• Join the A7X Discord!

    We're updating the community and moving all social content from the community to the Discord. All lessons related conversations will still take place here though! Join the Discord below and view the full announcement for more details

    JOIN THE DISCORD VIEW THREAD

Solo Trouble

Syn Gates

🦾
Staff member
Legend+
Sep 18, 2019
316
1
1,779
Huntington Beach
35
Go Jak!! I love this! Also, feel free to do a couple if you have time or feel like you didn’t cover enough ground(speaking to everyone, definitely felt like you filled the entire minute flawlessly Jak!!)
Oh and any Ben, or any Brian for that matter;), will do when it comes to sharing personal stories or ideas that have been crucial in shaping your playing. Remember the hashtag #teachingsyn like Jak did so I can find your videos on Instagram.
 
J

Jak Angelescu

Guest
Thank you so much! I’m glad you gave the option to do more because it was extremely difficult to narrow everything down to one minute. I would definitely love to see all Bens and all Brians contribute😋😋 @ben I noticed you haven’t Uploaded anything since July so I would definitely love to see where you’re at now And what you can teach us 🙂
 

idssdi

Sold-out Crowd Surfer
Nov 11, 2019
5,336
6,754
Groningen
11
I like your video btw(I’m really tired so I skipped saying that). I Googled for a second I can out hashtags and tag people in my posts but unless you follow me you won’t see it 😅
I think you follow me so you will be able to see it on Instagram for sure.
I put my account on hidden btw because there were simply too many scam accounts trying to follow me and it started to piss me off a little.
 
Synner Endless Summer Collection

Syn Gates

🦾
Staff member
Legend+
Sep 18, 2019
316
1
1,779
Huntington Beach
35
Hey Ids, I would strongly recommend that you try going public once more. If you hate it, then fuck it. I really want to build all of your followings and reputations as educators and influencers. The reason is… one of the very NEXT things I have planned for you, is to create a platform where people can purchase online lessons from each of you(if you’re interested). I really want to help the pillars(all levels from beginner to advanced) put some cash in their pocket for all of their dedication, hard work, and contribution. I will put a spotlight on the greatest contributors here of all levels with their résumé and accomplishments like tutorial videos and progress for others to check out. I truly believe that beginners can take lessons from other beginners that have accomplished something cool like a difficult solo or song. The knowledge of “how to learn” is often overlooked but is THE most important aspect of learning. If this community can teach, inspire, AND, make people money, this place will be a game changer! So go build your following, continue to inspire, and hopefully, make a little money!
Much Love
Syn
 
J

Jak Angelescu

Guest
If you don’t take money for this site, neither will I. You and your father gave me the greatest gift I desperately needed and it was free.
Syn, I want to tell you something and i’m sorry if this comes off weird but I mean it.
In LA I was sleeping on the floor with my singer. I had holes in my socks and my singer had to use her Metallica pin on her jacket to keep my sandal in tact. That’s how poor I was.
I was hovered over a $10 Barbie radio I bought at Radio Shack because that’s all I had to learn licks and songs.
The only guitar magazine I could afford was when my boss at Sound Arena bought them for me or my singer got them as Christmas presents.
I tried getting lessons with a jazz guy because I saw everyone else improve but me. I couldn’t shred, so no one cared.
As I saw my other peers with their endorsements, thousands of dollars of gear, MI tuitions paid for, it made me feel like I couldn’t improve because I couldn’t AFFORD to improve.
Those lessons cost me half my food budget and I couldn’t continue. I’ve improved now in ways I never thought I could. For free.
You simply telling me, “I believe in you” and your tips and this entire school means more to me than money ever could. You’re my inspiration, and so I’ll gladly follow in your footsteps and give the gift of music to others the way you and your father did to me.
I appreciate it. But I don’t need it. It’s very thoughtful of you. And I won’t judge others who choose to do it. I’ll do it for free.
Yours and PG’s support means more to me than any money ever could.
 

idssdi

Sold-out Crowd Surfer
Nov 11, 2019
5,336
6,754
Groningen
11
Hey Syn,
Depending on how much time teaching people will cost me (I need to be able to Finish my complete (bachelor+master) Applied physics studies in the coming 3 years). As long as it is not interfering wit my applied physics studies You can really put all my lessons here for free(or you don’t and I’ll buy your pickups from that money😅)
I will put my Instagram on public again(or try anyway)
I live the idea but it seems a little unfair when everyone is making money from doing lessons except you and PG while it is your school!
 
Synner Endless Summer Collection
J

Jak Angelescu

Guest
@Sayonil I absolutely loved that so much! Super useful! I also loved how you showed the Before & After! And yes. I did talk fast because I felt I had a lot of stuff to cover lol! But now that we have more than one shot to do this I won’t be as fast talking in the next 1 lol
 

Syn Gates

🦾
Staff member
Legend+
Sep 18, 2019
316
1
1,779
Huntington Beach
35
Great work Sayonil! Very well explained and great example! The reason I like short videos like this is that it’s very easy for beginners to digest. It’s one simple concept and one simple example but executed at a very high level. VERY helpful. So yes, please feel free to do more videos, we can’t have too many concepts on display. Think about theory but broken down. Love the chordal application you did Jak. How bout going into scales that work in a major chord. Another video for minor. Another for putting them together. Talk about a lick from a famous solo and whats happening in it. If that lick is 5 seconds long, you can do more with the video like discussing the harmony/chords as well as whats happening within the solo like arpeggios rhythm and scales. How bout a video for transcribing solos. Then another for actually learning to play the solo to speed.
There’s a great mental model(please look up mental models, https://fs.blog/mental-models/ ) called “First Principles” that I love. It’s a really simple concept of breaking down something to it’s simplest form. For example, “what is vibrato”. You know it when you hear it but how is it accomplished especially when there are thousands of different styles. Well at it’s simplest form, it’s the target note moving slightly in and out of tune. The bigger the vibrato the more out of tune that note gets before returning to home base. If you only use your fretting finger, then you can only bend the target note sharp, NOT flat. A vocalist can bend the note both sharp and flat so what if you prefer Lady Gaga’s vibrato to Jimi Hendrix’s(just cracked myself up with that one)? Well you may want to use a whammy bar to express a vibrato that goes both sharp and flat because no matter which way you bend a string with your finger, it will ONLY make the note sharper. But pressing the whammy bar will make the note flatter while pulling up on the whammy bar will make it sharper.
Some of you I’m sure are thinking, well duh you stupid fuck, but you’d be surprised how difficult it is for people of all levels to hear something seemingly easy they want to emulate, but not be able to execute it to their liking subsequently moving on to the next goal and repeating this very same process. When it’s put like that, couldn’t you fathom that a lot of people wake up after years of playing hating their own style and having zero clue how to fix it. This is because they don’t understand something at it’s most basic form. We aren’t all given the gift of Stevie Ray Vaughn’s feel, but if we ask ourselves “what am I hearing that makes his feel so incredible and why does mine not sound like that?”, you will begin to dissect and most importantly, understand, what comprises “SRV’s feel”, or “Lady Gaga vibrato”, or even the fuckin “Moon Walk”.
Hope my novel doesn’t confuse you as much as it confuses you ;/
 
J

Jak Angelescu

Guest
” I hope my novel doesn’t confuse you as much as it confuses you” 😂😂😂
Classic.
I actually loved the point you made about the whammy vibrato and Going both flat and sharp. I never thought about that before. There was definitely a lot of helpful information in there! And I will most certainly get on to it today.
Now I have a whole world of ideas to feature
 
Synner Endless Summer Collection

Dan Shipway

Slim Shady
  • Nov 11, 2019
    726
    158
    9
    I cant really make a video but here is another one of the most important things when soloing. Use the pentatonic. SERIOUSLY, this scale although sometimes bland can be a huge help for people struggling and it allows for so much inflection. All the notes work well with each other and it requiers little theory to know how to use it which is great for all of you who feel daunted by theory and to be honest my theory is pretty $h!t but from personal experience it is a beast of a scale for anything bluesy or for a lot of metal and rock. Stay tuned on the forum for a thread I will make about different licks, runs and the such as it will be a huge factor in motivation (I don’t really speak in videos but I will do frequent q and a’s to ensure any problems are dealt with).