Sweep picking arpeggios not as fast or clean as you'd like them to be?
Frustrating!
One of the reasons sweep picking can feel difficult is simply a lack of effective practice approaches for mastering it.
Combining different techniques together can sometimes be like the lock than unlocks the door to better technique than you even knew was possible.
Sound interesting?
I explore this concept by combining tremolo picking with sweep picking.
Learn how to master sweep picking arpeggios one note at a time using the tremolo practice method described in this video:
Click on the video to begin watching it.
Now you understand the power of learning multiple ways to improve yoru guitar playing at once. What you saw in the video helps you make your sweep picking sound unique and interesting compared to the way most others use the technique.
The better you combine skills in this manner, the more efficient your practice becomes.
Continue integrating multiple elements of your guitar playing together as you practice in order to achieve massive results (especially compared to the way you may have practiced before).
Bonus Tip #1: How To Fix Subtle Muting Sweep Picking Mistakes
Look out for cutting off notes too early.
This commonly happens when trying to keep notes from bleeding together, but this creates the opposite problem - the notes not ringing their full length and creating a choppy sound in the arpeggio.
Focus on stopping the sound of each note at EXACTLY the moment when the next note starts to ring (not any moment before or after). So, it is a balancing issue you need to develop to make this happen to avoid having the notes bleed together but also to not have gaps of silence between notes.
The problem is partly caused by your thumb muting the string you have just played before the next note is played.
For example: When playing notes within an arpeggio that move from the D string to the G string
After you play the D string, make sure that note is not killed immediately by your thumb before the G string is played.
The string should continue to ring until the G string is played.
Solve this by having a bit more of the pick sticking out of your hand and also by keeping the thumb straight.
Bonus Tip #2: How To Make Your Sweep Picking More Smooth
One of the easiest ways to ruin sweep picking licks is to kill your picking momentum. This causes sloppy play and keeps you from truly playing fast.
Use this subtle tip to help keep your sweep picking sounding smooth:
When you do a pull off on the highest string of a pattern (or anywhere within it), your pick should not stop in between the strings.
Instead, the pick should move all the way to the next string and already be pressing against it, waiting for the fretting finger to arrive to its next note.
Question: “Hi Tom Hess, self-learning guitarist here. I've been practicing sweep picking a lot recently, but my technique seems to be stuck and the video didn’t quite solve my problem. How do I finally move things forward?”
Answer: The first thing to do is take guitar lessons with an experienced teacher.
No matter how good your guitar skills are now, or how much talent you had to get started…
…your skills are going to hit a wall without a teacher.
Why?
Simple.
You find that you simply don't know what to fix, which items to practice for the best results, how to practice those things effectively or many other elements of getting better.
A guitar teacher is the key that unlocks the door to getting better. This is because they know what you don't know due to massive amounts of experience playing, teaching and helping others do the same things you want to on guitar.
Good news:
Not only does working with a guitar teacher help you overcome barriers in your playing, it helps you make massive progress in multiple areas at once.
This is extremely powerful and fun!
Watching your skills improve every week is critical for maintaining the motivation to keep practicing and improving. I know this is true, because I designed a tool to help my students make faster progress on guitar.
Here is what they had to say:
“I just love guitar lessons with Tom, he literally takes the time to make a specific lesson plan and sends you lessons as you need it.”
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My last lesson I took with a local guitar teacher before joining Tom, I was struggling with a sweep picking pattern, which was the 5 string root major, I was really struggling to get the rolling technique down. I took it to my guitar teacher and I was like “Help me with this, I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.” This is his exact phrase: “At high speeds, it doesn’t really matter if you can play it clean or not, no one can hear it anyway.” At that point, I was just like, “Ah man.” But thankfully, in that same message, he mentioned Tom’s name. Then the doors opened. That very night, I went home and looked at every single lesson Tom had, had my guitar in hand, every YouTube lesson on you know “correct motions”, “play this over chords”... just applied it instantly, and it was instant results within an hour... just from his free stuff. I was like, oh man, I’ve got to do lessons with this guy.
I remember when I first started out with lessons, I instantly jumped on the forum to greet myself, and it’s amazing how there’s like 30 responses. Just like, “Hi welcome.” and stuff... “Hi Dan, great musical tastes”. That made me feel really at home and welcomed into Tom’s forum and community. Every time I’ve had an issue when I was first starting out be it like theory or guitar technique, there’s always been someone there who’s helped. Otherwise it could’ve been this potentially awkward process where I’d have to wait a whole week to get an answer from my teacher, who even then may not have answered it correctly and may have never solved it. Whereas there are guys on there who have been with Tom and have been through exactly what I’ve been through. They know exactly how to help, in what order, what information you need... it’s just a friendly atmosphere really.
Dan Mayhew, Stowmarket, UK
“July of 2012, I had been managing in a retail store and was kind of reaching this point where I was really getting frustrated because I had been struggling to progress in my guitar playing. I had this mindset that I had to teach myself everything... you know and the best players are all self taught and stuff like that...”
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...and I remembered Tom Hess from that book, and I said “You know, it’s time to look this guy up and see what he’s all about.” And it didn’t take me very long to figure out that this is the kind of person that I needed to get on board with.
My playing has definitely improved guitar technique-wise, but probably the most important change I have experienced is just in my overall mindset as a player and as a practicing musician. I just feel like I have a much better frame of mind and a much better idea of where I am going and where my guitar practicing is taking me. Whereas before I just felt like I had to practice everything and I had a whole bunch of stuff going on. It’s a lot more focused now.
Being in the environment that Tom has created with his other students is incredibly motivating. I had always been in my own little shell, kind of just stayed on my own. Coming out here... like when I came out here last year was a big step out of my comfort zone. Getting around all these other musicians... it’s unbelievable how great some of these guys are, not just as players, but as people.
Andrew Tintle, Richmond, California USA
“Before the online guitar lessons, I had a lot of trouble with phrasing. I couldn’t make good note choices, I was always fishing for the next note. I was trying to think of ways that I could play, but it didn’t sound good. I didn’t know how to write songs, it was absolutely terrible, everything sounded the same. I couldn’t really… I didn’t feel confident with my playing. I definitely couldn’t build speed for anything, I was really sloppy and I was dissonant… and it was really painful to play.”
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I chose Tom Hess because when I read his articles they blew my mind away. I got so much out of that, that I didn’t get anywhere else.
The main reason I like taking lessons with Tom online is because, number one: yes it was the personalized lessons strategy… I read everything about it, and it was so compelling, just like that he really takes everything that I can or can’t do into account, and then he’ll take what I want to be able to do and then basically map out every step of the way until I get there. And that was just really powerful, and that I’d be able to get feedback every 6 weeks, and the fact that we’ve got the forum. We’ve got instant help and they all really know what they’re talking about… they’re not just like anybody… they… I mean some of them are virtuoso guitar players... I mean, they know their stuff and then of course the mindset of this whole environment. The friends I’ve made here just… I can’t really put into words.
I didn’t have a budget when I started. I had a good enough job that I could take lessons for however long I wanted, so that wasn’t a problem, but I feel like I’ve gotten 100 times what I paid you know.
Matteo Miller, San Diego, California, USA
Of course, there are more aspects to playing cleanly while sweep picking than this.
This is just the beginning :)
Want to make your guitar arpeggios sound more creative and expressive? Let me show you how it's done - Learn how to do it in no time with your own electric guitar teacher online.