Some Friendly Advice Needed

[Brian Haner Sr.]

This thread makes me so happy. This is why this school exists. There are a ton of places where you can go to be abused by “better” guitarists.
I feel your pain, Jak. EVERY SINGLE TIME I pick up a guitar in public, I am compared to my son. We have completely different styles and philosophies when it comes to playing. Yet I get comments everyday from people – “how come you can’t shred like Syn?” Well – because I spent my life doing something different. I am truly blown away by what he does, but it was never my thing. Never will be. And conversely, he wouldn’t have been happy doing what I do and playing on other people’s music.
And though we have both made our entire livings playing guitar, there are plenty of people who hate us both. lol. Those people are not part of my reality. They will never support what I do so I don’t think about them. They are black holes who will steal your joy, suck the marrow out of your soul and then move on to the next victim. I care about the people who support what I do. Whether it’s someone who has hired me for a session, someone who has bought one of my CDs, or someone here who I have helped. These are the people I care about. The people I think about. The people I invest myself in.
You have received a ton of good advice already from these wonderful people, but here’s my 2 cents:
There are a couple of ways to handle what you’re going through. You can let it eat away at you and become paralyzed and scared to play – or – like Syn said, you can use it to your benefit. Why worry about someone who will never support you – no matter what you do? A7X doesn’t make music for people who hate them and don’t buy tickets. They make music for themselves and the people who love them.
I always go back to what Matt said in an early interview about A7X. He said – it seems like for every person that loves us, another hates us. So my goal in life is to make 10 million people hate us. Mission accomplished, (and then some).
You have something very special. Your abilities to learn, share, and encourage others are next level. We didn’t pick you out at random. We NOTICED what you were doing. You “stuck out”. Keep doing exactly what you are doing. Make music for you. Be as great as you can be. Keep helping others who need encouragement. All the things you want will fall into place.
As I have said many times – we are all on the same road here. Some of us are just further down that road. As a player, you might not be as far along as you want to be – but as a human being you are further along than most people get in a lifetime.
Chin up!
Don’t you dare let them rob you of your beautiful spirit!
I BELIEVE IN YOU!!!
PG

 

[Jak Angelescu]

Daniel, I am so glad you and I have very similar stories! Thank you so much for your kindness and your support. Knowing that you’re going through the same thing I’m going through really truly means the world to me.
And Papa Gates, I personally feel terrible for you. I think what bothers me the most when people compare you to your son is that nobody really realizes that your son wouldn’t be who he is without the kindness and knowledge you bestowed upon him and all of your love and support and influence. I remember reading one of his interviews and they asked who his favorite guitarists were. He laughed and said “You mean somebody other than my dad?” Nobody takes that into consideration. And I always see on YouTube among other places that people want to see you and Syn “battle it out”. I don’t like it when guitar players battle anything out. I love it so much when you can hear the individuality of each player come through. You can hear it in every Infamous guitar duo whether it be Teru and Hizaki of Jupiter, KK Downing and Glenn Tipton of Judas Priest, or thousands of other bands. I love your playing specifically because of how you approach things. I always imagined you being like the Miles Davis and I would be the Herbie Hancock if I were to jam with you. I remember one time Herbie said he thought he was playing something so incredibly wrong, but Miles took it and made it right with what he did. You have an amazing gift of making the most awful sounding notes sound absolutely beautiful and nobody can do it the way you can. I know I’ve said this a thousand times before but I will say it a thousand times more, you are one of my biggest influences. Not just in music but in life. And I still thank you so much for the school. It’s been the support that has helped me Elevate to the next level in my playing and musicianship with my singer. I will forever be eternally grateful for everything you all have done for us.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

PS I’d like to add something to you and Syn both, Papa Gates…
What people don’t understand is that I hear a lot of your influence in your son’s playing as well. He’s not just a Mindless Shredder. I have been listening to the solo for Fermi Paradox a lot lately. There is so much feel and so much delicate Melody in that solo. He is a very fast player and there are some things that he can do ridiculously well. But there is one thing that he inherited from you and that’s his sense of Melody and feel. So that’s another reason why I wish people would stop comparing you two together. You have your individual qualities but you both still have amazing things that you share!

 

[Andrew Fernandes]

For me i had one guy saying “syn must be thinking.. this kid sucks” I normally would argue with them but i just blocked him from being on my channel on youtube. The best thing to do is ignore and block, they just jealous. For me it was such a strain on me it hurt me deeply when he said that but if you engage with them they’ll try to make you feel worse.

 

[idssdi]

@andrew yeah usually ignoring isn’the best thing to do (even though I’m very poor at thathe at the moment). Maybe he didn’t know what that contest was about so screw him and maybe he doesn’t even would be able to do anything musical to save his/her life, which knows

 

[Tory Capman]

Jak without you, this site would be lacking a very valuable asset. And the fact that you’re a great guitarist, but still have things to work on, only increases your value.
Fuck the haters. We’ve all met them. We’re Sevenfold fans and we all know what kind of hate the band gets and now we, as students of Syn, get to feel some of that fire.
The amount of inspiration that you provide is priceless!
Don’t not post because of the haters. You have to keep posting. For the students. It would be a crime to hold back your abilities and love to share knowledge!

 

[Noah Berends]

They hate because they’re jealous. I dunno about you but that’s sorta a confidence booster for me, knowing that someone is jealous enough of what you can do that they’ll go out of their way to put out some sort of feeble half assed comment because they’re too lazy to get out there and get good themselves. I’ve heard a lot of people I find influential talk about this and they’ve all been affected by this at some point and always will be, but as said, for every person that loves what you do there’ll seemingly be another who hates what you do. So have fun with the people who *DO* love what you do, because they’re there!

 

[Dominik Gräber]

Fun Story (fun in quotation Marks) that I think fits in here.
@jak when Syn gave the shoutout I got to admit when I first saw it I was like “cool, but what’s so special about her that she represents the school more than anyone Else?” and also the First time entering the forum after this, in my mind it was a little Like “oh, it’s her again”. But of course These thoughts were sooo wrong and I pointed Out These reasons already in my last Post Here.
So my Point is. It is super easy to build an opinion on something, especially on the Internet. Even more, you Always have an opinion on something. I was a little jealous myself at first. But people that don’t Go further then and ask for the reason behind something are Not even Worth judging a Situation, or Here: judging you.
Just another thought to keep in Mind when Reading some mean comments next time

 

[Jen Hapke]

I agree with all the comments here but I want to add some things:
Most of the haters are ever jealous or have no idea what they are talking about.
For example the person who made the comment about the “two years and not at full speed” has no idea what you are really doing. Because I really admire the time you spend on learning everything so accurate. I am totally sure that you could have learned it faster if you just learned it with help of tabs or tutorial videos. But this wouldn’t turn out that accurate and awesome like it turns out now for you. And I actually think that you have increased your speed pretty fast the last few months and its sooooo clean! You really care for every little detail and that is what makes it awesome.
I don’t think that the people who wonder why you got the shout out are part of this community. Because if they where they would see why you got the shout out. You are basically everywhere here and you are one of the most encouraging persons I ever “met” and probably will ever “meet”!
To the comment of the dude who wants you to do afterlife: I see this so often on youtube that many comments are only request and no word of: “You did great”. I think it should always be up to you to choose what you want to do or not. These people are not in charge (don’t know if this is the right word) to tell you what to do.
So just keep up what you are doing and most important do what you WANT to do and not what people are telling you to do.

 

[Jen Hapke]

@jake Arnold I would love to see your tutorial. I am sure you can teach some awesome things.

 

[Brian Haner Sr.]

Thanks Jak – I am most definitely a much better player because of my son. I would like to think that some of me has rubbed off on him as well.

 

[Jak Angelescu]

@jake, I agree with Jen! Please post stuff up! You only get better the more you do it! Believe it or not, I have to stop and take several takes because I catch myself rambling, fumbling up my theory, or something dumb happens like a mosquito lands on my nose (curses of living in the country). We all have something we can learn from each other.
@dominik, thank you for being so honest and amazing with your story. I will always cherish your kind words, support and I love seeing you grow. (Totally loved your first riff, btw!!)
@andrew The SAD part of it is, is those people don’t realize it’s called a LESSON. We are all here to learn. And those who think “Wow, Syn must be thinking how shitty this guy is” couldn’t be more wrong about how Syn actually is. That’s not like him at all. You just helped me realize how much it’s true when I see people expecting perfection. You’re growing and getting better everyday. And that’s all that matters.
@Jen You really put some things into perspective for me there! Thank you SOOO much!!!

 

[Jake Arnold]

@Jen Thank you for the encouragement! I suppose you and Jak have talked me into doing it… You are wonderful people.
@jak Thank you as well! I’m sure I’m gonna do alot of takes bc I can get way overly goofy alot of the time (you’ll see) hahah
See this right here is another reason you are awesome, you help make people feel welcome when it can be intimidating to post stuff with all the great players that are on here.
You are all awesome.

 

[Robert Freeborn]

Hey Jak!
I’m not surprised you’re dealing with this, the internet can be a dark place! Your feelings are totally reasonable. In fact, the thought of trolls is what’s kept me from uploading more unpolished riffs. However, at the end of the day, we’ve got to remember that this is a school, not a talent show! Even if we’re not the best, that’s fine! In fact, I’d say that’s the point! If we’re not enhancing our abilities here, and instead are only posting videos for the chance that Syn can notice us, we’re in the wrong place. It’s tough, but you’re doing exactly what the school was designed for: learning, sharing your progress, and getting recognized for it! There’s nothing wrong with that! Also even though you have to deal with all these haters, remember just who it was that put you in the spotlight to begin with. I’d trust boss judgment over theirs any day

 

[Rebecca Brotherston]

I can’t believe you are getting messages like that from people, they are so horrible and are just jealous. I know personally how hard it is but just try and ignore them, your brilliant and earned that shout out. I am still trying to work up the courage to put up videos but I am terrified to because of haters.

 

[idssdi]

I actually just realized that the lyrics of this song perfectly describe the thing on high expectations.

 

[Dan Shipway]

You are a great guitarist and shouldn’t be afraid to post your progress, there is pressure but don’t let that stop you, I put pressure on myself but it’s mainly about realising that when people put pressure on you, it shouldn’t affect you. Its what they expect you to be and not who you are, as soon as it all sinks in and you are able to block it out the easier it will be because you do you and it doesn’t matter about all of that crazy shit .If they don’t want to watch your videos and they are putting pressure on you that’s their problem. Just keep doing what you are doing and ignore anyone like that

 

[Josh Wright]

This is a great community, and what I want to add is you aren’t playing for them, you are playing for you. Don’t let them get to you. What I love about what you are doing is you are able to play fast, but you slow down and you aren’t just mindlessly shredding.