How To Practice Sweep Picking In A Way That Improves All Of Your Guitar Playing

Is sweep picking a technique that you constantly struggle with?rnIt doesn’t matter how hard sweep picking may SEEM to you right now because I’mrngoing to show you how easy it can be when you do it right. Furthermore, I’mrngoing to show you how learning to effectively practice this technique can makernall of your guitar playing improve.

Check out this sweep picking pattern:

(Note: You may notice that I didn’t use a fingerrnrolling arpeggio in this example…more on this below).

While this pattern may appear to be difficult to play at first,rnit really isn’t. Here’s why:

1. Your picking hand’s motion is actually very slow compare to other guitarrntechniques (like tremolo picking technique for example). In thisrnexample you only have to make 2 different movements (more on this below)!

2. Your fretting hand also doesn’t have that much work to do in the examplernabove because:

• Yourrnmiddle finger is only playing 1 note

• Yourrnring finger is only playing 1 note

• Yourrnpinky plays 2 notes (and you have a LOT of time to move from the first to thernsecond note)

• Yourrnindex finger plays 3 notes (you don’t have to move fast here either becausernthere always another finger being used in between the index finger’s notes)

When you compare the physicality of this technique to a trillrn(rapidly alternating between two adjacent notes) for example, you will noticernthat the trill requires SO much more work than this arpeggio example. Watchrnthis sweep picking technique video below to learn how easy it can be to improve your sweep picking technique.

“But Tom, if sweep picking is so easy, why can’t mostrnguitar players do it well?”

I’m glad you asked - there are of course, lots of reasons whyrnguitar players aren’t proficient in this technique. The main reason is thatrnthey just don’t get WHY sweep picking is hard. They think that they need to be movingrntheir hands faster in order to sweep pick fast. This is just wrong andrnmakes it harder for them to improve their sweep picking. Here is the realrnreason why most guitar players sweeprnpicking technique suffers:

Failure To Coordinate Each Hand Separately - Even thoughrnyou now understand that your hands don’t have a lot of work to do when sweeprnpicking, most people still don’t take the time to properly train their hands torndo their jobs. To improve your hand’s coordination, play the sweep pickingrnmotions with each hand individually (without using the other hand). After yournare comfortable with each hand’s proficiency in the arpeggio you are learning,rnplay the arpeggio with both hands.

No 2-Hand Synchronization - Getting both of your handsrnperfectly synchronized is challenging. If one of your hands is out of sync withrnthe other, your sweep picking will sound terrible (as is the case for mostrnguitar players). Fortunately, this problem can be easily solved. Simply takernthe parts of the arpeggio that are the hardest for you and practice themrnexclusively. I discuss this in more depth in my article about cleaning up your arpeggio sweep picking.

The Picking Hand’s Momentum Is Limited - Mostrnguitar players fail at sweep picking because they end up stopping the pick'srnmotion by trying to pick each string individually. This will slow you downrnimmensely and make it much harder to sweep pick fast. Instead, move you pickingrnhand in a smooth motion that never stops. This is the only way to achieverneconomy of motion and is the main reason that I teach the most efficient picking technique to my guitarrnstudents.

Poor Finger Rolling Technique - A ton of guitar playersrndon't have proper finger rolling technique and their sweep picking techniquernsuffers because of it. While this motion is actually not that hard tornunderstand, it can be tricky to use properly. I explain how to do this motionrncorrectly in my finger rolling sweep picking technique video.

How can these ideas also improve the rest of your guitarrnplaying?

Once you understand the ideas presented in this article, yournshould feel much more empowered. These understandings will enable you tornimprove ALL of your guitar playing (not only your sweep picking technique)!rnHere’s how:

1. Forget about “moving your hands faster”. That’s never the answer. Yournshould focus on achieving proper economy of motion in both hands instead. Herernis an example of using economy of motion when tremolo picking.

2. Separate your hands when you are just learning the hardest parts in yourrnfavorite guitar licks, and then combine them once you haverneach hand’s motions perfected.

3. Learn the real reasons why your guitarrnexercises are difficult. Learn what each hand and finger is supposedrnto be doing and you will be able to overcome even the worst of problems.

4. Learn from a guitar teacher who knows how to show you where yourrntechnique suffers and show you how to improve it so that you reachrnall of your musical goals faster.

If you want to become arnguitar-playing speed demon, make sure you check out my free guide that willrnshow you how to double your guitar speed.