badfingers937th August 2011Ben! This is great! Is it a solo/intro for your new song or something?
Bogdan Radovic7th August 2011Breathtaking lesson Ben!
Cosmin Lupu7th August 2011Holy cow dude!
awesome lesson!!
Rafael Guerrero7th August 2011great Ben!!! Those mini-sweeps are killer! Good for metal soloing
Ben Higgins7th August 2011Thank you Guys !! badfingers93, no it was composed just for this lesson
Nava7th August 2011Just what I was looking for
Very good for soloing parts!
Thx for the lesson, excellent job:D
Adrian Figallo7th August 2011that's way beyond my playing
, checking the lesson 
playaxeman7th August 2011Loved it. Great lesson for expanding my technique
velci7th August 2011Great lesson Ben!
Mudbone7th August 2011Hell yeah
- Sinisa Cekic7th August 2011
Oh, you &^!@#(*^..... !
thefireball7th August 2011Sounds cool!
Kristofer Dahl8th August 2011Haha yes this amazing Ben - not only a fantastic composition but also very inspiring exercise. It seems that the less notes a pattern has the more useful it is - so many great guitarist have this a one of their favorite tools.
- Ben Higgins8th August 2011
Wow, thank you Guys !
Daniel Realpe8th August 2011powerful stuff indeed! love it!
zen9th August 2011I see you're flying in the danger zone there
.. Amazing lesson mate m/
Ivan Milenkovic9th August 2011Awesome sweeps man, very effective and efficient playing - sounds super cool
- Ben Higgins10th August 2011
Thanks Guys. Zen - 'I feel the need... the need for speed !'
- meny30th August 2011
thats awesome good job!
- Vaiman21st October 2011
Very good lesson Ben. You are a very good player....this lesson is great for getting the proper technique down.....these nuggets are so foundational and important to prevent bad habits and sloppiness. Two thumbs up dude!
- Jerry Lee15th November 2011
Burning the forearm! Great stuff mate!
Syncronizer6th December 2011Awesome technique!!
- Ben Higgins9th December 2011
Thanks so much guys !
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Hi GMCers and welcome to my latest lesson! This time I am concentrating on using 'mini sweeps' to play some 2 string licks. I use the term 'mini sweeps' because it involves a small sweeping motion of the pick to play 2 notes on 2 adjacent strings in succession. It could also be described as 'economy picking'.
These licks could be played with alternate picking but the reason I use a sweep motion is because it is very efficient, easier than alternate picking and saves energy. They are the physical benefits. As for the sound, it offers a smoother, flowing effect that alternate picking doesn't manage. So, on balance, neither technique is better or worse, they are just 2 different ways of doing something.. but you can do both, Learning to employ mini sweeps into your range of techniques will not harm your alternate picking. Using mini sweeps will only add to your repertoire.
This technique is widely used by Yngwie Malmsteen to play triads which span 2 strings. He uses it, for example, at the beginning of the solo from Rising Force, from the 1988 album of the same name.
Gear used:
Marshall JMV 410H
Rhythm track: OD2 channel (Green setting) Bass - 3 Mid - 3 Treb - 6 Gain - 3
Solo: OD1 channel (Red setting) Bass - 1 Mid - 6.5 Treb - 6 Gain - 3
Tuning: Standard
Tempo: 140bpm
Key: A Minor
Have fun with this lesson and remember - the only opponent is within!
Ben
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