Quote

When Frank Zappa would get an idea for a song, he just did it. He didn't wait for anybody or expect anyone to do it.

Steve Vai

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Steve Vai
Age: 64
Born: 1960
Born: June 6
Actor
Composer
Guitarist
Musician
Record Producer
Songwriter
Carle Place
New York
Anyone
Idea
Song
Zappa
Didn
Frank
Ideas
Wait
Would
Expect
Anybody
Waiting

More quotes by Steve Vai

Image
All musicians practice ear training constantly, whether or not they are cognizant of it. If, when listening to a piece of music, a musician is envisioning how to play it or is trying to play along, that musician is using his or her 'ear' - the understanding and recognition of musical elements - for guidance.
Steve Vai
Image
Besides being a guitar player, I'm a big fan of the guitar. I love that damn instrument.
Steve Vai
Image
I'm a big fan of cultural music, and that's how I try to expand my playing, by listening to music that is not conventionally American.
Steve Vai
Image
If you want to play something that you hear, you need to listen with your mind's eye. You've heard of the mind's eye, right? Your mind has an ear too. It's a kind of listening, but it's not using your ears to listen. It's listening with your inner ear, and that's what you want to translate onto the guitar.
Steve Vai
Image
So that's the challenge for me and that has always been the challenge - finding that melody, that riff, that thing that just lights me up and makes me feel like it's Christmas.
Steve Vai
Image
Most of my records are very dense, composition-heavy, and there's bits of different kinds of music like an acoustic ballad, instrumental trio pieces, and vocal tracks.
Steve Vai
Image
It's very hard to come across as a passionate human being in print. People can't hear the inflections in your voice.
Steve Vai
Image
The cool thing about playing is that the more you do it, the better you get.
Steve Vai
Image
I awake, I meditate, get the kids off to school, go to the gym, go to the Favored Nations office, and usually at around 1 pm I'm home and do music the rest of the day.
Steve Vai
Image
What I look for in music is artistry, sincerity, and simplicity, and Tom Waits has all of that. I want to make a connection to the creator.
Steve Vai
Image
I loved the guitar, and I had all of this music in my head. My passion for the guitar and the ideas for what I could create musically were equal. So that's where I was.
Steve Vai
Image
The classical guitar has a dynamic to it unlike a regular acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. You know, there's times when you should play and there's times when you gotta hold back. It's an extremely dynamic instrument.
Steve Vai
Image
As a musician, I look for certain things that stimulate me. And what I look for is something that's an evolution on a particular genre that I never heard before.
Steve Vai
Image
I wanted to be a composer before anything else. And my sister was listening to Led Zeppelin in the other room! When I heard that, it was a game-changer.
Steve Vai
Image
Reps once took chances on art, History's most treasured musicians were believed in and cultivated to reach their potential. Today, it would be difficult for those musicians to get deals.
Steve Vai
Image
It is only the most elite of elite musicians whose unconventional approach becomes convention.
Steve Vai
Image
I think the thing that I got most from working with Frank Zappa is that I was able to see someone who completely independent. The most beautiful thing about Frank was that he was completely in the moment and present and eternally creative.
Steve Vai
Image
Possessing a healthy imagination is a necessary ingredient for creativity.
Steve Vai
Image
My past is very interesting, and I treasure it, but to write about it, it's just not on my radar.
Steve Vai
Image
We may be human, but we're still animals.
Steve Vai