<![CDATA[ Latest from Guitar Player in Steve-vai ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/tag/steve-vai Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:15:02 +0000 en <![CDATA[ “I don’t know if there’s a better player out there.” Billy Sheehan on Steve Vai, Paul Gilbert, Steve Lukather, Richie Kotzen and Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/i-dont-know-if-theres-a-better-player-out-there-billy-sheehan-on-steve-vai-paul-gilbert-steve-lukather-richie-kotzen-and-ron-bumblefoot-thal JqFWgx3QhyB6bP6kdNgQaG Sat, 25 Apr 2026 13:15:02 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I can tell you how to become a virtuoso very easily.” Steve Vai says guitar-playing excellence is within every player’s reach. But there’s a catch ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-why-becoming-a-virtuoso-is-an-intellectual-excercise rMFVLj8QFPBSo7QuZ6twHP Fri, 10 Apr 2026 12:41:21 +0000 <![CDATA[ Win tickets to see the SatchVai Band and Animals As Leaders perform in Northern California at Guitar Player Presents ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/see-the-satchvai-band-in-northern-california-win-tickets-to-their-performance-at-guitar-player-presents dUscnVxCY5FX22k7mDmFsh Wed, 11 Mar 2026 12:25:55 +0000 <![CDATA[ “My introduction to guitar was AC/DC and Led Zeppelin. I was way more fascinated with the electric world.” Matteo Mancuso on why he plays fingerstyle on electric — and how he got Steve Vai to work with him ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/matteo-mancuso-on-why-he-plays-fingerstyle-on-electric-and-how-he-got-steve-vai-to-work-with-him TFMpLmUFbAtw4xciD8RvR9 Fri, 27 Feb 2026 13:53:01 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It made me feel like, ‘Wow, is that how people perceive me?’” Eddie Van Halen on the one guitarist he said out–Van Halened him ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/eddie-van-halen-uneasy-about-steve-vai maSP2ieE2LTe4esvNQbzvB Wed, 18 Feb 2026 13:46:28 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It’s blasphemous to put a whammy bar on a Les Paul? Screw you! I’ll do what I want.” Steve Vai on the radical guitar mods he learned from Frank Zappa —from a torched Jimi Hendrix Strat to the birth of the JEM ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-frank-zappas-guitar-mods mCwEH2ijV8cYoj4y3Fvff7 Wed, 11 Feb 2026 21:19:11 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I was embarrassingly inexperienced.” Steve Vai on the guitarist who “saved his bacon” with a vital piece of gear when he was a greenhorn in David Lee Roth’s band ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-recorded-david-lee-roths-first-album f34DaEJ6KDnScchAdWQVqk Thu, 29 Jan 2026 19:02:11 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I let him tell me the whole story and then said, ‘Brian, that was me.’” How Steve Vai shocked Brian May by revealing their early 1970s encounter ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vais-full-circile-moment-with-brian-may pxirgApdTGtzwMMuH4FBnc Wed, 07 Jan 2026 17:23:25 +0000 Wed, 07 Jan 2026 17:36:40 +0000 <![CDATA[ “There's only one time Frank commented on my future — and I'm reluctant to mention it.” Steve Vai on Frank Zappa's prophetic words about his career ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/the-words-frank-zappa-uttered-to-steve-vai-which-he-will-never-forget FanBrSgjE9KdvfoGnk6mbk Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:27:40 +0000 Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:27:55 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I do not know what the eff he was doing at all.” Steve Vai on the one guitarist he considers more revolutionary than Jimi Hendrix ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-the-one-guitarist-more-revolutionary-than-jimi-hendrix kjg9FsmgTBA5ugyqa4AMSW Thu, 30 Oct 2025 15:20:39 +0000 <![CDATA[ “He hated me because I didn’t practice his stuff enough.” Joe Satriani taught guitar wizards like Steve Vai, Kirk Hammett and Alex Skolnick. But one player didn't get along with his methods ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/why-this-one-guitarist-didnt-gel-with-guitar-tutor-supreme-joe-satriani iKLozaEU9LzgKmwcLZ4MLd Thu, 16 Oct 2025 14:45:46 +0000 <![CDATA[ “He gets to the Zs and says, ‘I have Frank Zappa’s phone number.’ And I went, ‘You have what!?’” Steve Vai on the theft that got him Frank Zappa’s number — and the job that changed his life ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-the-theft-that-got-him-frank-zappa-s-number ByLYvSvHhAfEfLiA6nAeib Mon, 15 Sep 2025 10:15:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I would go to sleep early on a Friday so I could wake up and practice all the way ‘til Monday.” Steve Vai reveals the grueling practice routine that helped him become a virtuoso—and what drove him to do it ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vais-gruelling-practice-routine LoSmox4bsJ6fiqABGSqUZJ Thu, 21 Aug 2025 19:14:09 +0000 Thu, 21 Aug 2025 19:23:11 +0000 <![CDATA[ “The next day, the phone rings, and it's David.” Steve Vai on accepting his most impossible guitar gig: playing Eddie Van Halen to David Lee Roth ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-playing-with-david-lee-roth-and-not-competing-with-eddie-van-halen NrfVS8C4aFofkpAP2U7H8Y Tue, 19 Aug 2025 15:29:38 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I have none of the high technical skill of a Steve Vai or a Joe Satriani.” Brian May says he can’t compete with the world’s best shredders, but his alternative approach means he doesn’t have to ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/brian-may-on-shredding-and-playing-with-instinct brvmu2imA8WPJ3ehujto2U Tue, 29 Jul 2025 15:33:13 +0000 <![CDATA[ “My hand would stay numb until soundcheck. It was scary.” Playing King Crimson's strenuous guitar parts left Adrian Belew in need of surgery. Steve Vai came to his rescue ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/adrian-belew-carpal-tunnel-surgery CVBgXFiavsCD9gcVVwXLah Thu, 24 Jul 2025 19:04:24 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It was just Joe playing some chords and me struggling through this riff.” Steve Vai and Joe Satriani tell how a 50-year-old riff inspired the creation of the SatchVai Band in a new in-depth video interview ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/it-was-just-joe-playing-some-chords-and-me-struggling-through-this-riff-steve-vai-and-joe-satriani-tell-how-a-50-year-old-riff-inspired-the-creation-of-the-satchvai-band-in-a-new-in-depth-video-interview 3RhovyprUeredNM43BRuYE Fri, 09 May 2025 13:50:27 +0000 Fri, 09 May 2025 13:51:17 +0000 <![CDATA[ “This song depicts all that Joe and I used to think about as teenagers.” Hear Joe Satriani and Steve Vai’s debut track from the SatchVai Band, "I Wanna Play My Guitar" ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/joe-satriani-steve-vai-hear-satchvai-band-debut-track uyvh8aoF5voPYyn6oV6fHJ Tue, 06 May 2025 15:17:27 +0000 Tue, 06 May 2025 15:30:24 +0000 <![CDATA[ “If you can't do it in two takes, you can't do it”: David Lee Roth was a demanding band leader – his former guitarists dish the details on what it was like to be his foil ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/john-5-steve-vai-steve-hunter-and-brian-young-on-working-with-david-lee-roth ki3tx8BG2eKWGhezpiaaya Wed, 23 Apr 2025 17:39:43 +0000 <![CDATA[ "I got carried away": How being in Whitesnake with Steve Vai made Adrian Vandenberg a better player ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/adrian-vandenberg-challenges-of-being-in-whitesnake-with-steve-vai TiyGbFrRR7akuQABMR7AoW Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:30:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I would hear Randy pick up the classical guitar. I’d say, ‘You can play that!?’ He said, ‘Yeah, that’s my first instrument.’”Rudy Sarzo on Randy Rhoads, Steve Vai and other guitar greats he’s played with ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/rudy-sarzo-on-randy-rhoads-and-80s-guitarists yrodomUpdbj8ehy4TWbVyi Mon, 31 Mar 2025 12:36:14 +0000 Fri, 04 Apr 2025 16:58:46 +0000 <![CDATA[ "He said, ‘You get rock. I'm looking for that sort of guy.’" Joe Satriani calls him “the guitar player I wish I was.” But for Pete Thorn, making stars’ dreams come true is the secret to success ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/pete-thorn-guitar-sideman-to-the-stars SBi8uY49gaCQviMZwWmZSU Mon, 24 Mar 2025 15:56:23 +0000 Tue, 25 Mar 2025 01:26:16 +0000 <![CDATA[ “You could take the same scale, have two different guys play it and it will sound worlds apart.” Zakk Wylde says you don’t need to re-write classic solos to make them your own ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/zakk-wylde-on-playing-other-peoples-solos-thats-the-beauty-of-guitar ioPuDxUepWKXZHrsNtfZAd Fri, 21 Mar 2025 14:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ "Dave was standing over me going, ‘You okay, man?’" Steve Vai never knew what hit him. The guitarist recalls his biggest onstage spills with David Lee Roth and Whitesnake ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-the-tale-of-two-davids qQAL3vEXwjVHEij2w38gHA Thu, 20 Mar 2025 11:59:18 +0000 Tue, 22 Apr 2025 08:19:20 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I have plenty of impressive cheap guitars.” Yvette Young explains why your guitar and amp shouldn't get equal treatment when it comes to your gear budget. Here's what you should know ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/yvette-young-on-cheap-guitars-and-expensive-amps NzaiXmhwvbdrL6583AQ3KT Fri, 07 Mar 2025 00:04:46 +0000 <![CDATA[ “Almost everybody in the club walked out — including one of the other bands and the judges.” Nita Strauss recalls her worst gig of all time — and the good that came from it ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/nita-strauss-my-best-and-worst-gigs DHkFiSqa9b8i9mbsdchk3N Fri, 21 Feb 2025 16:00:30 +0000 Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:33:13 +0000 <![CDATA[ "He's underrated. Honestly, there’s no one close to him." They've both worked with Frank Zappa. But Steve Vai says he had no idea his guitar partner in Beat was such a powerhouse virtuoso ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-on-adrian-belew-and-beat VTjmxKgTNEwTV7b4NRfEYm Thu, 20 Feb 2025 13:38:24 +0000 <![CDATA[ "They launched a revolution that continues to this day." Meet 30 players who tapped, twanged, sweep-picked and shredded the 1980s to its greatest glory ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/the-top-guitarists-of-the-1980s xHtcsXvb9ELVeYYpaejq23 Sun, 16 Feb 2025 09:02:00 +0000 Fri, 28 Feb 2025 16:11:37 +0000 <![CDATA[ “You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a big rock electric guitarist playing rhythm in tune.” Steve Vai says he's “admired” this guitar player “for quite a while.” Now they're playing together ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/youd-be-surprised-how-hard-it-is-to-find-a-big-rock-electric-guitarist-playing-rhythm-in-tune-steve-vai-says-hes-admired-this-guitar-player-for-quite-a-while-now-theyre-playing-together TJo2ujaRvp3rVqLSqc6BhS Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:32:05 +0000 Mon, 17 Feb 2025 19:28:57 +0000 <![CDATA[ "I remember thinking, Why didn’t anybody tell me that you could do that with a guitar?" Nita Strauss opens up about the support of her guitar hero, Steve Vai, and her hopes to inspire more female guitar players ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/nita-strauss-gets-nervous-about-steve-vai kZQixFwJRA5jKbhPEgijPc Wed, 05 Feb 2025 16:10:09 +0000 Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:34:16 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I had the rock and roll thing in my soul. David gave me an opportunity to stretch that muscle." Can David Lee Roth pick guitarists? Just ask Steve Vai, Jason Becker and John 5 ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/david-lee-roths-solo-guitarists Q3H65Yq5YuV3zcuo28XQF7 Thu, 30 Jan 2025 18:01:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I knew I wasn’t going to sound like Sykes and I wasn’t going to try to." Steve Vai and Marty Friedman on John Sykes' influence and impact on their careers ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-and-marty-friedman-on-john-sykes TgS7baQU7ktyySGSyoamWW Fri, 24 Jan 2025 14:03:33 +0000 <![CDATA[ “We get to our second show and I get an email from Robert Fripp.” Steve Vai says the King Crimson guru saw something in his playing he didn't like. So he told him how to fix it ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/steve-vai-beat-tour-advice zGrUerpGL53mdXMmuiCh5Y Wed, 15 Jan 2025 21:10:32 +0000 Thu, 16 Jan 2025 12:19:03 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I processed salmon in a factory for 16 hours a day. That’s how I saved up to buy my Steve Vai guitar.” How Tosin Abasi went from worshipping Steve Vai to counting the guitarist among his fans ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/tosin-abasi-on-steve-vais-influence-on-his-guitar-playing bVin7KTXha2TJHzLwPNXAN Mon, 13 Jan 2025 13:27:28 +0000 Mon, 13 Jan 2025 13:28:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ "I got used to the idea that Steve Vai was gonna walk in my door and blow my mind." Joe Satriani explains what will keep guitar alive. The good news? It's already happening ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/joe-satriani-on-the-next-generation-of-players-being-better-than-him fxj5gh3XRGGeL4KYbFpiq9 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:01:53 +0000 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:02:14 +0000 <![CDATA[ “He was a great guitar player. He obviously really knew the instrument.” Joe Satriani says Kurt Cobain was underrated and points out the one thing few have noticed about the Nirvana guitarist ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/guitarists/he-was-a-great-guitar-player-he-obviously-really-knew-the-instrument-joe-satriani-says-kurt-cobain-was-underrated-and-points-out-the-one-thing-few-have-noticed-about-the-nirvana-guitarist ztcb2vYWnHcWSqtzNbpgiV Mon, 06 Jan 2025 13:32:59 +0000 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 14:56:31 +0000 <![CDATA[ “We’ve been writing new music and we want to go back out on tour together." Joe Satriani and Steve Vai announce the new SatchVai Band and Surfing With the Hydra tour ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/satriani-vai-satchvai-tour-announced uFk6G6h7zMjhkBn6mn838B Mon, 09 Dec 2024 12:02:48 +0000 Thu, 12 Dec 2024 12:11:03 +0000 <![CDATA[ “Steve Vai gave me some good advice: ‘Concentrate on music and not too much on guitar.’ You can open up a lot of new ideas with that mindset.” Matteo Mancuso highlights the one thing many guitarists get wrong ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/matteo-mancuso-on-instagram-shredders ToqmvRB3E9a4XQDRVbLnJL Thu, 28 Nov 2024 11:00:00 +0000 Thu, 12 Dec 2024 12:01:15 +0000 <![CDATA[ “Slamming away with Joe and Eric on this track creates a rich atmosphere of crushing guitar delight.” Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson shred “Crossroads” onstage in this exclusive new video and share details of their upcoming album ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/satriani-vai-johnson-shred-crossroads-at-g3 ajMbhJ9xMruaufWQzeHPxY Tue, 22 Oct 2024 11:20:20 +0000 Tue, 22 Oct 2024 11:24:02 +0000 <![CDATA[ Steve Vai was stunned when he heard him. Joe Bonamassa says he’s reinvented guitar. Al Di Meola says it “would take lifetimes to catch up with him.” Meet Matteo Mancuso, the young player who’s light years ahead of us all ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/matteo-mancuso-stunning HV8CniLWuut3pWvJzoJAtn Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:14:56 +0000 <![CDATA[ “If you played guitar you thought you were cool. But I didn't, so I never told anybody”: Here's how Steve Vai finally told his friends he was learning guitar ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/steve-vai-too-shy-to-tell-his-friends-he-played-guitar 4uRotPzCM6euXX3EFCigsL Wed, 02 Oct 2024 08:00:00 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It took me quite awhile to be able to lock in with him. Robert told me I don’t hold my pick correctly”: Adrian Belew on the initial challenges of teaming up with Robert Fripp in King Crimson ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/adrian-belew-on-his-difficulties-locking-in-with-robert-fripp ygYL6w8p5WU5pu7PriHDSL Thu, 26 Sep 2024 19:06:14 +0000 Thu, 26 Sep 2024 19:08:14 +0000 <![CDATA[ “It’s just one note, but it took my entire life to get to the point to where I could do that one note”: Steve Vai regarded this solo as his “ultimate achievement of phrasing on the guitar” ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/steve-vai-ultimate-phrasing-achievement XQzy5gWsCqzsu8HRd4CsYJ Thu, 04 Apr 2024 17:30:29 +0000 <![CDATA[ ”There’s 12 notes on a guitar and Steve Vai and Zakk Wylde sound like they have more. How do you do that?” Blues prodigy Kenny Wayne Shepherd on his new solo album Dirt on My Diamonds, Vol. 1, and why unpredictability is so important ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/player/kenny-wayne-shepherd-interview-2023 roDSUwuLEBJfYA4k8VtSiB Sat, 06 Jan 2024 18:00:12 +0000 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 11:10:18 +0000 <![CDATA[ Sharon Isbin: "The ability to improvise is something that is a part of all of us, but when it’s developed to the fullest in artists like Steve Morse or Steve Vai, who can just create music on the spot, it’s truly something to marvel at" ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/sharon-isbin-guitar-passions st7kTbecD28ogcrcQvgs75 Mon, 06 Nov 2023 21:43:21 +0000 Tue, 07 Jan 2025 11:10:18 +0000 <![CDATA[ “I Write Very Emotional Music, and Most of the Time It’s Pretty Angry”: Nita Strauss Drops Her Unapologetically Shred Sophomore Album, ‘The Call of the Void’ ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/news/nita-strauss-the-call-of-the-void-interview-guitar-player-magazine-cover hQFwMfBHUYD8mTPfwrMxtX Wed, 27 Sep 2023 13:45:27 +0000 <![CDATA[ With a Surprising History Dating Back to the 1940s, Carvin Later Achieved Kudos With Endorsements by Steve Vai, Allan Holdsworth and Joe Walsh ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/gear/carvin-guitars FirvNHP8hhfNSG4edqbnCK Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:41:23 +0000 <![CDATA[ Tap Into the Barre Chord Magic of Allan Holdsworth, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson Using This Five-Minute Lesson ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/allan-holdsworth-steve-vai-eric-johnson-keith-richards-barre-chords pbj2QVScejeaQaaLbmepPX Tue, 01 Aug 2023 09:15:59 +0000 <![CDATA[ Develop Amazing Fretboard Skills Using These Simple Tips From Some of the Best Players in the Business ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/lessons/vai-tremonti-bonamassa-stern-malmsteen-gilbert-skolnick-satriani-johnson Fzd4HLgqaYZG9aJisjLmhi Mon, 10 Jul 2023 17:24:23 +0000 <![CDATA[ Watch Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson’s Knockout “Going Down” Performance ]]> https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/g3-joe-satriani-eric-johnson-steve-vai-going-down ehXvkb52wev6oYPc92hYQf Mon, 03 Jul 2023 16:04:14 +0000