Excerpt:
The idea behind sweep picking is to get the most harmonic or melodic information (notes) into the smallest amount of time. In this particular example I am outlining a major chord and going quickly through all the notes. Therefore this one is an arpeggio; that is, a chord in which the notes are not played together but instead one after another.

This technique is called "sweeping". This is because you pick ("sweep") across the strings in one continuous motion in one direction. By slightly muting the strings with your right hand behind the note you just picked you can get a clean articulation. The left hand must also follow the picking motion closely.

Notice that after you get to the high E-string it is time to reverse direction and start sweeping the other direction. This is very tricky so take your time to do it very slo...