Brent Glover - Bass Sweeping Lesson

[sluggo12345]

oh ya one more thing, this videos description said people were asking him about his technique so why would he post a video of "proper" technique if thats not what the people were even asking for. But ya doesn't matter what you call it, there is no sound of the notes being picked out, they sound swept together so i don't care if he did it with his thumb or his fingers or his guitar pick or his cock, he fucking did it and it sounded dope.

[sluggo12345]

Damn dude thats not sweeping that shits vacuuming or roombaing or swifter dustering.

[Th3RussBus]

Hey man what bass you using? And for all the people who think bassists shouldn't sweep listen to Your Treachery Will Die With You by Dying Fetus. It has a fusion of guitar and bass sweeps.

[distorted1one]

let's just say we're "sweeping" through the arpeggio, not in motion, but in feel, after all isn't music all about feel? but on a serious note though i like stuff because it sounds good not because it's called sweeping, tapping, slapping etc. I played bass for 4 years now and started electric guitar a few months ago, it's bullshit to call one easier than the other.

[steweDbass]

Who cares what its called, if it sounds good and you like it, then do it! I would say this method has the same effect as sweep picking but uses three fingers on the right hand....does that satisfy you pontifying guitarists out there?

[Golinsteelheart]

-enter's comment that renders some musician to become melodramatically offended-

[afrokidguitarist]

im a guitarist (obviously) and i love the fact that bassists can sweep. it sounds sick i love it.

but what makes a sweep a sweep?.....because what you play is what guitarists play and the idiotic guitarist called it 'only an Em arpeggio'........uhh thats what we play too >.>

also, its a great thing to expand your playing and becoming a better musician...it gets old playing simple stuff :] thats why i went from greenday to the faceless/born of osiris/burning the masses

[CrispyPs]

Does the term "sweeping" refer to the picking motion or the order of notes? Sorry, I know it has become a sore subject, but it's something I've always kind of wondered

[phoenixdown131]

I'm a guitar player and i don't care whether or not this is sweeping... It sounds good and it's fun, so do it. Besides, names for techniques don't matter, anyway. They're only a search/reference tool. For example, there was a video where Bumblefoot said he didn't even know what hybrid picking was (neither did I), but he did it and it was great. Just be happy that "sweeping" leads you here and to other talented bass players.

[Trepsik]

it's not like guitarists ever try using pop slap technique ;) sick bass dude, i'm gonna try and learn that technique tomorrow after class

[JessyUV]

It's sweeping on the way down but not the way up. Sweeping refers to pivoting from the elbow and keeping a rigid wrist and fingers.

[vanillseatbmx]

actually it doesnt matter lol i dont have 5 string i cant do this anyway thought nice!

[vanillseatbmx]

tuning please?

[sadismminds]

whats that bass ?!

[madmartyr17]

This is sweeping. The technique of sweeping is not limited to the use of the plectrum in a sweeping manner. For bass players the pick IS our fingers. So for us to use our fingers to sweep pick makes it still sweeping. If it makes the guitar players feel better, we'll call it "Sweep Fingering"

[Skelbassist]

@madmartyr17

Very well said sir.

[jumbaliahVITO2]

@Skelbassist your fingers arent doing the sweep motion. youre damn good but this is just an arpeggio that youre strumming very quickly and efficiently with your fingers. much respect to your ability, but your point is invalid seeing as sweeping IS in fact the motion of the picking. whats going on with your left hand is irrelevant and what your right hand is doing is, like i said, not sweeping. what mr. madmartyr17 said was some well said bullshit that he made up.

[LokiNTB]

@madmartyr17 Well I wouldn't call this sweeping and I am a bass player. This is plucking the strings in an arpeggiated fashion. it creates a sweep sound and is basically the same thing, but like you said, sweeping typically refers to a sweep like movement. I see no sweep like movement, just some badass articulation. Sweep fingering is a fair title but surely we would be better off to stick to the musical term "arpeggio" rather then make up more redundant pieces of the English language

[dogoneesi]

Were doing "sweep" or whatsoever you call it because we want to eliminate stupid guitarist in a band. We don't need dick heads.

[rehtrem]

what kind of bass is this?

[FatalyMaimed]

This is not sweeping. This, is BASS SWEEPING its harder, more frustrating, and is fucking amazing.

[pw3db4lunch]

This is great..but its not sweeping.I don't understand why bassists try so hard to incorporate guitar techniques into their playing. I'm not talking down to you or anything but...This is not sweeping.

[Skelbassist]

@pw3db4lunch

A reason why bass players do this kind of stuff is because it gets old real fast just playing root 5th bass lines. The whole argument about sweeping/not sweeping is just too old to argue about. Thanks for the compliment though.

[quackerofquack]

@pw3db4lunch this is so sweeping.... maybe not sweepPICKING... but it's still sweeping...

[VocalTest666]

@pw3db4lunch well the electric bass is type of guitar..just less notes on the fingerboard, lower tunings and different physical construction...thats what makes the bass so versatile it can act just like a lead guitar or it can act percussively as in exclusively following the drum beat.

[6maniac6metal6]

@VocalTest666

A bass is not a guitar, guitars have roots in mandolin and similar high voiced instruments, bass comes from double(standup) bass which has its own lengthy history going from cellos to tubas and other bass instruments. And though badass, this isn't sweeping. Its playing arpeggios really fast.

[VocalTest666]

@6maniac6metal6 people these day...its almoast like guitarists make a valiant effort to classify bass sweeping as anything but sweeps....hes sweeping the strings, not plucking individual strings..if you can intellectually type out how this is not sweep picking and contradict what I have just wrote, please do, and I will gladly listen.

[6maniac6metal6]

@VocalTest666 On the upstroke (high to low) yes, that is proper sweep technique, in this case called raking, where you have one fluid movement, going across all the strings in one picking motion (one finger). The problem is the downstroke (low to high). If you watch, he uses 3 fingers to "walk" up the strings, which "technically" is not sweep technique.

[primus1121]

@pw3db4lunch stick to your strings and your picks and we'll stick to our strings

[shredklampfe]

why are the bendings there?

[IIJDecayII]

extra cool, thanks man

[TheFuckingRemixer]

Ok so I just opened this link to find trash guitar players bitching at a bassist for not "technically sweep picking". Just to let you know I can do it on both guitar and bass. This style is "sweep picking", even though you trashy guitar players get all prissy about shit doesn't mean you have to talk down the bass player that (for the first place) helps you pick up the rhythm from a drummer. Face it if it wasn't for bassists you "guitarists wouldn't be shit. I for one love this demonstration.

[Madis12131]

brycemusicamazing, there are many ways to sweep pick a bass with your fingers and using pick on your bass makes your bass sound unoriginal.

Good lesson and don't listen to those pricks.

[captainplaneeet]

every single one of these guitar players would call it sweeping if they saw derek trucks or somebody sweeping finger-style.

[wayrod51]

This is more a demonstration than a lesson. still great though.

[guy12343456]

I'm a guitar player and I call this sweep picking.

[hec77orcore]

wich brand is your bass??

i think... is a Fanndec?

[Vaughniful]

dont listen to that asshole dude

[kingxofxsuede]

Not "sweeping" by definition... But certainly a solid technique for face melting arpeggio's.

[Twiggyay]

your hand looks like a spider when you`re doing it fast...=3

[NapoleanXV]

this isnt sweeping, its just playing an E minor arpeggio, raking doesnt = sweeping

[Skelbassist]

I'm over this "argument" about sweeping and not sweeping. Move along sir.

[EmpiresOfTheFallen]

tabs?

[0kenyk0]

lol you need tabs for arpeggios?

[nycbassist76]

@Skelbassist there is no argument....this isn't sweeping...thats like me playing funky finger style octaves and calling it slap...if you're not sweeping it's not a sweep...now how can you argue that?

[To0kYourHp]

@Skelbassist Does he not understand that sweep picking is playing an arpeggio? Plus since you are playing bass you don't have to use a pick. It sounds pretty sweet and great job.

[xAngelofRazielx]

@NapoleanXV Would you like to show us how to sweep on bass then?

[NapoleanXV]

sure actually, I woudlnt mind at all, Ill do that really soon, stay posted!

[scottyo998]

@NapoleanXV what the fuck do you think your doing with a pick...im gonna say RAKING! Its the same thing, just like he said. And of course its an arpeggio, a lot of sweeps are. Sweeping is referring to the sweeping action across the strings and whether that is achieved with a pick or with fingers, its still sweeping

[NapoleanXV]

@scottyo998 I dont play with a pick. I never even said the word pick, that was brycemusicamazing.

although, raking and sweeping is not the same thing, raking and sweeping down are the same thing. The point of sweeping is to achieve a raking sound both up and down the arpeggio.

This video is not technically "sweeping" although uses a sweeping pattern, the right hand motion is not the same.

I hope I have further educated you

[Jakeocide]

@NapoleanXV so if he did it in a sweeping motion it would be sweeping?

[NapoleanXV]

@Jakeocide its done with the thumb, and then raked down with a finger, sweeping is technically a strumming motion, only arpeggiated

[VocalTest666]

@NapoleanXV E flat....

[NapoleanXV]

@VocalTest666 Moot point.



[6maniac6metal6]

@VocalTest666 Also, yes I'm a BASSIST, hence me browsing bass sweep videos on youtube, I just thought I'd help clarify what sweeping is for the sake of bassists new to the technique, because I sure as hell know it confused the hell out of me starting out. But yes, you do have to think of your fingers as a pick(or bow, as it was invented by Paganini, a classical violinist) But let me put it this way, think of sweeping as strumming a chord, but with emphasis on the individual notes. Keyword: STRUM

[biloxi1314]

@NapoleanXV yo bro. just so you know, many sweeps are arpeggios. cough cough yqngwie malmsteen....john petrucci.....jeff loomis....every other guitarist to ever sweep. all use arpeggios. im not saying sweeping is limited to arpeggios, but it does consist of them.

[NapoleanXV]

@biloxi1314 You don't understand. Sweeping is a technique. Arpeggios are just a group of notes. Any series of different notes is technically an arpeggio. Sweeping has to be an arpeggio, it would be stupid to play the same note in succession for sweeping.

So, bro, why dont you read what I say before you comment?

[000ROCKREVOLUTION000]

check out billy seehan

[kingxofxsuede]

Billy Sheehan is the biggest load of turd... He can play 2456785432 notes a second, but ask him to do a simple groove and he gets all flakey

[barret707]

Hey man good lesson but you might want to intonate your bass, it sounds a bit off.

Just adjust the bridge pin untill the harmonic at the 12th fret is the same as the note as the 12th fret

this would sound alot better, still pretty nice skills though

[Dryerlintproduction]

wtf is with ppl who call these lessons ur not teaching shit ur just playing a lesson is to teach this is bs 1/5*'s

[MetalBEADGplayer]

thats because you dont pay attention, hes showing you how to play it and what notes to play. It says in the info its a basic Eb minor sweep and it even says which fingers to pick with and how... pay attention before you leave dumbass comments kthxbye

[TheeJonLewis]

Bass sweeping is different than guitar sweeping. Dragging your finger across will give a crap sound, so you need to pick each one to pluck the strings. Bass = plucking = fingering the arpeggio = bass sweeping. Jesus Christ.

[misanthroposy]

Thats not true, llok up Adam Nitti or Franck Hermanny videos. They drag their thumb down then their index back up and they are two of the bext sweepers on bass.

[rodol21fo]

exactly

i only think the name is wrong, im a bassist, im trying to learn some guitar, and the term sweep comes from its meaning u know... ok u dont know (i dont mean U theejon)

it is about picking from 6th to 1st and vice versa with a single sweep move...

but in this case, it should be called appregio from 5th to 1st and sweeping from 1st to 5th.

Please dont missundesrstand me

[nycbassist76]

it wont sound like crap if you know what you're doing...its not sweeping if you don't sweep dumbass

[InHumanFormR]

quit saying this is an arpeggio and not sweeping.. what the fuck do you retards think sweeping is. thats like saying a shredder isn't shredding, he's just tremolo picking licks really fast.. you guys want to sound like you know your shit, but you're just fucking stupid

[Ninetyninefingers]

I'm sorry but that is not sweeping, and "shredding" isn't a technique it's a quick and easy way to describe someone who trill picks licks. We aren't being retards, if anything we know a lot more than you InHumanFormR, at least about the basics of sweeping. When you sweep it's one fluid motion bringing you across the strings one way and then back the other way without having to change the picking or sweeping device, such as the finger, pick or thumb. That however, is up to the person sweeping.

[jaqetall]

That's an arpeggio

[SaintUdnitz]

erm...i know?! thats why i said its an arpeggio...*rolleyes*

[brycemusicamazing]

not doing a complete sweep with one finger though

[brycemusicamazing]

i don't have a problem with you playing this stuff, its cool...i just thought i'd point out that the key part of "sweeping" is actually using a pick and sweeping it across the strings, hence "sweep picking"

[Skelbassist]

Call it what you want. The mechanics are the same and another thought to think about is that I'm playing this with the finger style = picking the strings with fingers. So, in the end, it is still technically sweeping/ sweep picking.

[IronBassMaiden]

@Skelbassist your absolutely right. Plus bass is made for the fingers. Picks are retarted in my opinion.

[IronBassMaiden]

@Skelbassist Yea man don't listen to these fools! I prefer playing with fingers anyway!

[rodol21fo]

@Skelbassist is just that the word sweep is confused with appregio...

I still think is just ur own way to play it, is not necessary to make a sweep.

nice vid

BTW, if someone is asking how to sweep on bass just do it downstroke with ur thumb and upstroke with ur 1st finger

CHEERS

[idshanks]

@brycemusicamazing Doesn't have to be a pick to be sweeping. My bass-sweep technique involves the thumb and index finger. On the way up I sweep the strings with my thumb, and back down with my index. It's necessary to switch between the two because dragging the thumb back will result in a different tone as the part of your thumb that would then make contact isn't as soft. Still, this accomplishes the speed necessity of sweeping. It's merely a different tone than true sweeping would achieve.

[werpong123]

@brycemusicamazing dude shut the fuck up. it is still considered sweep picking when you use your fingers. we bass players use our fingers as a substitue for a pick because were real men. so quit picking on this amazing talent and go back to your pathetic life of mediocrity you two-bit bedroom shredder

[lectwar]

@brycemusicamazing its still sweeping. the reason they call it sweeping is because your fluidly stroking across a section of strings without breaks or stopping. Sweep picking is sweeping with a pick. doesnt mean all sweeping is with a pick.

[brycemusicamazing]

but well played...you can sure play those *arpeggios*

[Skelbassist]

On another note, it always appears that it is guitar players who say that this kind of stuff isn't sweeping but bass players who say it is. We, on behalf of bass players, apologize for stealing your technique and will crawl back to using only root and fifth. Sorry for trying to become a better musician.

[andreweffinstout]

@Skelbassist I'm a guitarist, and i hate when bassists only play root and fifth. So boring, i'd prefer bassist to sweep and do tapping and stuff.

[hecbiz75]

@Skelbassist Maybe throw in the octave, but that could be pushing it. LOL! Yeah, fuck them. Thank you Stanley, Jaco, Victor, Marcus, Scott LaFaro, etc. for liberating the bass!!

[6maniac6metal6]

@Skelbassist And I apologize, I'm not trying to take anything away from you, that is some wicked technique, and playing at the speed your playing I even consider that harder than traditional sweep picking. Don't let all this crap bother you, you got your style and I got mine, just hoping to clarify for the newbs, shred on dude, shred on...

P.S. @vocal test

Quit bein such a dingus, is that intellectual enough for ya?

[jtmband62269]

@Skelbassist makes me jealous i use thumb down index up to sweep. this technique murders me

[brycemusicamazing]

technically not sweeping

[Skelbassist]

I have heard this countless of times so here we go. It appears to me that if I did the same thing but with a pick than it would be "technically" a sweep. But since I choose to play with my fingers, it's called arpeggios. Yes, they are arpeggios but they are stacked triads, not 3 notes. So technically speaking, it is a sweep. To say that his is just arpeggios is calling all other sweeps just arpeggios. If it helps, just imagine a pick in my right hand. Thank you for your compliments.

[blockopastorius]

dude you are a good bassist, dont take bullshit from guitar players who think they know everything about an instrument they don't play,

[sk8rmonkee]

Its looks more impressive using your fingers then actually doing the sweeping motion with your thumb.

Seems to me that using your fingers would leave more room for error, but I guess I won't know until I try.

Good vid though, skipped all the talking and bullshit unlike other vids.

[pyroseed13]

I like this better than sweeping with the thumb because its more impressive looking and sounding.

[crawlthruknives]

Technically, this is just fast fingering of a arpeggio, as a sweep would imply a right hand technique that uses one continuous motion in a single direction (and then back) much like a guitar player does with a pick, which is where the whole bass sweep idea came from in the first place. An arpeggio is just a chord shape/name and has nothing to do with technique at all really. However, this produces the same aural effect as a classic "sweep". Call it what you like.

[AFacemarkedbyFea]

I watched this now maybe for 50 times and now i might got it^^

[jultoin]

I couldn't understand why I didn't get it right before I noticed I was in drop D :P Th

[quade64]

out of all these bass sweeping videos yours made the most sense...btw i think using your fingers is easier on your mind the thumb finger thing is too slap bassish and i suck at that cheers m8

[Skelbassist]

Thank you very much. Glad to hear this helped someone haha.

[solothurn666]

is this a sweep or more an arpeggio? i'm not sure about the difference.

[fovbassplaya91]

maybe its a swee arpeggio

[A7X235666]

Sweeps are arpeggios, they're just quick.

[DesolateRemains]

This is an arpeggio cause he's not sweeping it, it's really cool but his right hand plucking each string as he goes along

[joeydoit1423]

there is no difference in most cases a sweep is usually an arpeggio.

[SaintUdnitz]

arpeggio...and not a really good one...

[thephillosopher]

can u do it?

[jolqmus]

very nice!!

[eyemran]

Good stuff!

[Raymp5]

Thanks for the video! I'm now trying to do this on my own bass. Is your action set really low?

[giljav]

where i can get the scale because im learning at my own

[MAJORdorMo]

Just look at his fingers...

[Bananaman395]

I dont play bass but im just wondering -- would it make sence to sweep down with your thumb and sweep up with yur pointer or any other finger?

[Skelbassist]

Well I've seen other people do that way of sweeping on the bass. That's the way I started out doing it but notice, now it could just be me, but there was some extra string noise from doing it that way. I decided to relearn the technique. I've noticed that my fingers mute the strings below them so less extra noise. BUT, I have seen some amazing players do it the way to spoke of so in the end it's just whatever works for each person you know?

[godfreyjones25]

great take on the technique there dude.

[Skelbassist]

Thanks man

[fluffhead059]

very nice! havent even heard of it before! i kinda feel stupid now