Joe Satriani
Instrumental rock guitarist and teacher, and a recognized virtuoso rock guitarist.
I've always spent a lot of time on my records with what I think were unique rhythmic approaches ... but no one ever writes about your rhythm playing
Guitars are fun. There are plenty of different kinds to play. They look cool. They sound cool. Don't *you* want to play guitar?
There's a fine line between giving the sense of freedom and being too free.
When you think about where guitar playing is going today...: it's going everywhere at the same time.
When these guitar mags bring up that stuff up and say such and such came up with this and that which is pushing the boundaries, I just say, "let's step back for a minute and admit something: nothing has happened for the last 100 years." And it's okay. It's not a bad thing ... We're all working with "tools" that have been in existence for the last 100 years and there hadn't been a new "tool" for a long long time.
I've always done "the wrong thing" and had a pretty wonderful time doing it.
...Is the greatest guitar player in the world.
When you hear an instrumental song someone is singing over, you know right away it's wrong.
I'll tell you one thing: I will always play the sh** out of my guitar.
I assume most guitar players are like me. They're playing, having fun; then they get a magazine in the mail that says "Shred Is Dead" and they say, "What the Hell?" They throw it away and keep on playing.
Mozart was a freaky kind of shredder.
I write the songs first and in most cases teach myself the technique second.
Basic anatomy. That has got to be the ongoing frustration: Why can't my fingers do what I want them to do? Not being able to play what I hear in my head — that is the ultimate source of frustration.
I think it's quite painfully obvious when someone's practicing through an amp, as opposed to someone who's really laying down some stuff that just happens to be fast.
Song ideas have come to me in the middle of interviews, in the shower, or while I'm writing another song.
If someone can relate my guitar solo to an exercise in a book ... that's no fun at all.
I'm ready to take the heat.
Sounds cool. Looks cool. Feels cool.
My first [guitar] lessons lasted two weeks and it was "Jingle Bells." It didn't make any sense at all. I wanted to know how to play like Hendrix...
Solos I kind of [couldn't] care less about. I know most people probably think that's what I care most about, but it's really the melody playing that is the cornerstone of what I'm working on.