He is the type of musician that mediocre musicians hate occasionally because he forces them to accept the reality that they are nowhere near as good as they think they are in their heads. It's a reality check. He makes them realize just how bad they suck.
For me Steve Vai is peerless, he can play with such simple beauty, or just extreme skills and speed, he also can play with a great sense of humour and make me laugh at some pieces, he gives his guitars a real voice and expresion of their own, I have seen him live and was both amazed and mesmerised by him.
I miss the days when guitars ruled. So many amazing talented musicians in their own beautiful styles. I realize that there are still some these days but for about four decades, it was very strong. Anything from classical to rock to blues to country to jazz. Steve Vai is super gifted with his instrument and his style. Love this!
When you asked what did he do? at the end, he pushed the string against the pickup. The part where he moved his right hand toward the nut of the guitar, he was using his right hand to mute the unwanted noise from the strings while he played legato.
even though the video is in playback (mental since he's definitely playing every note and nuance) the thing he does at the end is to push the low E on the middle pickup pole and release it, and that's exactly the sound it would do, it's not just for scenic purpose, I believe Vai in this album and Passion & Warfare was at his top, really on another level, an alien landed to earth with an electric guitar...
I have played for thirty years….I am good. I am not great but….very good. Other guitarists think I am…..watching him? I feel like I started five months ago. Goodness.
The reason he grabs the end of the neck with his right hand in that part of the solo is to mute all the strings he doesn't play... and also for the theatrical effect it has.
Not really as a capo, since he's just muting open string for ringing. Kind of like some guitarists use wrist band or something else to mute open strings.
@@ManWithoutThePants Depends how hard he presses down on the strings. If he pushed them all the way down, it is exactly like a capo. If he just holds them softly, then he just mutes. As it not an actual performance, it can't be taken seriously. It does look like he just mutes the strings though, so you might be right.
I think sometimes Vai solos are some kind of chaotic, like he was giving more importance to technique than to composition, to the structure. Before somebody misunderstood me, I listen to many different styles and I love jazz. That's why I rather prefer his maestro Joe Satriani, he's still being quite unpredictable, but I can see the structure of the songs and a sense of more unity/uniformity in his compositions.
