Steve Vai is famous for being a top-notch guitar player. His career has spanned more than twenty years and he continues to rock today and create more music than ever. What has contributed to Steve Vai's longevity in the guitar-playing world? So many guitarists have a hit or two and then fizzle out due to burn-out or personal problems. Steve Vai has not fallen victim to the afflictions that so often plague his fellow musicians. Let's take a look at Steve Vai's life and career to see what has worked so well for him to create a successful music career.
Family support. Steve Vai grew up in New York in the 1960s. He started appreciating music at a very early age and was strongly supported by his family in his musical pursuits. His parents allowed him to take lessons from Joe Satriani in 1974 and he played in various bands and different musical projects as a youngster. After he finished high school, Vai was accepted into the Berklee College of Music. It was difficult for his family to come up with the funds to pay for his schooling, but they were so supportive of Steve's music career that Steve's father sold his life insurance policy in order to pay the tuition into Berklee. It is clear that Vai is still touched by the love and support from his father because he works closely with various charity organizations that help kids who have musical abilities but need financial help in order to pursue their aspirations.
Boldness. In 1979, Vai made an unsolicited transcription of popular rocker Frank Zappa's "The Black Page". He sent the transcription to Zappa along with a recording of his own guitar playing. He knew that Zappa had no clue who he was and was not expecting to receive a package from him. In spite of the unlikelihood that his efforts would lead anywhere, he sent the package to Zappa. When Frank Zappa saw the transcription and listened to the recording of Vai's guitar playing, he hired Vai to transcribe more of his music. Eventually, Vai became a regular member of Zappa's band and toured with the group in 1980. While he was touring with Zappa, he entertained audiences by challenging anyone in the crowd to bring him an unfamiliar musical score to see if he could sight read it on the stage. Of course he was very confident in his abilities and the audiences loved to interact with him.
Unabashed originality. Vai says, "I make music to push my own buttons. I've always been driven by an addiction to create sounds that are unique - not better than what other people do, just different." Vai's commitment to create music that is truly unique and to satisfy only himself with his musical attempts helped him to gain success. Vai has a unique sound on the guitar, because he is so dedicated to making music for himself and not just following what everyone else is doing. Passion and Warfare was one of the most successful albums of Vai's career. Guitar World magazine appointed the guitar solo in the track "For the Love of God" as one of the top 100 guitar solos of all time. After the success of this album, Vai was quoted as saying:
"I didn't know what people were going to think of that record, I just knew that I had to make it. I locked myself in the studio, and the music that had been building up in my imagination for years all came rushing out. Honestly, I thought the record was going to sell about 10 copies. Instead it went gold in a week."
It is clear from Vai's description of writing the music for Passion and Warfare that he was not concerned with the opinion of other people, but instead wrote music that truly inspired him. If you aspire to guitar greatness like Steve Vai, be bold and creative in your music and it will speak for itself.
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