Steve Vai Discusses "How to Be Successful" —Video

In this fascinating video, Steve Vai plays plenty of guitar and answers a host of questions related to success in the music industry.

As Vai speaks, we often are treated to up-close shots of his whammy-bar and fretwork. But best of all is the advice from someone who has weathered the music-industry storm for several decades.

"I've got strengths and I've got weaknesses," Vai says in the clip, which you can check out below.

"I don't work on my weaknesses. I ignore them. I cultivate my strengths. The level of achievement that we have with anything is a reflection of how well we were able to focus on it. Because the only thing that's holding you back is the way you're thinking."

The clip was shot at Guitar Center in Hollywood, California, in 2011. The audience included 10 talented guitarists who were hand picked by Vai as part of a Guitar Center contest.

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Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.