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SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION - TABLE OF CONTENTS
Learning sweep picking fast
More distance means less speed
Impressive results fast
The king of arpeggios
Sweeping is strumming
Sweep Picking Arpeggio Exercise
From slow to fast directly

The 3 tools of sweep picking

Your arm is the primary tool
Big even movements
A stable base
Angling the pick
Diminished Arpeggio
Practice with a decent amount of speed
Synchronisation & accuracy

How to build sweep picking precision

One note at a time
1. Mute the strings
2. Rolling the bar
A-Minor 3 Shapes Mega Sweep Picking Fun

How to build sweep picking precision

The patterns of sweep picking
7 Arpeggio patterns and you're set
The 5-string Major shapes
How to make that stretch happen
1. Place your left hand thumb as low on the neck as possible.
Only one diminished pattern
Diminished Shape Mega Sweep Picking Fun
How to blend sweep picking with other techniques

Integrating sweep picking with other techniques

Integration is the key
A perfect blend
A-Minor integration Example 1

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 The rules of the game
Here's the rules of the game:
A-Minor Integration Example 2
3 examples of integration
The smaller the better
A-Minor Integration Example 3

Integrating Major & Diminished Arpeggios

New playmates
Going up the neck
Fooling around is the key
C-Major Arpeggio - Sweeping and Legato
The extra element
Create miracles
A-Minor & B-Diminished Arpeggio Example

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LESSON 1 - SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION

Learning sweep picking fast

More distance means less speed

The more distance there is between the notes you play, the harder it becomes to
play them using conventional picking techniques. Picking the notes of an arpeggio,
using alternate picking, and doing it fast, can be quite a challenge. This didn't keep
me from trying back when I was learning the secrets of shredding. I was an alternate
picking fanatic and if you used any other technique to produce the notes - ​you were
cheating! -​ from my limited perspective that is.

I developed this alternate picking religion from studying guys like Al Di Meola and
John McLaughlin, and it sure as heck didn't help much when Paul Gilbert entered the
stage.(He is still to this date the undefeated alternate picking master in my
experience) So when I was first shown how to sweep pick, it took a while before I
acknowledged the fact that, sweep picking is a vastly superior technique in some
cases.

Impressive results fast

If you're into economy picking you're already sweep picking. The "sweep" is really
going from one string to another ​in one down- or upward movement​. Sometimes
it's hard to tell when economy picking ends and sweep picking begins, but I'll come
back to that in a later article. In this series of articles I'm going to give you the best
advice I have on how to learn sweep picking in the fastest and most efficient way
possible, but I have to warn you: This technique is not one of the hardest one there
is, so you might get some pretty darn impressive results pretty darn fast.

I'm also going to show you how I integrate this technique with other techniques like
economy picking and alternate picking and I'll give you some licks that will show you,
how you can use ​all three techniques to produce a free flowing high speed
improvisation.

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The king of arpeggios

Now let's get the basics in place. As you probably already know, sweep picking is
mostly used to play arpeggio patterns that have one or max two notes on each string
like this popular A-Minor arpeggio:

It's obvious how sweeping from one string to another would be the fastest and
easiest way to play these notes. But while sweep picking is great for going up or
down an arpeggio pattern, it has it's limitations when it comes to playing the notes in
a different and more complex order. As long as you play from the low A to the high
A, sweep picking is your friend, but it doesn't work that well for sequencing arpeggios
but I'll get back to that as well. For now, let's agree that sweep picking is ideal for this
sort of job and that it's also a very manageable skill to develop.

Sweeping is strumming

So let's begin. the first key thing to understand is that when you sweep pick the
above arpeggio, ​you do it with only ​one​ down- or upward motion​. You're not
picking the strings with several down or upstrokes, you're "strumming" the strings in
a controlled manner, following your fretting hand accurately.

You can see exactly what I mean in today's video. So what you need to learn is to
create an even flow of notes with your right hand. Your brain has to connect the
speed of your picking hand motion, with how many notes it produces. And the key to
teaching it this, is the same as for all other picking techniques: ​Accentuation.

When you focus on accenting a few key notes, you make the job much easier on
your brain. So your first and primary point of synchronisation is the first note in the
arpeggio and the second point is the ​last​ note on the high E-string. Focus on getting
these two exactly right and perform the in-between-motion as even as you possibly

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can. So don't focus on every single note. ​Focus on how even your movement
is.Then make sure that you're hitting that first and last note at exactly the right
time every time.

Sweep Picking Arpeggio Exercise

I've included the fingering for this one. Notice how you have to make a bar with your third
finger in order to play those two notes.

Get comfortable with this arpeggio and the fingering of it, then start your metronome
and have it click a the first and last note. Then start playing while focusing on
performing ​one even downward motion and one even upward motion​. ​Don't stop if
your right and left hand get out of sync, keep focusing on hitting the first and
the last note perfectly​.​ As long as you get those two notes right, the rest will follow
if you keep at it. If this seems very difficult, do only the downward sweep, then wait
for the next click and repeat the motion. When this get boring, do the upward motion.
(See the video)

“The beautiful thing about learning is nobody can take it away from you.”

B. B. King

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From slow to fast directly

You can practice doing this very slowly 10.000 times and then be able to play it at an
incredible speed right after that. This is not like alternate or economy picking: Spend
a lot of time sweeping slowly and evenly, then shift to see how fast you can play the
arpeggio without losing too much accuracy. Of course you can use the metronome
game to nail this technique also, but the magical thing about sweep picking is that
you don't have to progress one step at a time; you can practice it slowly and
accurately and then check to see how fast you've become, then return to playing it
slowly again and so on. More on the wonders of sweep picking in my next article.

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LESSON 2 - SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION

The 3 tools of sweep picking

Your arm is the primary tool

If you've read my articles on alternate picking, you know that I recommend moving
your arm and hand to fit the string you play - as opposed to letting the hand stay in
the same place. Here's a key point to remember: Sweep picking is the only picking
technique that is performed ​by your arm and not your hand​! Here's the deal:

Your creator gave you different tools to use for manipulating the world around you.
You have a tool that fits every purpose. The arm is good at making big movements
but it's not that good at doing detailed work. Your hand is better at that, but your
fingers are king when it comes to precision work. Here's how to use these three tools
when you sweep pick:

Big even movements

You create the sweep with your arm only. The hand should be in a fixed position
while you use your arm to perform the downward or upward movement. No fancy
hand movements - Imagine your hand to be made of metal, completely inflexible and
attached to your arm like if it was some kind of tool. The sweeping motion is perfect
for the arm, because it is able to perform an even and straight motion from one point
to another. Your hand is too much of a precision tool to be good at this.

"Besides being a guitar player, I'm a big fan of the guitar. I love that damn instrument"

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 Steve Vai

A stable base

The only thing your hand does during the actual sweep is provide a stable base for
your fingers to hold the pick. And when the sweep is over some amount of alternate
picking is required to turn the lick around, this is where your hand comes into play
again, as you can clearly see on the video.

Angling the pick

Your fingers are the most advanced precision tool on earth. These guys haven't
been surpassed in precision and speed by any other biological or man made tool
ever. The only thing you do with them, in this case though, is to hold the pick in the
right angle. Imagine positioning the pick completely in alignment with the string your
picking. (See the video) ​This is not what you want to do​. ​Instead, push your thumb
downwards a bit to angle the pick slightly​. This will make it a lot easier to slide
over and across the strings when you sweep.

So hold the pick like you would for alternate or economy picking. Then angle it a bit.
Make sure that ​you do not move anything but your arm when you perform the actual
sweep​. It's a simple, controlled and even movement designed to make it easy for the
fretting hand to follow the flow of notes.

Diminished Arpeggio

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 Today's lick is a diminished triad laid out exactly like the A-Minor triad from yesterday: Two notes on
the A-string and Two notes on the high E-string. So your picking hand has to do the same thing as
yesterday. Of course I've added a little twist in the end where you play the last four notes before
returning home again.

Notice how I had to change the A-Minor scale to an A-Minor harmonic in order to fit the diminished
triad within it.

Practice with a decent amount of speed

Keep focusing on the angle of your pick, moving your arm and fixating your hand
when you do the sweep. Then perform the sweep at a decent enough speed for your
to develop some flow. It's very hard to practice sweep picking at a super slow pace,
simply because a sweep is one even motion - ​and it's very hard to perform one
even motion very slowly​. It naturally gets very uneven when you do it slow. Just
like there's a limit to how slow you can sweep with a broom and do it evenly. At some
point the resistance from the floor will mess up your act.

"I started being really proud of the fact that I was gay even though I wasn't"

Kurt Cobain

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Synchronisation & accuracy

It's very easy to "fake" sweep picking. And that's alright if it sounds great! But when
you are practicing, it's important to work on precision. When you are performing I
suggest you do everything to engage your audience. But practice is about getting
better and more accurate and I suggest you listen intensely for any lack of
synchronisation between your left and right hand. The more times you perform the
sweep perfectly at a slow pace (But not too slow) the more likely it is that you will
play with precision at higher speed levels.

LESSON 3 - SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION

How to build sweep picking precision

One note at a time

The skill of sweep picking offers you very few challenges. I'm not saying that it's
easy. I'm saying there aren't that many things to think about when you sweep pick. If
you've got the angle of the pick right - and you're using your arm and not your hand
to do the sweeping, you're doing great. But there is one little challenge that I would
like to address in this article though.

The whole purpose of sweep picking is to produce notes that are separate and not
"together" like the notes of a chord. You don't want two notes from the A-minor triad
to sound at the same time in the middle of a sweep. This is not a challenge when all
the notes are in a separate fret like in this A-Minor arpeggio pattern:

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When you play through this pattern, you use a different finger each time you shift
from one string to another. This makes it very easy to not have the notes sound at
the same time. However, the following pattern has two notes in the same fret:

The easiest way to play this pattern is to create a bar with your third finger on the D-
and G-strings. But this will also make it harder to separate the notes from each other.
- In the third version of the A-Minor arpeggio it gets even worse:

Here you have ​three ​consecutive notes in the same fret on the G- B- and E-string.
There are two ways to deal with this challenge and here they are:

1. Mute the strings

Muting all the strings with your picking hand will create a "staccato" effect that
prevents the strings from vibrating for no more than a fraction of a second. I've
included some photos that show you how to "palm mute" the strings below. In the
first photo my hand is placed behind the strings, but in the second photo it touches

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the strings. When I start to pick my palm is going to mute the strings, giving me no
sustain on the notes whatsoever:

The only downside of this technique is that it will mute ​all ​of the notes, also the ones
that don't need muting. When you do this, the sound of what you play, changes
radically. I use this technique quite a bit but sometimes it's nice to have a more open
sound when playing arpeggios. That's why you should spend some time learning the
next technique as well:
“I am not handsome, but when women hear me play, they come crawling to my feet.”

​Niccolò Paganini

2. Rolling the bar

Is it possible to create a bar over several strings but only really fret one of the notes?
Yes it is. Try this: Put your index finger across the G-, B- and E strings like in the last
Arpeggio pattern example. Then, while you keep holding that bar, push down on the
G-string with the tip of your finger, while easing the pressure on the other strings. If
you strum the three strings the G-string should sound loud and clear while the other
two strings should be muted.

Then try to put the pressure on the high E-string instead, while easing up on the G-
and B-string. Don't move your finger, keep that bar in place. Now it's quite hard to put
pressure on the middle B-string without also putting pressure on the other strings but
try this now: Sweep pick the three strings and "roll" your left hand index finger over
the strings as you pick them. You can see me do this in the movie at exactly 00:09.
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Look closely and see if you can pinpoint the place where I "roll" my index finger
across the three top strings.

A-Minor 3 Shapes Mega Sweep Picking Fun

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Today's lick uses all of the three Minor arpeggio shapes. You can use these shapes in a
variety of different contexts so they are really, really useful to master. Practice each shape
separately and then integrate them with each other to build the whole lick.

LESSON 4 - SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION

How to build sweep picking precision

The patterns of sweep picking

7 Arpeggio patterns and you're set

In this article, I'm going to give you the basic sweep picking patterns that I use when
I improvise. They are very simple and can be used in any type of music. I'm talking
about the Major, Minor and diminished triads. While there are many variations on
these basic arpeggios, these are the fundamental three types you really need to
master. You can add chord extensions like the 9th the 11th or other add-on notes to
make the sound of the arpeggio change completely.

But if you know your basic triads, adding other notes to them will be easy and fun
instead of confusing and overwhelming. I use these three types of triads in many
different contexts and they are not limited to a Neoclassical type of chord
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progression. They work just as well for Blues, Flamenco or Jazz. So the benefits of
being able to effortlessly sweep these Arpeggios are huge.

The 5-string Major shapes

In my last article I showed you the three 5-string patterns of an A-Minor arpeggio.
This 5-string pattern is convenient because it allows you to create a 16 note sweep
from start to end. Let's look at it's Major buddy, the C-Major arpeggio in it's three
inversions:

The first pattern is the easiest to finger. Focus on getting the middle three notes to
sound separate by using one or both of the techniques I wrote about in my previous
article. Use your ​second​ finger as a bar and roll it as you do the sweep. Here's the
second pattern, starting on the E-note on the A-string:

This pattern can be a little tricky to play because you have to create two bars in it.
For the first bar on the A- and D string, use your ​third finger and not your pinkie.​ You
can use your pinky to create the bar but it's a lot easier to use your third finger. Then
use your index finger for the bar on the B- and E-string. Here's the last Major pattern:

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This is my favorite Major triad pattern because you can play all the notes with a
different finger and this makes it easy to get a clear sound out of it. It has one
challenge though (No free lunches) you have to make that wide stretch of an entire
5th on the A-string. If this seems very hard for you here are some tips to make it
easier:

How to make that stretch happen

1. Place your left hand thumb as low on the neck as possible.

The more your "hug" the neck with your fretting hand the harder it is to reach far.
Position your hand like a classical guitarist would. The thumb should be placed on
the middle of the neck (vertically speaking) It gives you more "phrasing control" to
place your thumb very high behind the neck (Picture 1) but it gives you more
stretching power when you lower it (Picture 2)

2. Pull the neck closer to your face!​ Again: Think about how a classical guitarist
sits when he plays. If your elbow is placed below the neck, it'll be much harder for
you to make the stretch. (Picture 1) But If the elbow is under the neck however, you'll
be able to reach and stretch your fingers much further. (Picture 2)

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 "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out."

Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962

Only one diminished pattern

These are the three 5-string Major triad patterns so all we need now is the pattern of
the diminished triad. Luckily the diminished triad is pure symmetry. It's one minor
third repeating itself over and over again. Here's the first pattern:

To make it a manageable 5-string pattern that resembles the Major and Minor
patterns, I've taken out one note in the arpeggio. The D note on the G-string in the
7th fret should be marked as well but that would mess up our system so I left it out.

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And, that sacrifice creates an extremely cool sounding and useful pattern. The next
pattern looks exactly the same only three frets higher:

As you can see there's nothing new here. Only the position of the pattern shifted.
Let's do it again and move it up three frets:

The diminished triad doesn't really have a root note - since the triad looks exactly the
same no matter what note you start on. All the notes in the triad could be regarded
root notes.

Diminished Shape Mega Sweep Picking Fun

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Today's lick is practically the same as yesterdays only the pattern has changed from a Minor
to a Diminished triad. So there's nothing new here for your picking hand.

How to blend sweep picking with other techniques

If you're into neoclassical metal or Blues Rock of any kind you'll come a long way
with these shapes. In fact, you don't need to learn any other patterns than these to
be able to create a lot of cool phrases. 98 % of what I do, I do with these patterns or
smaller parts of these patterns. Practice and play with them until they become
second nature to you. My next article will be about how to integrate these patterns
into the Minor / Major and Blues scale so you can use them as an integral part of
your soloing.

"I don't follow trends no matter what. I just do what I do and that's it"
Yngwie Malmsteen

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LESSON 5 - SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION

Integrating sweep picking with other techniques

Integration is the key

Sweep picking is a one-of-a-kind technique. It's so radically different to perform than

alternate and economy picking (Though it is closer to the latter) For a long time I
wondered why I wasn't using sweep picking very much when I was soloing. Even
though I was very good at it, I didn't use that technique very much. Then I pinpointed
the problem and found out that ​I needed to integrate the technique with my other
picking styles in order for it to flow naturally​. Integration is a concept that I

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overlooked completely when I was first starting out. I used to know a lot of pretty
impressive runs and licks, but I couldn't really connect them into anything musical.

“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”

Muhammad Ali

A perfect blend

When ever you've learned to use a new technique it's very important that you spend
some time integrating it with what you already know and master. The cool thing
about this is that it's a lot of fun! when you've spend enough time on this process,
sweep picking will blend in perfectly with all your other techniques and you will not
even think about when you are using what technique. The outcome is to teach the
brain to use whatever technique suits the purpose best.

A-Minor integration Example 1

The first lick is really simple. I go down the A-Minor harmonic scale and connect it with the
A-Minor arpeggio on the A-string

The rules of the game

If you skip this process how ever, you will not develop the kind of freedom that I
know you want. The whole point of building killer skills is so that we're able to have

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more fun and there's nothing more satisfying than to be able to set yourself free on
the fretboard. If you have to think and evaluate every note you play, you are not
really enjoying yourself.

Here's the rules of the game:

1.​ Come up with a simple lick that uses sweep picking and another picking technique

2.​ Repeat that lick until it's easy

3.​ Come up with another lick and repeat the process

A-Minor Integration Example 2

The second lick is constructed in the same way as number one, only in a different position
and with different patterns. It's very useful to find ways to come into and out of the arpeggio
patterns at the bottom and top of them.

3 examples of integration

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I created the licks in today's video in this way. They are simple and very straight
forward but they include both economy picking and sweep picking. Create your own
licks and practice them until they feel comfortable to you. You aren't supposed to
remember every lick that you create, ​just practice it until you master it, then
forget about it and create another lick​.​ Then, every time you pick up you guitar,
come up with a new phrase that utilises at least on technique besides sweep picking
and go through this very simple process.

"I forced myself to play for one hour every day. One hour was a long time, because I was a total
beginner and didn't know how to play anything!"

Paul Gilbert

The smaller the better

You might want to start with something less massive than the licks in today's video.
Try playing a four note sweep, then mix it with some notes from the scale and then
return to the four note sweep. The more manageable and simple the ideas are, the
greater the chance that you will actually use them in a real life situation. Remember,
the licks you come up with doesn't have to be great art, just come up with something,
repeat it several times, then move on to another one. Don't be critical of yourself in
this process but play, play, play and then play some more. Have fun!

A-Minor Integration Example 3

The third example is a little more colorful. Now spend some time with each arpeggio pattern,
coming up with licks that integrate the pattern with its surrounding A-Minor scale.

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LESSON 6 - SWEEP PICKING PERFECTION

Integrating Major & Diminished Arpeggios

Yesterday I gave you some ideas on how you can integrate sweep picking with
economy picking. Today let's look at the Major and Diminished shapes. But before
we begin let's repeat the "integration recipe" that I talked about yesterday, here it is
again:

1.​ Come up with a simple lick that uses sweep picking and another picking technique

2.​ Repeat that lick until it's easy

3.​ Come up with another lick and repeat the process

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New playmates

This process of integration is something I practice daily. Over time, you develop
some licks and runs that are really comfortable to play - these become your home
base, - the place you like to go when you pick up your instrument. Integration is
really the process of expanding that home base. It's like inviting new playmates in
and giving them a fair chance to become part of the group. As you play, you stay
with the home base, while being consciously aware of using some other element that
aren't that comfortable to play yet.

Going up the neck

You might take the diminished shapes and play them over the Harmonic Minor, and
then go through each shape up the neck and practice going in and out of that
shape, from the diminished triad into the scale and out again. You stay in one scale
shape while you repeat the 3 steps in the integration process until you really feel you
master that place on the neck. Then you move on and have some more fun. Focus
on playing the stuff you already know, while mixing it with the stuff you don't know
yet. You don't just want to learn sweep picking, you want to master it, and you only
master it when you use it all the time.

"When I'm on stage the savage in me is released. It's like going back to being a cave man. It takes me
six hours to come down after a show"

Angus Young

Fooling around is the key

As always it's a very, very effective idea to decide on one type of arpeggio and the
practice going in and out of that ​for a predetermined period of time.​ You might
decide to play only Major arpeggios and integrate those for an entire month - to
make sure that you really master those before moving on. I always have a "topic" of
the week. Something I practice every time I pick up the guitar. This process of
Integration looks a lot like "fooling around" on the guitar, it's fun and relaxing to just
play what ever you like.

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C-Major Arpeggio - Sweeping and Legato

This is a very useful way to end any arpeggio with some legato playing. Practice going from the legato
technique into other licks and runs you know.

The extra element

But when you're adding that little extra element, It becomes a lot more fun because
you're growing and figuring out new stuff while you "fool around". Also: ​this is how
you develop your unique style​.​ In this process you develop your own preferences
of what you like to play. You create little licks of your own all the time, and these licks
become part of your own unique vocabulary. ​If you follow this process of integrating
sweep picking with your other picking techniques and you plan your weeks and
months in advance. (Which is only a decision of what to focus on) sweep picking will
become a natural part of what you do, instead of a gimmick that you pull out of your
hat.

"If you hit a wrong note, then make it right by what you play afterwards"

Joe Pass

Create miracles

At some point you have to move from playing licks ​to just playing​. Licks are
examples of what is possible but no more than that. You should take each lick, learn
it and go "What else can I do with this idea?" Then come up with a variation on the
same idea, practice that until it's easy, then come up with another variation and so

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on. When you do this enough, you create the power to improvise intelligently. You
develop so many "roads" that your fingers can take at any given moment ​and this
gives you unbelievable freedom​, it's more fun and it's what every ambitious
guitarist is dreaming of being able to do. The process of integration can work
miracles for you if you use it every day.

A-Minor & B-Diminished Arpeggio Example

In this example I use two arpeggios together. I made a mistake in the video! The slow version is different from the
fast version, so I created a tablature that showed them both. For some reason playing chromatic runs fits very
well within the sound of the diminished triad. How can you use that little idea in other places?

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