Start Playing Sweep Picking Arpeggios - A Beginner's Guide To 5-String Major & Minor Patterns


Ready to start playing sweep picking arpeggios fast and clean like the pros do?

Good news:

You're in the right place.

Playing clean sweep picking arpeggios sounds very impressive and it's actually not as hard as you might think.

You just need to learn how to do it the right way using correct technique.

I've created an easy-to-follow tutorial that helps you do it so you can master sweep picking even if you are a beginner.

This tutorial shows you how to play common 5-string major and minor patterns.

Watch it and start playing sweep picking arpeggios like never before - click the video below to begin:

Click on the video to begin watching it.


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The video above is just the beginning when it comes to playing sweep picking arpeggios.

Here are some more ways to improve your sweep picking:
 

Sweep Picking Tip #1: Play Every Note Evenly


Guitar players commonly rush while playing sweep picking arpeggios by making the highest and lowest notes in a pattern clear at the expense of the notes in between.

This causes the arpeggio as a whole to sound distorted and sloppy.

Fortunately, this is not too hard to correct.

Here's how to do it:

Instead of sweeping, triple-pick each note at a slower speed.

How does this work?

Answer:

It forces you to keep your hands in sync so you can hear them clearly and better articulate them while performing sweep picking.

Make it your goal to have each note ring out for the precise same amount of time.


Question: “Tom Hess, what part of my arm should play the sweep picking motion?”

Answer: The motion should come from your forearm and be all part of a single motion - similar to strumming a chord.

Use this to avoid the common mistake of sweep picking using individual pick strokes from the wrist.

This mistake makes it impossible to play fast and clean.

Watch your picking hand as you practice sweep picking to see any mistakes where you might be breaking up the momentum of your picking motion and correct them.
 

Sweep Picking Tip #2: Practice Using Distortion Settings


Playing sweep picking arpeggios with distortion helps you identify when strings ring together and make your playing sound sloppy. This makes it better for cleaning up arpeggios versus practicing on clean settings in this sense. However, practicing on clean settings is great for hearing when your hands are out of sync.
 

Sweep Picking Tip #3: Make Sure Every Note Is Articulated Fully


Playing sweep picking arpeggios that sound clean requires every note to be articulate and ring out individually.

Many guitarists struggle with this because they unintentionally cut-off some of their notes.

How and why?

This usually happens when people try to keep notes from ringing out together.

Here is how to fix this problem:

Mute strings at the precise moment when the next note sounds.
 

Sweep Picking Tip #4: Pick With Efficient Motion


Here is a good way to keep your picking momentum going in order to play clean sweep picking arpeggios:

Right when you pull off on the highest string of a guitar arpeggio, your pick should be moving to the next string (and not be stuck in the string trenches).

Press the pick against the next string so it is ready for you to fret the next note in the fretting hand.

Note: Learning how to play sweep picking arpeggios on your own can be very frustrating when you aren't 100% certain what to work on to make improvements fast.

This is why I encourage you to begin taking lessons with an experienced guitar teacher.

This is the best way to improve fast, because an expert guitar teacher helps you identify mistakes, poor playing habits or new ideas about playing guitar that you wouldn't realize on your own.

When you are tired of making slow progress, taking lessons with a teacher is the next step.

I give lessons to thousands of guitar players across the world and help them make BIG progress not just with sweep picking, but in all other areas of their lead guitar playing.

Here are some of the results:

 


 

 

Learning to play fast sweep picking guitar arpeggios awesome, but there is much more to learn - Take your lead guitar playing to the highest level with these electric guitar lessons online - click 'Start Now' to begin: