Three-string sweep picking arpeggios: Am, Dm, E
Arpeggios of A minor, D minor and E major swept across the top three strings in 16th-note triplets: the pick falls through G, B and high E in one motion, a hammer-on and pull-off at the top, and back up. All three shapes sit between the 12th and 19th frets, and the last bar holds a high E with a wide vibrato. Sweep picking is how shred players play arpeggios at speed, and three strings is where it starts.
Opens in the player looped and counted in, with drums playing along, and speeds up 5 % every 2 loops to 80 bpm. No account or microphone needed.
- Goal tempo
- 80 bpm
- Starts at
- 48 bpm
- Length
- 4 bars, looped
- Tuning
- E standard
- Time
- 4/4
- Level
- Advanced
- Plays with
- Drums
How to play it
One motion down through the strings, not three strokes, and lift each finger as the next note sounds so the notes don't ring together.
Each arpeggio is six notes, one beat of 16th-note triplets, one arpeggio a beat. The pick sweeps down through the G, B and high E strings in one motion, the fretting hand hammers on the top note and pulls back off, and the pick sweeps up through the B string to start again.
A minor: 14th fret on the G string, 13th on the B, 12th on the high E, a hammer to the 17th. D minor: 14, 15, 13, then 17. E major: 16, 17, 16, then 19. Bar by bar: Am Am Dm Dm, Am Am E E, Am Am Dm Dm, then E E and a high E held with a wide vibrato.
The fretting hand matters as much as the pick: lift each finger as soon as its note has sounded, or the notes ring together like a strummed chord.
Mistakes to watch for
- Strumming the arpeggio: the notes must sound one after another, not together.
- Three separate downstrokes instead of one pushing motion through the strings.
- Notes ringing over each other because the fingers don't lift.
- Rushing the sweep and waiting at the top, so the triplets aren't even.
A speed plan
The player starts at 60 % of the goal and plays each tempo twice before stepping up:
- 48
- 52
- 56
- 60
- 64
- 68
- 72
- 76
- 80
That's 16 loops and about 4 minutes before you're playing at 80 bpm. If it stops being clean on the way, stop the ramp there and loop that tempo until it is. With a microphone or an audio interface you can record while you play instead: Demiurg checks every loop and steps up only after two clean ones in a row, and back down after a poor one.
Questions
How fast should I play Three-string sweep arpeggios?
The goal is 80 bpm in 16th-note triplets, which is 8 notes a second. Start wherever every note is clean: the player begins at 48 bpm. Signed in, you can set a goal of your own, slower or faster, on the Exercises page.
How do I start with sweep picking?
Slowly, much slower than seems useful, with the fretting hand rolling and lifting so every note is separate. Three strings first, as here; five- and six-string sweeps use the same motion over more strings.
Why are the shapes so high up the neck?
The frets are closer together there, so the stretches are small, and the strings are easy to mute. Once the motion works, the same shapes move down the neck to other keys.
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