LESSONS
The Shred Decoder’s Guide to Sweep Picking
BY AL JOSEPH
T
his lesson is about my
bittersweet relationship with
sweep picking. To be honest,
sweep picking has always scared the ever-
living crap out of me (and it still does).
For whatever reason, it has taken years
for me to find any use for it. It’s only
recently I’ve found myself applying the
technique here and there, kind of like a
loose light bulb flickering on and off.
Well, I finally put on my big-boy
pants and started tackling it, or rather, it
started tackling me.
When you adopt a new technique, it
all comes down to context: where you
learned it, how you learned it, and the
application. For me, the neo-classical
art of sweep picking, although pivotal
in its contribution to rock and metal
music, has never been quite enough to
get me off my feet. I never really found
a use for that super-rapid sweeping
motion for my sound or phrasing.
It just didn’t stick in my ear. But
arpeggios are essential in writing and
playing, and now—who knows why—
sweep picking has become an itch I
need to scratch.
So I devised a way to make use of
those same good ol’ 5-string patterns and
sweep them in a way that compliments
my sound. In the space allotted for this
lesson, I can’t get into too much depth
with every way I’ve found to use sweep
picking, but I can show you how it all
started. You are getting the very first
preview ever of my growth as a soon-to-
be-sweep-picking fiend … but from what
I believe to be a more modern take on
this technique.
Let’s begin.
First, I’ll give those of you who may
be unfamiliar with sweep picking the
lay of the land. Basically, you want
to play each note of the arpeggio as
cleanly as possible by pushing the pick
through each string. If you do this at
a fast-enough pace, either ascending
or descending, you generate a nice
sweeping motion.
158 PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2018
Chops: Intermediate/Advanced
Theory: Intermediate
Lesson Overview:
• Develop proper sweep-picking technique.
• Learn how to move across two, three, and four strings.
• Create diatonic shapes that move up and down the entire fretboard.
Ex. 1 is a simple D major (D–F#–A)
arpeggio that rotates through a triplet
rhythm at a medium tempo. Use this
warmup exercise to get a feel for the
sound and structure of this picking
approach. As you play through this
example, notice how each note occurs
on a new string until the pattern turns
around on the 1st string. This is what
allows you to push across strings 5, 4, 3,
and 2 using one continuous downstroke
or upstroke.
Using diatonic or functional
harmony is super-important for
songwriting and can be equally useful
in practicing technique.
Click here for Ex. 1
In Ex. 2, we move to the F#m triad
(F#–A–C#), which is still diatonic to the
key of D major. This shape stretches out
your hand a bit more—especially on the
top strings—so focus on being as relaxed
as possible to prevent your muscles from
becoming strained.
Click here for Ex. 2
Now we’ll move to the diminished triad,
which for our purposes will be G#dim
(G#–B–D). This might feel odd at first, but
will serve us well in our upcoming examples.
Click here for Ex. 3
In this next section (Ex. 4, Ex. 5,
Ex. 6), we’ll divide up the same three
arpeggios and practice them using
subdivisions to increase speed. We’ll
start out playing quarter-notes, quarter-
note triplets, eighth-notes, eighth-note
triplets, 16th-notes, and then reverse
the order.
Click here for Ex. 4
Click here for Ex. 5
Click here for Ex. 6
This next part is how it all began for me.
I needed a way to play these arpeggio
shapes up and down the neck in a way
that adheres to my sense of legato. Here,
I lay out how to move through the neck
diatonically over three strings (Ex. 7), four
strings (Ex. 8), and five strings (Ex. 9).
Using diatonic or functional harmony is
super-important for songwriting and can
be equally useful in practicing technique.
The idea here is to connect the
arpeggios together one after another. In my
premierguitar.com
 opinion, this creates more of a continuous
legato sound when sweeping, as opposed
to the rapid neo-classical sound.
Click here for Ex. 7
Click here for Ex. 8
Click here for Ex. 9
Now let’s sweep through a pair of triads
using inversions. In Ex. 10, we’re moving
between a D major triad (D–F#–A) and
an E major triad (E–G#–B), both in 1st
premierguitar.com
inversion. An inversion is simply the same
notes in a different order, and in this
example, each shape has the 3 (F# for D
major and G# for E major) in the bass.
Click here for Ex. 10
Naturally, we’ll move to the 2nd
inversion of these triads for Ex. 11.
Click here for Ex. 11
Our final opus (Ex. 12) takes us through
all inversions of the D and E major
chords across five strings up and down
the fretboard. It’s a heck of a workout.
Click here for Ex. 12
That’s all folks. Thanks for stopping by.
Go shred some heads!
AL JOSEPH’S debut album,
Out in the Open, spoke to a
new generation of progressive
metal connoisseurs. A Berklee
graduate, Joseph relocated to Los
Angeles in 2016 and released
his latest album, All of Creation,
in partnership with Jam Track
Central. For more information, visit
aljosephofficial.com.
PREMIER GUITAR FEBRUARY 2018 159