Ever wish you could pick with smooth, lightning-fast technique in order to perform badass sweep picking arpeggios, speed licks and riffs?
No problem!
A long period of time ago, I struggled to pick consistently.
I was nowhere near a pro level the technique.
And when I played slowly, my blunders disappeared completely … only to come back, the moment I tried playing at my max speed once more.
This drove me crazy for weeks, until my guitar teacher showed me exercises to help me improve in ways I never considered.
Take a look at this video clip where I show you how to pick faster and cleaner than ever using 5 powerful exercises:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AG6-Wo4n2T8
Want to know additional ways to clean up sloppy picking at fast speeds?
Study the tips below to improve your sweep picking and overall picking technique:
Picking Speed Tip # 1: Use “Aural Rotation”
Locate the specific speed when your playing starts to break down. Then slow down a few beats per minute (by 3–8 beats per minute).
Next, choose one note to focus on and repeat the arpeggio over and over — listening only to that note.
(Disregard the other notes and ensure the note you decided on is totally clean. Change your technique as you proceed, but do not slow down.).
When you are sure the note sounds perfect — “rotate” your focus to the following note in the pattern.
Repeat this process with each and every note until you refine the entire arpeggio at full speed.
Picking Speed Tip # 2: Stay Clear Of “Rhythm Distortion”
When you play arpeggios with hammer-ons and/or pull offs, play them equally as fast as the other notes in the lick.
If you don’t, you wind up distorting the rhythm of the notes and this doesn’t sound very good.
Not to mention: it’s very tough to play through an arpeggio where some notes are faster than other notes in the pattern.
Fortunately, this complication is really easy to resolve.
Picking Speed Tip # 3: Clean Up Your Finger Rolling During Sweeps
Clean finger rolling (playing 2 or more notes on the same fret on adjacent strings using the same finger) determines the quality of the sound of your sweep picking technique.
The key is to not barring all the notes of the roll. Instead — fret one note at a time.
How?
Literally roll your finger over strings, so your finger looks like a banana.
Then switch the motion in the opposite direction when you descend the arpeggio.
Check out this video to see how to do finger rolling the right way:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG2rjXiNUfU&feature=emb_title.
Once you know the most reliable ways to clean up unclean sweep picking and improve your overall picking — the next action is to fine-tune the finger independence of your fretting hand.
When you do, everything you play on guitar becomes a whole lot easier and sound much better than it does at this moment.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a professional guitarist, composer, and an online guitar teacher. He is a trainer and mentor to guitar players from around the world in his guitar lessons online. Follow Tom Hess on Twitter for free guitar playing tips, guitar playing resources and more guitar playing articles.
