STEVE VAI.....guitarist or technician???......please read on

[JohnA]

Interesting summary. 8) I would agree with that - even if you don't listen to or play blues, it is the root of pretty much all modern music, particularly guitar based music, and undoubtedly it's the main root of rock.
quote]

I agree it is the main root of rock music but there is a lot of modern rock that has very little connection with the blues and is more based on classical music.

However most of it is *****! :roll:

 

[japanstrat]

would it be fair to say that a guitarist can be as technical as he likes, but what stops him(or her) being purely a technician, is having somewhere in their playing, a recognisable element of the blues??

I would not say the blues but I would say that a musician has to have something else besides technique to grab peoples attention. What that something else is no one knows, could be a lot to do with personality and how a musician likes to put note patterns together in their sort of way but it all comes down to personal taste. Vai's fans like the way he puts it all together but non fans don't. In Vai's case he's got enough fans to make a living from them so that's what he does.

 

[leadguitar_323]

Hi all, what stops one from being purely a technician is "feel", take that away and it all becomes colorless and boring, and there are plenty of examples of this in today's music..

Mick

 

[Ozeshin]

What i look for in guitarists is the same thing i look for in singers.
Wide strong vibrato(Paul Rodgers/Paul Kossoff combination.).
In my formative years FREE were the yardstick for me.
Both as a singer and as a guitarist.
Expressive emotion charged vocals...expressive emotion charged playing...the two go hand in hand as far as I'm concerened.
I sing the way that I solo and i solo the same way that I sing.
Soloing began existence as a response to a vocal melody line and as such was meant to sound like a sung melody.
Tell me if YOU can sing 1.5mins of 16th notes on one breath?
I think that soloing has(in the hands of the new breed of metallers) moved away from it's original purpose.
Not a bad thing...just another branch off the evolutionary guitar tree.
I am a blues-based rock guitarist...NOT a blues guitarist and THAT is my niche.
I'm a product of my influences and proud to be what I am(playing wise).
I can take what I do and play slowly and with raw emotion...but i can also take the same licks and with a more aggressive vibrato and increased speed, be seen as a shredder.
A technician is playing as many notes as possible with blatant disregard for feel.
VAI/SATRIANI can shred when needed...but can hold it back when it's not required...Malmsteen does what he does yet STILL has that wide bluesy vibrato which brings that element of emotion into the equation.
As for Ace's tapping?
Every single lick I copped of ACE's whilst growing up I worked out on my own...no dvd's nor much footage available in those olden days.
Anything that I heard him do I recreated with one hand on the fret board..so whilst he MAY have used a Neanderthal type of tapping....I was never aware of it so learnt everything from ear...and with one hand on the fret board.

 

[japanstrat]

The Paul Rodgers/Paul Kossoff and Paul Rodgers/Mick Ralphs combo were my idea of Blues Rock. Ritchie Blackmores solo in Black Night made me pick up the guitar and after that Django had a big influence on my playing. And the Lynyrd Skynyrd guys as well. For more modern stuff I think Dimebag was pretty good. He had a great technique and his playing just appeals to me. Keef Richards has pretty bad technique but who cares when riffs do the talking. The Satisfaction riff, the Jumpin Jack Flash riff etc I will never forget. I saw this band the other week and their playing and technique was so fast that you have to admire it from a technical point of view but I can't remember what they played but I can still remember Keefs riffs years later. They were obviously influenced by Malmsteen, Vai etc.

 

[bunbury]

Go to a guitar store and listen to what the next generation of guitarists are "playing". Just ask them what a II, V change is or what a I, VI, II, V turnaound is and you'll get the deer in the headlights stare from them.

I think you're wrong. There's a generation of teens and pre-teens coming through for whom I, VI, II, V turnaound etc is at the heart of what they play.

For starters, it's what they listen to. My son (and the sons of friends and colleagues at work) lists his favourite guitarists as Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, Django Rheinhart, Rory Gallagher etc. OK Django sounds different with heavy distortion, but I'm happy to hear Minor Swing any time.

Why are they playing this? Two reasons

1) They can. Most modern music is over-produced. 60s rock and blues can be played in your bedroom with a couple of mates. So riffs, 12-bar turnarounds etc. Have you seen "School of Rock"? - Our DVD has been played to death.

2) It's what they are taught. A lot of the kids who have electric guitar lessons are on a sylabus that stresses 12-bar and mimics the styles of bands who excelled at the basics (RockSchool http://www.rockschool.co.uk/ , for anyone who's interested).

I think there's a really exciting generation of kids on the way through and they're on the rebound from over-production. I also think some of the ones I hear are technically brilliant (so, be warned, more virtuosos on the way).

Bunbury

 

[marcusnieman]

Go to a guitar store and listen to what the next generation of guitarists are "playing". Just ask them what a II, V change is or what a I, VI, II, V turnaound is and you'll get the deer in the headlights stare from them.

I think you're wrong. There's a generation of teens and pre-teens coming through for whom I, VI, II, V turnaound etc is at the heart of what they play.

For starters, it's what they listen to. My son (and the sons of friends and colleagues at work) lists his favourite guitarists as Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, Django Rheinhart, Rory Gallagher etc. OK Django sounds different with heavy distortion, but I'm happy to hear Minor Swing any time.

Why are they playing this? Two reasons

1) They can. Most modern music is over-produced. 60s rock and blues can be played in your bedroom with a couple of mates. So riffs, 12-bar turnarounds etc. Have you seen "School of Rock"? - Our DVD has been played to death.

2) It's what they are taught. A lot of the kids who have electric guitar lessons are on a sylabus that stresses 12-bar and mimics the styles of bands who excelled at the basics (RockSchool http://www.rockschool.co.uk/ , for anyone who's interested).

I think there's a really exciting generation of kids on the way through and they're on the rebound from over-production. I also think some of the ones I hear are technically brilliant (so, be warned, more virtuosos on the way).

Bunbury

What I said was a generalized statement. There are always exceptions.

 

[marcusnieman]

Go to a guitar store and listen to what the next generation of guitarists are "playing". Just ask them what a II, V change is or what a I, VI, II, V turnaound is and you'll get the deer in the headlights stare from them.

I think you're wrong. There's a generation of teens and pre-teens coming through for whom I, VI, II, V turnaound etc is at the heart of what they play.

For starters, it's what they listen to. My son (and the sons of friends and colleagues at work) lists his favourite guitarists as Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Townsend, Django Rheinhart, Rory Gallagher etc. OK Django sounds different with heavy distortion, but I'm happy to hear Minor Swing any time.

Why are they playing this? Two reasons

1) They can. Most modern music is over-produced. 60s rock and blues can be played in your bedroom with a couple of mates. So riffs, 12-bar turnarounds etc. Have you seen "School of Rock"? - Our DVD has been played to death.

2) It's what they are taught. A lot of the kids who have electric guitar lessons are on a sylabus that stresses 12-bar and mimics the styles of bands who excelled at the basics (RockSchool http://www.rockschool.co.uk/ , for anyone who's interested).

I think there's a really exciting generation of kids on the way through and they're on the rebound from over-production. I also think some of the ones I hear are technically brilliant (so, be warned, more virtuosos on the way).

Bunbury

What I said was a generalized statement. There are always exceptions.

 

[bunbury]

What I said was a generalized statement. There are always exceptions.

Of course and what I said was generalised too. There are always exceptions and even James Blunt :evil: . That aside, I think there's lots to celebrate.

 

[Ozeshin]

On a related topic...I think that the PS2 game "Guitar Hero" has done wonders for "guitar music".
I know that my son will be playing an Avenged Sevenfold song one minute and then turn around and play his favorite tune...Mountain's "Mississippi Queen"...the variety of music contained in the whole Guitar Hero series is amazing and the maker's should be congratulated.

 

[bunbury]

On a related topic...I think that the PS2 game "Guitar Hero" has done wonders for "guitar music".
I know that my son will be playing an Avenged Sevenfold song one minute and then turn around and play his favorite tune...Mountain's "Mississippi Queen"...the variety of music contained in the whole Guitar Hero series is amazing and the maker's should be congratulated.

Not sure I agree with that ! variety maybe - but skill? Here's a Guitar Hero. you have to watch for a bit - but it's worth it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ip_DEUuuy5M&feature=related

I think the Guitar Hero 'Purple Haze (does it blend)' video is elsewhere on this site ...?