Media added by Elliott Stewart

As stupid as stupid gets...

Gear used: Jim Root Signature Jazzmaster/EMG HetSet/ Neural DSP Petrucci Archetype plug-in.

Goofing around over some tasty fusion chords with the new Het Set EMGs

Keeping it nasty with Neural DSP...

Riff idea in drop B

Inspired by the mighty Guthrie for this one...

I decided to jam some blues over this gorgeous backing track. Whilst it’s nothing technically advanced, I once again took so many cues from Syn in terms of groove and evoking emotion. This man continues to inspire me across so many genres, not just in metal.

For this solo, I was not only inspired by Syn’s technique, but his sense of melody and groove. Written (perhaps unsurprisingly) in the Key of D Minor, I first consulted the second Alternate Picking class in order to work on my note articulation and achieve a sense of fluidity when playing my ascending scale runs, adding chromaticism for added “quirkiness” (one of Syn’s great tips). Similarly, the first Sweep Picking lesson helped me enormously in improving my technique. As an intermediate player, sweep picking has always presented itself as a daunting task, but this video in particular helped me to practice my three note arpeggios, laying a good foundation to tackle the more complex arpeggio patterns. The first Minor Blues lesson gave me further inspiration, helping me to realise that speed and technical prowess aren’t always indicative of a great solo, but “feel”, an awareness of the chord progressions you’re playing over/circle of 5ths and a sense of dynamics are much more important.

For this solo, I was not only inspired by Syn’s technique, but his sense of melody and groove. Written (perhaps unsurprisingly) in the Key of D Minor, I first consulted the second Alternate Picking class in order to work on my note articulation and achieve a sense of fluidity when playing my ascending scale runs. Similarly, the first Sweep Picking lesson helped me enormously in improving my technique. As an intermediate player, sweep picking has always presented itself as a daunting task, but this video in particular helped inspire me to practice my three note arpeggios, laying a good foundation to tackle the more complex arpeggio patterns. The first Minor Blues lesson gave me further inspiration when trying to write this piece, helping me to realise that speed and technical prowess aren’t always indicative of a great solo, but feel, an awareness of the chord progressions you’re playing over and a sense of dynamics are much more important.