by Tom Hess
Want to develop better sweep picking creativity so your arpeggios stand out and make your licks feel more impressive?
Good news:
It’s actually not that hard.
Even if you don't feel like a creative person, you can become very creative over time no matter where you are at right now. Plus, learning how to play sweep picking arpeggios more creatively is tons of fun when you understand how to practice it.
So, how do you begin?
I’ll tell you:
Develop better sweep picking creativity using these simple tips:
The majority of guitarists learn common sweep picking arpeggio patterns and never seek to expand upon them.
Doing this makes your guitar playing blend in with everyone else.
To increase your sweep picking creativity and sound more unique, combine arpeggios together with scales (and other areas of your guitar playing). Not only does this sound more interesting, but it trains you to use sweep picking more smoothly in your soloing or licks.
This makes sweep picking arpeggios sound musically expressive rather than an excuse to play fast or sound technical.
Most guitarists practice sweep picking to get faster using the same approach. They tend to start slow then gradually speed up over time.
However, this is generally a slow approach to use and is only one of many ways to get faster.
Try this:
Split up the notes of your guitar arpeggio into sections of 2-3 notes at a time. Then practice playing them by playing as fast as you can, slowly and by gradually speeding up/slowing down again and again. This helps you attack the arpeggio from different angles to get faster results.
Learning to play with sweep picking patterns that aren’t just the most common ones is a fast way to make your playing stand out.
Here is a quick and easy way to do this:
Understand that most basic sweep picking arpeggios are made from basic major or minor chords. To play interesting and unique ones, simply choose any non-basic chord such as a major 7th chord or a quartal chord (for example). Then map it out on the higher frets as an arpeggio.
Learn more about how to develop amazing sweep picking licks with 7th chords in this fast sweep picking arpeggios.