As a certified shred wizard and guitar teacher to the stars, Joe Satriani knows what it takes to reach the upper echelons of guitar playing prowess. For others to follow in his footsteps, though, he says there are two “small realities” to get acquainted with.
From Steve Vai, who once turned up on his doorstep with an electric guitar bereft of strings, to Kirk Hammett, Alex Skolnick, and Primus’s avant-garde virtuoso, Larry LaLonde, Satriani has a track record of helping players reach nosebleed-inducing heights. But he also understands that many budding players are preoccupied with speed and technicality as they plot their path to the summit of Shred Mountain.
But before a note has even been played in a guitar lesson led by the 15-time Grammy nominee, there are some home truths to reinforce. What they are, he’s revealed in a new interview with Andy Guitar.
“Right away, musicians have to be told some real realities, which is, you might be fast, you might be slow, that doesn’t really matter,” he underscores. “It’s going to come if you practice, or it’s not going to come if you don’t practice. So, that’s settled right away.”
The second reality hinges on this concept and is far more pertinent.
“Don’t waste hours, weeks, and years trying to get to 224 beats per minute on the metronome. No one’s ever going to want to come see you do that, so who cares?” he continues. “But if you don’t know the psychological impact of a Lydian mode or Lydian dominant mode, and why they’re different, and how they’re going to affect the audience differently, then you can’t really call yourself a composer.”
That last phrase is interesting. Cory Wong used similar words last year when dividing the internet when he set his bar for guitar excellence, even if that excludes icons of the instrument like Stevie Ray Vaughan. The difference is, where Wong’s focus was on players needing to know what note they’re playing at all times from a theoretical standpoint, Satriani’s focus is less on the fundamentals. It’s about what the note means in the wider context.
“When is this note the right note, and when is it a wrong note?” he asks. “You know it’s not really right or wrong; it’s cause and effect. That’s a hard thing to teach people. We’re in control, but only if you know.”
Way back in 1992, Neil Young told Guitar Player that music schools and the future of rock are doomed if the emphasis is wrongly placed on honing flawless technique over feel, with the belief that one note is enough. Ironically, he used Joe Satriani as an example of a “high caliber” musician who is taking the guitar to new heights, but whose speedy playing style he can’t relate to on a personal level.
David Gilmour, meanwhile, pivoted to a more tuneful playing style – championing one heartfelt, rung-out note over burning the maple fretboard of his Black Cat Strat when it came to guitar solos – but that move was practically forced upon him. He says he could not shred, no matter how hard he tried, so he learned to use simplicity as a weapon. Wolfgang Van Halen, meanwhile, says his dad aligns with this mindset far more than his reputation would suggest.
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