Browsing Archive: June, 2009

How To Shred Like Yngwie Malmsteen

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, June 22, 2009, In : The Malmsteen Study

How to shred like Yngwie Malmsteen

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If you want to play like the best, you should know how the best became the best. If you know that, you can do the same thing they did, and achieve the same results. In the next series of articles I’m going to give you every little nugget that I’ve picked up in my study of Yngwie Malmsteen. I've found that there are two sides to cover when it comes to this guy. 1. How to play like Yngwie and 2. How to think like him. It's...

Integrating Major & Diminshed Arpeggios

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, In : Sweep Picking Perfection

Integrating Major & Diminished Arpeggios

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Yesterday I gave you some ideas on how you can integrate sweep picking with economy picking. Today let's look at the Major and Diminished shapes. But before we begin let's repeat the "integration recipe" that I talked about yesterday, here it is again:

1. Come up with a simple lick that uses sweep picking and another picking technique

2. Repeat that lick until it's easy

3. Come up with another lick and repeat the process

New...
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Integrating Sweep Picking With Other Techniques

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, June 15, 2009, In : Sweep Picking Perfection

Integrating sweep picking with other techniques

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Integration is the key

Sweep picking is a one-of-a-kind technique. It's so radically different to perform than alternate and economy picking (Though it is closer to the latter) For a long time I wondered why I wasn't using sweep picking very much when I was soloing. Even though I was very good at it, I didn't use that technique very much. Then I pin pointed the problem and found out that I needed to integrate the techn...
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The Patterns Of Sweep Picking

Posted by Pure Speed on Friday, June 12, 2009, In : Sweep Picking Perfection

The patterns of sweep picking

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7 Arpeggio patterns and you're set

In this article, I'm going to give you the basic sweep picking patterns that I use when I improvise. They are very simple and can be used in any type of music. I'm talking about the Major, Minor and diminished triads. While there are many variations on these basic arpeggios, these are the fundamental three types you really need to master. You can add chord extensions like the 9th the 11th or other add-...
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How To Build Sweep Picking Precision

Posted by Pure Speed on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, In : Sweep Picking Perfection

How to build sweep picking precision

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One note at a time

The skill of sweep picking offers you very few challenges. I'm not saying that it's easy. I'm saying there aren't that many things to think about when you sweep pick. If you've got the angle of the pick right - and you're using your arm and not your hand to do the sweeping, you're doing great. But there is one little challenge that I would like to address in this article though.

The whole purpose of sweep pickin...
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The 3 Tools Of Sweep Picking

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, June 9, 2009, In : Sweep Picking Perfection

The 3 tools of sweep picking

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Your arm is the primary tool

If you've read my articles on alternate picking, you know that I recommend moving your arm and hand to fit the string you play - as opposed to letting the hand stay in the same place. Here's a key point to remember: Sweep picking is the only picking technique that is performed by your arm and not your hand! Here's the deal:

Your creator gave you different tools to use for manipulating the world around you. You...
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Learning Sweep Picking Fast

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, June 8, 2009, In : Sweep Picking Perfection

Learning sweep picking fast

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More distance means less speed

The more distance there is between the notes you play, the harder it becomes to play them using conventional picking techniques. Picking the notes of an arpeggio, using alternate picking, and doing it fast, can be quite a challenge. This didn't keep me from trying back when I was learning the secrets of shredding. I was an alternate picking fanatic and if you used any other technique to produce the notes - y...
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How To Use Your Reticular Cortex

Posted by Pure Speed on Saturday, June 6, 2009, In : Motivate Yourself To Practice

How to use your reticular cortex

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The power of a clear goal

There's a mental process which you can go through, that will ensure the achievement of what you want faster than anything else. It's easy to do and it has an amazing effect on your progress. Your brain is a goal seeking organism: 24 hours a day it's occupied with figuring out how to get what you focus on. Notice I didn't write "what you want" - the brain doesn't react to your wants and needs, but to what you...
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The Power Of Absolute Certainty

Posted by Pure Speed on Thursday, June 4, 2009, In : Motivate Yourself To Practice

The power of absolute certainty

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Expand your motivation

How would you feel if you knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you had the ability to become one of the most skilled guitar players in the world? Absolute certainty drives us. Uncertainty makes us hesitate. When you have a goal that you desire strongly, and you know you have a strategy that will get you there for sure (Read the category "Get more out of practice) and you believe, at a gut level, that the "pain...
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The 3 Traps To Avoid At All Cost

Posted by Pure Speed on Tuesday, June 2, 2009, In : Motivate Yourself To Practice

The 3 traps to avoid at all cost

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How we learn to stop learning

Have you ever made a decision and then failed to follow up on it? Have you ever decided to do something only to realize that you didn't have the self discipline or the will power to go through with it? Of course you have. Everyone knows the feelings we get when we let ourselves down. When we do this enough times we stop trusting ourselves and every attempt to try something new is quickly followed by scep...
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The Biggest Killer Of Your Progress

Posted by Pure Speed on Monday, June 1, 2009, In : Motivate Yourself To Practice

The biggest killer of your progress

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The enemy of our dreams

There's an element in the human psyche that destroys more dreams than any other single factor. If you're not consciously aware of it, chances are you will become a victim of it. In order to understand the mechanisms behind it, you need to know the following:

For two hundred thousand years, human beings have been 100 % dependant on each other. We don't have a thick fur to protect us from the weather. We can't...
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