How to Sweep Pick on Guitar

Sweep picking is one of the many advanced techniques guitar players use to open melodic and harmonic options not available to them via ordinary techniques. In the case of sweep picking, the motion of the hand and pick allows the guitarist to play many notes across several strings in very rapid succession, allowing him to play advanced arpeggios and melodies at speeds far above what is possible with ordinary picking.Before learning sweep picking, you should be proficient in alternate picking and have a good knowledge of chords and arpeggios across the entire fretboard.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Electric guitar (or acoustic, if no electric guitars are available)
• Somewhat flexible picks

1. Holding your pick as you normally do, rake it across your guitar strings. (You can mute the strings with your fret hand to avoid ringing tones.) Use a downward motion, keeping the pick angle steady throughout the movement. The action will be very similar to strumming a chord, but instead of strumming the strings in a semi-circular pattern, as many guitarists do, keep your wrist straighter and "sweep" the pick across the strings in a straight line, angling somewhat toward the neck. Practice this motion until you can perform it smoothly and evenly.

2. Using the same motion, play a major arpeggio shape on only the first three strings (one note per string). Your fretting hand should fret the notes one at a time, in synchronization with your picking hand, as your pick sweeps across each string. As the pick moves across one string to the next, lift your finger off the fret to mute the string as you fret the next note. This allows each note to be heard by itself and prevents the arpeggios from becoming a simple chord.

3. Play the arpeggio in reverse, sweeping upward instead of down. The process will be the exact opposite of what you've just done in Step 2.

4. Connect the two motions from Steps 2 and 3 to sweep the arpeggio upward and downward. Start at the thirrd string and follow Step 2. When you've reached the first string, hammer-on a note three frets above the last note of the arpeggio. Next, begin the upward sweep, playing exactly as you did in Step 3. The hammered note connects the two sweeping motions and allows you to reposition your pick to reverse the sweep.

5. Continue to practice the arpeggio until you can play it fluidly and without effort. The sweeping technique you've learned can be used to play any arpeggio across any number of strings, anywhere on the neck. You can also integrate sweep picking and alternate picking to play advanced melodies, or connect a series of arpeggios together. Keep practicing and experimenting with the options sweep picking will open for you.

Tips & Warnings

• Start slowly, using a metronome. Sweep picking is an advanced technique and requires many hours of practice to perfect. Playing slowly and rhythmically at first will make your sweeping very clean and efficient when you've built up speed.
• Sweeping is generally used with electric guitars because of their tonal options and lighter strings, but acoustic guitarists often use the technique with great success. I recommend learning to sweep pick on an electric instrument, but if one is not available, an acoustic guitar will work just fine.

[OmnishlashVII]

on 12/22/2008 Easier said than done, haha. It took me weeks to be able to just play a decent arpeggio with sweep picking. Nice article, though. It explains the concept nicely without being overly complex.