In this lesson, I’ll be taking one of the most common sweep picking patterns (EXAMPLE 1) and showing you how to slightly alter it,...
In this lesson, I’ll be taking one of the most common sweep picking patterns (EXAMPLE 1) and showing you how to slightly alter it, creating several different arpeggios.
It’s a cool way to take something ordinary and give it a more unique sound and vibe.
First, let's take a look at EXAMPLE 1. This is a D minor arpeggio (D, F, A) that starts and ends on the fifth of the chord (A). It’s one of the first sweep patterns rock and metal guitarists learn because of its applicability, and it's relatively easy for your left hand.
Notice there are two notes on the lowest string of the sweep (fifth string, A) and two notes on the highest string of the sweep (first string, E). Whenever you are sweeping and need to change direction, you can always put two notes on a string. This simplifies the picking for your right hand and makes it easier to change direction on the fly. The remainder of this lesson is based around this arpeggio, so make sure to have this down before you move on to the next examples.
For EXAMPLE 2, I’ll be playing the same sweep as EXAMPLE 1, but instead of playing the 3rd of the chord, F, on the highest string (first string, 13th fret), I’m going to play E (first string, 12th fret). This makes EXAMPLE 2 a Dm(add 9) arpeggio (D, F, A, E). This sweep has a completely different sound than a Dm arpeggio, yet it is almost identical in fingering.
Now, let's move on to EXAMPLE 3. This arpeggio is identical to EXAMPLE 1 with the exception of one note. Instead of playing the 5th