Sweep Picking (part 1)



So you’ve done the vacuuming? But can you sweep?

Sweep picking is very challenging and versatile technique that’s guaranteed to impress your friends.

Sweep picking is the technique of playing one note per string in quick succession using a single fluid upwards or down wards picking motion. This allows playing otherwise very difficult passages with wide intervallic steps very rapidly. It’s particularly useful for playing arpeggios.

Let’s look at a simple example:

Fig.1a (suggested fingerings are underneath)

|-------------
|----------5--
|------6------
|--7----------
|-------------
|-------------
  (3) (2) (1)

This is the root, 3rd and 5th of A Major and forms an A Major arpeggio.

To demonstrate the advantage of sweep picking lets try playing the examples above several ways with the suggested picking strokes. See Fig 1b – 1e below:

NOTE: (V = up-stroke, ^ = down-stroke)

Fig 1b.    

|------------
|---------5--
|-----6------
|-7----------
|------------
|------------
  v   v   v

Fig 1c.

|------------
|---------5--
|-----6------
|-7----------
|------------
|------------
  ^   v   ^

Fig 1d.    

|------------
|---------5--
|-----6------
|-7----------
|------------
|------------
  ^   ^   v

Fig 1e.

|------------
|---------5--
|-----6------
|-7----------
|------------
|------------
  ^   ^   ^

Try these different approaches slowly at first and then try and do each one fast.

Fig 1b is obviously the least sensible. Each note requires the pick to move up to strike the string then to move down crossing the string just struck and the one below it before the up-stroke can commence for the next note. This approach is not very efficient and will not allow for performance at a high speed.

Fig 1c is a slight improvement utilizing alternate picking. At higher speeds it’s really not much more efficient than Fig 1b.

Fig 1d is a bit better again, but at faster speeds it’s difficult to not accent the 3rd note in the sequence. It’s always desirable to be able to choose when to accent and when not to.

Fig 1e is the most efficient. At slow speeds it not really that much easier than the previous 3 examples. But, as you play it faster and faster, with a bit of practice you should feel you picking hand performing all three notes in a single down ward movement as opposed to 3 individual picking movements.

At this point, those we are not adept at sweep picking will probably say: “But this is really just strumming, it’s not hard, what’s the big deal”.

The first difference with alternate picking is that you need to play each note s-e-p-a-r-a-t-e-l-y. If the notes blend into each other you will effectively just be playing chords.

The big key with note separation during alternate picking is MUTING. There must be no more than one note playing at any time during a passage of alternate picking. For a fluid sounding run each note should finish at the same point as the previous note ended. For a more staccato effect there can be a short gap in between.
Muting is achieved both by using the heel of the picking hand and by raising the fingers of the fretting hand to mute the string as the next note is being played. This takes a LOT of practice.

The second, less obvious difference is that with strumming its generally not important exactly how fast the pick moves across the strings as long as the strum occurs in time with what ever beat you are playing to. With alternate picking it’s important to play each note in time with the beat, not just the first.

To achieve even, fluid sounding passages you must practice your alternate picking exercises SLOWLY. Concentrate on getting each note sounding clear and mute each note cleanly as the next note is struck. Practice with a metronome and increase your speed slowly. Always practice ‘slow’ even as you become more proficient at playing quickly. Once you become ‘fast’ you must still make playing slow part of your practice regimen. You fast playing will benefit from playing VERY slowly and VERY accurately.

Concentrate on ‘sweeping’ the pick across the strings. Avoid going ‘pick’, ‘pick’, ‘pick’… It should be one fluid movement. Also spend equal time practicing playing descending sweep picking runs as you do practicing ascending. See Fig 2.

Fig 2.

|-------------
|--5----------
|------6------
|----------7--
|-------------
|-------------
   v   v   v

These are just the very basics but there will be more to come in Part 2.

Just so you know this wasn’t all a big waste of time, here’s an application of sweep picking. This is a bluesy lick in A featuring a descending sweep (up-strokes):

Fig 3.

|--------5--------5--------5------------------
|--8b10-----8b10-----8b10-----5--------7--5~~-
|--------------------------------6-----7--5~~-
|-----------------------------------7---------
|---------------------------------------------
|---------------------------------------------
   ^     v  ^     v  ^     v  v  v  v  ^  v

Now check out Sweep Picking - part 2 >>