Jasper Robertson's Site

Let me tell that where I often goes wrong due to sweep picking exercises. Standard guitar instruction tells you to start at slow speed and then get faster bit by bit. Well many a times this way of practicing have messed with me and had have almost made me give up my guitar.

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The issue with me was, I would nearly make myself play real fast at a very early stage and this never worked. So, I could play the scale at 30bpm pretty well and then probably hit 40bpm in the very next practice run with this particular scale or arrangement. Firstly I tried to use a perfect technique at 40bpm which is one of the worst things you can do as I didn't have it at 30bpm. The cause being your muscles recollect the last way in which you played a lick/riff it plays it exactly the same way next time. Now you want to push this technique to accomplish something more difficult as you are practicing it at a faster level. Now it remembers the way you practiced it at 30bpm which was already imperfect.

To me, this is akin to flunking out of flight school yet still being assigned to pilot the next plane out of JFK. believe me this will help you in the long run.

By now, you have chosen a sweep picking pattern to perfect. First of all, in case it is too long a pattern, break it. believe me this will help you in the long run. by repeating shorted clips you are helping your brain commit it to memory. Next you need to select the correct fingers to perform the short section. I understood i cannot have speed and perfection to play a pattern because i have chosen wrong fingers and they fail me often.

Thirdly, once you have the right fingers in place on your short pattern, begin too slowly and play it at that pace till you get it down perfectly. In case you feel that you cannot get it perfect, make the pattern more short and attempt to use various finger positions. Begin at a slow pace.

You move it up by 1bpm,once you are able to do it easily at that speed. Practice with that speed for two minutes then, if you feel comfortable, increase the speed 1bpm again. While keeping your muscles, hands, arms, and shoulders relaxed, come in this direction. You could reduce the 2 minutes if you play the pattern fast.Utilize this method with each pattern and then merge them all till the time you get your fully mastered sweep picking pattern.

Sweep picking exercises that would enable you in learning the method perfectly in a very short time!