Book Review: Steve Vai’s Guitar Workout

These are my notes from Steve Vai’s Guitar Workout book.  I wrote these mostly for myself as a reference – but I figured if they are useful to me, they might be useful to other guitarists, too.

So, here are my biggest takeaways from the book.

Philosophies

• Never take the advice anyone gives you as gospel
• You have the right to thoroughly enjoy what you play
• Focus is the most important thing.  Don’t just go through the motions.  Focus on every note you play.
• Your real work in accomplishing anything is in cultivating a positive mental attitude towards your goals and actions
  • Change the thoughts you think
  • Break old negative patterns of thinking
• Guitarists who don’t know theory have tremendous ears, and how they get by without knowing theory
• If you’re doing band gigs, wear earplugs.  Protect your ears!
• Play with other people.
  • If that’s all you do, you’re doing good.
  • Most rewarding part of being a musician
• To become a virtuoso at anything, you have to eat, sleep, live, and breathe that thing in virtually every waking moment.
  • True for the guitar and true to become a champion in any field
  • You must transcend the excuses
    • It’s all in your mind.  Never accept anything less than the best you can do.
• Compliment and support fellow musicians (always)
• It’s okay to get discouraged.  It’s not okay to quit.
• Think about music and the guitar even when you aren’t around the instrument
• Look for ways to add to what exists out there
• Being a musician and being able to play an instrument is about the coolest thing in the world
• Find the thing that is most exciting to you about the guitar and throw yourself into it
• Frank Zappa: “There are only two things to remember.  Number one, don’t stop.  And number two, keep going.’’

Technique

• Start new patterns very slowly and use a metronome
  • Once you are comfortable with the pattern, set the metronome faster
  • Find things that are awkward to play and work on them slowly until you can play them perfectly
  • Always learn a sequence slow until you can play it flawlessly over and over.  Only then do you speed it up.
• Keep your fretting hand fingers as close as possible to the fretboard
• Crossing strings with the same finger
  • Roll fretting finger over the strings as you switch from one to the next (prevents bleeding and ringing)
  • Simply straighten your first knuckle as you shift the fingertip pressure over to the next string
• Don’t hook your thumb over the top of the neck
  • Greatly decreases your stretching ability
  • Keep your thumb centered behind the neck and your fingers parallel to the frets before you attempt such a stretch
• The better you are at crossing strings with the pick, the better your picking technique
• Transcription: play things at half speed
• Don’t stick to the scale fingerings when you solo
  • Use whatever fingerings you like
  • You can still use traditional fingering
  • Practice one-finger and two-finger solos to break out of the box
• You can play the relevant scale over any of the chords that are in the same key
  • Example: C major scale can be played over C F G Dm Em Am (the chords of C major)
  • Example: D major scale can be played over D Em F#m G A Bm (chords of D major)
• Techniques to focus on:

1) Vibrato

1. Vibrato is the soul of a note (and the soul of a singer)
   1. Tickle the note for vibrato
2. Hold a note with your index finger and play vibrato on the note for a few minutes.  Experiment with it.
   1. Then use other fingers.  Try it with every finger on every fret.
3. Then do vibrato on 2 notes at a time (then 3, then 4)
4. As you move away from the center of the guitar, the notes will feel stiffer and harder to wiggle
5. Apply vibrato to strings you have already bent

2) Bending notes

1. Sit for an hour and do nothing but bend notes
2. Focus on the pitch and strive for impeccable intonation
3. Practice unison bends
   1. Index finger on a note on B string
   2. Ring finger on note on G string (2 frets higher)
   3. Strum both strings
   4. Bend G string to perfectly match the pitch of the unbent B string
4. Other bending techniques to practice:
   1. Double stop bends (bending two strings at the same time)
   2. Start note in bent position and bring it up or down
   3. Play bent notes together with unbent notes on different strings
   4. Practice as much on the upper register on the high strings as you do on the low register in the low strings

3) Whammy bar

1. Do whammy bar things exclusively for an hour without stopping
2. Finger only one note and use the whammy bar to raise and lower its pitch.  Create a melody.
3. Experiment and try to create outer space sounds
4. Try using it on single notes and on chords

 4) Dynamics

1. Be a player who can play hard and forcefully and switch to soft and tender within 3 seconds
2. Gradually go from soft to hard, then back again
3. Create strumming patterns that have sharp hits, light strums, and medium strums all within one or two bars
4. Play as hard and as fast as you can for as long as you can, then do the opposite

Vocabulary

• Vamp: A short sequence of chords that is repeated (such as for a soloist to solo over)
  • Also called an ostinato
• Inversion: A chord voiced so that any note other than the root note is the lowest note
• Arpeggiation: Playing the notes of a chord successively (one after another) rather than simultaneously

Recommended Books

• Music notation by Gardner Reed (for writing music)
• The Real Book (jazz anthology)

Guitarists to Listen to

• Jeff Beck
• Allan Holdsworth
• Joe Satriani
• Zakk Wylde

Excercises

1. Think of a word or phrase, then play it on the guitar
   1. Each note corresponds to a syllable, and the rhythms follow the natural speech pattern
   2. Say things that are deeply personal, probably things that only you understand
2. Play the major scale in all 12 keys (one position at a time)
3. Solo over different types of backing tracks (rock, blues, reggae, R&B)
4. Drills to do for one hour each
   1. Solo on one string only
   2. Solo with double stops only (then 3, 4, 5, 6 note chords)
   3. Solo two adjacent strings only
      1. Then two that have 1, 2, 3, or 4 strings between them
   4. Pick one note and play it as many ways as you can for an hour.  Make it sound like music.
   5. Come up with at least one new thing per day that you’ve never practiced before
   6. Improvise with only your fretting hand, using hammer-ons and pull-offs
   7. Play as fast and clean as you can
   8. Play as slowly and tenderly as you can
   9. Use alternate tunings
   10. Try to evoke colors with chords
   11. Lay the guitar on the floor and touch it as many ways as you can while trying to create different sounds
5. The minute you find yourself doing something interesting, make an exercise out of it
   1. Continue pulling yourself in this direction, like an unraveling thread that yields enough material for a sweater
6. Eight categories of exercises

1) Finger exercises

• • Build dexterity and control
  • Use a metronome and start slowly
  • Subcategories (you can do 30 minutes linear, 30 minutes angular)

1. 1. 1. Linear: 2, 3, 4 note patterns on the same string
      2. Angular: string crossing exercises
      3. Hammer ons and pullofs
         1. Trill: rapid, continuous alternating between two notes on the same string (using hammer-ons and pull-offs in combination)
      4. Alternate fingers: hammer-ons and pull-offs in various combinations using different fingers
      5. Tapping: Tap with the right hand and the left.  The technique is the same except that with the right hand you pull the string sideways away from your chin
      6. Sweeping: Playing one note and then another on an adjacent string in a single upstroke or downstroke
         1. Key: Let go of each note with your fretting hand immediately after you’ve picked it so it doesn’t ring into the next one)
      7. Multiple picking: try a lick or phrase with alternate picking, then only downstrokes, then only upstrokes
         1. Also try double picking (picking each note 2x), triple picking (3x), quadruple picking (4x), etc.

2) Scales

1. 1. Sing the notes of a scale to internalize them
   2. Learn and play as many scales as you can.  Learn them in every key and position.
   3. Play them backward and forward
   4. Start from different root notes on the scale
   5. Practice with a mirror
   6. Minor pentatonic and blues scales form the foundation of rock lead guitar playing
   7. Other scales: A scale can contain 2 to 12 noes.  A 12 note chromatic scale encompases all notes within an octave.
   8. Get a good scale book and dig in

3) Chords

1. 1. Dedicate time to each category
      1. Memorization
      2. Strumming technique
      3. Improvising
   2. Memorization
      1. Buy a good chord book and dig in
      2. Sing the chords and the notes of the chords to internalize their sound
      3. Know what scale degrees a chord contains
   3. Strumming
      1. Practicing strumming patterns with a drum machine or a drummer
         1. When playing with a metronome or drum machine, try to bury the beat (cover the sound of the click by playing right on beat, so you can’t hear the metronome)
         2. Once you are locked in with the drummer or drum machine, try to lock in tighter and tighter
         3. Locking in with the beat and feeling the groove is one of the best feelings you can have as a musician – better than the after party
      2. “Clean” = not thinking about the changes
   4. Improv/Experimentation
      1. Create your own chord library
      2. Drills
         1. Play a familiar chord, then change one note at a time by moving it up or down a fret until you find a new chord you like.  Add it to your library.
         2. Use a telephone number as scale degrees for a chord
         3. Think of a color or a scene of a movie and play notes of a chord to express it
         4. Practice playing trills for an extended time (like 1 minute)
            1. Start with notes a half step apart, then a full step, then more
            2. Use other finger combinations too (2-3, 2-4, 3-4)
            3. Try to put as many frets between fingers as possible (no injuries)
            4. Then try adding another 10 seconds to each exercise

4) Ear Training

1. 1. Training your ears is the most important practice
   2. Drills
      1. Improvise and sing what you play
      2. Sing a note and then try to play it
      3. Sing a harmony to the notes you’re playing
      4. Play an interval of notes, then sing it
      5. Play an interval of chords, then sing it
      6. Transcribe everything
      7. Carry songbooks and sing the melodies
      8. Make up your own ear training exercises

5) Reading Music

1. 1. Why learn to read music?
      1. Learn to play songs you otherwise wouldn’t be able to play
      2. Being able to transcribe your own compositions
      3. Expanding your musical palate
   2. Two most important elements to learn how to read music (work on these two principles and everything will fall into place)
      1. Being able to identify patterns
      2. Look ahead as you’re playing
   3. Play a song every day until you can play it perfectly
      1. Sight reading is really about identifying patterns, so playing a song every day helps
      2. Also helps the ability to have an emotional investment in what you’re playing
   4. Sight read a little bit of something new and terrifying every day
   5. Sight read at a strict tempo (with a metronome or drum machine)
      1. If you miss a note, oh well.  Keep going as if you were playing with other musicians.
   6. Practice at a speed in which you’re not messing up every 2 measures
   7. Read music for instruments other than the guitar

6) Writing Music

1. 1. Writing songs is one of the most rewarding parts of being a musician
   2. Write a new song every day to get good at writing songs
   3. Buy a music notation book and study it
   4. Turn on a recorder and record your idea right away
      1. Moments of inspiration are fleeting and you need to be ready to capture them immediately when they present themselves
   5. Write songs out in lead sheet format with a melody on the staff and chord changes above the melody
   6. Try composing music for other instruments
   7. Find a cowriter – ideally someone who possesses skills you lack
   8. While lying in bed at night, make up an endless melody that contains a variety of instruments
      1. There are no limitations to wher eyou can go or what it can sound like
   9. People write songs based on anything – evens in their lives, social commentary, fantasy
      1. Gravitate towards things that stimulate you the most
   10. Say things that are deeply personal – probably things only you would understand

7) Music Theory

1. 1. If you’re going to speak a language, learn how to read and write it
   2. It’s actually not that difficult.  The system is actually very logical and straightforward.

8) Jamming

1. 1. The goal is to express the music that’s in your head in real time, improvised, live in front of people
   2. When Steve Vai sits down to play now he builds jam tracks to play over and write to
      1. Learn the basics of recording and invest in a simple rig
      2. Use prerecorded jam tracks
   3. Focusing intensely on anything is a form of meditation
      1. Meditate on what you’re doing.  When the mind begins to wander, pull it back.
   4. Use loops from different genres, keys, grooves, and time signatures
   5. It’s easy to be miserably intense.  The challenge is to unearth negative mind patterns and turn them into positive ones.
   6. Record your yourself playing, then listen back to it

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