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Guitarist Steve Vai
Guitar Tab
"Steve Vai's guitar wizardry is so profound that in earlier times he would have been burned as a witch." --- Brad Tolinski, Guitar World editor
Steve Via has been a major influence in my guitar playing. He surely is one of the most prolific guitar players of our time. How can you have a web-site about guitar playing and not do a piece on Steve Vai! To me, he's the second coming. First there was Jimi Hendrix, and then there was Steve Vai. Sure there have been many guitar players you can say that about... Van Halen, Randy Rhodes, Al Dimeola, Stevie-Ray, Vernon Ried, Eric Johnson and many more. However, Steve never seems to get pigeon holed into one style of guitar playing. He plays it all. Let us not forget... he is also a true entertainer. He really can get the audience hyped up. His music and on stage antics kind of give you a buzz when standing there in front of the stage. His live shows are just awesome. I've seen Steve Vai twice and both shows were out of this world. Steven Siro "Steve" Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, Nassau County Hospital, Long Island, New York, USA), is an American guitarist and composer.
Styles: Guitar Virtuoso, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Instrumental Rock, Fusion In modern times, it seems perhaps more likely that Steve Vai is an alien. The unworldly music which fills his new Epic release Real Illusions: Reflections does nothing to diminish that impression - this is an extraordinary album, drawn from a place in the heart to which precious few achieve access.
When growing up the young Vai became interested in Rock bands such as Jimi Hendrix, Alice Cooper and Led Zeppelin which led him to take up learning the guitar. After high school, Vai studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, While attending Berklee College of Music, Steve began taking guitar lessons from now fellow guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani(now a famed solo musician), and played in numerous local bands.
It was also at this time that he became fascinated by the music of Frank Zappa. After Berklee he then moved to Los Angeles to seek his fortune. Within a year he came to the attention of gonzo musician Frank Zappa, who was impressed by Vai's amazing technical ability and tremendous knowledge of Zappa's own large repertoire. After meeting Vai for the first time was so impressed with the abilities of the young musician, hired him to do work transcribing his seemingly endless array of experimental symphonic rock. Vai soon joined Zappa's band as "stunt guitarist," earning a reputation as one of the most talented hard rock guitarists in the industry.
After leaving Zappa in 1980 he moved to California where he recorded his first album Flex-Able and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnett's Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace: To cover the lightning guitar work of Yngwie Malmsteen Vai had to vastly improve his technique, which was quite rough at the time. Later in 1985 he joined former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth's group to record the albums Eat 'em and Smile and Skyscraper. Then in 1990 Vai stepped into guitarist Adrian Vandenberg's shoes to record with British rock-group Whitesnake after Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was due to begin for the album Slip of the Tongue. . He then returned to his solo career, recording 1990's acclaimed Passion and Warfare. Several more all-instrumental solo albums followed.
Steve Vai continues to tour regularly, both with his own group and with his one time teacher and fellow Grammy award winning guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Former David Lee Roth Bassist Billy Sheehan also joined him for a world tour.
Steve Vai's music has featured in a number of feature films, including Dudes, Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey and Ghosts of Mars. He appeared onscreen in the 1986 Ralph Macchio movie Crossroads, playing the demonically-inspired Jack Butler. At the film's climax, Vai engages in a guitar duel with Macchio, whose guitar parts were dubbed by Vai himself. The fast-paced "neo-classical" track entitled "Eugene's Trick Bag" with which Macchio wins the competition was also composed by Vai. The piece was heavily based on Paganini's Caprice # 5, and has become a favorite apprentice-piece among many guitar students. Vai received a Grammy Award in 1991. Where Vai's contributions to others' material has been constrained by the largely rock or heavy-rock style of those bands, his own material is considerably more esoteric. Vai is an accomplished studio producer (he owns two: "The Mother Ship" and "The Harmony Hut") and his own recordings combine his signature guitar prowess with novel compositions and considerable use of studio and recording effects, such as the Eventide H3000 ultra harmonizer and DigiDesign's Pro-Tools Hard Disc recording system and plug-in effects architecture.
Frank Zappa Guitarist 1980-83 777 Guitarist 1984 Alcatrazz Guitarist 1985-6 David Lee Roth Guitarist 1986-89 Whitesnake Guitarist 1990 VAI Guitarist 1992-94 Steve Vai Grammy Best Rock Instrumental Performance (1993) Grammy Best Pop Instrumental Album (2001) (with Larry Carlton & Steve Lukather)
FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR Crossroads (14-Mar-1986) Crossroads Tab
Solo Albums Flex-Able (1984)
Flex-Able Leftovers (1984)
Passion and Warfare (1990)
Sex and Religion (1993)
Alien Love Secrets (1995)
Fire Garden (1996)
The Ultra Zone (1999)
The Seventh Song (2000) Alive In An Ultra World (2001) The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1 (2002) The Infinite Steve Vai: An Anthology (2003) Real Illusions: Reflections (2005)
*** Official Website: http://www.vai.com/
*** Epic's Website: http://www.epicrecords.com/stevevai/ 3
10 Ways To Break Free Of Your Guitar Playing Rut!
A rut is a fixed, usually boring routine. As guitar players we sometimes find ourselves in what can only be called a guitar playing rut. This is when we get to the point that we feel that we're just going over the same thing time and time again. In other words: not growing as a musician.
10 Ways To Break Free Of Your Guitar Playing Rut!
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Updated: 2/19/07
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