GUITAR LESSONS INCOMING!!

[Hector Trejo]

What’s up guys?! So I know I’ve been M.I.A. for the past few months… The excuse I’m going to use is that it was pretty hectic graduating college, moving back home to Houston, looking for a job, and then finally finding one and sorting out my new schedule. I made sure I could still have time for my guitar projects which include the covers, original content, and also these lesson videos! In an attempt to increase attendance in this school, I am making a series of videos that I will be releasing either weekly (or bi-weekly.. these lessons take a looong time to plan/record/edit). These videos will be lessons on subjects you guys have requested over the years! But the catch is.. its going to be exclusive to the school!
So here I present the first lesson of the series – “Buried Alive: Guitar Solo Dissection”
As opposed to just giving you tabs to these solos, I take you through the process I go through when I learn solos. The goal is for you to take these concepts and apply them to other solos you would like to learn. I will admit, I kind of knew how to play the first part of this solo years ago but for the most part, I am learning this solo along with you. I show how you can learn these solos by splitting them into segments, using your ear, some music theory, and I also reference some of the lessons on the school for further study.
But I do need your help…
I would GREATLY appreciate ANY feedback you may have. I want to make sure the information I’m conveying is crystal clear so let me know if there is something you’d rather me do differently!
Please feel free to ask any questions you have below! I will try my best to check in every day! Enjoy!!

 

[idssdi]

Awesome Hector! This is a great idea!
I’ll check the whole video when I have the time so I can give you some feedback!

 

[Hector Trejo]

Thanks so much, Ids!! Can’t wait to hear what you think!

 

[Clem Dec]

Fuck yeah, you’re the MVP. (Instagram brought me here)
“That’s weird” is exactly my thought whenever I heard those chromatic runs, of any solos Syn wrote

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

this is great. you should definitely do more of these. maybe the next one on Victim!!!

 

[Calvin Phillips]

42 minutes..will have to watch tomorrow.

 

[Alejandro Martinez]

Great idea Hector!
Its great to have this kind of a7x guitar content, thank you so much!
When i have time, i will check it out and give you some feedback
Also would be great as an axe fx III user to have your synyster gates presets as i have also his cab pack but i cant get the tone you have
Greetings from Spain!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

This is so awesome Hector! I only peeked into it yet and it seems really high quality and understandable. I will need to find some time to watch it completely.

 

[Ed Seith]

15 minutes in. I recognize all the shapes and patterns, and your explanations are making it clear WHY they are shaped that way, and why he puts them where he did. This is killer stuff, Hector. I can’t wait to dig into this more!

 

[Ethan Keeling]

Cant wait to watch it later! I’m always excited when I see new posts/videos by you Hector! Always second to none!

 

[idssdi]

Very thorough dissection Hector! Well done! Loved that *die *die again reference when you coughed
The tiny little bit of feedback I have is maybe explain the passing tones as well because I’m this case in the melody part it seems to be mostly chord tones a fourth. Also, mentioning for example that E in Am usually implies either harmonic minor or melodic minor might be useful for completeness

 

[Calvin Phillips]

Watched your video and there is tons of good info in the videos. I’d assume jak does a similar path when resisting solos. A big help is hearing they play in minors for the most part. I have songs myself in g minor (majority) d minor and then my newer stuff is a mix of stuff (you wont see these songs for a while until i get another guitar).
I didn’t realize how “simple” this solo was. And by that I mean.. it wasnt fancy scales at all. Mainly simple arpeggios. Makes you realize how you can take a simple melody and make it something bigger. Big props here.
I also agree with you. Learning theory had made connections SO MUCH EASIER. Like you said.. all you gotta do is find the landing notes. And what scale syn used to connect the dots. If he went horizontal or verticle.. etc. This is a just watch for anyone wanting to learn without tabs.

 

[Hector Trejo]

Thank you guys so much!!
– Clem, I agree!
– Sayonil, thank you! I’ll definitely take that into consideration! 1st solo or 2nd solo?
– Alejandro, thanks man! I’m still working on tweaking the tones and if there is a way to upload them then I will! But it just consists of a 5150 100W red amp, a drive pedal, some compression, and Syn’s “The Stage” cab!
– Dominick, thank you! Let me know!!
– Ed, thank you!! Honestly once you start recognizing patterns and why they are placed where the are placed, these solos aren’t too bad. Something I’ve mentioned before is that when I write/learn/play solos, I don’t think about each note at a time. If I play an A minor sweep for example, I view that A minor arpeggio as one entity as opposed to multiple notes. It takes some thinking out of it!
– Ethan, thanks man! That means a lot!
– Ids, I was originally going to edit that out but then the “die” idea came to mind so I thought oh well, what the hell! I’ll definitely take that into consideration for future videos!
– Calvin, thank you so much! I can’t wait to hear your work! And yeah, honestly these solos are about getting the most on what you have. I’m sure Syn could whip out some Lydian Dominant, Harmonic Major, etc. wherever he wants to. But the fact that he can make something sound super cool with just plain old minor, is so much tastier!

 

[Eric Kane]

This is awesome Hector! Nicely done. Great explanations, and hope to see more of these!

 

[Calvin Phillips]

My stuff will be delayed a little due to my situation but if you ever wanted to hear the demos of the older stuff i have them completed. Shoot me a PM sometime.

 

[Andrew Fernandes]

Watched the whole lesson great work!! From your explanation, it seems that these solos could have been copied before like the pentatonic lick you did, and the A minor sweep I think it is. My point I am trying to say is I perceived that solo or songwriting making more complex as in notes being more jumbled and more unique patterns than it actually is. Like, for example, the beginning arpeggios surely someone has done that before I am guessing this is where the rhythmic tempo and repetition play a part in making these patterns notes unique and dissimilar. I hope I don’t come across as offensive or too naive. I found this lesson very entertaining I am not really well versed in theory however at one point I could sort of guess the note on the fretboard u was meant to play towards the end of that before you found it out. I used your lesson as an ear exercise also like playing along with using my ear. It was interesting to see your thought process and explanation.
I was going to share this on my youtube community tab but it is unlisted so I won’t. But I would if you wanted me to.





This reply was modified 2 months ago by  Andrew Fernandes.

 

[Ed Seith]

Andrew, I do know Hector said he wants this to be for the school ONLY. That may change later, but for now, that’s how he wants it, and I think that’s cool.

 

[Andrew Fernandes]

Thanks, Ed I realised that I only wanted to that because I like helping people, and hector did a great job so naturally, I wanted to help. I am not gonna do that I guessed he didn’t want it to be shared because of it being unlisted. What do you think about my comment on the originality of solos?

 

[Ed Seith]

I agree with it. Dissecting a solo and knowing the theory behind it takes some of the mystery out of it, for sure. The witchcraft is not always in the notes, but in what you do with them.
However, my problem with learning Syn’s stuff is that within his note choices, the intervals in his melodic choices are really foreign to most of the guitar playing I grew up on, and that’s where I have difficulty remembering what I’ve learned of his leads – the muscle memory for me fades very quickly on them, which is part of why I appreciate what Hector’s doing here. I hope I can springboard it into understanding the melodic math, which could help my memorization of his stuff.

 

[Calvin Phillips]

I think syn just changes as the chords change. So hes constantly going from one scale to another. Like the arpeggios for example followed the chords. What I didn’t realize was the fucking duet is literally 4 notes. It sounded much more complex then that.
Even though hes jumping scales hes still staying in the arpeggios. Its crazy to see how it all relates together. I can understand seeing different paths tho in Ed’s case. I imagine every artist has a “favourite path” to take. Their go to route.