which way of picking is better, alternate or sweaping?

Question

well i use both at the same time, (i dunno if thats good or not)
i alternate pick on the way up to the big string and sweap on the way down, i dunno if its actually sweaping coz im only picking down and alternate picking up,
ive tried ssweaping but i cant pick 'up' fast enough

so should learn to sweap properly or do what im doing now
i feel more comfortable doing what im doin
thnx for reading
:)

Answer 1

It's not really wrong, but its not the best way... Practice both; they are both useful, but for different things...

Alternate picking is the style you will want to use most often. It sounds very smooth when you perfect it, and you can play very fast. Alternate picking is useful for soloing, slow melodies, and, well, just about everything you do on single strings. This is the most common style of picking, and the most versatile.

Sweep picking is more specialized; it is more useful for arpeggios and the like. I don't know exactly what you are playing, but I would imagine that changing from alternate to sweep in the middle of a run would sound kind of choppy... Usually, if you sweep on the way down, you sweep back up (takes some practice to perfect, but it sounds great when you get it).

So, in short, alternate pick for most things you play, and save sweeping for arpeggios (playing the notes in a chord one after the other quickly), or for quick grace notes in soloing. Sweeping should be a nice accent to your playing, not the mian part of it. Alternate picking is the best way to play most things.

Answer 2

Well, alternate is when you go up-down-up-down, and sweeping is like when you go from 4th string to 1st down picking, and back up picking, while you mute note that youve just played with your palm or little finger. Both ways are usefull, alternate is more common, and sweeping is lot harder, and takes a lot practice.

Good luck, keep rockin'!