Okay, what is sweep picking?


hate_crew_deathroll
New Member
Joined: 09/15/03
Posts: 5
hate_crew_deathroll
New Member
Joined: 09/15/03
Posts: 5
09/15/2003 1:10 am
I'm sorry, I've only been playing guitar for about half a year, and these terms are a little too technical for me. Anyway, what is sweep picking, and how do I do it? Everyone tells me that a lot of solos are played with sweep picking, so I'd like to learn how to do it. Thanks!
# 1
andy82
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/02
Posts: 208
andy82
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/02
Posts: 208
09/15/2003 1:43 am
No need to be sorry mate we are all beginners at first, sweep picking is basically picking in one direction whilst not actually "picking" the notes one by one. Its like strumming but the key point is not to produce one sound but to get one sound at a time. The pick falls from string to string. Ideally if you go down to the high E you pick downwards, if you pick towards you to low E you pick upwards. But I really recommend reading Yngwie's stuff.

I found Yngwie's lessons very helpful which I found on his site. http://www.yngwie.org and goto guitar lessons and go thru the guitar world magazine lessons. It's a step by step approach to sweeping (arpeggios, 2 to 6 string sweep). It's an original print which I like, cos some of the text based tab tutorials fail to point when to change the direction of picking. I reckon if you have the patience to read thru then you'll definitely get. Practice with his stuff for a while then apply it into songs you like. Personally I read thru his cocky material cause I wanted to sweep for the opening of Eugene's Trick Bag.

P.S: If you're a visual person don't ever watch Yngwie's videos. He does a lot of sweeps but he never shows the viewer how you do em'. Though Petrucci does it pretty well.

Hope that helps. Enjoy sweeping.
# 2
hate_crew_deathroll
New Member
Joined: 09/15/03
Posts: 5
hate_crew_deathroll
New Member
Joined: 09/15/03
Posts: 5
09/15/2003 1:58 am
Wow, thanks! I'll check out the site
# 3
sambob
Registered User
Joined: 08/09/03
Posts: 450
sambob
Registered User
Joined: 08/09/03
Posts: 450
09/15/2003 10:20 pm
If you want sweep picking (and arpeggios with them), you NEED to check out Joe Stump's latest DVD (www.joestump.com)

Its only $20+$5 for shipping. All he ****ing does, for an hour or so is go over different arpeggio inversions, and how to sweep them. Very good stuff, admittedly when I bought it, I'd already figured it out a few years ahead of it..but i know people that couldn't sweep at all, and didn't know what an arpeggio was that could watch that video and come out like a master.
# 4
andy82
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/02
Posts: 208
andy82
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/02
Posts: 208
09/16/2003 9:40 am
Yeh that's what I meant, Petrucci tries to explain how you actually do it where as Yngwie just goes at it. Though I found the print out were pretty good for teaching purposes. You just gotta find stuff that works for you :)
# 5
TheDirt
Registered User
Joined: 03/28/02
Posts: 569
TheDirt
Registered User
Joined: 03/28/02
Posts: 569
09/16/2003 5:19 pm
I don't want to sound like an @$$ or anything, but if people would simply use the search function of this forum, a lot of their questions would be answered without repeating posts a half dozen times. I've heard the questions "What is sweep picking?" and other basic questions soooooooo many times on this forum. I'm not dissing beginning guitarists or anything, because we were all there where we didn't know what it was, but just click search, type in your keyword, and THEN, if you don't find anything that answers your question, start up a new thread. Thanks.
"You must stab him in the heart with the Bone Saber of Zumacalis... well, you could stab him in the head or the lungs, too... and the saber, it probably doesn't have to be bone, just anything sharp lying around the house... you could poke him with a pillow and kill him."

- Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Universal Re-Monster
# 6
u10ajf
Registered User
Joined: 10/31/01
Posts: 611
u10ajf
Registered User
Joined: 10/31/01
Posts: 611
09/19/2003 4:17 pm
If you've only been playing half a year then it's probably true that most sweep-picking will be far too tough at this stage but here's an easy one you can practice:

------5h7p5---
----6-------6--
-5h7---------7p5
--------------
--------------
--------------

You might be able to change from say C Major to G Major with a sweep picking technique, hammering on and pulling off almost accidentally to start with.

Good luck with it.
If I couldn't laugh at myself how could I laugh at someone less ridiculous?
# 7
andy82
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/02
Posts: 208
andy82
Senior Member
Joined: 01/20/02
Posts: 208
09/21/2003 12:58 pm
Originally posted by u10ajf
If you've only been playing half a year then it's probably true that most sweep-picking will be far too tough


Thats what I thought... I tried sweeping back then, didn't work cos my left hand wasn't fast enough to move in sync with my picking hand. But then give it go' who knows :)
# 8
u10ajf
Registered User
Joined: 10/31/01
Posts: 611
u10ajf
Registered User
Joined: 10/31/01
Posts: 611
09/23/2003 6:28 pm
Well, the hardest exercises make the steepest learning curves I guess. I'm learning to sweep left-handedly but there's not less sweep to it than a tired kitchen porter on tranquillisers. i have to slow right down, probably less than a 5th of the pace of my right handed play. It's quite informative actually, I'm learning again what things used to be hard and what my original progress may have felt like. On the otherhand progress is probably going to be faster 'cause at least I know some pieces and shapes to play.
If I couldn't laugh at myself how could I laugh at someone less ridiculous?
# 9

Please register with a free account to post on the forum.