“Playing the melody on top of that was the real challenge”: Steve Vai, Eric Johnson and Joe Satriani share the secrets behind 3 instrumental epics in these exclusive Guitar World lessons
The three G3 virtuosos break down hits both classic and modern to celebrate the release of the G3 Reunion Live album
Last year, Joe Satriani assembled the original G3 trio and hit the road with Steve Vai and Eric Johnson for what turned out to be one of 2024’s most notable guitar tours.
The tour saw the three electric guitar greats reunite under the G3 banner almost three decades after Satch first initiated the long-running format back in 1996. As per tradition, each show saw the three players headline their own sets, before joining forces for a finale jam.
G3 2024 was recently delivered to the masses via the new G3 Reunion Live album, and to celebrate the highly anticipated record’s release, Guitar World has teamed up with Vai, Johnson and Satch for three personal lessons breaking down some of their favorite instrumental tracks.
While Johnson offers a whistle stop tour of the verse section of his Ah Via Musicom acoustic classic, Desert Rose – particularly the crucial muting technique he deploys – Vai serves up a bespoke insight into Avalancha, from his most recent studio record, Inviolate.
“I was looking for a song to open the show with,” Vai says of Avalancha’s origins. “This melody is like a Clarion Call of sorts. That’s what I was looking for.”
For his own lesson, Satch breaks out both his Ibanez JS1CR and Ibanez 12-string to walk through the micro-tonal hook, main melodies, and accompanying lead sections of Sahara.
“Playing the melody on top of that was the real challenge,” Satch says of the opening motif, before giving players a close-up look at the wild whammy bar techniques he uses to amp up the central lead line.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Head over to the Guitar World YouTube channel to watch all three lessons. G3 Reunion Live is out now via earMusic.
Matt is a Senior Staff Writer, writing for Guitar World, Guitarist and Total Guitar. He has a Masters in the guitar, a degree in history, and has spent the last 16 years playing everything from blues and jazz to indie and pop. When he’s not combining his passion for writing and music during his day job, Matt records for a number of UK-based bands and songwriters as a session musician.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Amps as furniture? This brand of high-end cabinets puts Celestion speakers into luxury furniture inspired by ’70s hi-fi consoles – and aims to blend guitar gear seamlessly into your life

“A few poorly intonated sustained bends in a solo can make the guitar's most emotive technique sound bad”: Learning how to bend strings correctly is one of the quickest ways to make your playing sound better

Guitar World deals of the week: save $400 on a Charvel, get a $99 UAFX pedal, plus all the week's best guitar gear deals