Steve Vai -- My Ears are Still Ringing..

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Kronx

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We all have our musical legends that we hold with great respect. For me, Steve Vai is one of those legends. His music, I admit, is an acquired taste of sorts. So I understand if many aren't fans of his music. But if he ever comes through your town and you love great guitarists, I highly recommend seeing one of his shows. My girlfriend doesn't ever listen to his music, but she loves seeing him live. He doesn't hold back always puts all his energy in his shows.

He played here in St. Louis last night. My second time seeing him live and he never ceases to amaze me with his musicianship. I walked away from the show last night just realizing that there is nothing this man HASN'T mastered on a guitar. You get this sense he has explored every possible way one could play, tune, setup their guitar and make something sound really cool from it.

"Hey I wonder what a guitar running through a 1980 Echoplex and then a processor replacing the guitar notes with the sounds of swords clashing from the movie 300 would sound like? And instead of a pick you play with a thick piece of dried pasta." Steve Vai could probably tell you and recommend his preferred brand of pasta picks. Like you just get this sense he's literally tried it all. And he makes it all look so 'effin' effortless.

I feel very fortunate I've been able to see one of the greatest(if not THE greatest) guitar players who has ever lived play live -- twice.

One of my favorite songs he's done is one called For the Love of God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IrWyZ0KZuk
 
Man I loved that movie. I watched that movie so many times as a teenager. I can quote that scene with Willy Brown, Lightening Boy, and the Devil just before the "Cuttin' Heads" part word for word. "You got what you were supposed to get bluesman! Ain't nothing ever good as we want it to be. <slides into that easy grin> But that's no reason to break deal." Love that scene!

But thanks for providing those clips because it sort of visualizes what I came away with last night. In the movie Jack Butler is clearly talented but eventually struggles when introduced to a different way to play. I think even the greats like Clapton, Jeff Beck, etc have walls they could potentially hit and may need to practice on. I came away from the show last night with this feeling like no matter what you threw at Vai.... he wouldn't trip up like his movie character does. Like he's already practiced and mastered any way you could possible imagine to play a guitar.

In fact that's how they opened the show last night was with Crossroads clips.

When it comes my favorite guitar players of all time, for me Stevie Ray Vaughn was it. But I think even SRV would say even his mastery of the guitar falls short of Vai's.
 
Gotta give props to Steve Vai, the man is amazing, no doubt. However, in the guitar god category for me its Joe Satriani. Surfing With the Alien is an album that every guitar enthusiast should own. But even he is not my favorite, there are so many great ones to choose from, but I think right now my favorite to listen to is Jeff Healy. That may change next week...
 
Ry Cooder never got the recognition for the guitar work in Crossroads.
Guys you should check out The Aristocrats.
 
Gotta give props to Steve Vai, the man is amazing, no doubt. However, in the guitar god category for me its Joe Satriani. Surfing With the Alien is an album that every guitar enthusiast should own. But even he is not my favorite, there are so many great ones to choose from, but I think right now my favorite to listen to is Jeff Healy. That may change next week...

Yea who my favorite to listen to and who I think is the most talented might be two different categories. I too am a huge Satch fan. I've seen him live 3 times and I prefer his music over Vai's solo work.

I'm too a fan of Healey(RIP). If you like great guitarists who play the blues check out:

Joe Bonamassa - I've seen him live twice and this guy is a true student of the blues and a master guitar player. He toured with BB King as a teenager and you can hear the BB King influence in the way he sings(IMO). His cover of Led Zepplin's Tea for One just blows me away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm832iUmL6Y

Gary Clark Jr.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBkkRiqMLQw
 
Ry Cooder never got the recognition for the guitar work in Crossroads.
Guys you should check out The Aristocrats.

I agree Ry Cooder didn't get the accolades he deserved for that movie. I will check out the Aristocrats! Thanks for the recommendation!
 
I agree Ry Cooder didn't get the accolades he deserved for that movie. I will check out the Aristocrats! Thanks for the recommendation!

Many times true artists dont get the accolades, and often they dont seem overly concerned about it.

Thanks for mentioning this artist, I was not familiar with him but I really like him. Very talented and in no way generic. I'm adding this to my list of things to add to the library. I'll put him up there with Satriana, Page, and Garcia (I know, oddball favorites).
 
I saw him a few months back in Ventura Ca at the Majestic Theater. Hadn't seen him live since the first G3 back in '96. Steve is just too freakin' good. He even had to create his own scales, and have a guitar made that had frets set so he could play them correctly:

"What I did was take the 12-tone tow and make sampled notes of it on the keyboard. Then what I like to do is experiment with different temperaments. [Ed. Note – The 12-note European tempered scale is only one way of dividing up the frequency range between octaves. Different systems exist in other cultures and in the work of composers like LaMonte Young and Wendy Carlos. Some modern synthesizers offer alternate temperaments.]

I have this book where I keep all these different scales, where I divided the octave up into different steps – like maybe 9 or 10 equal steps. I call these scales “fractals.” At the end of “Deep Down Into The Pain” I used a scale that’s based on dividing the octave into 16 equal steps, instead of the 12 steps of the conventional tempered scale. So each half-step within that is not quite a conventional half-step – it’s 60 microsteps as opposed to 100 microsteps. Instead of calling it a half-step, I call it a “quasar.” Then the “whole step” is 120 microsteps, instead of 200 microsteps. Instead of calling it a whole step, I call that a “nova.” All these different intervals create the Xavian scale, a 10-note scale that I extracted from this 16-note row. You take this scale and play chords with it and it’s like divine dissonance, because all the intervals are twisted.

Every six notes or so, you run across a tempered interval. But for the most part, there are not tempered intervals, so you get a whole structure of harmonics that is just eerie and unique. You know how every chord conjures up a different mood? Even to the most casual listener, a major ninth chord will create a different feeling than a minor ninth, or a major ninth with a sharp 11th. Imagine the twisted world of emotions you can open up from the Xavian scale! We human beings are so shaped by music in our evolution. I think that as more people get into experimenting with these fractals, a whole different emotional state of mind will result – one that is probably on a par with the way our evolution is going anyway. But I don’t think you’ll ever hear Metallica jamming on the Xavian scale."

My favorites are Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Robben Ford and Andy Timmons. But out of everyone I've ever heard, Vai is THE most technically proficient player I've ever heard, and although I'm not always in the mood for his guitar from Alpha Centauri playing, I always marvel at the insane level of dedication he has for his instrument. It's not his job, or even his passion. It's his life.
 

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My favorites are Eddie Van Halen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Robben Ford and Andy Timmons. But out of everyone I've ever heard, Vai is THE most technically proficient player I've ever heard, and although I'm not always in the mood for his guitar from Alpha Centauri playing, I always marvel at the insane level of dedication he has for his instrument. It's not his job, or even his passion. It's his life.

+1 - That's my thoughts on Vai exactly. I have to be in the mood for his music, but when it comes to technical proficiency -- he just blows me away. I listen to Satch WAY WAY more than I do Vai, and seeing Satch live is a great experience, but Vai just leaves my jaw on the floor with his playing... all the while making it look so effin' effortless.

I'm not the Eddie Van Halen fan I used to be. But in high school, I literally wore through multiple cassette tapes of 1984 and 5150. Just flat out wore them out. I could tell you every Van Halen song on every album. Fair Warning is my favorite Van Halen album. I remember wearing out another tape that most people never heard of... it was a private project Brian May did with Eddie Van Halen called Starfleet. Only had 3 songs on it, but the guitar playing was sooooo great. 2 of the 3 songs were blues songs where EVH and Brian May just traded licks back and forth. It was great.

Another great obscure album that many may not have heard was one called HSAS: Through the Fire. Good stuff.

I remember when Roth left Van Halen and a lot of people thought he'd never get a band as talented as Van Halen, but they were wrong. He got Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass(what a friggin BEAST of a bass player) and Greg Bisonette on drums. One could argue in terms of musical talent he upgraded. But what his Eat 'Em and Smile record did for me was show that Roth clearly was influential beyond just his singing to the music of Van Halen. The "attitude" that makes Fair Warning my favorite album was there because of Roth. I got mad respect for Hagar too, but it was that raw attitude of Fair Warning and Women and Children First that I loved the most about Van Halen.
 
+1 - That's my thoughts on Vai exactly. I have to be in the mood for his music, but when it comes to technical proficiency -- he just blows me away. I listen to Satch WAY WAY more than I do Vai, and seeing Satch live is a great experience, but Vai just leaves my jaw on the floor with his playing... all the while making it look so effin' effortless.

I'm not the Eddie Van Halen fan I used to be. But in high school, I literally wore through multiple cassette tapes of 1984 and 5150. Just flat out wore them out. I could tell you every Van Halen song on every album. Fair Warning is my favorite Van Halen album. I remember wearing out another tape that most people never heard of... it was a private project Brian May did with Eddie Van Halen called Starfleet. Only had 3 songs on it, but the guitar playing was sooooo great. 2 of the 3 songs were blues songs where EVH and Brian May just traded licks back and forth. It was great.

Another great obscure album that many may not have heard was one called HSAS: Through the Fire. Good stuff.

I remember when Roth left Van Halen and a lot of people thought he'd never get a band as talented as Van Halen, but they were wrong. He got Vai on guitar, Billy Sheehan on bass(what a friggin BEAST of a bass player) and Greg Bisonette on drums. One could argue in terms of musical talent he upgraded. But what his Eat 'Em and Smile record did for me was show that Roth clearly was influential beyond just his singing to the music of Van Halen. The "attitude" that makes Fair Warning my favorite album was there because of Roth. I got mad respect for Hagar too, but it was that raw attitude of Fair Warning and Women and Children First that I loved the most about Van Halen.
Did you know Vai was Frank Zappas' guitar player?
 
I agree Ry Cooder didn't get the accolades he deserved for that movie. I will check out the Aristocrats! Thanks for the recommendation!

You might also be interested in Shawn Lane-at 14 years old he was Black Oak Arkansas' lead guitar player. He died of a rare disease at 40.
 
Did you know Vai was Frank Zappas' guitar player?

Yep, sure did. Its just my observation but I see Vai's stage presence and the way he puts on a show was heavily influenced by Frank Zappa.

One of the things Vai is doing this tour is he is using these pre-recorded jams of other musicians and he plays along with them live. He does a song with Satriani, Petrucci, and Zappa. Kinda neat. :)
 

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