One of the bands my brother loves is Alice Cooper. Hey Stoopid was an LP he maded me listen to a lot! Joe Satriani and Steve Vai immediately stood out to me and I began trying to copy some of that Ibanez/Marshal honk they are so well known for. Still no sweep picking was learned at this stage.

Something to mention at this point is that I never learned to read music, not even tab. To this day I have never learned from tab. I don’t know virtually any theory at all. Now this raises some controversial arguments. The amount of guitarists that say you have to know your theory....BS!

There is one thing I tell everyone who I instruct; you have to enjoy what you are playing! There simply is no right or wrong way about it. My playing is 80% improvisation. All of the legato and sweep picking I have learned is from listening to tracks and attempting to play back to it. It works for me.

Anyway, after playing in the band Draw, I left the band in 1999 and started a Family. I worked in a local music shop where Tim Soul another member of the guitar shop staff would inspire me to the ways of Neo Classical! But I was a blues boy!

Sweep picking and legato was something I had never learned. Tim and I would Jam when no customers were in the shop and we would discuss various playing styles. Now I have to say that Tim was and still remains an inspiration to me as he is an astonishing guitarist!

He never gave me lessons but I watched his legato and sweep picking technique and armed with some Jason becker CD’s he lent to me, I began practising.

I have never marketed my playing abilities before; I have refused to play in other bands as my family always comes first. However, I now work as a manager at an SEO (search engine optimisation) company where I have realised I can promote myself without going on the road. So you will be seeing more from me in the near future!

As for sweep picking, I hope my videos help clarify some of the obstacle that I found along the way and please feel free to contact me if you would like some advice!