string you play the minor scale completely. Then something interesting happens because you need to go into the next inversion of the A minor triad but since the 8 finger tapping patterns cover so much of the fret board so to move into the next inversion of the triad we have to utilize this weird fingering where you pull off from the little finger to the index finger over just two frets Ex. 2 This lick consist mostly of 8 finger tapping since once you have played the ascending A minor triad arpeggio all the descending part solely is tapping and legato and sliding. In this lesson I want to make a big deal about the eight finger tapping part because you need to learn to start a pattern with the little finger on the D string Tapping Drill Lets make a drill that works on the 8 finger tapping between the high E string and the D string. One of the things I find very challenging in this lick or drill apart from starting a phrase with the little finger is making sure all the intervals are correct. Its very easy to by accident play the same intervals in all the four finger patterns if you are not carefull. Legato drill

15 In this legato drill I want to just play four notes per string back and forth between the D and A string and we can also add the slide and next four notes per string pattern on the A string to take it to the next level Ex. 3 This one actually starts with a minor seven arpeggio sweep picking pattern as opposed to the previous that are all triad arpeggio sweep picking patterns. In this one you also get the sound of the Phrygian scale which is also called Spanish minor with good reason I think. You also get introduced to the concept of a large interval sliding between two 8 finger tapping patterns which really sounds awesome. And if that wasn t enough you will also learn to combine a four notes per string with a sweep picking pattern that continues into a slide with the same finger quite extreme. We do the entire Phrygian scale again on the G string once we go back from that last E minor triad sweep picking arpeggio Legato sweep slide with the same finger drill This is something that needs extra attention to play satisfyingly so lets just do this movement a few times before attempting to do the whole lick Ex. 4 This lick starts off with a three octave 8 finger tapping pattern and I found especially the part from the G string to the high E string to be challenging. After this we are again challenged with something new, combining four notes per string with there notes per string in order to move into the sweep picking pattern which then ends in another 8 finger tapping patter which actually also ends in a three notes per string pattern Drilling the 8 finger tapping pattern Lets do a little drill where we do a combination of the E G and high E string and then on between the G and high E string which I find is the hardest. Ex. 5 This one is a lot of fun I think and we get to play a whole lot of legato in this one and if you are not used to playing four notes per string patterns you will definitively also be challenged by this one.and as in the previous one we need to learn to adjust the index finger when ending the legato part so you can move into the sweep picking pattern without getting a little break or losing a note because you will not be able to cover all three strings with the index finger if you don t learn this little adjustment. I also suggest rehearsing the legato part alone if this is something new to you Drilling the legato

16 What you need to focus on here is the strtching between the fingers on the fretting hand so you don t lose quality of the notes which will happen if you struggle doing this kind of stretch Ex. 6 So here is the first major scale lick. Its in C and we start it out with a triad sweep picking arpeggios which later becomes a major seventh one octave higher. Once we hit the G string we play a mixolydian scale with 8 finger tapping but compared to the C arpeggio it still is just a Ionian scale. We get a bit of a strange fingering doing the major seven arpeggio, or it was to me anyway when I first tried it. Because I use the ring finger on the G string but then I use the Index finger on the high E string in order to do the four notes per string pattern on the same string. If I was not combining the sweep picking arpeggio with a four notes pattern I woul have continued using the ring finger on the high E string but sometimes to play these patterns they call for untraditional methods. Ex. 7 In this one I play again a C major seven arpeggio but in two octaves and again a little untraditional fingering on the B string before I slide into a quite challenging descending pattern that is solely sweep picking and sliding and in these patterns we get the crazy slides where you need to adjust yout sliding finger in order to be able to roll with that same finger into the next string. I found it very benefitial to drill only the descending part Descending part drill I really needed to drill this part perfect the sliding and rolling of the same finger