STEVE VAI Reveals His Biggest Weakness As A Guitar Player - "I Was Very Self-Deprecating"
May 28, 2020, 4 years ago
During a conversation with Ultimate Guitar's Justin Beckner, Steve Vai talked about the ongoing lockdown, his recent live video series, his weaknesses, and more. Following is an excerpt from the interview.
UG: It's exciting to see someone like you, who's so technically proficient, still pushing yourself and challenging yourself. It is amazing to think that there is anything outside your comfort zone when it comes to playing guitar.
Vai: "Oh yeah, there are many - if I had to sit and play a blues song and sound authentic, that would probably be way out of my comfort zone. But it's fun when you can imagine an idea that you can't do, and know that if you focus on it, and work on it, it'll organically start to happen. That's always been the number one thing that I've been attracted to through my whole career - finding an idea, working on it, and the surprise and delight of hearing it when it's done."
UG: What would you say your biggest weakness is as a guitar player?
Vai: "I know what it used to be - it used to be this very bad attitude about my playing. I used to kind of think that the way I played was very peculiar and quirky and I would watch myself and sometimes I was even uncomfortable with some of the funny, weird, faces I make and I kind of tried to change that, but my instincts wouldn't allow it. So, I surrendered to that and decided that you are what you are, this is the best you can do, you don't have to be self-deprecating - that was one of my weaknesses, I was very self-deprecating. I don't necessarily think that's healthy for a guitar player. It's a false sense of humility."
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Vai, Joe Satriani and John Petrucci (Dream Theater) will run through G3 history on June 1st at 11:00am PST / 2:00pm EST / 8:00pm CET. Check out the video message below.
G3 is a three-man concert tour that was launched, and is headed up, by Satriani in 1995. Guitarists that have accompanied him Vai, Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Robert Fripp, Paul Gilbert, Steve Morse, Steve Lukather, Uli Jon Roth, and Michael Schenker to name a few.
