In this lesson we discuss alternate picking techniques and its importance to your playing.

i love pinkly smooth and syn n jimmy ... Hello my name is Zephora isebella Von Destroia and I'm new here just recently got married to my new husband Matt John Von Burns and I'm really excited to be here today! I'm an actress a singer a dancer a painter a model musician and a neuromuscular specialist I also enjoy making the jewelry and decorating. Here are some photos so you can get to know me. 5059076355 call me syn

Syn’s AOTM pick for July is “Ten Summoner’s Tales” by Sting. (Syn made the pick a while back, but was extraordinarily busy this past week and asked me to weigh in).
So I'm excited about this pick because I'm a huge Sting fan. His solo work is as impressive as his work with The Police (and that's saying a lot).

This was Sting’s 4th solo album after leaving The Police. The album that preceded this was “Soul Cages” which was a dark eulogy to his father who had just died. “Ten Summoner’s Tales” was a return to pop – albeit very sophisticated pop. Every song on this album has at least one incredible hook - and some have several.
The musicianship is stellar. As always, Sting hired the heaviest session cats available to play with him.
It was released in 1993 - but still holds up.

Most people are familiar with the nostalgic, melancholy of “Fields of Gold”, but every song on this album is a gem.

My favs are:

“Love is Stronger Than Justice” – It’s in 7/4 but somehow feels very natural.
“Seven Days” – This one is in 5/4 and Vinnie Coiauta’s drumming is nothing short of amazing.
Same with “Saint Augustine in Hell”. How they manage to make you forget they’re in 7/4 is a rare artform. Such a great groove. Always makes me smile.
Not every song is in an odd time. Lol
“Heavy Cloud, No Rain” has a simple strutting groove and “She’s too Good For Me” is just a great roadhouse shuffle.
For pure pop, it’s hard to beat “If I Ever Lose My Faith In You”.
“It’s Probably Me”- BEST. CHORD. CHANGES. EVER.

And if his remarkable melodies and complex chord changes aren’t enough for you - Sting is a deep thinker and even his pop lyrics manage to get one thinking about philosophy, existentialism., etc.

I could go on, but I’ll let you form your own conclusions. This is an adult album for sure, and the pinnacle of what happens when jazz meets pop in the hands of a master.

ENJOY! And if you dig this album, go back and check out “Dream of The Blue Turtles”, “Soul Cages” and (my personal favorite) “Nothing Like The Sun”.

Cheers!
PG

Hi so im somewhat new to this. i joined back in 2019 almost 2 years ago and have never actually interacted. so hi. here I am. I'm currently studying music theory at my local junior college and plan on becoming a math/music teacher in the future, to say if becoming a professional musician doesn't work out for me. I am in a heavy metal band that I'm the sole guitarist and singer of and we don't really have a sub genre yet but we have 2 full songs down and things are looking bright. atm I am 20 years old and have been playing guitar since late 8th grade and more seriously in mid freshman year so like 6 years now. Avenged sevenfold has been one of my top 3 favorite bands(other two are avatar and Hollywood undead) since I heard bat country in 6th grade when I started getting into music and I saw them in 2017 opening for Metallica. Syn is a major influence and im glad to be starting to learn under him and papa gates' videos more frequently!

Hi! I'm Dia and I'm from the Netherlands. I started playing guitar in January this year so I'm still pretty new to it all. Also still figuring out how exactly the site works haha. Really nice to be here though, already seen lots of awesome people

:syngates:Yo Family! For June’s #AOTM we are going with one of my fav records of all time and certainly my fav prog record of all time in Images and Words by the great Dream Theatre.

This was another band introduced to me by Jimmy. He used to sneak a Walkman(look it up kids) to school and play me ridiculous shit in the bathroom. This one stood out as having the most incredible musicianship I had ever heard. I was 13 when he played this record for me and it changed the way I looked at guitar. I had no idea that what I was hearing could be accomplished on the instrument I had already spent years working on.

Dream Theatre is a progressive rock band that formed in 1985 in the halls of Berklee School of Music in Boston. There have been multiple lineups but the Images and Words cast comprise Mike Portnoy on drums, John Petrucci on guitar, James LaBrie on vocals, John Myung on bass, and Kevin Moore on keyboards.

John Petrucci has been one of my favorite guitarists rotating in my top 3 since the very day I heard this light show of a record way back in middle school. He certainly epitomizes my way of approaching the guitar more than any other player besides maybe my father - with an endless pursuit of technique and harmony only to facilitate a melody and composition first approach to solos and songwriting.

This motif and melody first approach has yielded some of my favorite solos of all time and couple that with the pyrotechnics weaving in and around these flawless melodies and motifs make for a perfect combination of music and cinema.

As a student of percussion as well, I was moved by how Mike Portnoy seamlessly and so fluidly supported all of these incredible riffs and time signatures in such a musical and cinematic way. And as smooth as this cat could play, he still managed to make the music heavy as fuck. Listen to Under a Glass Moon for one of the greatest grooves of all time. The entire record is a clinic on how a drummer can steal the show at no cost to his co stars and director.

If there was a dude that I would’ve done unspeakable things to sing like, it would be James LaBrie. The range, the soul, the technique, the texture, the everything. This dudes got it in spades. It’s such a slippery slope to not take these songs and turn them into overly dramatic novelty uber dramas. James does no such thing. Flawless victory.

John Myung is as gifted as the aforementioned. He doesn’t just support the band, he comes bearing gifts. I’ve transcribed thousands of difficult musical passages in my life and I still have no clue wtf he’s doing in Metropolis, part 1 at 5:40

And last but certainly not least, Kevin Moore on keys. Total stud and one of my favorite songwriters of all time. He wrote a lot of my favorite songs on this record. They’re all great songwriters but Kevin speaks to me on this record.

Lastly, some or many of you know that Mike helped us out when Jimmy passed in late ‘09. We were putting the final touches on Nightmare when our world was shattered. For a couple of weeks we had decided to not move forward as it wouldn’t be right without Jimmy. Two main components quickly changed our minds. The first was The Sullivan’s. Jimmy’s parents and sisters were like our parents and sisters. We grew up with them. We love them dearly. They told us we had no choice in the matter because Jimmy would’ve demanded that we continue on. The second was Mike Portnoy. I’m sure somebody spoke of it before me but I know that the choice was clear to everyone when the decision was made to move forward. We needed one of Jimmy’s favorites to lift us up and realize the dream of putting out Jimmy’s final work.

Much like Petrucci is the influence that speaks the loudest on my sleeve, Mike is arguably that for Jimmy and certainly the best contender to have executed Jimmy’s unique and brilliant vision for the record. Mike walked in, hung is ego at the door and spent countless hours copying meticulous kick patterns and fills without complaint.

Of all musical elements, style is by far the most difficult to emulate. He hung in there and didn’t stop until we were all beyond satisfied with the performance. Of course we had him do his thing across many of Jimmy’s unfinished drum demos and then fully unleashed the beast on the closer, Save Me. Mike absolutely shines on that track, to say the least.

Well I hope that you enjoy this record even a fraction of the amount that I do, it would be enough to change your life.

A runner up and probably Shadows’ favorite Dream Theatre record is Metropolis Part 2. It’s definitely very cinematic and has a touch of Elfman throughout.

Lemme know your thoughts in the comments, can’t wait to connect with you all on this beast



All my love,

SYN
:syngates:
Apple Music
Spotify
YouTube

We had some students on here that were interested in seeing some actual pieces of gear that Avenged Sevenfold used on some of their albums. I paid a visit to their longtime friend/engineer/producer Fred Archambault and he showed me some gear that he still had that was used by them. Fred worked on A7X albums such as Waking the Fallen, City of Evil, Self Titled, Diamonds in the Rough, and Nightmare along with albums from many other bands. Fred was the last person to record The Rev (for Jeff Dunham's 2008 Christmas Album, also featuring PG) and the ONLY person to record him professionally.

Fred also expressed that he would be open to possibly doing a Q&A or maybe livestream here on the site since his name comes up from time to time and many students have questions.

The gear will be posted in the comments here. One piece of gear will be posted on its own thread. Here is that other thread

Does anyone have any access or self composed licks that help with practicing A7X solos?
I'm practicing Shepherd of fire, Lost, Beast and the harlot at the moment but damn these are hard to play. I memorized the solos within a couple tens of minutes because these songs are stuck and jammed in my head, but as far as playing it (shepherd and beast is in 1 month progress) i can't follow 100% speed though i can with 75% speed but I just can't break through this barrier.

:syngates: Yo Family! I couldn’t cheat the public of my favorite Elfman score in existence. Beetlejuice epitomizes what Danny Elfman means to me. This was Jimmy’s favorite Elfman work as well.

The main theme is brilliant and still gives me goosebumps EVERY single time I hear it. This is quite possibly the launch pad that brought about Pinkly Smooth. We were both huge fans before we met each other and this really cemented our musical relationship.

I’m gonna leave the rest to the comments as I am nursing a delicious hangover and my kids could care less.

All my love,
SYN
:syngates:

YouTube

Hi fellow Katana users, this thread is a space for us to share our patches.

Before the fun stuff, a few ground rules:

1. Be sure to upload your patches to a reputable file storage/sharing service (Dropbox or Google Drive for example).
2. If the patch is one you have found online, and has not been modified by you, if possible give credit to the original creator.
3. If possible, add a short video or audio example of the patch, to give others an idea of what the patch may sound like.
4. Lastly, if the patch has been created with a MKII, please state that as they are not compatible with the MKI.

Have fun and share responsibly!

Anyone have tips on playing Hammer ons on a nylon string guitar? I'm working on the intro to Roundabout. I can pull it off pretty well on the D string, but on the G string the note dies so quickly. Do I just gotta get faster?

Hey everyone,

We're beginning to start working on translations for lessons and I'm trying to determine how many people would like to volunteer to help! If you're interested, please post in the thread the language you can translate and how many lessons you'd be able to help translate (in case we need multiple people for a language).

Thanks a ton and we're super excited that we're able to do this!

I just found this video about what your music taste says about you which I found pretty interesting so I figured I'd share.
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I honestly dont know how I did this but I've been playing and practicing a lot lately and I keep feeling like I'm missing something...for some reason I didnt even notice there was a CAGED System Part 2....which really threw me off because I did the CAGED minor lesson...but for some reason I went straight from CAGED System part 1 to CAGED minor thinking that was part 2 and I've been torturing myself trying to figure out how to play between chords and low and behold its shown how to do it in CAGED system part 2

All,

We wanted to take a moment to bring all of you up to speed on the Synner site’s leadership after recent changes. First, we’d like to announce the addition of Radu-Cristian Perde to the team. Radu has been an integral part of the school for a long time, and brings a ton of knowledge about guitar, bass, and especially audio and video production, as anyone lucky enough to attend his recent webinar can affirm.

While the majority of the critical decision-making for the school will be made collectively by the five of us, Radu will be the most prominent face and voice of the leadership team, and we’re excited about the energy, direction and fun he will bring to our community.

As Syn and Papa Gates have been saying recently, there are a lot of exciting changes coming to the School, the site and the Synner brand in the near future, and as a leadership team we are committed to bringing it all to you in the best possible way.

Your Leadership Team:
@Alicia Willis
@Ed Seith
@Jamie London
@Millie Imber
@Radu-Cristian Perde

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Hello guys, I need your help! Well I was cleaning my house and I found this electric guitar some weeks ago, I don’t know the brand it is so it’s a good one? Also it has old strings (and a broken one) so any cheap strings recommendations? Also I remember that my dad bought it like 13 years ago but never used it like a lot so it doesn’t matter that it’s old?hahah sorry, I’m so lost with this.

Also I found this amp in a corner of a room, how do I know if it works? I don’t know when it was bought soooohelp me

If I’m not incorrect I need like a cable to connect the guitar with the amp but I didn’t found it so what do you suggest?

Login to view embedded media My cover of Blinded- As I Lay Dying
Working on my YouTube channel. Help me out by liking and Subscribing......unless you think I suck.

:syngates: Yo family! Alright, this completes my Danny Elfman trifecta. Edward Scissorhands is quite possibly the most touching collection of music I’ve ever heard. I walked down the aisle to Ice Dance at my wedding. The flawless execution of the boys choir - I’ve read both that he used children’s choir and that he used an all boys choir. Maybe someone can dig around for the truth - takes me to a place that no other music can.

Like all of these Elfman recs, please please please visit or revisit these movies. They’re all masterpieces and will shift your perspective both artistically, and realistically.


This is Tim Burton’s most intimate work to date. He drew Edward Scissorhands as a young man before he started working as an artist for Disney in reflection of himself; an outcast.


Thus concludes Danny Elfman month. Probably my number one hero, a man deserving of multiple recognitions. A man who changed the course of my life, musically, artistically, and helped to create the strongest bonds with those I love the most.


Please enjoy

All my love,

SYN
:syngates:

Spotify
Apple Music
YouTube

Im curious to know if the new dropdown, bottom nav on mobile, and filters system is interesting and useful at first glance!

I just had a groundbreaking idea for this community!

There should be an extension on the website for a tab creator. Free to everybody, if possible. If it costs a toe and a finger, maybe could pay a small, one-time fee to have access to the feature (as well as the next two below). A tab creator that has everything you would see, at least for the most part, in a tab book by Hal-Leonard.

Similarly, there should be an extension that takes you to an interactable sheet of guitar fretboards where you can create scale shapes, or chord shapes, or anything to use for yourself to learn and study. Maybe even build up some exotic scales to share with others.

Finally, similar to the other two: an extension that takes you to an interactable sheet for guitar chords where you can create chord shapes, their inversions, their extensions, etc., and share them with the community.

I've attached examples of the second and third ideas, as everyone should know what a tab page looks like, but for visual sake of seeing my vision, and to even steal for yourself, these two sheets would, for example, be what the "Create a Scale" button would take you to. Likewise, "Create a Chord".

This would empower everybody in the community to further their ability to learn and study all sorts of things. I, myself, have drawn out 8 different scales on the scale sheet to learn and study. Again, I've attached an example for something I've drawn so that I could learn visually. And we should make it possible to be able to print what you created! A feature this sophisticated would SCREAM to the rest of the world how much BETTER the Syn Gates School is than anything else in the universe. I will do anything to get this ball rolling because this is next level shit! @Syn Gates @Brian Haner Sr. @alexj @Alicia Willis @Mike Creuzer

I’ve been trying for some time to get it right but can’t find it, especially for songs like nightmere and afterlife. What pedals, amps ext… do you use and settings?

is there anyone here who got a problem about accessing the video tutorials ?

Hey everyone...

Syn and I have talked a lot about his newer visions with this school. And so with all of what he said kept in my mind, I've learned a lot of things that I wanted to share with you all. This isn't guitar related at all, but I hope you get something from it.

Most of you know about my blood glucose issue I've had my whole life. I posted about my successful landmark on Instagram that for once, I'm no longer pre-diabetic. Since I was a child, I was hooked on sugar and detrimental eating habits. I was prediabetic at 14, and stayed that way with every single blood test. I couldn't kick the sugar habit, still. Until one night I had a frightening episode where I said "I think it happened. I'm probably diabetic now."
Immediately I kicked all processed sugars and processed carbs and delved deep into studies to heal myself. Not only did I finally balance out my blood glucose, I lost weight and found a happier way of life.
Addiction is not fucking easy. If you or anyone you know struggles with it, you know how much that no matter how hard you try, it defines you. It becomes you and consumes you.
However, not everyone has the strength to fight it, and not everyone wins that fight if they choose to fight it.

Holly's dad was an alcoholic since his young teenage years. Even after multiple trips to the hospital and being told his body was damaged, he continued to drown his sadness in the bottle. Now even with cirrhosis of the liver, he isn't even trying to change his ways. A few other students on here that are very close to me have lost (or could lose still) someone in their family due to overdosing.

When you have an addiction, deep down inside you know you're dying everyday. But what you may not know is how much it hurts those around you who watch you die everyday.

Guys, girls, dolls, kittens, gentlemen....

Life is seriously not easy. We are drowning ourselves in addictions, mindless technology, stale social media and more, just to try to numb the pain we all deep down inside are facing. Maybe you go to sleep at night feeling lost. Maybe you sleep next to someone you're not happy with. Maybe you feel lonely and alone.

But what I want you all to know is that this life does NOT have to define you. It does NOT have to be your "norm". If you have conquered an addiction, broke off a toxic relationship, told your maniacal boss to go fuck themselves, or anything at all that sets you on a path to a better life, I want you to know - no matter how big or small- be proud of yourself.

I'm proud of you.

If ANY of you are struggling with depression, take some time for yourself. Get the fuck off the bottle, the pills, the sugar, the needle, the abuse and start being alive. Because I want you to live. And I don't want you to just live; I want you to thrive.

Who are the community leaders?​

@Syn Gates
@Brian Haner Sr.
@Radu-Cristian Perde
@Alicia Willis
@Ed Seith
@Millie Imber
@alexj
@Mike Creuzer

What do community leaders do?​

Community leaders are responsible for keeping the community clean, healthy and vibing. They have the ability to enforce these guidelines, close/delete threads, give out warnings or bans, and many other behind the scenes actions.

How do I upload videos to the Media section?​

Show us what you’re working on, we love to see it! When you add a riff, we have you share your videos in our media section embedded from another video platform of your choice. This means you will have to upload your videos to that video platform first, but make sure your videos are set to either public or unlisted, not private, or it won't work. Once it's published on the video platform, navigate back here to Media tab > Select add media > Select media album > Select embed media > Paste in the URL from your preferred video sharing platform then fill out the title and description and hit save!

YouTube example:

How do I change my default feed?​

The "set default" button in the community feed disappears after you select it the first time. To change your default feed, navigate to your account then preferences. There is a dropdown menu next to "default feed". Don't forget to click "save"!

What is a signature and how do I change mine?​

Signatures are generally messages or text that appear below every post that you create. In order to have a signature below your posts, you must be either a Supporter or a Legend of the Synner community. Upgrade your membership here. You can do whatever you want with your signature including displaying links as long as they don't embed expanded media like a full video.

What do the user titles mean?​

User titles give members additional status within the community and are used to identify groups they belong to. For example, a Legend will have a Legend user title.

How do I earn achievements?​

You can earn achievements by completing the tasks associated with each individual achievement. Achievement criteria can be found here. Nice work. Keep rockin'.

How do I change my username?​

Your account > Account details > Username > Change
You can only change your username once a month so if you just registered, you will have to wait a month to change it. We will ask you to change your username if it causes confusion in the community like OfficialSynGates or ImBrianGates. You get the idea.

Can't view the lesson videos?​

It's likely due to the services we use, such as Vimeo. Syn is not blocking any countries, of course, but some resources we use change their policies all the time. If you have issues, message the community leaders with specific information on this, but a Virtual Private Network (VPN) is likely the best solution such as NordVPN.

Purpose and Mission​

We're all in this together - this wild journey called life. Many of us have found that music brings pure joy and meaning to it. The drive to explore and master guitar may have brought you to this community, but there's so much more to this place that we want you to experience. Wellness and education are key to feeling fulfilled, including when you are making music. It's a journey, not a destination, and each of our journeys are incredible and important. It's beautiful that our journeys are different. It's easy to get caught in the comparison game and feel like we're competing with others, but we rise by lifting others. That's what this community is about.

Whether you're just beginning or taking your skills to places they've never been, don't stop now.

Our Values​

Be kind, not an asshole​

We’re not fans of toxicity or trolls so don’t come here with it or we’ll gladly correct you. Other behavior we don’t stand for includes hate, bullying, threats, violence, impersonation, and doxing. However, constructive feedback is encouraged. Avoid politics. These apply to off-site discussions like social media and we will take action against you on the website if we think it’s necessary.

Spam and promotional content​

Moderate promotional content is fine if you’re an active member genuinely contributing to the community. Please disclose your relationship with a brand you link to or promote. We actively prevent and remove spam including ingenuine new members.

See some questionable content? Report it!​

Part of being a member is saying something when you see stuff that doesn't reflect our values. If you see something toxic, go ahead and report it by hitting the “report” button on the content in question.

Intellectual property​

Respect other people’s copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights by being mindful of what you post.

Obscene and illegal content​

Sexual content, nudity, and illegal activity are prohibited and will be taken down immediately. Any links going to these types of content will be taken down too.

Reaching out to Community Leaders​

If you have issues or complaints for community leaders, you need to take it up with them here, on the site, and not on their personal social media pages. You may get blocked from their personal social media if you do. Boundaries, people.

Consequences of said bullshit​

You’ll get a verbal warning by a community leader the first time you violate these guidelines. Keep it up and you’ll get a formal warning. After two formal warnings, you will be banned. This is our community so we have the ability to correct BS as we see fit. Help us keep it cool.

If you have specific questions about how to use the forums, check out FAQs here.