7 Common Problems With Learning Sweep Picking

Sweep picking is considered by many to be a technique that separates average players from highly advanced players. Unfortunately, there are many challenges to be overcome with this technique before one can successfully adapt it as part of his or her style.

First, for anyone who may not know, sweep picking is a technique used by guitarists to play arpeggios. It is typically done when using distortion, but this technique is also used in other styles when clean guitar sound is used. The use of distortion makes it very challenging to play arpeggios quickly and cleanly.

In this article, I will present several of the most common problems that I have seen many people run into with sweep picking. Based on my own experience as a player and after replying to dozens of e-mails on this topic from students all over the world, I noticed that many students seem to be experiencing many of the same problems. Of course there are also likely to be issues that are specific to each student, but these questions are best addressed in person with a competent teacher.

So there are 7 main problems that I believe prevent many students from either learning sweep picking at all, or (for those who are more advanced,) with using this technique in expressive ways. Not all students have every one of these same 7 problems of course, (most have various combinations of them), but I think that by listing them all here, it will help more people to become aware of ways to improve their playing even if a specific problem may not apply directly to them.

These problems are:

01. Practicing too fast

Yes, this is common sense advice that we’ve all heard a million times, right? However, even though this advice is commonly heard, it is shocking how many people either choose to ignore it, or simply are not aware that they are practicing way too fast because the general words such as “fast” or “slow” are often misleading and meaningless because they mean different things for different people. Just remember this (as a general guideline), if you are practicing and your playing sounds sloppy, inconsistent in quality and filled with mistakes, then chances are you are practicing much too fast. Just remember that you can play ANY combination of notes perfectly if you play slowly enough. If you keep trying to increase the speed but your playing is full of mistakes and sloppy string noise, then you are just learning to play sloppily. On the other hand, if you play slowly enough to play without mistakes and you only increase the speed once you are sure that you can do so without sacrificing the quality of your playing, you will be teaching your hands to play the technique perfectly. So this piece of advice is twofold: first play slowly enough to play without mistakes. And second: only increase the speed once you are sure that you will not be sacrificing accuracy.

Is this piece of advice common sense and common knowledge to most people? Of course it is. But is this also one of the most common things to see guitarists doing wrong? You bet it is! For example, we all know that exercise and working out is good for our health (this is common knowledge) but how many people actually DO exercise on a regular basis? So this means that even though the need to practice slowly is obvious to most guitarists, many of those who struggle with their progress would benefit greatly by slowing down their playing and focusing more on accuracy. I hope you are starting to see where I’m going with this.

02. Paying attention to muting of the strings

This is a very common problem that makes itself especially evident with sweep picking. What do I mean by this? Well, the main goal of sweep picking is to only have one note of the arpeggio sounding at any one time with the other notes being completely muted (this is the only way to get the arpeggios to sound clean and precise when playing with a lot of gain and distortion). There are two main ways of going about this: either to use the palm of your hand to mute the strings you are not playing (this method is the most common and is used by players such as Rusty Cooley, Michael Romeo and Yngwie Malmsteen) and to use the thumb of the picking hand to do the same thing (this method is used by virtuosos such as George Bellas and Tom Hess) The main point here is to pay attention to how effective your muting technique is (regardless of which of the two methods you choose to use) and evaluate its effectiveness by Listening to how clean your playing actually is when you play slow and when you play fast. The best way to do this is to either record yourself or to ask for honest and unbiased feedback from your teacher about your playing. If your playing is not as clean as you would like it to be, then I highly recommend paying careful attention to the way you mute the strings and perhaps change your technique a bit if necessary to fix that problem.

03. Trying to “strum” the arpeggios with the right hand instead of hitting each note individually

When sweep picking, each note should have definition and rhythmic placement. If you simply strum or rake the pick across the strings, the notes will sound sloppy and out of time. You need to make sure that each note has definition and you should be able to play the arpeggio slowly to a metronome and have it be in time. The arm moves in a continuous motion across the strings but each note must have definition.

04. Not isolating the “rolling” motion of the left hand to practice it exclusively until it is no longer a challenge

If you have spent any amount of time trying to learn sweep picking, then you have most likely encountered (or at least heard about) the technique of “finger rolling” that is used in some arpeggio shapes. The best way to tackle it, is to isolate it and practice just the rolling motion by itself until it no longer poses a challenge. Make sure to practice slowly of course and avoid having the notes ring together (this is a very common problem) Many players simply play the arpeggios that contain the rolling technique up and down hundreds of times in hopes that the problem will simply solve itself. But you will be MUCH more effective if you are able to get specific about the nature of the problem. In this case, the problem is the rolling itself, not necessarily the rest of the arpeggio, so by focusing your attention only on the problem you save yourself time and are able to be much more effective in your practice.

05. Not making the pull off at the top of each arpeggio articulate enough

Many arpeggio shapes require you to perform a pull off at the top of the shape (usually on the high E string). Many players make the mistake of letting the pull off sound way too weak compared to the other notes of the arpeggio (which are picked). This creates an unevenness in volume and the arpeggio lacks precision and rhythmic control. What I recommend is spending a bit of time only on the pull off part of the arpeggio and practice making the pull off as LOUD as you can (of course I'm referring to how strong your pull off itself is, not to how loud you can turn up the amp). When you do this, you will notice a big difference in your arpeggio playing.

06. Not learning how to build chords and arpeggios and how to use them in a musical way

Do you know what the word “arpeggio” means? Do you understand the principles of chord construction and how chords are grouped into keys? Can you name diatonic triads and diatonic seventh chords in any key? Do you understand the concepts of voice leading? The answers to these questions can Greatly help you expand your creativity with sweep picking. Many players learn several arpeggio shapes and may even be able to play them up and down pretty quickly and cleanly. However without knowing how arpeggios can be used in different musical contexts such as soloing or songwriting, that player will be stuck playing the same shapes in the same way for months and years. These problems can easily be prevented and fixed by studying music theory and chord construction. For some beginning resources, check out this free Music Theory Master Class as well as this article: Voice Leading Part 1.

07. Only using standard shapes and limiting the creative potential of this technique

It is unfortunate that many players box themselves into using only simple major/minor/diminished arpeggios in ways that have already been done many times. There are so many other ways in which this technique can be used creatively. Some of the most obvious ways include the use of seventh chords in combination with triads, extending arpeggios using tapping, using different picking/articulation techniques to play the arpeggios, and connecting the shapes using the principles of voice leading. Many of the creative approaches can be discovered by studying chord theory and knowing the names of all the notes on the fretboard. This will help spark ideas for how sweep picking can be used in more expressive ways that will help you enhance your songwriting. Then you will not need to search the web for “sweep picking licks”, because you will be able to come up with your own creative ways of using the technique to express yourself.

At this point, we have looked at several problems that guitarists typically have with learning this elusive technique. What should I do now, I hear you ask? Well, if you don’t think you have any of the above problems, then great, you’re on the right track! But if you think that some of these points can apply to you, then you now know what you need to work on to take your playing to the next level.

Check out these additional resources: free Music Theory Master Class as well as my article on Voice Leading Part 1.

As always, you can contact me at [e-mail] with any questions or comments regarding this article. I reply to all e-mails.

Mike Philippov is a professional guitarist, music composer and instructor based in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is one of the creators of the instructional site: www.thenextstepguitar.com, and co-author of “The Ultimate Sweep Picker’s Guide” and “Serious Improvement for the Developing Guitarist” Currently Mike is busy writing and recording music for his solo album titled “Reflections”.

Comments

[liam177lewis]

very very nice article. ive had many problems with sweeps, and i think article covers them greatly, very much appreciated.

[Smokey Amp]

Great article.

10/10

[SuperRitsu]

ohh wow great advice..
now to practice my sweep picking!

[cataclysm34]

There's one part in here I have qualms with... All the best sweepers do it simply through economy of motion and lifting their fingers off the fretboard instead of relying on their palm which doesn't make sense in a descending arpeggio. So just food for thought. Other than that the article was alright.

[Mike da Man]

great article, thanks man

[DemonDante]

Pretty good article, great advice!

[graysonsoares]

one of the best articles.. thnx a lot

[SurfKID11]

good article. it is very important to be usical with your sweeping and not just use it randomly. and dont be like people i know and play the sweep at speed when you really cant. remember it is more respectable to play slow with accuracy than like shit fast.

[Triviutallica]

cool article now i know where i've been going wrong now. when i play my left hand is more accurate than my picking hand i've been using a metronone and slowed down. i play most accuratley at 130. hopefully i can get faster now!

[a7xsoad]

WOW Thanks very much !!!!! Great article 10/10 sir

[YourMessiah666]

Awesome atricle. Thank you very very much. 10/10
Keep it up!

[markieee]

Very good !!
Good thing to check my one technique
I`m gonna learn new shapes right away!

[rhcpfan27]

this is fantastic.
if only it had been here a couple months ago.
10/10

[kalamari]

thanks a lot for this, an article about 'how' to sweep rather than 'what' to sweep. the website is really good as well, need to learn more about voicing chords...

[Sun Child]

Much help

[espliam]

great article, this is gonna help me be aware of mistakes i make in sweep picking from now on.

[Gabysguitar]

great article,i dont put much importance to sweep picking because I dont have the correct technic but you help me out a lot...Thanks. Email me:[e-mail]

[kenneth49]

beautiful O_O

[rik23]

your the man! cheers

[ldnovelo2]

10/10

[that1l)ude]

cool article but i disagree strongly with that first sentence.

Check check checkity check

[mister_crowley]

Its important to know that once you've gotten past 'the hard bit' it becomes so much easier to sweep pick many other things. I myself have only just cracked this technique and now i can do eaach arpeggio shape with ease. I have to say though.. muting with your thumb..? I can;t do that. just comes out as a pinch harmonic :/

[sum41freak8733]

lol mister_crowley i have the same problem im so use to doing pinch harmonics with my thumb my fingers kind of ignore my brain , the palm way is better to me , but still need practice this helped though 10/10

[16kramer05]

Great job man, told me everything I've been missing. I really appreaciate it. Keep it up!

[Rocker3829]

thats a pretty good list of the common problems, personailly I can't stand the sound of Sweep Picking

[dane619]

good article the best song to practice sweeping is the woman solo by wolfmother if u play the rite way !!

[siksofus]

The format for the article is terrible! The white text on black gave me a headache after the about 2 paragraphs. No wonder I never really read the articles.

[Lemon Juice!!!]

Yea, its sad that people think if you cant sweep, your not good. Because thats not true at all, but this was a kool column.

[One Way Ticket]

That linked site is great for theory. Favorited.

[guitarNbass]

Great article. Sweep picking is a bitch. Just pay attention to how you should be practicing, and practice it until you can do it in your sleep, and you'll be fine.

[mister sir]

Good article, bro. I'm glad that you're putting up articles and not trying to rip people off like some dudes on this site...
10*

[Set-Abominae]

Nice. Helped me along. Just gotta get the downward sweep perfected now.

[/Dragon|Force\]

great article. Much help

[the_poison125]

[vanceboy]

good pointers on a topic that's somewhat hard to cover.

[Kirenjob]

Thanks.. 10 *'s

[Absent Mind]

Great article,

I have huge problems with my right hand following each string to mute, and finger rolling on one fret.

Cheers

[Limaj_daas]

Amazing article, should help many people find out and overcome their mistakes more easily.

[mpeskett]

Cool article but I am a bit fed up of seeing article after article on alternate, economy, sweep picking. Everything is about technique. What about actually making music? I'd love to see some articles on using scales like Lydian b7 and Super Locrian to spice blues playing and your improvising, like Robben Ford.

Still a cool article though.

[TooFast]

mpeskett wrote:

Cool article but I am a bit fed up of seeing article after article on alternate, economy, sweep picking. Everything is about technique. What about actually making music? I'd love to see some articles on using scales like Lydian b7 and Super Locrian to spice blues playing and your improvising, like Robben Ford.

Still a cool article though.

I agree. But this is a great article, and I love the alternate, sweep, economy etc articles as well!

[seanstar]

very nice article, helped a bunch.

[pmeater_tamer]

mpeskett wrote:

Cool article but I am a bit fed up of seeing article after article on alternate, economy, sweep picking. Everything is about technique. What about actually making music? I'd love to see some articles on using scales like Lydian b7 and Super Locrian to spice blues playing and your improvising, like Robben Ford.

Still a cool article though.

i agree.

i also think too much emphasis is placed on sweet picking as in the begining where it was said that it seperated average from highly advanced

mpeskett wrote:

Cool article but I am a bit fed up of seeing article after article on alternate, economy, sweep picking. Everything is about technique. What about actually making music? I'd love to see some articles on using scales like Lydian b7 and Super Locrian to spice blues playing and your improvising, like Robben Ford.

Still a cool article though.

i also agree with this.


but it is still a great article and it will help me much for me to try to learn this technique so i can become more diverse

[deaththrashcore]

I think No 5 is the most common I've seen

[the_bi99man]

Mike always does great articles.

[nao_guy]

since when was sweeping used for just arpeggios

[mpeskett]

nao_guy wrote:

since when was sweeping used for just arpeggios

Good point. Rather than listening to people like Rusty Cooley who I hate with a passion, listen to people like Django Reindhart and Frank Gambale. Django was probably the first person to ever use sweep picking.

[mpeskett]

mpeskett wrote:

nao_guy wrote:

since when was sweeping used for just arpeggios

Good point. Rather than listening to people like Rusty Cooley who I hate with a passion, listen to people like Django Reindhart and Frank Gambale. Django was probably the first person to ever use sweep picking.

Oh by the way I wasn't directing that at you nao_guy, was just a general comment to everyone

[CapnKickass]

problem number 1: GUILTY. me like fast! zoom zoom!! lol

[LayThisToRest]

dude serisously thanks so much for writing this article. i need to take the time to practice slow and work with finger rolling and the shapes of the notes and chords. serisouly 10/10 thanks a bunch

[hammetjunior13]

thnx

[MetalHead816]

these are basically every problem i have except like the last 2

[Guitar_Poet]

nice article, its good to see an article that is at least reliable and somewhat helpful. basically the answer to all technique problems is: play it slowwwww and perfect, and speed it up, keeping that pattern of perfection. then youll have it down solid, great technique, etc... anyway, nice article.

[Fender_boi_101]

ok well...how the hell are you ment to mute...you say how to but dnt explain it...i end up the palm muting the sttings n it sounds crap, and i can kidna go fast but the bloody G string keeps ringing...the guitar G string incase any1 got differnat ideas...anyway...i just cant mute thwe unwanted strings cos i end up muting the wanted strings too....GRRR

[Tedward]

it seems that I have learned how to sweep easier than aa lot of others. When I read this all of these were not really problems for me but technique to learn. I am going to need to start learning theory, because i have no idea what the hell a triadic diatone kljfdajkhj wtf lol.

great lesson. Should help a lot of people.

[Paul Lambeth]

Great article. I definately attack it too fast, I consciously try to slow it down but the patience required to increase your speed gradually is annoying. Very nice article, good pointers, but this isn't just useful for sweeping; any kind of fast soloing, scale climbing etc comes into this (palm muting technique etc.).

[Warheart1188]

This is an amazing article. I had these exact problems years ago when I learned sweeping. I also see my students with these same symptoms as well. By golly you nailed it!

[Warheart1188]

Fender_boi_101 wrote:

ok well...how the hell are you ment to mute...you say how to but dnt explain it...i end up the palm muting the sttings n it sounds crap, and i can kidna go fast but the bloody G string keeps ringing...the guitar G string incase any1 got differnat ideas...anyway...i just cant mute thwe unwanted strings cos i end up muting the wanted strings too....GRRR

When it comes to muting in sweeping, you kinda have to find little spots on your palm and feel the strings to mute the ones you don't wanna hear when you lift a finger off a string. I don't know how to explain itexactly because you have to feel it as you're playing.

[gibsonboy3]

great article but still wont really help me learn how to sweap pick.

[gwitersnamps]

Sweep picking is considered by many to be a technique that separates average players from highly advanced players

There's problem #1

[anoreorcist12]

Fender_boi_101 wrote:

ok well...how the hell are you ment to mute...you say how to but dnt explain it...i end up the palm muting the sttings n it sounds crap, and i can kidna go fast but the bloody G string keeps ringing...the guitar G string incase any1 got differnat ideas...anyway...i just cant mute thwe unwanted strings cos i end up muting the wanted strings too....GRRR

[anoreorcist12]

Fender_boi_101 wrote:

ok well...how the hell are you ment to mute...you say how to but dnt explain it...i end up the palm muting the sttings n it sounds crap, and i can kidna go fast but the bloody G string keeps ringing...the guitar G string incase any1 got differnat ideas...anyway...i just cant mute thwe unwanted strings cos i end up muting the wanted strings too....GRRR

srry screwed up up there^^^... anyway, i just start with not muting anything, then move my palm down each string as i go downuntil it covers all but the low e string. do the reverse going up. hope that made sense im not the best at explaining things.

[Dutchpicking]

nice article!a mute technique i learned was with bar chords like f and g and so on, like you just keep on playing and then slightly lift yyoure fingers wich mute the whole chord without using your palm. And if to play a song like "what's up - 4 non blondes" to keep in rythm with thos 16 strokes in one measure dont touch the stings with the pick. wich i find a sort of muting. hopfully usefull. make more lessons

[geldunazz]

cool ! :

[KillrBuckeye]

I didn't see my two biggest challenges on this list. First, how does one cleanly execute 3-string sweeps starting with a pull-off on the high E, sweeping upward but only hitting the G string ONCE before coming back down, i.e. EpE-B-G-B-E. For the life of me, I cannot avoid hitting the G string a second time on the way back down, and it sounds like crap.

Second, for certain shapes one must play the same fret on three adjacent strings. Does the finger "roll" technique apply to this situation? I don't really see how it's possible to "roll" your finger over three strings in a fast, fluid, motion.

[axe_2_grind]

KillrBuckeye wrote:
Second, for certain shapes one must play the same fret on three adjacent strings. Does the finger "roll" technique apply to this situation? I don't really see how it's possible to "roll" your finger over three strings in a fast, fluid, motion.

Yes it can be done, but it is a very subtle technique to learn and takes a lot of practice. You just have to learn how to control each individual joint in your left hand (or right if you're left handed)

I have to agree on the point of learning to roll the left hand. It's all about getting the pick and the fingers in sync. I recommend practicing with the metronome with triplets or sextuplets, or else experiment and find note combinations that fit into 4/4 tome and just up the tempo a little each day.

It took me a couple of years to get it anywhere close to sounding good, and then I started noticing the little flaws in my playing and learned to correct them. Like any technique it just take time and patience.

[6(ric)6]

great article man but usually wen im learnin somethin i jus try 2 play it fast over and over til i get it right wich doesnt work for alot of ppl but ill try to more often with sweeps

[gibsonxgirl667]

still can't sweep pick cuz i suck, but very good tips.

[xvictimofadownx]

this article help me play me sweeps better 10/10

[SkullOfSteel875]

a problem i had when i started learning it was doing the hammer-ons and pull-offs faster than the rest of the notes but i sorted it out quickly. great article anyway.

[eddiesclone]

Very good! This is all true and correct. I need to practice my rolls and read up my theory.

[Punky_Joe]

I'm afraid i don't even know HOW to sweep pick.

i've only been playing three years.

if someone could tell me what it's all about (messaging?) i would appreciate it.

i assume it's letting your pick do strokes on the strings down the guitar then back up?

i don't know. i practise basic things.

nice article... if someone explains sweep picking i'll DEFINATELY find myself coming back to this page =P

[Chiefwiddler]

A good technique it is...but I would say learning to write effective passages of music that fit the music, and move the listener, is a better skill to have. A blur of notes may make up for some creative shotcomings, but not for long!

[Omnislash502]

to punky joe: just look up sweep picking on youtube tho i think you pretty much got the idea...

[Melting_Faces]

This article was very informative to me and all-round it helped me quite a bit. however i am still struggling with certain aspects of this technique as i have only just started to practice it.

I want to bring the idea of muting the strings with ure palm or thum back up. I have found this most difficult and it is proveing to be the prodominant problem i am experiencing. The ascending part of the arpeggio (down strokes) are a real pain, especially when tackling something like a 5-string sweep (as in my case) as i cannot yet articulate the individual notes propperly.

Maybe and most probably i have been playing too fast but it seems that most of my problems lie with muting the strings. Can anyone help me out here?

[BigRudy]

MMMKAY

[GuitarHero0715]

cataclysm34 wrote:

There's one part in here I have qualms with... All the best sweepers do it simply through economy of motion and lifting their fingers off the fretboard instead of relying on their palm which doesn't make sense in a descending arpeggio. So just food for thought. Other than that the article was alright.

You dont need to mute them in a descending sweep because your left hand is already muting the strings while reaching for the lower strings.

[Jackolas]

I am a high level intemediate guitarist but have serious trouble with this sweep picking shit.

[Aminos]

thanks, that was really helpful

[rattlesnake69]

10/10 great!

[RICKYISDEAD15]

i see this alot whith beginer sweeps

lets talk tone

if you use the rythem/neck pickup it sound much more accurate

the tone is important i think its best to use less mid and focus more on the bass and mid balance on your amp be shure to use heavy picks as well i suggest 1.0s

[We Remain]

dane619 wrote:

good article the best song to practice sweeping is the woman solo by wolfmother if u play the rite way !!

Correct me if im wrong but itsnt it an organ solo?

[Typik]

I've been practicing sweep picking, and according to this article I've been doing all the wrong things! I'm not surprised, I don't sound good when I sweep pick, thansk a TON for this article!

[FalloutDude]

shit

[deafening]

Chiefwiddler wrote:

A good technique it is...but I would say learning to write effective passages of music that fit the music, and move the listener, is a better skill to have. A blur of notes may make up for some creative shotcomings, but not for long!

why u hating?

[death of emos]

very nice