3 Sweep Picking Tips You Wish You Knew Long Ago!

Sweep picking isn't difficult to learn for beginners if you get the fundamentals right. These 3 sweep picking tips will ensure that you can learn any sweep arpeggio with confidence and be able to play it much cleaner! If you're just getting started, this is THE arpeggio you should start with so that your sweep picking develops faster for you!
00:00 - 01:25 - Intro
01:26 - 03:53 - Sweep Picking Tip 1
03:54 - 05:02 - Sweep Picking Tip 2
05:03 - 05:39 - Sweep Picking Tip 3
05:40 - 06:16 - Bonus Tip
06:17 - 07:17 - 3 Tips Summary and Outro
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[@PaulWarrenMusic]

For me, I think the combination of these 3 tips and this specific arpeggio is a great way to get sweep picking going! What works for you?

[@BurnsGear]

Reducing the technique as you did here is absolute key to mastering it. I have practiced years without the rest stroke and did a more fluent motion, which kept me from getting better.

[@centralkingdom23]

I am new to electric gutair. Do you have any tips for learning to do more individual note riffs?

[@ChrisBrooksGuitar]

Great content and production, Paul

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Thanks so much Chris! I appreciate that, especially given that I had a bad mic issue and tried to salvage in post what was there. Speaking audio is usually WAY better, ha. I just didn't have the time to reshoot given everything I have going on at the moment so I went with it. :)

[@marcd1981]

Hi Paul, this is the second video of yours I've seen, I just found your channel this morning. I have a couple of comments on this one: 1. I was waiting for you to put it all together, after showing the sweep picking method, the chord being used, and arm movement pattern, and then play what it sounds like all together to finish the lesson. Anyway, I went back to the beginning of the video to watch you play again and I noticed something; 2. What I noticed was your arm was not moving like you described how to play this. You stated you should move your arm up and down, and not your wrist. But after playing the beginning of the video over a few times, you can see that you are playing by moving your wrist, and not your arm. I had thought about this when during the video you mentioned moving your wrist like a brush stroke. But then you said move your arm and not your wrist. It seems you have to do one or the other, and you were playing using more of a brush stroke.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

I do a little bit of both. Both are small movements, but they are crucial for me. I have to do the brush stroke movement or I can't play the sweep. My arm does only move a tiny bit on this arpeggio because it's only 3 strings. But when I played something like a 5 stringer, it's a much more pronounced movement because there's no way I can go across that many strings without moving my arm up and down. But you are right, it kind of doesn't look like I'm doing it very much on the intro. The difference would be if I totally anchored my wrist and only swept from a wrist movement while keeping a steady arm and trust me, I can't do that, ha. The angle just doesn't work for me. So the main point would be don't anchor your wrist, let your arm move (even if it's just a small movement it helps), and try the brush stroke idea. It's what works for me. But sweeping, like other forms of picking, tends to have lots of variations out there. I do appreciate you checking out the video and your feedback!

[@meljohnson5579]

Great lesson. I've played guitar all my life but just learning sweep picking. I find coming back up much easier than initially sweeping down. I'm gonna work on tilting the pick downward on the down sweep.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Thank you! I do tilt the pick down, but it's all small movements of course so it's harder for me to notice it when I gain speed. But it definitely helps me do the sweeping motion with less effort so I can focus on timing, note quality etc.

[@RachaelAus]

Hahah i was literally talking to my friend about learning this today. thanks for the vid :)

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Cool! Thanks so much for checking it out! :)

[@litzoween]

Excellent! Thank You!

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks for checking out the video and I hope the tips work for you!

[@edwardglyons]

Thanks heaps for this lesson.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

You're welcome! Thanks so much for watching and I hope it's helpful!

[@ericsampoll]

Very informative videos, tutorials, etc. ✌️And sick finish on your Majesty btw 🤘 New sub. Keep it up Sr. Explain your signal chain, please. Sounds killer, very clean.

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

Thanks very much and I appreciate the sub! I love this guitar's finish too! It was a special request I had so I'm glad it came to fruition. I review it here if you want to see more of it. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGfVn4uwq9WFptE As far as the signal chain - it's all Quad Cortex and it begins with an adaptive gate, then a TS-808, a Friedman 100, Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks, and then a little bit of ambient reverb.

[@codymyersofficial]

Straight out of the @tomhessmusiccorp handbook

[@cleetusvandamme8859]

What are the amp settings/pedal for this sound please?

[@PaulWarrenMusic]

As far as the signal chain goes - it's all in the Quad Cortex and it begins with an adaptive gate, then a TS-808, a Friedman 100, Marshall 4x12 with greenbacks, and then a little bit of ambient reverb.