In the latest instalment of his series on technique improvement, Simon Barnard showcases the slippery and impressive sound of sweep picking.
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Sweep picking is an efficient technique, combining elements of alternate picking with logical economy of motion. Typically, sweep picking found favour in 80s rock to play fluid arpeggio runs, where for the most part, a single note is played on each string. However, sweep picking is found in many genres where the use of arpeggios is prevalent such as jazz and fusion as well as rock and metal. I have chosen to focus on the latter two genres this month, and have showcased a number of common three and five-string arpeggio shapes.
As mentioned, sweep picking is incredibly effective for playing arpeggios where one note is picked on a string. Of course, alternative picking could be used (check out Tumeni Notes by Steve Morse!) but sweeping picking is more economical. The CAGED system comes into play when thinking about sweep picking, and this month I have focused mainly on the popular C shape in both Major and Minor forms as well as triads using the first, second and third strings. These arpeggios are a great place to start and I would urge you to explore other arpeggio shapes once you have these firmly under your fingers.
The main focus with this technique is on the picking hand. When ascending or descending an arpeggio when sweeping, the pick needs to glide through the strings in a similar motion to a single strum. But there’s also a challenge here for the fretting hand, which needs to keep up with the plectrum, making sure to fret each note individually, while trying to avoid any over-ringing of strings. Where this comes particularly tough is when playing more than one string on the same fret. Look at the first Example on the next page, the first A Minor arpeggio is played using the 5th fret on the first, second and third strings. The trick here is to roll the first finger so that once each note is picked, the fretting finger reduces pressure to mute the note. This principle is applied to each note so that the resulting sound is that of clear and distinct notes, rather than a strummed chord where all of the notes ring into each other. The same technique is used when descending the arpeggio, with the first note on the 5th fret played with the pad of the first finger, leaving enough flesh left to roll over to the following notes.
It is important to tackle the Examples at slow speeds at first in order to synchronise your hands, especially if sweep picking is new to you. Aim for a smooth and consistent picking technique when ascending and descending each arpeggio, while the fretting hand follows with perfect coordination. You may wish to play each arpeggi
