New Year, New Decade, Better You

[Kai C]

Hello my Synner family, I hope all of your holidays are going well, wherever you are in the world. @Calvin Phillips pointed out something on Rowans' post concerning @Jak Angelescu the other day. He mentioned how things get a little dead around here when Jak is not around and we need to be the ones to keep it alive. He's right; she can't be the only one holding the school together so I thought up a challenge literally anybody can get involved in. I am no Jak, but I do love this school and all the opportunity that it brings. And I love all of you. So I hope to see every one of your involvements.

We have 2 weeks until a new decade but you're still going to be stuck with the same you. And while everybody at this school is already pretty damn interesting, it never hurts to work on a little improvement. PSA: an asteroid could hit and blow us all off our stage at any time, so why not make that improvement now? Don't wait for 2020, start now. And I'm issuing the smack down. I want you to post a video compilation of your improvement from this year.

Include:
-an old video clip. The oldest one from this year, the oldest one you've ever recorded, one from last week/last month... it doesn't matter
-record something brand new, anything that shows you're different from your previous clip
-write below your video link clearly obtainable goals for 2020. We all say we're getting back to the gym or finally going to use a metronome consistently (but never really do). So put down some goals that you can actually work towards this year, and that you really WANT to work towards
-Reply positively to posters, and give firm and solid advice where things need to be improved

When 2020 comes to end, this challenge today will be your new start point. It's not a race, it's a marathon. Hope to see you here.
~Kai


And if anybody is distraught and anxious at the thought that we might end at any point... just remember the song Acid Rain; Life wouldn't be so precious dear if there never was an end ...Not even stars last forever . So sorry for any possible meltdowns.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Love it! I thought the exact same thing about Jak and the school. But honestly we can't have challenges and activities ALL the time.
Nevertheless I love this challenge!

Of course I am in but I'll cheat a little with the video, as I uploaded something more or less fitting yesterday: My Journey with Buried Alive.

https://syngates.com/media/my-journey-with-buried-alive-playing-the-intro-2016-2019.2517/

This already leading up to my goals, I really want to get the WHOLE song down. So especially got to work on those solos and maybe get a cover up before the end of 2020?
Also I feel so motivated to explore more blues and rock stuff and hope to dive deeper into the lessons and theory next year.
Also also, learning more FULL songs, some more together with @Alexander Graeber
Besides guitar, do some more art, see some fantastic live bands, have a great year (last point may not be achieved, who knows )

 

[Kai C]

Here's mine. The original clips are from my second week of picking up the guitar this past June and the follow ons are from an hour prior to posting the challenge. I have mics waiting for me from Cyber Monday when I get into my mom's house for Christmas... so next time I make a video hopefully the audio will be smoother.

My goals for 2020:
-Relax. I'm always tense and it takes solid warm up to get into the groove of strumming and FEEL the music.
-Continue guitar theory. This year I'm going to learn chord construction, which key to play in at what time, and be able to find my root note(s) whenever I need to on the fly.
-Finally work on a repertoire; I want to finish Buried Alive, and work on Coming Home by my Avenged Bois. Hallowed Be Thy Name by Iron Maiden. War Pigs by Black Sabbath. And Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.
-Get back into my drawing
-Edit: I forgot to add that I want to try busking. I need to get in front of audience so I can break the jitters and I figure that's a good start

I'm finally moving to Okinawa tomorrow so it will be a while longer before I can make any more videos. I'll be in Portland, Oregon over the holidays before I fly far East so if anybody in that area wants to meet and grab coffee that would be cool. And December 28 will be my birthday so I'm going to try and work on something to post here in remembrance of our favorite drummer. A warning, I am not this outgoing or flamboyant in person; I am a lot quieter. This place is an outlet and I puke and piss all over the forums just as Syn advised me to do. If anybody wants anything special from Japan like snacks just message me here or you can find me on Facebook. Search Kyle Combass and I promise you I'm the only one you'll find.

 

[Kai C]

@Dominik Gräber I cheated by already seeing your video lmao. It was great! I agree, if there are too many challenges people are going to start getting anxious over which ones to prioritize. @Andrei Moraru recently had a wonderful post about things you've accomplished in 2019, which was the inspiration for this challenge. The twist is I want to see/ hear the accomplishments. This is also a good starting point for anybody who hasn't posted. I personally don't feel good enough or experienced enough to participate in most of the challenges... but I felt this could be a good point for anybody to start as well as a confidence booster to jump in.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Here's mine. The original clips are from my second week of picking up the guitar this past June and the follow ons are from an hour prior to posting the challenge. I have mics waiting for me from Cyber Monday when I get into my mom's house for Christmas... so next time I make a video hopefully the audio will be smoother.

My goals for 2020:
-Relax. I'm always tense and it takes solid warm up to get into the groove of strumming and FEEL the music.
-Continue guitar theory. This year I'm going to learn chord construction, which key to play in at what time, and be able to find my root note(s) whenever I need to on the fly.
-Finally work on a repertoire; I want to finish Buried Alive, and work on Coming Home by my Avenged Bois. Hallowed Be Thy Name by Iron Maiden. War Pigs by Black Sabbath. And Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd.
-Get back into my drawing

I'm finally moving to Okinawa tomorrow so it will be a while longer before I can make any more videos. I'll be in Portland over the holidays before I fly far East so if anybody in that area wants to meet and grab coffee that would be cool. And December 28 will be my birthday so I'm going to try and work on something to post here in remembrance of our favorite drummer. A warning, I am not this outgoing or flamboyant in person; I am a lot quieter. This place is an outlet and I puke and piss all over the forums just as Syn advised me to do. If anybody wants anything special from Japan like snacks just message me here or you can find me on Facebook. Search Kyle Combass and I promise you I'm the only one you'll find.

Wait, you picked up the guitar in June and getting into Buried Alive and Theory??
Man I feel soo slow at learning guitar Great goals and watching your video I definetly see you getting there. Coming Home is a beast though. Listen to that solo.
Also, moving to Japan must be so exciting! Save travels!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

@Dominik Gräber I cheated by already seeing your video lmao. It was great! I agree, if there are too many challenges people are going to start getting anxious over which ones to prioritize. @Andrei Moraru recently had a wonderful post about things you've accomplished in 2019, which was the inspiration for this challenge. The twist is I want to see/ hear the accomplishments. This is also a good starting point for anybody who hasn't posted. I personally don't feel good enough or experienced enough to participate in most of the challenges... but I felt this could be a good point for anybody to start as well as a confidence booster to jump in.

Cheater! Anyway, everybody in this thread should be able see it so it's fine
Even I know this feeling of not being good enough for a challenge. I say even because I have already some years of playing under my belt, although not much to show. We really should think about some overall beginner friendly challenges in the future!

 

[Kai C]

@Dominik Gräber Yeah I just started this year but honestly I'm not in school or in a relationship/ married so I just have time to throw at this. Theory helps and just from reading these forums and talking to everybody here I truly believe it is the key to learning this instrument... but it can't beat hard practice. It does no good to point out what something is without being able to apply it. And yeah, Coming Home will be a beast (3 fucking guitar parts and that solo man) but it's one of my favorite songs and I want to give it a good try. As far as challenges go, I do think beginners should think of beginner challenges. We have really talented and amazing players here and asking them to be more cognizant of newbies is like adjusting an entire school curriculum or work schedule to meet the needs of the slowest student/employee.

 

[Andrew Milner]

I must say, 2019 was a year in which the biggest thing I have improved is my mental health...any my singing voice, but I do not have a video yet.

Nevertheless, I do have a video I am proud of, which I posted yesterday. This is a cover I have been working on for quite a while (you know, on and off) and after an agonizing amount of time, it's finally done.


What can I say, I love me some Dragon Ball.

As for 2020, I have many goals set in mind, but as far as music goes, these are the ones:
- improve my singing voice - it took a solid year to reach a voice that I am comfortable with and I want to reach a level that is good enough to record
- create a portfolio - even if at first they are covers only, it should help

There are some others, but they are too broad at the moment. I need to refine them.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

I must say, 2019 was a year in which the biggest thing I have improved is my mental health...any my singing voice, but I do not have a video yet.

Nevertheless, I do have a video I am proud of, which I posted yesterday. This is a cover I have been working on for quite a while (you know, on and off) and after an agonizing amount of time, it's finally done.


What can I say, I love me some Dragon Ball.

As for 2020, I have many goals set in mind, but as far as music goes, these are the ones:
- improve my singing voice - it took a solid year to reach a voice that I am comfortable with and I want to reach a level that is good enough to record
- create a portfolio - even if at first they are covers only, it should help

There are some others, but they are too broad at the moment. I need to refine them.

Mental health is insanely important for... everything. Good that you could take it to a better direction.
Looking foreward to a singing video and more covers too!

 

[Kai C]

@Andrei Moraru That cover was I'm glad you're heading in a direction that's good for you

 

[carlosmqr]

Heres my video, 1st part in March had the guitar for two weeks maybe, the 2nd part just recorded today.


Goals for 2020, most of all just keep practicing and enjoying but I would like to cover at least one a7x song, solo included, maybe record some original song just for fun and creativity, learn at least a bit of theory...

Kai just playing since June, thats impressive!
Dominik so clean now, I was watching the video and just smiled when was changing to another year the improvement was huge as every year was going by!
Andrei I loved the cover and Im happy about your mental health!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Heres my video, 1st part in March had the guitar for two weeks maybe, the 2nd part just recorded today.


Goals for 2020, most of all just keep practicing and enjoying but I would like to cover at least one a7x song, solo included, maybe record some original song just for fun and creativity, learn at least a bit of theory...

Kai just playing since June, thats impressive!
Dominik so clean now, I was watching the video and just smiled when was changing to another year the improvement was huge as every year was going by!
Andrei I loved the cover and Im happy about your mental health!

Thanks and Love your Video! Your a7x Cover sounded really good although you still seemed a little stiff. So keep at it, maybe a little more vibrato Here and there and it will be awesome!

 

[John Robinson]

I dont have video but coming from a tab background i know more chords than i ever have and can chord them without clunkers,i know strumming patterns.i have learned so much since i have been here

 

[Kai C]

Heres my video, 1st part in March had the guitar for two weeks maybe, the 2nd part just recorded today.


Goals for 2020, most of all just keep practicing and enjoying but I would like to cover at least one a7x song, solo included, maybe record some original song just for fun and creativity, learn at least a bit of theory...

Kai just playing since June, thats impressive!
Dominik so clean now, I was watching the video and just smiled when was changing to another year the improvement was huge as every year was going by!
Andrei I loved the cover and Im happy about your mental health!

Hey man sorry I just got to this, the last 48 hours have been hell. I'm going to agree with Dominik; still pretty stiff, but it was really good. You cleanly kept time with those songs really well and that impressed me. I can't play at any speed with a song for shit (hey that's a new goal to work with in 2020). Plus you're recording so there's always a pressure to have a "perfect performance". So just keep on keeping on and you'll loosen up.

 

[Kai C]

@John Robinson I feel ya. I always have rock and roll fantasies of being the lead guy. But since I started learning chords here I find those to be the real joy of playing.

 

[carlosmqr]

Dominik Gräber Kai C thanks guys, but yeah definitely stiff xD I need to work on that but I think it goes away with practice and time, but anyway any sugestion on how to work on it? Cant say "try to relax" I try that all the time xD other thing is that I learned the solo last weekend so still pretty fresh and mechanical that doesnt help too I think!

 

[Kai C]

Dominik Gräber Kai C thanks guys, but yeah definitely stiff xD I need to work on that but I think it goes away with practice and time, but anyway any sugestion on how to work on it? Cant say "try to relax" I try that all the time xD other thing is that I learned the solo last weekend so still pretty fresh and mechanical that doesnt help too I think!

Oh god haha you really can't just say "try to relax". It's like telling a depressed person to just be happy. Honestly it might just depend on why you're stiff. Do you yourself feel stiff?

If it's because you're on video then you might be in front of us as an audience. Which in case you just get used to doing it by doing it more. Or because you're not in a comfortable position or your usual position so you might need to adjust camera angle/ sitting position.

If it's the guitar, like you need to press hard/strum hard to get sounds then you might need to adjust tension.

Or just stiff in general then that's going to be in posture, breathing, stretching and warming up before hand, and doing warm up exercises to get comfortable.

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Dominik Gräber Kai C thanks guys, but yeah definitely stiff xD I need to work on that but I think it goes away with practice and time, but anyway any sugestion on how to work on it? Cant say "try to relax" I try that all the time xD other thing is that I learned the solo last weekend so still pretty fresh and mechanical that doesnt help too I think!

For me, every time it happened to me is because I still focused too much in playing Something RIGHT. But at some Point you will Just find yourself sitting down and PLAYING. That's when you will have a really smooth Motion because you Stop thinking

 

[carlosmqr]

Hey thanks for the tips! One of the reasons Im sure is because I had just learned the solo and Im playing and kind of thinking where the fingers go next, trying to keep the tempo etc and Im sure that causes tension, but definitely Im sure Im pretty tense although I dont really feel it most of the time. I believe at some point I will just feel really confortable playing but yes, I dont feel it now specially when Im learning something.