In the last three columns, I demonstrated the mechanics of my technique for sweep picking arpeggios and some of my go-to shapes.
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This month, I’d like to show you a great way to expand
In the last three columns, I demonstrated the mechanics of my technique for sweep picking arpeggios and some of my go-to shapes.
This month, I’d like to show you a great way to expand upon these shapes, by adding a fretboard tap above the highest note played in the sweep. There are different technical approaches to tapping: there’s the “Van Halen” method, wherein you clasp the pick between your thumb and middle finger and use the index finger to tap; I prefer to hold the pick conventionally—between my thumb and index finger—and use my middle finger for tapping.
FIGURE 1 depicts an Am arpeggio played in 12th position, starting on the fifth string and moving across the top five strings to the high E. The first note, A, is fretted with the index finger at the 12th fret, after which I hammer-on with my pinkie up to C at the 15th fret. I use a downstroke to sound the subsequent notes up to the high E on the first string’s 12th fret, after which I hammer-on with my pinkie up to the 17th fret.
On the downbeat of beat two, I tap a high C note at the 20th fret on that same string and then perform a double pull-off back down to the A and E notes, followed by an upstroke sweep that moves back down across the top five strings. The figure then repeats. We can also add a high tap to other, lower Am sweep arpeggio shapes, as demonstrated in FIGURES 2 and 3: individual notes are sounded on each of the five highest strings until I reach the high E, at which point I hammer-on from C up to E then apply a tap on the high A