Hey Friend,

Hope you had a festive Cinco de Mayo yesterday… the Dos Equis and tequila was flowing here at the Vance household, and all was good!

There are a couple more picking patterns I’d like to talk about.

If you recall, we’ve talked about flat picking, using down and up strokes. Then there’s alternate picking, economy/directional picking and hybrid picking.

Now let’s talk a little about sweep picking.

Before I explain it, I am NOT skilled at sweep picking. In fact, I’m just a little intimidated by it. When I watch someone play who is proficient and uses it well, I’m in awe at how smooth and clean it sounds.

Sweep picking is an advanced technique and it takes very focused practice to make it sound good. 

You’ll hear it used a great deal in Neo-Classical, melodic Metal and progressive Rock music. Jazz players might sometimes use the technique as well.

I guess I’ve come to grips with my playing and what my goals are with guitar, so I’m not looking to get good at sweep picking, but I can at least introduce it to you. If your musical preferences call for this technique, there are tons of resources to help you master it -- I just won’t be one of them.

So What Is It?

With sweep picking, you finger individual notes on consecutive strings as you pick in one direction or the other.

In other word, you might start a sweep riff on the sixth sting and end on the first, using a downstroke. But the riff can also be played in reverse, starting on the first string and working up each string to the sixth (using a continuous upstroke). 

In a lot of cases, you would use sweep picking to play an arpeggiated chord. Instead of simply fingering the chord and playing each string in a consecutive motion, your fretting fingers would lift off and move to another position on a different string.

It’s a lot easier to show you what I mean, so let’s look at a video lesson. 

I’ve shared Robert Baker’s videos before, and this is a good primer. He covers two, three, four and five string sweeps. 

As I mentioned, most of the lesson covers arpeggiated chords, but you’re not limited to the chordal notes. You can also incorporate sweep picking in more melodic ways.

Here’s another lesson from Michael Angelo Batio, courtesy of Guitar World Magazine. MAB is a well-known metal guitarist and has been known as one of the fastest guitarists in the world. 

Check them out, see if this technique fits with your playing goals. If you plan on being a lead guitarist, it makes sense to at least understand the fundamentals of sweep picking. 

It might not fit within your style of music, but you might get some inspiration from the lessons.

It’s raining cats and dogs here in Florida, so it’s a good day for relaxicatin’. The yard work will have to wait... Have a great day! 

Peace~

Dave