• 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

How To Get More Engagement On Your Riff Videos

J

Jak Angelescu

Guest
Hey everyone! I was browsing through the media section on here to see what everyone is working on, and I see that it still seems to fall short of garnering any real, true help/feedback/attention. (Example: Forum posts will have 20 responses and riff videos won't have one)

So I thought of some things I may be able to offer as advice to help get some attention on your videos, and maybe help bring some engagement over there. Don't forget, you all can tell me to go fuck off if you want to. I'm just gonna still be a dick and offer this advice anyway.

1. Be An Active Community Member - I learned this from the fabulous @Jamie London , that to garner more social media attention to your page, comment on other people's stuff. No one cares about you if you just drop in once in a blue moon to throw up your Shreddy McShredface (@chris_is_cool reference, anyone?) clip of you showing off and then you leave forever. No one will truly care to give attention over their FRIENDS that are here. Yeah, we're friends here. And friends/good standing members earn our love and respect.

2. Avoid Posting A7X ReRuns - Yeah we get it. You and 10,000 other people on this site can play (enter the top 5 A7X solos/songs here). Show us something we haven't seen, like maybe you demonstrating WHY it's your favorite song, your techniques you learned to play the solo. So many students come here and want impressions from posting impressive A7X content and while it's great, we've all been seeing it for the last 4 years. Try showing us something of their songs/solos that you're WORKING on, something that's a goal. Students aren't going to be apt to engaging in the 166th rendition of Nightmare

3. Make Improvs/Jams Have Purpose - Not a lot of people are going to be apt to spending 7 minutes watching your jam sessions. So I think it would be best for students trying to go this route to upload 1-2 minute jam sessions with a purpose, such as "Revisiting This Scale To See If I've Improved" or "Trying To Improvise Using Super Locrian". Or even hell, "I'm Finally Loosening Up!"

4. Titles Are Everything - Jamie also taught me that in social media, ASKING for attention garners attention. If you're jamming, say "How Does My Bm Improv Make You Feel?" Or "What Kind Of Vibe Does My Chord Progression Give?" Or even more simply so, "First Solo Attempt! Feedback Please!" People love to talk about themselves. So inherently using this kind of tactic in your titles can give you feedback while allowing the viewers to be egotistical fuckjobs.

5. Avoid "Hit and Runs" - I see it way too often that students will post up their work and we never see that work again, nor do we see it improve. We post something up once and we never revisit it to (use Title Technique here) say "OMG! I Finally Landed This Solo!" Have a story to tell, and make it longer than one chapter. If you're working on a song, post it so much that we first hate you for it and then are forced to like it because you blow our minds that much.


I'm not saying this is the RIGHT way or the ONLY way. I'm just going off of personal experiences, and also common booboos I'm seeing on the media page. Notice how on the forums section, students will say "What picks do you use, how do you bend more properly?" And it gets LOADS of reactions. Try to apply this in anyway you see fit on your riff videos, even if you want to talk in the beginning.

Okay, I'm done :)
 
J

Jak Angelescu

Guest
I feel like all of this is very true! 🙌 thanks for the advice Jak! 😘
thanks, Ari! I actually used one of your videos as inspiration. I mean, you posted a video about your GNR update. You had like 15 comments on there and I felt it was probably because it was a "progress" video. I did those all the time too and so many students love to engage with those because they feel like they get to go on a journey with you and watch you bloom. It's very gratifying :)
 

ari.mac

Hot Topic Tourer
Contest Winner!
  • Jul 16, 2020
    862
    1
    3,141
    Italy
    1
    thanks, Ari! I actually used one of your videos as inspiration. I mean, you posted a video about your GNR update. You had like 15 comments on there and I felt it was probably because it was a "progress" video. I did those all the time too and so many students love to engage with those because they feel like they get to go on a journey with you and watch you bloom. It's very gratifying :)
    Oh, honored to have inspired you for this! 🥰 and yes, I noticed more engagement too and it's really gratifying to have feedback or just some support. I def love to receive it and so I always try to give back. But I totally agree that coming here once every like three months to post a perfect shreddy video and then leave does not make a lot of sense and won't get you lots of engagement. I mean this is a school, and personally I like to see the students showing their practicing, their attempts at a song, a solo, a scale, their improvs, a song they wrote and want to share with us, their tutorials to help another student and stuff like that.
     

    Lucrezia

    Music Theory Bragger
    Dec 30, 2020
    18
    77
    21
    Italy
    3
    Thank you for the advice! 🥰
    Totally agree with you when you say that seeing someone’s progress on a specific song (or in general) is like going on a journey with them.
    As for myself, I actually haven’t been on the school long and I’ve only posted one cover at the moment (yeah, Nightmare... I felt that XD) but it was already a challenge for me just to share it on here and I’m glad I did it and don’t regret it.
    From now on, I want to try and show you guys the progress I make, what I’m working on, all those things I like to see by others. It’s a school after all and we’re all here to learn and get better :)
     
    Synner Endless Summer Collection
    J

    Jak Angelescu

    Guest
    Thank you for the advice! 🥰
    Totally agree with you when you say that seeing someone’s progress on a specific song (or in general) is like going on a journey with them.
    As for myself, I actually haven’t been on the school long and I’ve only posted one cover at the moment (yeah, Nightmare... I felt that XD) but it was already a challenge for me just to share it on here and I’m glad I did it and don’t regret it.
    From now on, I want to try and show you guys the progress I make, what I’m working on, all those things I like to see by others. It’s a school after all and we’re all here to learn and get better :)
    OMG the irony of it being "Nightmare" hahaha!:ROFLMAO: I know I would definitely love to see your work for the long run! Like I would REALLY love to see you doing the whole song! ANd I agree with you about it being a school to learn and get better :)
     
    J

    Jak Angelescu

    Guest
    ah crapola. i did just the thing. im naive to this kind of stuff. my b.
    You've only been here for like 3 weeks, you're totally okay! :ROFLMAO: but you know what I LOVED about your video? You stood up and played the whole thing. That's not easy to do, and we never see it. My only suggestion would be to truly face the camera the whole time and try to "perform" for us, you know what I mean? Look into the camera directly occasionally like you were performing for fans on stage :) makes it fun! You're really good btw!

    I meant to ask you, since you signed up for the school recently, what made you join?
     

    Alicia Willis

    Moderator
    Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
    1,382
    2
    5,151
    34
    Lexington, South Carolina
    5
    Solid advice Jak ! If you need help, ask for it in the title !!! I know I'm personally more apt to click on a video of someone seeking some help as opposed to the overly edited "show off" videos.
    I can appreciate their effort and time in those videos, however, this IS a school, so seeing people asking questions, showing progress etc. is always more interesting to me personally.
     

    Alicia Willis

    Moderator
    Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
    1,382
    2
    5,151
    34
    Lexington, South Carolina
    5
    I think this is also a fantabulous (yes, I just made that word up) opportunity to let folks know that they do not have to play just A7X stuff or Syn solos here. You mentioned the "reruns" Jak, and I've often wondered if people think they have to post those things. Thats not the case at all. You guys can literally play anything you want and any genre you want ! You don't have to back yourselves into a corner and feel like you'll only be accepted if you do "x,y,and z."
     
    Synner Endless Summer Collection

    Alicia Willis

    Moderator
    Legend+
  • Nov 11, 2019
    1,382
    2
    5,151
    34
    Lexington, South Carolina
    5
    I've been wanting to post a riff that I wrote for a while now, but I've been scared. Can I have some hype please? Jak can you peer pressure me? 🤘
    Can I peer pressure you too ?!?! lol. Writing a riff is fucking HUGE !!! Please, please, please share it with us ! Something that comes from you personally is always going to be 10x better than any cover. Its a part of YOU and that's fucking amazing !
     
    J

    Jak Angelescu

    Guest
    I've been wanting to post a riff that I wrote for a while now, but I've been scared. Can I have some hype please? Jak can you peer pressure me? 🤘
    Sure. Would you like me to wipe your butt and tie your shoes too? Everyone's gotta take the plunge. Either you want this or you don't. No one should "pressure" you to do something you want to do. If you feel you need "peer pressure" and be "hyped up" to post, you don't want it like you say you do.
     

    Muz Malek

    Sold-out Crowd Surfer
    Nov 11, 2019
    270
    803
    29
    Singapore
    www.instagram.com
    10
    I've been wanting to post a riff that I wrote for a while now, but I've been scared. Can I have some hype please? Jak can you peer pressure me? 🤘
    Let's phrase it in a more positive-sounding way - instead of peer pressure - put it as inspire/motivate :)
     
    J

    Jak Angelescu

    Guest
    Let's phrase it in a more positive-sounding way - instead of peer pressure - put it as inspire/motivate :)
    I agree. I'm totally OK with giving someone courage! But we need to start being bold and courageous ourselves. If I had relied on someone inspire/motivate to do something in order to do it, I'd never get anywhere. We should all be accountable for what we want out of life and go for it!
     

    Rex_Levon

    Free Bird Player
    Jan 25, 2021
    15
    40
    31
    DooLooth MN
    18
    You've only been here for like 3 weeks, you're totally okay! :ROFLMAO: but you know what I LOVED about your video? You stood up and played the whole thing. That's not easy to do, and we never see it. My only suggestion would be to truly face the camera the whole time and try to "perform" for us, you know what I mean? Look into the camera directly occasionally like you were performing for fans on stage :) makes it fun! You're really good btw!

    I meant to ask you, since you signed up for the school recently, what made you join?
    why thank you! dimebag once said 'ya dont go to war sittin down'. it can be a whole other animal trying to play the same thing standing up than it is sittin down. i signed up for the school because i spent most of my life tryin to figure out how the hell Gates does his shit on the fiddle. always throws in different tricks on each record that takes 10 years minimum to master. their music is like watching movies but for the ears. mad respect for the man and the music. i only wish this site existed in middle school.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: chris_is_cool
    Synner Endless Summer Collection