The Fundamentals Of Sweep Picking
Added 2023-01-25 21:34:25 +0000 UTCAh yes, sweep picking! If you know anything about me and my channel then you'll know how much I love a good sweep. Before inundating you with crazy sweeping licks and exercises I thought it'd be wise to put up a lesson going over all the fundamentals of the technique to make sure everyone's up to speed. Sweeping is an incredibly useful technique with a multitude of uses, so please make sure you really put the work in on this one as you can sure as hell bet that there's gonna be plenty of follow-up lessons! Even if you're already a competent sweeper it's definitely still worth going over this video so ensure you haven't skipped over some fundamental detail in your learning process.
Good luck and don't forget to share your progress with everyone in the Discord server!
0:00 Intro
1:28 Picking grip and hand placement
3:20 Hand synchronization
4:41 Exercise
7:02 Fretting hand
8:52 All together
11:38 Be careful with this
Comments
Very good lesson for beginners in sweep picking like me, just by watching the lesson and practicing following you I have learned a lot
Jaime Ransanz Carcedo
2025-07-26 11:45:15 +0000 UTCCheers man!
Bradley Hall
2025-05-30 13:27:25 +0000 UTCYou just saved my life, youβre genuinely such a good teacher, sending love from Texas!
Mx
2025-05-28 23:56:11 +0000 UTCYou miss the point if you're focusing on muting! Muting has nothing to do with sweeping whatsoever - it's all down to hand synchronization. Think about it, if your hands are perfectly synchronized then then there won't be any extra string/fret noise. So if you're still hearing this kind of thing then it means you need to practice more as your hands aren't working together properly!
Bradley Hall
2025-05-17 09:09:29 +0000 UTCLike a previous comment, I'm struggling with the muting. Is it predominantly pick hand muting with the palm here up and down the strings or a combination?
Sir TogII
2025-05-15 16:17:31 +0000 UTCIf you find the whole interview you see that he talks about the technique not being called sweep picking back then. Then he talks about him not using it the way most modern shredders do it by going up and down the strings in the same spot but rather also moving up and down the neck.
Razvan Efrim
2025-03-16 19:32:27 +0000 UTCMarty Friedman said he NEVER sweep picking. I don't know if I believe that. What do you think?
Sonny Ng
2025-03-15 15:08:58 +0000 UTCI have the same question, I usually play this shape and the minor as well using my pinky, I wonder if there's a downside to that?
Dave Bleeker
2024-12-07 23:39:20 +0000 UTCI'll start here- thanks!
Hank Askin
2024-11-23 01:22:57 +0000 UTCThanks a lot for this introductive course. Now let Β΄s rock!
Guillaume EMMERY
2024-11-01 13:12:24 +0000 UTCI feel the 'wrist roll' helped me get started with sweep picking, you can see players such as Tim Henson and Alex Skolnick use this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O7_ZAtQV3k Henson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlfWJsxuE_k Skolnick
Jimmy
2024-10-22 12:03:10 +0000 UTCMaking it sound clean is sooo hard. Look up rest strokes, it helps a lot. A lot of other things have to come together in your playing too - holding the pick right, loose enough, your string muting technique (left and right hand), so don't get discouraged, just keeping working on it all at the same time, and the gaps start closing.
Ron
2024-04-28 01:59:55 +0000 UTCi have one problem that this video didnt really mention, so when i lift my fretting finger up from a note, that string keeps on ringing ever so slightly and i cant figure out how to let my fingers off of a string cleanly.... sorry for my possibly incoherrent english π
karvanenspurgu
2024-03-14 11:07:28 +0000 UTCAny reasons to not use the pinky in this exercise? I never use it and I'm trying to use it more.
J. R.
2024-01-16 20:20:58 +0000 UTCThat's perfectly natural don't worry! Most people have an easier time ascending. I'd recommend first identifying the arpeggio shape that find easiest and drilling the fuck out of it until you're comfortable with both the ascent and descent, then try applying it to different shapes. If you're still having trouble after a few days lemme know!
Bradley Hall
2023-12-11 23:21:46 +0000 UTCSo, for some reason it seems easier for me to sweep on the ascending side, rather than the descending side. I wonder if thatβs something to do with my pick grip?
RadRed Music
2023-12-11 23:12:46 +0000 UTCThanks James, hope you got something out of the lesson! Good luck with the practicing, let us know how you get on
Bradley Hall
2023-02-24 17:29:22 +0000 UTCCheers Matt, great to hear!
Bradley Hall
2023-02-24 17:28:53 +0000 UTCSo far, I'm loving this! Thanks, Bradley!
Matt White
2023-02-23 04:45:04 +0000 UTCAwesome lesson! Have tried to get into sweep picking in the past and gave up, but taking it back to basics and practicing the shit out of it seems to be doing the trick! My problem is that I seem to lift my picking hand when switching between ascending and descending so that its no longer anchored, so need to focus on this especially.
James Hamilton
2023-02-22 23:44:19 +0000 UTCAwesome to have you here matey! You'll be sweeping in no time, no doubt!
Bradley Hall
2023-02-06 09:27:35 +0000 UTCI've been playing on and off for about 2 years with 2 6 months gaps in between. Been focusing on copying songs from YouTube and not really having a practice routine or learning new stuff. Really excited to join this for a more structured approach and maybe actually progress. My brain seems to not even want to do the first upward pick but directly do a hammer on pull off. I've always been "sacred" to get into sweep picking but really excited now!
TheEvilStrudel
2023-02-05 13:14:39 +0000 UTCAmazing! Let us know how you get on dude
Bradley Hall
2023-01-31 00:14:35 +0000 UTCFinally going to push myself to learn sweeping. Fantastic intro lesson, thank you!
Antony Watkins
2023-01-31 00:11:22 +0000 UTC
