134 Quotes by Steve Vai

Baby don’t wake me, let me take you on an endless journey. We touch and the softest kiss explodes with lust. It’s real and you can’t deny the heat you feel. And if I die before I wake, baby that’s all right.

The blues scale was the first thing I learned. It’s just a pentatonic scale with a flat seventh and a few notes that sound cool when you bend them. And because people have amalgamated the blues into this rock-blues scale, if you’re using it, you better sound like a real authentic blues player.

I’ve always considered transcribing to be an invaluable tool in the development of one’s musical ear and, over the years, I have spent countless glorious hours transcribing different kinds of music, either guitar-oriented or not.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 was always one of those guys who was a seeker after truth. I want to know what’s going on.