Dweezil, you're a great guitarist/musician and remind always of your dad. I seen him live, I think in the late 80's and I've seen you live also years afterwards and, was blown away by both of you dudes! I've seen plenty of bands and musicians since the early 70's and your dad, Frank Zappa, is ranked one of the top 5 I've ever seen in my life. When he played his solo's, I'd get a chill down my spine watching, hearing, and feeling, what he was able to play on his SG. You're lessons have not only been great to learn from but, have even gotten me to pick up my guitar and try to play again. I gave it up for so many years and I don't really know why. I guess I needed someone like you to get me back into it all. Thanks, and, keep up the "great" work!
if anyone has difficulty alternate picking 2-note per string pentatonic patterns (ala Eric Johnson) watch Troy Grady's videos on downward pick slanting.
Not to contradict, but Troy also talks a lot in those videos about how Eric Johnson's runs are not strict alternate picking and incorporate a lot of economy picking, so the two techniques are not mutually exclusive.
Yes, there would be people disgusted, laughing so hard they would wet themselves, and a few ready for some kinda of lengthy stay in any number of "institution's". Frank had a way of, ah, well, he was Frank, Zappa.
The only people that think sweep picking is annoying are the ones that can’t do it or can’t think of a way to blend it in with their improv. Playing fast is and will always be awesome. People need to think of better ways of explaining what they don’t like rather than claiming it bad because it’s fast. It’s only bad when it’s boring. Slow can be boring too.
I wish this worked with triads. I can’t think of a good way to arpeggiate triads in multiple octaves. 1-2-1-2 notes per string is awkward and 3-1-3-1 like this video shows is also awkward because of the large intervals.
+tonydamaga I thought the same thing and only really used it as a sweep or rake. Then I saw Rick Graham do this simple two note per string, two string (G & D strings) pentatonic lick that just FLEW by and sounded amazing. It starts with an upstroke and it's really weird for your picking hand to adjust to it, but once it does you can rip some amazingly fast stuff with it. Then while learning Megadeth's "Tornado of Souls" for fun I found that Marty Friedman was using economy picking to do the fast sequence (I call it the "My Sharona" lick because it sounds a lot like a lick in that solo). And I just kept on finding more and more things that economy picking really works well for that aren't just sweeps and rakes.
+tonydamaga Marshall Harrison is one of the fastest and cleanest players out there and he uses economy picking exclusively. In a purely physical and technical world, hee can outshred paul gilbert in a scenario where every note has to get hit by a pick. Attack, speed, and clarity, all there.
"False Economy Picking" ... methinks .... how can picking 3 individual notes on the first string in this pattern ... be faster than picking just 2 notes per string in the Box scale? i've heard many guitarists blaze with 2 note a string patterns, faster than this "method".
