Skipping And Sweeping

This month's column is about combining different techniques into a truly scary lick. The techniques we will be using are string skipping, sweeping and tapping.

We start off with an Em sweep arpeggio descending and ascending, that goes into a Gmaj string skip arpeggio with a tapped D on the 22nd fret of the high E string. Then it descends down one string and goes into a Dm string skip then back up to an Em sweep arpeggio with an added minor 7th D tapped note on the 22nd fret of the high E string again. Then it goes down to a tapped Fmaj arpeggio followed by a string skipped one into a Dm sweep arpeggio.

The next part is a Cmaj string skip arpeggio followed by a Dm sweep arpeggio with an Fmaj tapping lick at the end. I like combining different techniques in my licks to vary the sound and keep things interesting. The most important part is to practice this type of lick slowly, and when you get comfortable with it, begin to use a metronome and build up the speed at a natural pace. This lick sounds great fast or slow, and all of the arpeggios are in the key of Cmaj, so moving it around the neck to different keys is pretty easy.