Sweeping is a technique similar to strumming a chord, but you hit one note at a time and make only one note sound at a time. You strum all the notes with a down pick, making each note ring out and stop before the next one is played, and most of the time you come back up the same way you went down. It's a rather advanced technique that will take a lot of practice.
If you're an extreme beginner, stick with the basics, hammer-ons, pull-offs, bending to the correct pitch, sliding. Stuff like that.
Just make sure to be consistent with your practicing. Don't play 4 hours one day, and then not play for 3 days.
Also, when learning scales, the trick I like to do is watch tv with the guitar in my lap, and just play the scale over and over and over, without really paying attention, just hitting the right notes of course. But this helps you build your subconscious. Soon you'll be playing the scales without thinking about it.
Whew!
Sometimes I hit notes only dogs can hear.