Sweep picking exercise series#

Sweep picking is not limited to a few note patterns. A guitarist may continue a sweep to the next note by tapping to play passing notes outside the classic arpeggio. Therefore, some guitarists use legato techniques and others double-pick multiple notes on a single string. However, as with all guitar techniques, individual players may integrate sweep picking into existing repertoire and use it in an individually stylistic manner. This applies when a certain string must sound two notes in the shape due to the natural limits of a fretted string instrument. In some instances, however, a guitarist uses hammer-ons and pull-offs to produce a legato sound instead of actual pick strokes. Unlike pianos, woodwinds, and many other instruments, the guitarist can change key by moving the same arpeggio shape up and down the fretboard.Ĭompared to other techniques, such as alternate picking, sweep picking requires few strokes.

Sweep picking exercise series#

When the guitarist plays such a series of notes quickly up and down as an arpeggio, the phrasing sounds typical of pianos and other instruments more associated with such arpeggios. For example, an A minor stacked triad is A-C-E-A-C-E-A. In scalar terms, this is the first ( tonic), third ( mediant) and fifth ( dominant) of a scale, played twice, with an additional tonic added at the high end. A common fretting shape is the one- or two- octave stacked triad. Guitarists often use the technique to play arpeggios at high speed. Jazz fusion guitarist Frank Gambale released several books and instructional videos about the technique, of which the most well-known is Monster Licks & Speed Picking in 1988. In the 1980s, sweep picking became widely known for its use by shred guitarists. The technique was first used and developed by jazz guitarists Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Tal Farlow and Barney Kessel in the 1950s, as well as rock guitarists Jan Akkerman, Ritchie Blackmore and Steve Hackett in the 1970s. Both hands essentially perform an integral motion in unison to achieve the desired effect. When sweep picking, the guitarist plays single notes on consecutive strings with a 'sweeping' motion of the pick, while using the fretting hand to produce a specific series of notes that are fast and fluid in sound. Sweep picking is a guitar playing technique. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) ( September 2010) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help improve it to make it understandable to non-experts, without removing the technical details. This article may be too technical for most readers to understand.