A Thing I Learned From Bill

[Jak Angelescu]

Everyone knows my private teacher now. Either you've seen me bragging about him here or on Instagram, or you have seen my growth videos. But what I HAVE NOT shared yet, are some things about how we view ourselves as guitarists. And this was what I wanted to share with everyone, especially because so many students here suffer from anxiety and lack of confidence.

EVERY...FUCKING...LESSON I get nervous. When I say nervous; I mean my heart races, I'm frantic, I even start crying. I bash my studies in to double-time mode and I take everything VERY serious. When I fuck up, I think "Oh my God. He's going to see me mess up and he's going to say 'you should be better by now. You've had a whole week'." Why do I do this? I thought to myself. During the lesson I scratch my legs, I breathe hard, and it's hard for me to focus. Next thing I know, I fuck up what I'm suppose to play for him.

Now YESTERDAY was HUGE for me. As you all know, those sextuplets for that solo I posted on Instagram was a Hail To The King-esque landmark for my guitar playing. I excitedly texted him, he saw the video, he praised me and said "I can't wait to watch you play it soon!"
Guess what? I fucked it up that day. Badly. As I got upset, he said, "What's wrong? You did great!" And I responded "I just was so proud of getting that and I was so excited to show you and now I can't do it. And I, as a student, want to make you proud. I played it so good yesterday and now I can't do it."

His response changed my life. And I hope it changes yours, too.
He said, "We are NEVER going to be able to play something we did great every day. It just won't happen. You always say you want to make me proud but here's the thing: I don't care if you fuck it up. I just want to see you DO it. Not to mention, there IS such a thing as playing something SO much to where you start fucking it up. You can have it great for a month and then suck at it. It's just how it is. That's why I have bad shows and good shows."

THEN, he asked me to play the rest of the solo, to which I hadn't even tapped into it yet. Then he said "So all you're focusing on is the sextuplets?"
"Yes, because it's the hardest part."
And he responded, "I'd rather see you fuck up the whole solo at a slow speed than nail those few small measures up to speed. Because the whole solo is FULL of techniques and theory I'm trying to teach you. And you're not learning them if you don't learn the whole solo."

It was then at that moment I calmed down. I hadn't realized how much I too, had been put in the hot seat of "trying to look good as a guitarist" in front of someone. So now, I understand where ALL of you are coming from when you say "I feel like I'm not good enough and I'm too scared to post."

Want to know a secret? HE FUCKED UP HIS OWN SOLO. Of course, him screwing up his own solo is FAR better than when I play it at my absolute best. But he laughed and said, "See? Even I'm fucking it up. And I forgot my own solo!"
When I watched Syn play during our little surprise lesson, he was FAR BETTER THAN I COULD EVER HOPE TO BE. But he messed up still. He gets nervous too. I saw him as perfect. But he knew where he messed up.

I wanted to share that with you all because I hope it helps inspire anyone here to take a deep breath, not rush against anything, and JUST...FUCKING...DO IT. It doesn't matter if you suck in the beginning. Just do it.

Love you all! I'm out for a walk and then I got a full 8 hours today of recording. Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

That was inspiring. I love hearing your stories with Bill. Makes me want to take lessons too. There is just so much I feel I want to tackle now and so little time

 

[Christian Schulze]

Hearing that is really inspiring as Dominik says. Actually knowing that your Gods are actually human, gets a lot of pressure of me and I guess many of us. Sometimes we struggle, I myself struggle everytime I record something, and sometimes it takes like 50 takes.....because I put too damn much pressure on myself. If theese Gods amongst men can not play 100% perfect every single time...I shouldn't either. Which is A HUGE RELIEF.
By no means am I saying that this is an excuse to upload stuff that is not decent, but it really helps shut up the inner perfectionist that I have inside me!

Thanks for sharing the insight Jak! Tell Bill many thanks!

 

[idssdi]

You know what's funny about mistakes? You don't have to learn how to not do them, you have to learn how to own them. If you listen to my solo for the collab for example, lots people apparently like it, however, if you go look for mistakes I'll guarantee you will find them. They just don't bother me, besides in a lot of older records the mistakes is kind of where the magic is.

 

[Ed Seith]

That is AWESOME. I know part of the reason for my metal minute videos was to get used to the idea of putting the performance out there, even if it wasn't great, because I know, like you do, that EVERYONE does it.

That's the danger of YouTube. You have people who play something 300 times to get the perfect take, but all you see is the perfect take, day after day after day. It's not reality. Off the cuff, unrehearsed stuff from a lot of the greats is just NOT THERE. Even Syn. Even Eddie. Even Randy or Stevie Ray.

Maybe not Stevie Ray.

But you get the idea. Great post, Jak!

 

[idssdi]

Off the cuff, unrehearsed stuff from a lot of the greats is just NOT THERE. Even Syn. Even Eddie. Even Randy or Stevie Ray.

Maybe not Stevie Ray.

But you get the idea. Great post, Jak!

Stevie Ray is scary! you actually do a better job playing like him when you throw all your worries away and just play (and you're still not even close), he may have actually sold his soul to the devil

And it's true, if you want to look for mistakes you can find them for everyone probably

 

[Ed Seith]

Stevie Ray is scary! you actually do a better job playing like him when you throw all your worries away and just play (and you're still not even close), he may have actually sold his soul to the devil

And it's true, if you want to look for mistakes you can find them for everyone probably

That was Stevie's secret. He threw all his worries away and just played.

 

[Chris Johnston]

Thanks so much for posting Jak! It's totally true. Half of the reason I'm not as active as I should be on here posting media-wise is because I sit down to record a video and I can't get it to a high enough standard for my liking Some times a 'just-do-it' attitude is all that's needed!

I'm really glad you had that experience! It just shows that you appreciate the value of your lessons and know a good tutor when you find one

I remember being (and still am) completely starstruck today by my old college guitar teacher. You never really stop looking up to these people and it's the best motivator to impress them

 

[Kim]

Everyone knows my private teacher now. Either you've seen me bragging about him here or on Instagram, or you have seen my growth videos. But what I HAVE NOT shared yet, are some things about how we view ourselves as guitarists. And this was what I wanted to share with everyone, especially because so many students here suffer from anxiety and lack of confidence.

EVERY...FUCKING...LESSON I get nervous. When I say nervous; I mean my heart races, I'm frantic, I even start crying. I bash my studies in to double-time mode and I take everything VERY serious. When I fuck up, I think "Oh my God. He's going to see me mess up and he's going to say 'you should be better by now. You've had a whole week'." Why do I do this? I thought to myself. During the lesson I scratch my legs, I breathe hard, and it's hard for me to focus. Next thing I know, I fuck up what I'm suppose to play for him.

Now YESTERDAY was HUGE for me. As you all know, those sextuplets for that solo I posted on Instagram was a Hail To The King-esque landmark for my guitar playing. I excitedly texted him, he saw the video, he praised me and said "I can't wait to watch you play it soon!"
Guess what? I fucked it up that day. Badly. As I got upset, he said, "What's wrong? You did great!" And I responded "I just was so proud of getting that and I was so excited to show you and now I can't do it. And I, as a student, want to make you proud. I played it so good yesterday and now I can't do it."

His response changed my life. And I hope it changes yours, too.
He said, "We are NEVER going to be able to play something we did great every day. It just won't happen. You always say you want to make me proud but here's the thing: I don't care if you fuck it up. I just want to see you DO it. Not to mention, there IS such a thing as playing something SO much to where you start fucking it up. You can have it great for a month and then suck at it. It's just how it is. That's why I have bad shows and good shows."

THEN, he asked me to play the rest of the solo, to which I hadn't even tapped into it yet. Then he said "So all you're focusing on is the sextuplets?"
"Yes, because it's the hardest part."
And he responded, "I'd rather see you fuck up the whole solo at a slow speed than nail those few small measures up to speed. Because the whole solo is FULL of techniques and theory I'm trying to teach you. And you're not learning them if you don't learn the whole solo."

It was then at that moment I calmed down. I hadn't realized how much I too, had been put in the hot seat of "trying to look good as a guitarist" in front of someone. So now, I understand where ALL of you are coming from when you say "I feel like I'm not good enough and I'm too scared to post."

Want to know a secret? HE FUCKED UP HIS OWN SOLO. Of course, him screwing up his own solo is FAR better than when I play it at my absolute best. But he laughed and said, "See? Even I'm fucking it up. And I forgot my own solo!"
When I watched Syn play during our little surprise lesson, he was FAR BETTER THAN I COULD EVER HOPE TO BE. But he messed up still. He gets nervous too. I saw him as perfect. But he knew where he messed up.

I wanted to share that with you all because I hope it helps inspire anyone here to take a deep breath, not rush against anything, and JUST...FUCKING...DO IT. It doesn't matter if you suck in the beginning. Just do it.

Love you all! I'm out for a walk and then I got a full 8 hours today of recording. Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

Great that you shared this with us. So true what the teacher said, but never thought about it that way.

I can relate that you want to be at your best for the teacher and then mess up. I find the same when I practise and it goes fine and then record and it is not. But at this school that doesnt matter, everyone struggles

 

[Mariler]

Everyone knows my private teacher now. Either you've seen me bragging about him here or on Instagram, or you have seen my growth videos. But what I HAVE NOT shared yet, are some things about how we view ourselves as guitarists. And this was what I wanted to share with everyone, especially because so many students here suffer from anxiety and lack of confidence.

EVERY...FUCKING...LESSON I get nervous. When I say nervous; I mean my heart races, I'm frantic, I even start crying. I bash my studies in to double-time mode and I take everything VERY serious. When I fuck up, I think "Oh my God. He's going to see me mess up and he's going to say 'you should be better by now. You've had a whole week'." Why do I do this? I thought to myself. During the lesson I scratch my legs, I breathe hard, and it's hard for me to focus. Next thing I know, I fuck up what I'm suppose to play for him.

Now YESTERDAY was HUGE for me. As you all know, those sextuplets for that solo I posted on Instagram was a Hail To The King-esque landmark for my guitar playing. I excitedly texted him, he saw the video, he praised me and said "I can't wait to watch you play it soon!"
Guess what? I fucked it up that day. Badly. As I got upset, he said, "What's wrong? You did great!" And I responded "I just was so proud of getting that and I was so excited to show you and now I can't do it. And I, as a student, want to make you proud. I played it so good yesterday and now I can't do it."

His response changed my life. And I hope it changes yours, too.
He said, "We are NEVER going to be able to play something we did great every day. It just won't happen. You always say you want to make me proud but here's the thing: I don't care if you fuck it up. I just want to see you DO it. Not to mention, there IS such a thing as playing something SO much to where you start fucking it up. You can have it great for a month and then suck at it. It's just how it is. That's why I have bad shows and good shows."

THEN, he asked me to play the rest of the solo, to which I hadn't even tapped into it yet. Then he said "So all you're focusing on is the sextuplets?"
"Yes, because it's the hardest part."
And he responded, "I'd rather see you fuck up the whole solo at a slow speed than nail those few small measures up to speed. Because the whole solo is FULL of techniques and theory I'm trying to teach you. And you're not learning them if you don't learn the whole solo."

It was then at that moment I calmed down. I hadn't realized how much I too, had been put in the hot seat of "trying to look good as a guitarist" in front of someone. So now, I understand where ALL of you are coming from when you say "I feel like I'm not good enough and I'm too scared to post."

Want to know a secret? HE FUCKED UP HIS OWN SOLO. Of course, him screwing up his own solo is FAR better than when I play it at my absolute best. But he laughed and said, "See? Even I'm fucking it up. And I forgot my own solo!"
When I watched Syn play during our little surprise lesson, he was FAR BETTER THAN I COULD EVER HOPE TO BE. But he messed up still. He gets nervous too. I saw him as perfect. But he knew where he messed up.

I wanted to share that with you all because I hope it helps inspire anyone here to take a deep breath, not rush against anything, and JUST...FUCKING...DO IT. It doesn't matter if you suck in the beginning. Just do it.

Love you all! I'm out for a walk and then I got a full 8 hours today of recording. Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

I’m loving this post and I’ll tell you why. Working as a school counselor for years, I see every day how a lot of talented students get frustrated, their results are really bad. But I can tell you for sure that the problem is not them, the problem is that we often focus too much on teaching our students for success, and that’s wrong and breaks a lot of dreams.

What’s really important is to focus on teaching the whole process of learning. An essential part of that process is messing up and making mistakes and then try to figure out what went wrong and learn the weapons to fix it. It’s like when Syn messes up and you don’t even notice. He just knows how to fix it right on the spot.

According to what you say about Bill, I would say he is an awesome teacher (and because of my job I can swear to you that I can smell a good teacher from miles away ). He guides you along the way of your learning process, he shows you how to practice, he has your back when you get frustrated...His focus is on how you are learning, and not on your success, he’s there to help you. Of course he’ll be proud of you when you make progress, but what is the most important is how you got there and that’s the beauty of learning.

None of us can learn how to succeed but we can learn how to work hard enough to get there or at least the closest possible.

We are imperfect and just learn how to deal with it and face frustration. And we have the right to be imperfect and keep learning. No frustrations, hard work is the only way.

 

[John Robinson]

Everyone knows my private teacher now. Either you've seen me bragging about him here or on Instagram, or you have seen my growth videos. But what I HAVE NOT shared yet, are some things about how we view ourselves as guitarists. And this was what I wanted to share with everyone, especially because so many students here suffer from anxiety and lack of confidence.

EVERY...FUCKING...LESSON I get nervous. When I say nervous; I mean my heart races, I'm frantic, I even start crying. I bash my studies in to double-time mode and I take everything VERY serious. When I fuck up, I think "Oh my God. He's going to see me mess up and he's going to say 'you should be better by now. You've had a whole week'." Why do I do this? I thought to myself. During the lesson I scratch my legs, I breathe hard, and it's hard for me to focus. Next thing I know, I fuck up what I'm suppose to play for him.

Now YESTERDAY was HUGE for me. As you all know, those sextuplets for that solo I posted on Instagram was a Hail To The King-esque landmark for my guitar playing. I excitedly texted him, he saw the video, he praised me and said "I can't wait to watch you play it soon!"
Guess what? I fucked it up that day. Badly. As I got upset, he said, "What's wrong? You did great!" And I responded "I just was so proud of getting that and I was so excited to show you and now I can't do it. And I, as a student, want to make you proud. I played it so good yesterday and now I can't do it."

His response changed my life. And I hope it changes yours, too.
He said, "We are NEVER going to be able to play something we did great every day. It just won't happen. You always say you want to make me proud but here's the thing: I don't care if you fuck it up. I just want to see you DO it. Not to mention, there IS such a thing as playing something SO much to where you start fucking it up. You can have it great for a month and then suck at it. It's just how it is. That's why I have bad shows and good shows."

THEN, he asked me to play the rest of the solo, to which I hadn't even tapped into it yet. Then he said "So all you're focusing on is the sextuplets?"
"Yes, because it's the hardest part."
And he responded, "I'd rather see you fuck up the whole solo at a slow speed than nail those few small measures up to speed. Because the whole solo is FULL of techniques and theory I'm trying to teach you. And you're not learning them if you don't learn the whole solo."

It was then at that moment I calmed down. I hadn't realized how much I too, had been put in the hot seat of "trying to look good as a guitarist" in front of someone. So now, I understand where ALL of you are coming from when you say "I feel like I'm not good enough and I'm too scared to post."

Want to know a secret? HE FUCKED UP HIS OWN SOLO. Of course, him screwing up his own solo is FAR better than when I play it at my absolute best. But he laughed and said, "See? Even I'm fucking it up. And I forgot my own solo!"
When I watched Syn play during our little surprise lesson, he was FAR BETTER THAN I COULD EVER HOPE TO BE. But he messed up still. He gets nervous too. I saw him as perfect. But he knew where he messed up.

I wanted to share that with you all because I hope it helps inspire anyone here to take a deep breath, not rush against anything, and JUST...FUCKING...DO IT. It doesn't matter if you suck in the beginning. Just do it.

Love you all! I'm out for a walk and then I got a full 8 hours today of recording. Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

That was eye opening and here is the thing..me being a rookie you get my raw playing but with syn and bill they are good enough to cover their mistakes so its hard to tell but im glad you posted this it tore down some walls for me
Thank you so much

 

[Jak Angelescu]

That was eye opening and here is the thing..me being a rookie you get my raw playing but with syn and bill they are good enough to cover their mistakes so its hard to tell but im glad you posted this it tore down some walls for me
Thank you so much

I'm really glad you got something from this my kitten

 

[Kat the metalhead]

Thanks for sharing This is gonna help me from now on! I remember coming to you scared and sad that I couldn’t play in-front of people and kept messing up and I even messed up on one of your Instagram streams and I was so embarrassed It’s good to hear everyone messes up even our idols! I’m just gonna laugh off my mistakes from now on and if I mess up keep going! Thanks mom