Sweep Picking

Author: Jimi Savage

Sweep picking looks and sounds very difficult, but is in fact quite simple once you get the hang of the ideas behind it. The technique is to get from one point of the guitar strings to another as smoothly and as fluently as possible. Players such as Frank Gamble, Shawn Lane, Vinnie Moore, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Micheal Lee Firkins, etc. Sweep picking is mainly used in arpeggio formations and the picking direction is simple. Imagine that you are dusting the strings with the plectrum but travelling from the 6th string to the 1st and back again, the technique must be a strum in slow motion making sure that you pick each string, try this by muting the strings with your fretboard hand and practise the sweep/rake technique across the strings.

The Plectrum

Keep the pick (or plectrum) perpendicular to the string, as you will get maximum contact with the string thus creating a bigger tone. As you pick over the strings the fretboard hand should fret momentarily, in other words your hands should be in sync with each other. As you are picking the string your fretboard hand should be playing the note just long enough for the note to sound but also flowing in the direction your picking hand is travelling in.

Left & Right Hand Muting

Muting the strings plays a major role in this technique, as you have to stop string noise with both hands. Don't pick over the pickups as this could have you making contact with the pickup itself and creating microphonic pops, etc. When you get to the top of the arpeggio pull off with you little finger and then this is where you start the upward picking motion (descending in pitch), this section of the arpeggio is a bit tricky. Practise slowly with a metronome until your fingers have become accustomed to the shapes and technique of the arpeggios and picking. Start with a tempo of 72 - 92bpm in quavers and increase the tempo when you are comfortable with that speed.

Warm up Patterns

Take the basic major & minor arpeggio shapes (forms I & U). Play from the 1 up to the 15 fret and back down again. Use a metronome to keep you in time using quavers.

Left & Right Hand Muting

When playing arpeggios with sweep picking it's very important to get the notes performing clearly and making sure that notes do not run into each other, one note should be heard at one point in time. To achieve this you will have to mute with your fretboard hand as well as your picking hand. To mute with the right hand use the heel of your palm and the knife-edge of your palm. You can also use the thumb muscle area of your palm to mute the bass strings when playing the upper strings and also creating that muffled effect on bass tones from the guitar. The left and is a bit harder, when playing a note from a lick or a scale any fingers that are behind the note must rest on the adjacent strings or o the strings so no undertones or open strings are accidentally created when playing. Using both left and right hand muting techniques together takes a bit of time to master, this is why it's important to practise all licks, scales, arpeggios, etc. Start slowly before performing them at full speed. Clarity is very important in the technique of sweep picking.