Vai impressed

[_MonSTeR_]

It was cute for the guy and the reactions are sweet from Steve but it's a bad thing to rip off another guy's playing as much as that guy did.

He must have been doing this for years without someone telling him it's an unhip thing to do. It's nice that he's a fan and has chops but beyond that the video makes me cringe a little.

That's a big difference between the jazz and fusion guys and the rock guys; if a copycat did that sort of thing in front of a Holdsworth, Scott Henderson or Pat Metheny it would be a lot more obviously embarrassing for everyone concerned and with good reason.

So what you're saying is that the rock guys have a sense of humour and that the jazz and fusion guys don't?

It's obvious that the guy is a big Vai fan, but who is to say that Vai is the only player he could ape like that, he might be able to do Satriani, Gilbert, Bettencourt and all of his other heroes too.

With that level of technique he probably can switch off 'the Vai' and be himself as well. The point there was to put on a great show, and have some real fun. Everyone on stage was having fun, the audience was having fun, and everyone else in this thread is having fun...

 

[Unleash The Fury]

I'm not sure if vai was really impressed or if he was smiling through his teeth saying to himself to the guy, "you self righteous bastard"!

 

[xCaptainx]

"Oh hey I get a once in a lifetime opportunity to jam with my idol and someone I've spent most of my life studying"

"I better act WAY too cool for school and ensure whatever I play sounds NOTHING like him. I really have to make sure I leave him with no lasting impression. Heck I better make sure I make him feel like I'm not a fan of his stuff at all"

Lol what planet are you guys from?

 

[DeKay]

"Oh hey I get a once in a lifetime opportunity to jam with my idol and someone I've spent most of my life studying"

"I better act WAY too cool for school and ensure whatever I play sounds NOTHING like him. I really have to make sure I leave him with no lasting impression. Heck I better make sure I make him feel like I'm not a fan of his stuff at all"

Lol what planet are you guys from?

they b from da jelly planet called earth

 

[Kwert]

That was awesome. It seemed so clear to me that both guys were really enjoying themselves. The Brazilian fellow definitely has a lot of Vai in his playing but it doesn't just sound like he's copying his licks - he has a really refined, tasteful way of playing. I never once get the vibe that he's up there "thinking he can play Vai better than Vai." He's just having fun, and why shouldn't he? He gets to jam with his idol and be in a position where they play with each other as colleagues and not idol/superfan.

 

[TelegramSam]

Steve has always seemed like the kind of player who loves it when this sort of thing happens, it's a wonderful thing to see

I will have my chance to duel with Dart Vai-der one day as well, mark my words...

 

[snissors]

I could watch that ten times in a row without getting tired of it. Had me laughing. All warm and fuzzy. Great post!

 

[ArtDecade]

That's a big difference between the jazz and fusion guys and the rock guys; if a copycat did that sort of thing in front of a Holdsworth, Scott Henderson or Pat Metheny it would be a lot more obviously embarrassing for everyone concerned and with good reason.

I have a feeling that you rip off Scott Henderson licks all the time - and no one (including Scott) cares a bit.

 

[RevDrucifer]

Nailing other people's playing styles can turn you into one monster of a player-



That dude could have gotten off the stage and went to his gig sitting first chair in the flute section of the local symphony for all ya know.

Negatively judging an obviously talented individual's efforts is for dicks.

 

[xCaptainx]

Plus let us not forget that everyone plays guitar for different reasons.

Some people are more than happy to NAIL their favourite artists tones and licks.

Being able to go beyond covering an artist and channeling their entire feel is a very, very skillful thing to do. Very cool.

 

[FRETPICK]

I didn't even watch the video because I have about as much faith in the Guitar Industry as a Brick falling from a Building.

 

[stevexc]

I didn't even watch the video because I have about as much faith in the Guitar Industry as a Brick falling from a Building.

You might be in the wrong thread, what kind of faith do you need in the guitar industry to watch a video of Steve Vai playing guitar with a fan?

 

[FRETPICK]

You might be in the wrong thread, what kind of faith do you need in the guitar industry to watch a video of Steve Vai playing guitar with a fan?

The faith that involves waiting. I've been waiting for some friends and friendly faces.

Hopefully, they will be here soon....

 

[tribalfusion]

It's not an unhip thing to do. They're both having a great time.

It's a very unhip thing to do for a real musician to slavishly imitate another and play his own licks at a jam with him.

Steve's a very nice guy and gracious so he gives it a great reaction but seeing a grown man playing like someone else is somewhat like watching grown men play dress up. It's important to study people and their playing of course but this is more than that. Vai knows this of course and a guy like Zappa would definitely say this even more forcefully than I just did.

In other areas of music, if you do this you get hammered. The first time I played with Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale and Joe Diorio they made it clear that sure it's ok in a first learning phrase to do some more obvious imitation but if you are already a fairly fluent player doing a great degree of this, it's something to be critiqued and not applauded no matter how fluently you do it.

Because metal and technique are relatively recent developments in the scheme of things people are still impressed and surprised by technique divorced from concerns about improvisation and singular style and often overlook this.

 

[AxeHappy]

1) Define real musician

2) I'm reasonably sure the guy jamming with Vai is not, in fact, a professional musician. Just someone who likes playing guitar and is a fan of Vai.

 

[tribalfusion]

1) Define real musician

2) I'm reasonably sure the guy jamming with Vai is not, in fact, a professional musician. Just someone who likes playing guitar and is a fan of Vai.

A guy who spends enough time to play with a good deal of technique is playing a lot of hours. Whether he gets paid for it is irrelevant.

If you're playing an instrument that much and are not 12 years old, it makes sense to play like yourself.

A real musician is someone who sounds like himself i.e. he has influences but they don't overshadow who he himself is and his music can't be so easily reduced to one or two players.

 

[ArtDecade]

The first time I played with Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale and Joe Diorio they made it clear that sure it's ok in a first learning phrase to do some more obvious imitation but if you are already a fairly fluent player doing a great degree of this, it's something to be critiqued and not applauded no matter how fluently you do it.

I am having a hard time believing that the guy called Tribalfusion played with Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale and Joe Diorio and that they all told him not to wear his influences on his sleeve... seeing as how all those guys wear their own personal influences on their sleeves.

PS - Vai still sounds like Zappa and Satriani.

 

[tribalfusion]

I am having a hard time believing that the guy called Tribalfusion played with Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale and Joe Diorio and that they all told him not to wear his influences on his sleeve... seeing as how all those guys wear their own personal influences on their sleeves.

PS - Vai still sounds like Zappa and Satriani.

The fact that I like Henderson or other players' styles and might render hommage to them in my user name says nothing about how I play and how I play or played with them.

Those guys all have influences, as does anyone and as do I.

But there is a tremendous difference between influences and what we are discussing.

Vai doesn't just "sound like Zappa and Satriani" and if you can't hear that, then I understand that this conversation can go nowhere and we can drop it.

There's a huge difference between "influenced by" and "slavishly imitating"

In metal, where people are still more easily impressed by technique, this sort of thing will get more positive reactions than it would with a jazz or fusion crowd (among other musical styles) where immediately what I just said would be a very commonly shared sentiment.

Ironically, your responses are the perfect confirmation of my thesis.

 

[MaxOfMetal]

Just because some fusion guys (some of whom known for being uptight and unfriendly) think something is unhip doesn't make it unhip. Given that the general response to that video around the net is "that's awesome" and "they're both having so much fun", most people seem to find it, dare I say, "hip".

You know what's unhip? When you start to quantify what a "real musician" is. Now that's a rabbit hole that leads nowhere.

 

[Noxon]

It's a very unhip thing to do for a real musician to slavishly imitate another and play his own licks at a jam with him.

Steve's a very nice guy and gracious so he gives it a great reaction but seeing a grown man playing like someone else is somewhat like watching grown men play dress up. It's important to study people and their playing of course but this is more than that. Vai knows this of course and a guy like Zappa would definitely say this even more forcefully than I just did.

In other areas of music, if you do this you get hammered. The first time I played with Scott Henderson, Frank Gambale and Joe Diorio they made it clear that sure it's ok in a first learning phrase to do some more obvious imitation but if you are already a fairly fluent player doing a great degree of this, it's something to be critiqued and not applauded no matter how fluently you do it.

Because metal and technique are relatively recent developments in the scheme of things people are still impressed and surprised by technique divorced from concerns about improvisation and singular style and often overlook this.

The level of pretentiousness here is astounding. Most guitar players proudly wear their influences on their sleeve. If I ever jammed with James Hetfield, should I ditch my EMGs and refuse to down pick? This is just a video of a guy jamming with an idol of his and doing some hero worship (and doing it very well). Every guitarist is a sum of their influences. I find it impossible to believe that you've never appropriated a lick, tone, riff, technique...