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Economy and sweep picking
Sweeping strings in one motion and 3- and 5-string arpeggios.
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Stop 1 of 6
Sweeping strings in one motion and 3- and 5-string arpeggios.
Welcome to the forge. So far your pick has alternated down and up with discipline; here you will learn when it pays to break that rule. uses the pick's own momentum when it changes strings, and takes that idea to the extreme: a single pick stroke that crosses several strings while the fretting hand lets each note ring on its own. It is the technique behind the fast arpeggios of neoclassical rock and fusion, and a superb school of synchronisation between your two hands.
Hear the goal first: an Am arpeggio going up and down three strings. Even though the pick never stops, every note sounds alone, as if a pianist played it with one hand:
And now what we do not want: the same notes allowed to overlap. It sounds like a blurred, strummed chord:
The difference between picking techniques is what the pick does when it changes strings. Take a calm look at the drawing, because it sums up the whole stop:
The rule fits in one sentence: alternate within a string; when you change strings, keep going in the direction you were already moving. With three notes per string this works beautifully, because the third note on each string ends in the same direction the pick is travelling.
Going up (towards the treble strings) the pick moves towards the floor, so each string is played down-up-down and the next one starts down again: the pick simply "falls" onto it. Coming down (towards the bass strings), each string is up-down-up and the next one starts up.
Look at the middle of the example: the last note going up and the first coming down are the same (3rd string, fret 9). There the pick changes direction without changing strings, which is exactly where alternate and economy picking agree.
Economy picking saves motion, but it changes the relationship between pick and pulse. With alternate picking in sixteenths, downstrokes always fall on the strong parts of the beat, which gives you a very solid rhythmic anchor. Economy picking loses that anchor, so you have to watch the time more closely. Many players mix: alternate picking for two or four notes per string, economy for three notes per string and for arpeggios. There is no single right answer; what matters is that the result sounds even.
We start with the smallest and most useful shape: a triad on the three treble strings. For Am: 3rd string fret 9 (E), 2nd string fret 10 (A) and 1st string fret 8 (C). On top we add fret 12 on the 1st string (E) with a , which buys us time to change direction.
String 3, Fret 9: E4 · 5 · Fifth
The usual fingering: finger 2 on fret 9, finger 3 on fret 10, finger 1 on fret 8 and finger 4 on fret 12. Now the motion:
For A only the third changes: fret 8 on the 1st string (C) moves up to fret 9 (C♯). Everything else is identical. Listen to both versions and notice the change of colour:
The great enemy of sweeping is notes blending together. The fix is for each note to stop exactly when the next one sounds, and both hands share the job:
Fretting hand
Release the pressure of the previous finger as soon as you fret the next. You don't need to lift it off the string: easing up is enough to stop it ringing. Fingers that aren't playing rest lightly on the unused treble strings.
Picking hand
The edge of your hand (the fleshy part by the little finger) rests on the bass strings that aren't playing, and travels with the pick: it moves towards the treble strings as you sweep down and back as you sweep up. It is a light, mobile .
When two consecutive arpeggio notes sit on the same fret on neighbouring strings, you cannot use two different fingers. The answer is the : you fret the first note with the fingertip and then tilt the finger onto the next string, so the first string stops ringing just as the second sounds.
String 4, Fret 14: E4 · 1 · Scale tone
Step 1 of 3 · Tip
String 4, Fret 14: E4 · 1 · Root
With three strings under control, we widen to five. We use the A minor shape with its root on the 5th string, fret 12. Its notes: A, C, E, A, C, E and, on top, A again.
String 5, Fret 12: A3 · 1 · Root
Fingering: finger 1 on fret 12 of the 5th string, hammer-on with finger 4 to fret 15; finger 3 rolling between the 4th and 3rd strings (fret 14); finger 2 on fret 13 of the 2nd; finger 1 on fret 12 of the 1st, and the little finger stretches up to fret 17. If the stretch bothers you, replace it for now with a lower top note or leave it out until we get to tapping.
The pick motions: ↓ on the 5th string, hammer-on, ↓↓↓↓ from the 4th to the 1st string in a single sweep, hammer-on and pull-off on top, ↑↑↑↑ from the 2nd back to the 5th, and the final pull-off links to the repeat. In total, one downward and one upward sweep per cycle.
For the major version (A) two notes change: the third on the 5th string rises from 15 to 16 and the one on the 2nd string from 13 to 14. Careful: strings 4, 3 and 2 now all sit on fret 14, so the roll becomes a small barre that you release note by note.
Before you start, a warning we will repeat throughout this stage: speed is a consequence of cleanliness, never the other way round. A fast, messy sweep doesn't get cleaned up later; it gets stored that way in your motor memory. Always pick the tempo at which every note rings separately.
Play the A minor three-notes-per-string example with the economy picking rule: ↓↑↓ on each string going up, ↑↓↑ coming down. Start at 60 BPM. When four perfect passes come out, go up 4 BPM.
Goal: Four consecutive passes of the triplet example with no accents on string changes, at a tempo in your range.
Alternate one bar of A minor and one of A major. First play without a metronome, note by note, checking the muting. Then set the metronome to 50 BPM and play one note per triplet.
Record yourself on your phone: on playback you will hear overlaps that slip past you while playing.
Goal: Every arpeggio note rings alone, with no overlap, for eight consecutive cycles.
Relax your hand between sets: shake it out gently and breathe. If your forearm feels loaded, lower the tempo.
Goal: Four clean cycles of the minor arpeggio and four of the major, with the roll free of stuck notes.
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