How Can You Improve Your Sweep Picking?

There are many different problems that you may experience while learning sweep picking.  One of the most common problems is the inability to play cleanly so that each note is sounding separately.  There are many reasons and possible causes for this problem.  One of the reasons is due to applying a common myth that you should practice sweep picking with a clean guitar tone.  Many players erroneously believe that a clean sound makes it easier to hear mistakes. 

This may be true for some techniques, but it is definitely NOT true with sweep picking.  For example, let’s assume that when you play, some of your notes are ringing together creating a sloppy sound.  When this happens with a clean tone, most of the time you do not notice it, because it does not sound “bad” to your ears.  On the other hand, when you make the same mistake while playing with distortion, you will instantly hear this mistake amplified 100 times! 

So what you should do to clean up your sweep picking is to begin practicing with DISTORTION most of the time, at a slow speed.  Make sure that only one note is heard at a time and that you are not hearing pitches bleed (ring) together. 

When you first try this, you will be amazed at how many imperfections you will discover in your playing.  This should only make you excited, because NOW you know exactly what is causing your playing to break down or sound sloppy!  Once you become aware of the problem, it becomes MUCH easier to fix it!  I guarantee you that this one idea alone will result in you massively improving your sweep picking accuracy. 

Another issue that many guitarists struggle with is the rolling technique.  This technique occurs when 2 or more notes must be played on the same fret across 2 or more strings with the same finger.  Many guitarists confuse this technique with barring, when in fact it is NOT barring at all.  When you bar across strings, you are supposed to let the notes ring together.  With sweep picking, this is something you DON’T want to happen. 

For the rolling technique in particular, practicing with distortion is going to help you become aware of when your playing does not sound clean.  What you should do is play slowly, one note at a time, and listen critically to the sounds you are making.  If you hear the notes bleeding together, you must stop and fix the problem before continuing. 

Fortunately, there is a steep learning curve with sweep picking, and once you get over the initial frustration, the technique suddenly becomes much easier.  I have seen this happen over and over again with hundreds of guitar players whom I have helped to successfully master sweep picking (and other musical skills). http://tomhess.net/Students.aspx