
Sweep Picking Guitar Licks
Sweep Picking Jazz Guitar Licks
Sweep picking has been a technique I have used since my early days of guitar playing. A great guitarist named Colin Pincott introduced me to Charlie Parker's music. I spent so many hours transcribing the jazz lines of this fantastic saxophone player and a great deal of focus was spent trying to emulate his sound. I know... wrong instrument!
Many of the rapid, legato flurries played on saxophone require specific techniques to nail the phrasing and dynamics of these jazz lines. Sweep picking is the natural choice when it comes to executing fast arpeggios, although it doesn't stop at arpeggios.
Sweep picking to me sits somewhere in between legato playing via hammer-ons and pull-offs, and the attack of picking all notes.
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Major Scale Sweep Picking Guitar Lick
This guitar lick is not limited to jazz repertoire as it can be used in any style of music.
The happy sound of the major scale is brought out nicely with this particular idea, although it can be used over other chord types too. Various diatonic arpeggios are outlined, creating a shifting palette of musical colour.
This example will give your picking hand a good workout and will lead you onto other arpeggio ideas once you analyse what is going on within the lick.
Jazz Sweep Picking Guitar Lick
This is a sound that is used often in bebop. Sweep picking technique is only used for small portions of the lick and it is mixed with alternate picking and other types of slurs. This is often how sweep picking is used, rather than having long streams of sweep-picked arpeggios as is so often given as the way to practise the technique.
Try incorporating small blasts of sweep-picked arpeggios into your solos and combine the ideas with your regular repertoire.
Jazz Sweep Picking Bebop Lick
This longer bebop-style lick uses sweep picking throughout the line. Many arpeggios are played and the melodic idea makes good use of arpeggios taken from melodic minor scale harmony.
This particular example will give you a sweep picking challenge and the ideas can be used for arpeggios taken from any scale. Even though this is a jazz lick, the idea of sweeping through diatonic arpeggios will spice up your playing in any style.
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