Economy or Sweep Picking

David Raleigh Arnold

Sweep or economy picking is sometimes defined as picking with a mimimum of pick motion. There are often misleading examples, or ones that are outright wrong, of how to accomplish this. An “o” is a string in cross section in the examples below.

How not to do it

Pick two strings in the following way, alternating down and up strokes. There is follow-through which interferes with speed:

           (3) (2) (strings)
    up   <--o-  o
    down    o  -o-->
    up   <--o-  o
    down    o  -o-->
    up   <--o-  o
    down    o  -o-->
    

How to do it

If instead you alternate in the way shown below, the follow-through carries you to the next string. Thus you have more control of a greater part of your stroke and less motion. Less motion means more speed:

    down  >o   o
    up     o   o<
    down  >o   o
    up     o   o<
    down  >o   o
    up     o   o<
    

Sweep picking is done by following a very simple rule. Always play a string by picking in the direction of the string which follows it. When playing a note, you should be moving in the direction of the next note, not the one you are playing now.

    down  >o   o   o   o 
    down   o  >o   o   o 
    down   o   o  >o   o 
    up     o   o   o   o<
    up     o   o   o<  o 
    up     o   o<  o   o 
    down  >o   o   o   o 
    down   o  >o   o   o 
    down   o   o  >o   o 
    up     o   o   o   o<
    up     o   o   o<  o 
    up     o   o<  o   o 
    ...    ... 
    

So with sweep-picking you can have both the advantage of reduced motion and opportunities to use continuous motion. Over time, with practice, the difference in sound between your up and down strokes when playing one string will become less and less noticeable, because when you are sweep-picking you are not always striking down on the beat and up when not on the beat. That is why you can’t tell whether an accomplished player is striking down or up by listening.

Suggested Exercise

My Broom etude is very intense practice in sweep picking. The main pattern is down down up down up down up up over three strings. It is in the “style free” section of openguitar.com.

©2012, 2007 David Raleigh Arnold - http://www.openguitar.com