How to sweep the bass?

[Winters Whisper]

Alright, first time on here guys so if I say anything stupid, Im sorry. Please correct me if I do. Anway, I was watching afew instructional things on Youtube..wich..they sort of made sense but yet they didnt. They either had you using your thumb sweep down, and your index to sweep up. Or they had you pluck all they way down, and use your index up. It was also really stupid cus they just played it, and didnt tell you what scales would be good to start with, and how to construct them. So my friend suggested for me to come on here. So I have, and Im hoping all of you..in your many years next to my almost a year will help me become better. Oh..and I also think it might be because Im doing this on a Squire Fretless..you know the new model that just came out.

[Grueber]

Try E minor

------------------12--16--21--16--12-------------------
--------------14-----------------------14---------------
----------14-------------------------------14-----------
-12--15----------------------------------------15--12---

(the E on the 21st fret is tapped)

You can play this with either technique
-thumb ascending, index descending
or
-plucking ascending, index descending


I don't know which videos you've already seen, but here are some with good sweeping

Franck Hermanny(Adagio)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NJnkfKg7iQw

Adam Nitti
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wxurZAFJWA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13rwM2XPxQ

Troy Tipton(Zero Hour)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chD81eC-H2k
uses the plucking method

Erlend Caspersen
also uses plucking method
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NqG9Rdooz7Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39dajnX_zCw

[Grueber]

Scott Hubbell has 2 sweeping lessons on this page

http://www.scotthubbell.com/lessons.htm

[peaveyuser]

here's a good video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJ-_GqRwY-E

[vyse933]

[quote=Grueber;3689266]Try E minor

------------------12--16--21--16--12-------------------
--------------14-----------------------14---------------
----------14-------------------------------14-----------
-12--15----------------------------------------15--12---
QUOTE]


what fingers do you use for that? and do you bar the 14 14?

[Grueber]

[quote=vyse933;3689705]

Originally Posted by Grueber

Try E minor

------------------12--16--21--16--12-------------------
--------------14-----------------------14---------------
----------14-------------------------------14-----------
-12--15----------------------------------------15--12---
QUOTE]


what fingers do you use for that? and do you bar the 14 14?

------------------12-h16--21p-16p-12-------------------
--------------14-----------------------14---------------
----------14-------------------------------14-----------
-12-h15----------------------------------------15p-12---
--i----r----m--m---i---p---ri----p----i--m--m----r----i---


i=index
m=middle
r=ring
p=pinky
ri=tap with right hand index

I also added hammerons(h) and pulloffs(p)

This is just the fingering I use, in fact you might want to try using your pinky where i use my ring finger for more stretch

[JimmyM]

I use a Dustbuster.

To sweep the bass.

GET IT?!?!?!?!?!?!

[peaveyuser]

bad joke

[neptoon]

cool vids

[Dolphinbuster29]

I do a rather hybrid kind of sweep that is in some ways easier, and some ways harder than whats been posted here. For an E Min. I would go

----------------12---16----21----16---12--------------
-------------14---------------------------14-----------
----------14--------------------------------------10---
---12--15-------------------------------------19-----12

Pretty much the entire down sweep is mostly tapping which makes it easier for me.
I sweep up with my thumb up to 21 (which is tapped with my right), then pull off from 21 to 16, then to 12. Hammer-on the 14 on the D string, then tap the 19th fret on E with my right hand, then hammeron the 10 on a and the root E. It sounds a bit more complex but i feel the pattern is much more fluid. The 10th fret A can be hard to hit on the way back to the root, so I usually skip it but from the sound you couldnt tell. Im not really sure this works for everyone but i find it easier because I dont like the idea of sweeping down with my index and Im big on tapping.

[Scottgun]

[subscribes]

[velvetkevorkian]

I find the easiest sweep to be
12--------------12
--10---------10--
----9-------9----
-----9-12-9------
T-T-TT-h-i-i--i--i

T=thumb sweep down
h=hammer on
i=index finger sweep up
Again, this is E minor, although obviously you can move this shape up and down the neck. Beware, its a bit of a workout for the pinky! I find the hardest bit is fingering it fast and fluently enough, so make sure you know the shape inside out played normally before sweeping it.

[velvetkevorkian]

Once you get that down, try the major shape, again I'll tab it in E:

12--------------12
--11---------11--
----9-------9----
-----9-13-9------
T-T-TT-h-i-i--i--i

The 9-13 stretch at the top is an even bigger pinky workout- this can take a lot of practice, although I found it well worthwhile. Just be careful not to do yourself an injury. As ever, start slowly and work the speed up.

[Rattlehead]

Originally Posted by velvetkevorkian

I find the easiest sweep to be
12--------------12
--10---------10--
----9-------9----
-----9-12-9------
T-T-TT-h-i-i--i--i

T=thumb sweep down
h=hammer on
i=index finger sweep up
Again, this is E minor, although obviously you can move this shape up and down the neck. Beware, its a bit of a workout for the pinky! I find the hardest bit is fingering it fast and fluently enough, so make sure you know the shape inside out played normally before sweeping it.

No offence but that tab confused the heck out of me ... until I realized it was upside down. The convention for tabbing is to put the G string at the top of the tab, not the bottom. What you wrote should look like this:
G----------9--12-9----------
D-------9-----------9-------
A----10---------------10----
E-12---------------------12
--T--T--T--T--h--i--i--i--i
If you change the font to something like "fixedys", all the characters are the same length so your tab looks cleaner and is easier to create (by previewing periodically or creating it in notepad first).

Here's a sweeping exercise I like to do that is very similar to what you've posted. It's also in E minor and it moves down to D major and C major:

G----------9--------7--------------------------5--------7-----------
D-------9--------------7--------------------5--------------7--------
A----10-------------------9--------------7--------------------9-----
E-12-------------------------10-------8--------------------------10-

--s--s--s--e--------s--s--s--e--------s--s--s--e--------s--s--s--e--------
-[triplet]---------[triplet]---------[triplet]---------[triplet]-------
Repeat
The timing is triplet style - ie you play the first sweep, and hold that 9th fret E on the G string for the same length of time as the first three notes, then play the next sweep the exact same way, and so on. It sound sound like fast groups of notes always occuring on a downbeat. You sort of roll your fretting hand fingers up and down the strings to go with which string is plucked. I put timing in also: s=sixteenth and e=eigth ... I don't remember exactly how to write out triplets so when I write s--s--s-- with [triplet] under it I mean that these three notes together sound make up an eigth note.
After repeating a bunch of times, it sounds really cool if you end on a B major because this uses a D#, which breaks the Eminor scale you were originally playing in:

G----------9--------7--------------------------5--------4-----------
D-------9--------------7--------------------5--------------4--------
A----10-------------------9--------------7--------------------6-----
E-12-------------------------10-------8--------------------------7--
------------------------------------------------------[hold these four notes]

Getting all four notes in the B major chord to ring out will involve a some stretching but sounds great if you can do it.

I actually don't sweep it though, I just pluck every note individually, although this should work for any sweeping technique, even using a plectrum (which I've for this exercise - I like how it sounds)
Oh yeah, I just realized, it sounds better if the eight note at the end of your sweeps is staccato (muted after being played). That way you get a bunch of notes very fast followed by silence, then a bunch of notes descending, then silence again, etc

[velvetkevorkian]

You're quite right, sorry. I'm working on an exercise in Sibelius just now so that should sort my dodgy tab issues. Will post it when I get it sorted.

Thats a neat wee lick BTW

[Grueber]

One way that i practice sweeping is ascending all the way up

-----------------12-16-21--
-------------14-------------
---------14-----------------
-12-15---------------------

and then add one descending note at a time. Be sure to play each one several times until it sounds perfect before adding another note.

-----------------12-16-21-16--
-------------14----------------
---------14--------------------
-12-15-------------------------


-----------------12-16-21-16-12----
-------------14---------------------
---------14-------------------------
-12-15------------------------------

-----------------12-16-21-16-12------
-------------14------------------14--
---------14---------------------------
-12-15--------------------------------

-----------------12-16-21-16-12---------
-------------14------------------14------
---------14--------------------------14--
-12-15-----------------------------------

-----------------12-16-21-16-12-----------------
-------------14------------------14--------------
---------14--------------------------14----------
-12-15-----------------------------------15-12---


However, I only practiced this way because my main problem was that my descending notes weren't very clear

[xolin]

Does anyone actually do this with a good non-twangy/thin tone? Like smooth sounding?

[ShredderMaximus]

I've been working on a sweepy/tappy lick that I made just for practice, but I'm far to lazy to tab it out here, so if anyone with Guitar Pro 5 wants a copy, just let me know and I'll shoot you a copy of the tab for it.

[ShredderMaximus]

Figured out a way to turn Guitar pro tabs into usable text, very cool.

Part 1
Play each bar twice, except for the last two, which you play once each for the turnaround, then back to the beginning and repeat. Make that pinky BURN!
-------------9--12--14s--16p--12p--9--17p--12p--9--|------------7--11--12s--14p--11p--7--16p--11p--7--|
----------9----------------------------------------|---------7----------------------------------------|
------10-------------------------------------------|------9-------------------------------------------|
--12-----------------------------------------------|--10----------------------------------------------|


-----------5--9--11s--12p--9p--5--14p--9p--5--|-----------4--7--9s--11p--7p--5--12p--7p--4--|
--------5-------------------------------------|--------4------------------------------------|
-----7----------------------------------------|-----5---------------------------------------|
--8-------------------------------------------|--7------------------------------------------|


--12p--9p--5--14p--9p--5--14p--11p--7--16p--11p--7--|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|


Part 2
Much like Part 1, except replacing most of the tapping with descending back down, with a bit of a twist.
*Note* For the first bar, descending into the diminished shape can be pretty rough, the way I play it when descending is my pinky on the 14, my middle on the 11, then my index for the 10th fret on the D string, my middle on the 12th fret A string, and pinky on the 14th fret E string.
-------------9--12--14s--16--14--11--------------|------------7--11--12s--14--12--9-------------|
----------9--------------------------10----------|---------7-------------------------9----------|
------10---------------------------------12------|------9-------------------------------10------|
--12-----------------------------------------14--|--10--------------------------------------12--|



-----------5--9--11s--12--11--7------------|-----------4--7--9s--11--9--5-----------|
--------5------------------------7---------|--------4----------------------5--------|
-----7------------------------------9------|-----5----------------------------7-----|
--8------------------------------------10--|--7----------------------------------8--|

[Bagelmsyter]

A trick to practice which will help your speed and help tonality-wise is to switch up your left-hand fingerings going up, then switch again when you go down to the root note(lowest note-start of the arpeggio). For example, 12th fret hammer on to 15th fret on low E string, BAR the 14th frets on the A and D string, and so on, but when you return, instead of barring the 14th frets, play the 14th fret on the D string with your ring finger, then play the 14th fret on the A string with your middle finger. It makes it flow better and you can play it just as fast with good tone. obviously, start off slow then pick up speed. hope this helps!