Steve  Vai Guitar Lesson


Todays guitar idols like James "Munky" Shaffer of 
Korn, Mike Eizinger of Incubus and Tom Morello of 
Audioslave all acknowledge Vai as a major influence 
and inspiration.

Aside from Steve's solo career he was also the star 
guitarist for the original David Lee Roth band, as 
well as the featured guitarist who played the character 
"Jack Bulter" on the movie "Crossroads", as well as 
his many accomplishments with his solo career. Steve 
is famous for his use of every guitar trick in the 
book and then some! 

SOLO DISCOGRAPHY
FLEX-ABLE (1984, self-released), PASSION & WARFARE 
(1990, Relativity Records), SEX & RELIGION (1993, 
Relativity Records), ALIEN LOVE SECRETS (1995, Rela-
tivity Records), FIRE GARDEN (1996, Epic), ULTRA ZONE 
(1999, Epic), SEVENTH SONG (2000, Epic), ALIVE IN AN 
ULTRA WORLD (2001, Epic)    

As a former student who studied under the wings of 
guitar great Joe Satriani, Steve is famous for his 
extreme guitar workouts and practicing methods. 

This lesson will feature some of Steve's best guitar 
exercises along with selected featured licks from the
"Crossroads Suite" from the motion picture "Crossroads".

Exercise #1 * Chromatic Finger Exercise

This exercise is especially good for coordination,
speed and finger strength. Good practice method's
include alternate picking (down, up, down, up, etc...)
as well as using hammer-on's and pull-offs.
This exercise enforces the old school rule of one
finger per fret (index finger=1st fret, middle finger=
2nd fret, ring finger=3rd fret and pinky finger=4th
fret. 

e :---------------------------------------1-2-3-4---|
B :--------------------------------1-2-3-4----------|
G :-------------------------1-2-3-4-----------------|
D :-----------------1-2-3-4-------------------------|
A :---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------|
E :-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------|

Example of Alternate Picking on Large E String
Play this exercise on all 6 strings ascending and 
descending.

    d u d u  (etc...)
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-------------------------------------------------|
G :-------------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------|

Example of Hammer-on's on Large E string
Note: Pick only the note on the 1st fret which is
fretted by the index finger, then use the middle
finger to "hammer-on" to the 2nd fret, the ring finger
to hammer-on to the 3rd fret and the pinky to hammer-on
to the 4th fret. Play this exercise on all 6 strings
ascending and descending.

    h h h
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-------------------------------------------------|
G :-------------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-1-2-3-4-----------------------------------------|

Example of Pull-off's on Large E String
    p p p
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-------------------------------------------------|
G :-------------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-4-3-2-1-----------------------------------------|


Lesson Part 2 * Scale's & Scale Exercises

The major scale (Ionian Mode) is the home base for
all major and minor modes. Containing eight interval's
(notes), when played in the key of G the notes in
order are G,A,B,C,D,E,F#,G. This is taught below
including the octave scale, which is also taught 
using the "old school/one finger per fret" method.
Frethand finger codes are as follows:
i=index  m=middle  r=ring  p=pinky

             G Major Scale * Ionian Mode

   G  A B C D E F# G A B C D E F# G
e :-----------------------------2--3----------------|
B :------------------------3--5---------------------|
G :------------------2-4-5--------------------------|
D :-----------2-4--5--------------------------------|
A :-----2-3-5---------------------------------------|
E :-3-5---------------------------------------------|
    m p i m p i r  p i r p  m p  i  m

Scale Exercises * Ascending Thirds
Although there are many scale exercise's, these next
two are among the most important. Aside from being
good practice for all guitarist of all style's, you'll
also notice that by adding a touch of distortion that
these exercise's can be turned into some very choppy
metal riff's.

G Major Scale (Ionian Mode) in ascending thirds

e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :---------------------------------------3---5-3---|
G :---------------------------2---4-2-5-4---5-------|
D :---------------2---4-2-5-4---5-------------------|
A :---2---3-2-5-3---5-------------------------------|
E :-3---5-------------------------------------------|


e :-2---3-2-5-3-------------------------------------|
B :---5---------------------------------------------|
G :-------------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

G Major Scale (Ionian Mode) in ascending fourths
e :-------------------------------------------2---3-|
B :-----------------------------------3---5-----3---|
G :-----------------------2---4---5-2---4---5-------|
D :-----------2---4---5-2---4---5-------------------|
A :---3---5-2---3---5-------------------------------|
E :-3---5-------------------------------------------|


e :---5-3-------------------------------------------|
B :-5-----------------------------------------------|
G :-------------------------------------------------|
D :-------------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

Lesson Part 3 * Steve Vai Guitar Licks

Aside from learning what favorite tool's a guitarist
may use to develop their playing style and sound, from
scale's and guitar chords or other exercise's, it's
also a good practice to learn a few fundamental basic
lick's to help get a better understanding of how they
apply much of what they practice. This next segment
covers a few of Steve's most recognizable lick's.

Lick #1 * Intro Lick to "Butler's Bag"
Synbols used are:
p=pull-off     p.m.=palm mute   b=bend 1/2 step
s=slide        f=full bend      v=vibrato

     p  p.m........     b
e :-------------------------------------------------|
B :-------------------------------------------------|
G :-2-0---------------------------------------------|
D :-----2-5-2-0-------------------------------------|
A :-------------2-2---------------------------------|
E :-----------------5-3--3--------------------------|

Lick #2 (Large E tuned to Drop D) lower large E one 
whole step. Also from Butler's Bag, this lick is a 
combination of C minor pentatonic (C,D,E,G,A) with
D blues pentatonic (D,F,G,A)
     p       p      p   p  s
e :-8-5---5-----------------------------------------|
B :-----8---8-5-5-----------------------------------|
G :----------------7-5------------------------------|
D :--------------------7-5--------------------------|
A :------------------------7-5-3--------------------|
E :-------------------------------5-3-0-------------|

Lick #3
This featured lick is from Steve's ending solo in
the intro to "Jack Butler".
   s                             s    s  s
e :-19-16-------------------------------------------|
B :-------17-15-14----------------------------------|
G :----------------16-13-12-------------------------|
D :-------------------------14-12-11----------------|
A :----------------------------------14-11-7--------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|

     s              s      v-bar   f.v 
e :------------14-17-22----22------22---------------|
B :---------15--------------------------------------|
G :------13-----------------------------------------|
D :-9-14--------------------------------------------|
A :-------------------------------------------------|
E :-------------------------------------------------|




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