ULTIMATE SWEEP PICKING Don’t fear it, use it!

For this in-depth lesson Jamie Humphries offers 30 sweep picking examples then applies the technique in a musical context with two great solos.

Often mistakenly seen as no more than a scary tech-fest, sweep picking can be a very musical device so do check out this special lesson.

If there was ever a technique that’s both feared and revered, its sweep picking. Sweep picking gets some bad press, and to some it’s written off as nothing more than ‘show boating’, or for playing the soundtrack to Super Mario. But sweep picking has a lot to offer, with many benefits and applications. Guitarists from a wide variety of genres have made sweep picking part of their technical arsenal. These include Yngwie Malmsteen, Les Paul, Tal Farlow, Larry Carlton, Jan Akkerman, Barney Kessel, Richie Kotzen, John Petrucci, Chet Atkins, Jason Becker, Steve Vai and Frank Gambale to name but a few. So you can see that with such a diverse selection of guitarists from jazz, country, rock and metal using sweep picking, the technique is well worth exploring and mastering.

So what are the benefits of using sweep picking? One of the fundamental concepts when playing guitar, whatever technique you practise, is economy of motion. This applies to legato, tapping, alternate picking, even strumming chords. Minimal movement will result in greater fluidity, for a relaxed, efficient, and in some cases faster playing technique. When playing certain figures, namely arpeggios, this can be difficult when using alternate picking. One of the hardest things to master with the picking hand is being able to cross the strings, cleanly and with speed. When applying sweep picking to arpeggios, it is possible to ascend and descend using a single down or up stroke.

The basic concept of sweep picking is not dissimilar to strumming a chord, except we separate the notes, hearing each individual note of the arpeggio on its own. When ascending with a single down stroke, the pick will come to rest on the adjacent string straight after striking the previous one, thus forming a ‘rest’ stroke. This approach is repeated across the remaining strings, resulting in a smooth and fluid sounding arpeggio. When descending an arpeggio we simply apply this concept in reverse. As you become more relaxed and synchronised with this technique, your picking hand will adopt a smooth sweeping motion. You can apply this approach to two to six-string arpeggios.

This more economical approach to picking can also be applied to three-notes-per-string scale patterns, enabling you to play through scales with a consistent picking technique. You can even apply it to Pentatonic scales. Although for this feature I have concentrated more on the basics of sweep picking, and applying it to arpeggios, I strongly recommend you check out some of Frank Gambale’s teaching material. Frank is a sweep picking master, and has taken the technique to new levels, making it his fundamental technique, applying it to scale and arpeggio based lines and licks.

Sweep picking can be used to produce some very interesting sounds and can be a very musical technique. Being able to play arpeggios fluently will enable you to apply arpeggio substitution, implying extended harmony over the chords in a progression. Another great application is to be able to sequence arpeggios, cascading them across the fretboard in endless fluent sounding runs.

In this feature I have presented you with two sections: our first section focuses on different approaches to performing arpeggios using sweep picking. This section concludes with a series of licks, so you can work on some musical figures to add to your own improvisational ideas. I would suggest spending some time building up the speed. Synchronisation is very important, so practise the first 30 examples slowly, focusing on the timing of both hands, and making sure your picking hand is gliding back and fourth across the strings in a single sweeping motion.

The second half includes solos in two very different styles. The first is a neo-classical workout, a style that has strong ties to the sweep picking technique. However, our second solo is in the blues-rock vein, fusing sweeping with some classic blues style licks.

Have fun with these tracks and, as always, experiment with ideas of your own.

MINIMAL MOVEMENT WILL RESULT IN GREATER FLUIDITY, FOR A RELAXED, EFFICIENT AND IN SOME CASES FASTER PLAYING TECHNIQUE

Get the Tone

Any tone will work with sweep picking although for all of the examples I have used a generic driven rock tone, and simply rolled off some of the gain for the blues-rock track. Although it’s not compulsory I would advise using the neck pickup for sweep picking, as it produces a much smoother sound. Add reverb or light delay to fill out the sound.