Advanced Sweep Picking
Welcome to Advanced Sweep Picking! In the Sweep Picking PtI lesson, we talked through how to execute the sweep picking technique and covered some exercises you should work on to start adding sweeps into your repertoire. If you missed Part I, you’ll find it here in Sweep Picking Pt.I.
In Sweep Picking Part II, we’ll be building on that introduction by looking at more complex patterns for sweeps as well as how different arpeggio shapes can be used to create more expressive musical ideas. We will also be extending arpeggios by adding notes with slides and taps to give you more musical options.
The scale lessons that support this advanced sweep picking lesson are linked below, you may find it helpful to revisit even as an experienced player:
The examples that follow provide more ideas to experiment with, and techniques to work in to your repertoire. These examples will show you how minor manipulations in arpeggio shapes can add colour… once again, it’s up to you whether you hammer and pull or pick all the notes on the same string – and nobody is saying you have to stick with one or the other. Try improvising with these and working them into your lead playing. The important thing is always to take the material and make it your own. If you need a refresher on Sweep Picking as a technique, check out Sweep Picking Pt 1.
Advanced Sweep Picking Technique
The fretting hand technique doesn’t differ greatly from standard arpeggio playing, but it is imperative that you lift your fingers the second the note is played so as to keep the notes separate we don’t want to have it sound like strumming a chord. So, we keep the picking hand motion constant all down strokes whilst ascending the arpeggio, and all up strokes to descend. It is up to you whether to hammer and pull notes on the A and E strings note that if you decide to pick them all, you’ll want to begin with an up stroke so your pick is moving in the right direction for the sweep. Personally, I always hammer and pull.
Although it will be tempting to just crash through the examples as fast as possible, spending time on the technique will reward you with the ability to use it at will, and to articulate every note. No other technique gives such a flurry of speed when executed correctly. The following exercises will help you build the technique.
Some Examples (Tab symbol key below)
1) Emaj7, Emaj9, E7 progression:
2) E minors:
3) Em, tapped 13th::
4) Taps & Slides:
5) Amaj7 & A7, Taps & Slides:
You can download a PDF of the Sweep Picking exercises HERE.
Experiment with different keys so they’re under your fingers no matter what the musical situation. Once you are comfortable with transposing the patterns across keys, you’ll find some backing tracks to try these exercises over on my YouTube channel HERE.
And that’s Advanced Sweep Picking, or Sweep Picking Pt.2. Done! In Part III we’ll look at a piece of music built entirely with sweep picked arpeggios to really hone those skills! You can find more lessons on scales and guitar technique to help you develop as a player here. If you’ve got any questions please get in touch on Facebook or Twitter.
