Top 30 Steve Vai Quotes

Along with its enchanting and exquisite melodies, West Side Story has attitude and a tremendous amount of frenetic energy. It’s emotional, theatrical and technical. It’s everything.

I have an independent record label called Favored Nations on which I released an album by an artist called Johnny A, who plays an arch top Gibson through a Marshall, but the tone is all in his fingers.

It’s hilarious, because my guitar has what’s known as a tremolo bar or a whammy bar. And the whammy bar is probably the most alien thing on my guitar that could possibly relate to a classical guitar.

I’ve never really heard anybody imitating anything of mine the way they do with Edward Van Halen’s stuff.

You can never deny the immense talent, rock credibility and iconic historical contribution that Van Halen made.

Ray and I do not draw salaries, Any profits will be re-invested into marketing the music we believe in.

If I remain true to what’s in my heart, that’s all the success I need.

I could never overstate the importance of a musician’s need to develop his or her ear. Actually, I believe that developing a good ‘inner ear’ – the art of being able to decipher musical components solely through listening – is the most important element in becoming a good musician.

I don’t believe in ‘greatest’. I believe in favorites.

I was a kid, 12 or something, when the Partridge Family was big on TV. I liked the curly cord running from the bass to the amps, which were real fancy. That cord looked so cool. I said, ‘Wow! I gotta play something like that!’

I created this picture of this character who would play the guitar effortlessly, who had no limitations, performing beautiful music, and he moved around with great acrobatic skills, just capturing the audience and being a great entertainer.

Most people are fascinated to see someone play an instrument in an inspired way. We are moved by witnessing musical brilliance, and it was this notion that led me to purchase the GuitarTV domain 10 years ago.

Possessing a healthy imagination is a necessary ingredient for creativity.

All musicians practice ear training constantly, whether or not they are cognizant of it. If, when listening to a piece of music, a musician is envisioning how to play it or is trying to play along, that musician is using his or her ‘ear’ – the understanding and recognition of musical elements – for guidance.

Besides being a guitar player, I’m a big fan of the guitar. I love that damn instrument.

I’m always pursuing knowledge; I’m a seeker of spiritual equilibrium – and music is a big part of that.

The older I get, the more I just like plugging directly into my amp. I’m tired of trying to impress myself with weird sounds. It’s about the notes more.

The only time I’m miserable is when I can’t keep an instrument in tune.

What I look for in music is artistry, sincerity, and simplicity, and Tom Waits has all of that. I want to make a connection to the creator.

When you get down to it, the way that the music affects you individually is the most important thing, and when you let things like the location of a band get in the way or have an effect on your overview, you’re cheating yourself out of a really good time.

I wanted to be a composer before anything else. And my sister was listening to Led Zeppelin in the other room! When I heard that, it was a game-changer.

I awake, I meditate, get the kids off to school, go to the gym, go to the Favored Nations office, and usually at around 1 pm I’m home and do music the rest of the day.

When I was a teenager in the ’70s, I was really into those great bands like Led Zeppelin and Queen and Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper.

Acting, at least for me, is very unreal, and when I’m doing it, I actually feel embarrassed.

History’s most treasured musicians were believed in and cultivated to reach their potential. Today, it would be difficult for those musicians to get deals. We have the insight and the tools to identify and bring to fruition the dormant talent that our artists possess.

My main calling in life is to seek and achieve spiritual balance, and to express that through my instrument. Everything else is here today, gone later today.

I don’t think I approach my songs differently from other artists. You get a big picture of it, and you imagine the song and hear and feel it, and that big picture is like a snapshot, and it comes to you as fast as it takes to click a camera.

That’s the thing about great artists: They find the thing that’s most obvious to themselves, what’s most conscious and natural, and they put it out there and the audience comes.

Favored Nations is a long-term commitment. Our hope is that those who are passionate about real musicianship will want to hear and own most of our albums. We will set out to attain the same direct relationship with our customers that we have with our artists.

I was about seven or eight years old when I first heard West Side Story, and it had a huge impact on me. If you look at the elements of that record, it contains many of the things I enjoy doing today.