Originally Posted by: freak metalhey ive been playing for about a year and a half and i need some tips on sweep picking

The idea behind sweep picking is to get the most harmonic or melodic information (notes) into the smallest amount of time. In most cases, the notes in a sweeping picking passage outline chord tones, going quickly through all the notes of a chord. That's is why they are frequently called arpeggios, a chord in which the notes are not played together but instead one after another. Arpeggio is Italian for "broken chord".

This technique is called "sweeping", because you pick ("sweep") across the strings in one continuous motion in one direction. By slightly muting the strings with your right hand behind the note you just picked you can get a clean articulation. The left hand must also follow the picking motion closely. You can also reverse direction and start sweeping the other direction.

You can also use sweeping to play scalar passages. And sweeping is also part of the technique known as economy picking. Economy picking is combining alternate picking with sweep picking in order to get the most efficient possible motion happening as you cross from a series of notes on one string to the next string.

I have two tutorials on sweep picking technique, an intermediate one & an advanced one. I have filmed High-Definition updates to these & hope to have them up and running before long!

http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=408
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=211