Frank Gambale

Quotes

• In many cases, I was trying to play saxophone and keyboard licks on the guitar—with the 'current' techniques, as they were, like alternate picking, but they just didn't cut it for everything. So I had to push the boundaries, really, to create and develop this incredible technique that is now part of the guitar lexicon. But I put thousands and thousands of hours into getting it. One of the biggest stumbling blocks was playing it in time. That was really, really challenging. And as far as technique, it works better at medium to fast tempos—I describe it as fifth or sixth gear in a car. It's that extra torque and low-revs at great velocity, it's the best analogy I can make. Where sweep picking lives, for the most part, is at fast tempos, it's not a slow technique, but if I'm playing slower notes, I'll alternate or hammer-on and pull-off.
  • On his pioneering of sweep picking, as quoted by Ultimate-Guitar [1]

Quotes about Frank Gambale

• It seemed like in the wake of Eddie Van Halen truly introducing two-handed tapping to the masses in the late '70s, rock guitar had been pushed to the max. Especially, techniques that were based upon speedy runs. But it turned out that there was at least one more technique that caught the attention of guitarists a few years later: sweep picking. And it was jazz-fusion player Frank Gambale who seemed to perfect it and make it part of his playing style.
  • Ultimate-Guitar [2]