It introduces some nice variety, still using the same set of notes. So we can sweep the arpeggio, then play it using a pedal point. The idea here is that we transition from one approach to playing the arpeggio (sweep picking) to another (pedal points) and vice versa. This idea involves using pedal points in your guitar playing. Sweep Picking Fix 2: Add Pedal Points into Your Arpeggios What ornamentation ideas can you put at the start and end of the arpeggio? Have a go at the examples, but don’t worry too much about playing them exactly – take the principle and make your own variations. Or, we could put a slide and a vibrato at the start, and pre-bend and vibrato at the end:Īlternative ornamentation ideas for C major arpeggio Sweep picking lick with pre bend and vibrato ideas at the start and end We can make it more musically interesting by adding some ornamentation ideas at the start and the end.įor example, we could start with a pre bend, and end with a slide and a vibrato:

Say we were using the following C major arpeggio with a root on the second string (we will use this C major arpeggio for all the examples)ģ string C major arpeggio with root on the second string Take a basic 3 string arpeggio, create a short sweep picking idea, and put some note ornamentation (bends, slides, vibrato etc) on the first and last note of your sweep picking idea. Sweep picking should always be used to serve the music, not as a technique that we use for the sake of it. The first thing to do, is to start thinking of your sweep picking as being part of a phrase, rather than as an isolated technique.

Sweep Picking Fix 1: Add Ornamentation to the First and Last Notes in Your Arpeggio In this guitar lesson, we’ll look at a few different ways to make your sweep picking sound more musical, interesting… and badass!! But once you master the mechanics behind sweep picking on guitar, what do you do next? Are you going to play the same arpeggio 30 times in a row… or do you want to do something else with it? So now you can sweep pick! Awesome!! It’s a great skill and one that is difficult to master. Sweep picking is an incredibly fun skill on guitar… but once you can blast up and down a few arpeggios… what do you do next? If you feel like you are stuck with your sweep picking sounding robotic and pointless, and you want your sweep picking to sound melodic, musical and badass, then read on…