Six Strings
In this section: Techniques
Techniques

Sweep picking

One note per string, and the pick crosses the strings in a single motion, like a strum in slow motion. Your fretting hand sounds the notes one by one: fast, flowing arpeggios.

Notation
repeated ⊓ or V above the swept notes
Hand
Both hands
Difficulty
Advanced
Style
Metal, neoclassical, fusion, jazz

Listen

e|------8-8----------7-7-----|
B|---10-----10-----8-----8---|
G|-9-----------9-9---------9-|
D|---------------------------|
A|---------------------------|
E|---------------------------|

What it’s for

An arpeggio is often one note per string. With alternate picking, the pick would have to hop over every string to keep alternating: no way to play fast. Sweeping solves the problem: the pick goes down across all the strings in one motion, like strumming a chord, but slowly and separating every note.

It’s the sound of the cascading arpeggios of neoclassical rock, from Yngwie Malmsteen to Jason Becker, and of technical metal. Frank Gambale took it into fusion, and jazz players use it on shorter arpeggios in the middle of a line. Done well, a sweep sounds like a string of tightly connected notes, almost like a piano.

The real work happens in your fretting hand: each note has to stop when the next one starts. Otherwise you don’t hear an arpeggio anymore, just a strummed chord.

How to do it

  1. Set up the arpeggio shape in your fretting hand, but only press with the finger of the note being played. Each finger lands just before its note and lets go just after, without leaving the string.
  2. Cross the strings in one motion, downward to go up in pitch. The pick plays one string, leans on the next one for a split second, then plays it: a tiny stop on every string.
  3. Move your forearm and wrist together, in one continuous motion, like a strum in slow motion.
  4. Turn around at the top: play the top note again with an upstroke, or add a hammer-on on the high E. During the hammer-on, the pick gets back above the string.
  5. Come back down with upstrokes the same way, one string after another, in one motion.
  6. Mute whatever isn’t playing: your palm rests lightly on the low strings near the bridge, and your fretting fingers lightly touch the strings you’ve already played.
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Sweep picking: the fretting-hand shape

  1. One note per string: a chord shape, played one note at a time.
  2. Each finger only presses for its own note, then releases: the notes don’t blur together.

Drawn like tab: high E at the top, low E at the bottom.

In tab, each swept note gets a ⊓ (downstroke) or a V (upstroke). Some tabs simply write “sweep” above the arpeggio.

Examples

The example at the top of the page sweeps three strings, slowly: A minor on the G, B and high E strings (frets 9, 10 and 8), then E minor (frets 9, 8 and 7). D D D going up, then U U U coming back down: the top note sounds twice, once in each direction.

At the intermediate level, the same three strings in triplets, with a hammer-on on the high E at the top: D D D, hammer-on, U U. The hammer-on gives the pick time to get back above the high E. Am, Dm7, Em7, then back to Am.

e|------8h12----------5h8---------7h10----------8h12----|
B|---10------10-----6-----6-----8------8-----10------10-|
G|-9------------9-7---------7-9----------9-9------------|
D|------------------------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------|

At the advanced level, four strings in sixteenth notes, over Am, G, F and E. The same motion on every chord: D D D D, hammer-on on the high E, U U U. G, F and E share the same shape, moving down a fret or two.

e|---------8h12---------------7h10-------------5h8-------------4h7---------|
B|------10------10----------8------8---------6-----6---------5-----5-------|
G|----9------------9------7----------7-----5---------5-----4---------4-----|
D|-10----------------10-9--------------9-7-------------7-6-------------6-7-|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Licks

Neoclassical. Neoclassical rock made sweeping its signature: cascading arpeggios, in sextuplets, over the harmonic minor. Am, Dm7, then E7 (here without its root: G#, B, D), back to Am and a final vibrato.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|------8h12-----------8h12----------5h8---------5h8---------7h10---------7h10----------8h12-----------8h12-----|
B|---10------10-----10------10-----6-----6-----6-----6-----9------9-----9------9-----10------10-----10------10~-|
G|-9------------9-9------------9-7---------7-7---------7-7----------7-7----------7-9------------9-9-------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Metal. In metal, muted riffs and sweeps go hand in hand. Three muted low E’s, a five-string sweep over E minor, up and back, then a run up that ends in vibrato. The low E is part of the sweep: the pick goes from the low E string to the A string without stopping.

Loop it in the Studio →
   PM----                    PM------
e|---------------3h7-------------------------3-7~-|
B|-------------5-----5---------------------5------|
G|-----------4---------4-----------------4--------|
D|---------5-------------5-------------5----------|
A|-------7-----------------7---------7------------|
E|-0-0-0---------------------0-0-0-0--------------|

Jazz. In jazz, sweeping is a way to play one note per string cleanly in the middle of a line. Dm7 ascending, G7 descending, Cmaj7 ascending, each ending on a held note. Clean tone, soft attack.

Loop it in the Studio →
e|-------5-7--------------7-|
B|-----6-----6----------8---|
G|---5---------7------9-----|
D|-7-------------9-10-------|
A|--------------------------|
E|--------------------------|

Practice routine

Start without the pick: fret the A minor shape from the example at the top and press your fingers down one after another, letting go of each as the next one lands. Then:

  • the example at the top of the page at 50 bpm, one note per click, then two notes per click;
  • the intermediate example at 60 bpm, three notes per click, aiming for 100 bpm;
  • the advanced example at 50 bpm, four notes per click, aiming for 100 bpm.

Go up 5 bpm after every clean minute. Here, a mistake also means two notes ringing together: listen to the end of each note as much as its start.

Common mistakes

Notes ringing together like a chord? Your fretting hand keeps all its fingers down. Let go of each finger as soon as its note has sounded, without leaving the string: it mutes the note on the way.

Your sweep sounds like a strum instead of separate notes? The pick slides through in one swipe. Make a tiny stop on each string, and slow down until you hear every note in its place.

Rhythm limping? The swept notes rush and the turnaround drags. Count out loud with the metronome: every note, swept or not, gets the same length.

Low strings ringing behind the arpeggio? Rest your palm on the low strings near the bridge, and let the free fingers of your fretting hand touch them lightly.

Variations

Five or six strings. The same motion over a bigger shape: an A minor arpeggio starting on the A string, for example, as in the advanced course lesson.

With tapping. At the top, instead of a hammer-on, your picking hand taps a higher note. The arpeggio suddenly spans two octaves. See tapping.

Partial sweeps. Two strings swept in the middle of a scale: that’s economy picking.

Rakes. The pick sweeps across muted strings before a single note, to give it a running start. See rake.

Acoustic or electric

On a distorted electric, sweeping feels at home: distortion sustains each note and smooths out the attacks. But it also amplifies every noise: muting with both hands becomes essential. With a clean tone, as in jazz, every unevenness shows: play softer and more evenly.

On an acoustic, it’s more demanding: the strings are stiffer and ring longer. Notes overlap easily, which can make a nice harp-like effect. For clean arpeggios, mute more and use a slightly stiffer pick.

Going further