Steve Vai

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Matteo Mancuso

“Learning licks is useful, but if you rely only on licks you will lose the connection between your mind and the instrument”: Matteo Mancuso's soloing skills are something else – these are his top tips for playing better lead lines

By Matt Owen published

He's been tipped for greatness by Steve Vai, Joe Bonamassa, Al Di Meola and more. Now, Mancuso shares his soloing secrets

Pete Griffin backstage with Dethklok

“Steve Vai tried to school me on string bending, but you just don't do that on bass!” Pete Griffin reflects on his time with Steve Vai, and his latest solo EP

By Nick Wells published

The seasoned sideman compares notes on Steve Vai, Yngwie Malmsteen, Nuno Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde and Dweezil Zappa

Matteo Mancuso playing a Yamaha Revstar in the Guitarist studio

“I didn’t invent this technique. Like Eddie Van Halen said he never invented tapping, I see it in a similar way”: Matteo Mancuso walks you through the secrets of his breathtaking style, which saw Steve Vai hail him as “the evolution of guitar”

By Matt Owen published

The young Italian virtuoso has taken the guitar world by storm this year, having been tipped for greatness by Al Di Meola, Joe Bonamassa and Tosin Abasi. He breaks down the ins and outs of his mesmerizing style

Steve Vai's Hamer pre-JEM prototype

Steve Vai’s Hamer JEM prototype is going back up for auction – with a starting bid of just $2,500

By Matt Parker published

The instrument represents an alternative slice of guitar history, and was originally built as an audition to produce Vai’s signature model

Matteo Mancuso

“I don’t think I will ever come close to the magic of the original, but I tried my best!”: Marvel at Matteo Mancuso’s unique technique as he absolutely nails Steve Vai’s legendary Crossroads showcase Eugene’s Trick Bag

By Matt Owen published

The Joe Bonamassa and Al Di Meola-backed virtuoso gave the Crossroads track a mind-melting makeover as he announced he will be teaching at Steve Vai's forthcoming guitar academy

Steve Vai performs live in 2001

“Without a good ear at the helm, you could find yourself musically adrift at sea”: Steve Vai shares his course on ear training for guitar players – the ultimate guide to improving your musicality

By Steve Vai published

Developing your ear is one of the most important lessons you can learn as a guitar player – and there is no better teacher than Steve Vai

Steve Vai plays an Ibanez JSM100 in a custom finish

“It’s like John Scofield took acid”: Steve Vai’s tech shares the story behind the virtuoso’s psychedelic semi-hollow

By Jonathan Horsley published

Scofield's signature model has had a radical makeover for Vai’s semi-hollow moment – and we're not just talking about that stunning swirled finish

Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson and Steve Vai in 1996

“Reuniting the original G3 lineup is a dream come true”: Joe Satriani, Steve Vai and Eric Johnson are hitting the road for a G3 reunion tour next year

By Matt Owen published

The three fretboard heroes will link up early next year almost three decades after they launched one of guitar's most influential events back in 1996

Adrian Vandenberg poses with a Gibson Les Paul

“Rhythm playing is the backbone of what a guitar player is trying to say – and it’s become deeply undervalued today”: Adrian Vandenberg is back with one of this year’s biggest rock guitar albums – where melody and rhythm are king

By Andrew Daly published

The Dutch guitar icon on what helped him come to terms with Steve Vai recording his Whitesnake guitar parts, why the Peavey Vandenberg is making a comeback, and how his wrist injury forced him to develop a new picking technique using his fingernail

Jacob Collier and his five-string Strandberg guitar

“Everything about the design appeals to me”: Jacob Collier on why he created his wild 5-string Strandberg – and how he unlocked a new musical language with its unusual alternate tuning

By Matt Owen published

The multi-instrumentalist is dipping his toes into rockier waters for his upcoming album, and he’s got the perfect axe to do so. Here’s how one of 2023’s most unorthodox custom builds came to life

Yvette Young. Steve Vai and Tim Henson

“I am fascinated by their talent, technique and creativity”: Steve Vai taps this generation's most innovative players for Vai Academy 7.0

By Matt Owen published

Tim Henson, Yvette Young, Ichika Nito and Mateus Asato will all feature at the event, which puts the spotlight on guitarists defining the future of the instrument

Nuno Bettencourt, Zakk Wylde and Steve Vai

“He’s the funkiest dude in the shredder family tree”: The world’s greatest guitarists explain why Nuno Bettencourt isn’t your typical guitar hero

By Richard Bienstock published

Brian May, Zakk Wylde, Steve Vai and Tom Morello join an all-star cast to explain what makes the Extreme virtuoso one of the guitar world’s most valuable players

John Frusciante and Steve Vai perform live

John Frusciante’s guitar teacher once told him he wasn’t a good guitarist – so he learned to play like Steve Vai: “No-one was going to say that to me again”

By Michael Astley-Brown published

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar hero recalls being criticized because he couldn’t play the blues scale fast enough: “It was about the worst feeling I could imagine”

Matteo Mancuso

Joe Bonamassa called him his new favorite player and Steve Vai hailed him as the evolution of guitar: how Matteo Mancuso developed a technique like no other

By Matt Owen published

The Italian virtuoso unpicks the inspiration behind his eye-opening approach, and explains why he never wanted to become a lead guitarist in the first place

Steve Vai watching street performer Rafael Flores

Steve Vai rocks up to Mexico gig to find street performer playing For the Love of God… on two guitars

By Matt Owen published

Rafael Flores spent three years working on his hypnotic arrangement, and finally had the chance to flex his two-hand tapping chops in front of Vai himself

Dante Frisiello and Steve Vai performs at Teatro Dal Verme on April 07, 2023 in Milan, Italy.

Meet Dante Frisiello, Steve Vai's new guitar sideman who went from law school to playing with his hero

By Andrew Daly published

The guitarist reflects on his disastrous solo on the first night of his new gig, the hardest part about playing with one of the world's leading virtuosos, and why the Abasi Larada is his favorite guitar he's ever played

Matteo Mancuso playing guitar live

Steve Vai and Tosin Abasi-championed virtuoso Matteo Mancuso really is superhuman – watch him play his mind-melting new single Drop D live

By Matt Owen published

Witness the spectacle that is Drop D live, and marvel at Mancuso's boundary-pushing technique that delivers some truly astonishing results

Matteo Mancuso playing a Yamaha Revstar

Steve Vai called him “the evolution of guitar”, Tosin Abasi said he was “a virtuoso beyond virtuosos” – now Matteo Mancuso shares his mind-twisting new single

By Matt Owen published

Al Di Meola and Joe Bonamassa have also waxed lyrical about the innovative player in the past – and his latest effort, Drop D, will melt your face clean off

Jacob Collier playing his five-string Strandberg

Jacob Collier shows off his custom-made Strandberg electric guitar – which only has five strings

By Matt Owen published

The revered multi-instrumentalist and Steve Vai collaborator joins a long list of guitarists who have deemed six strings to be surplus to sonic requirements

Nuno Bettencourt

Nuno Bettencourt says one of the new Extreme songs made Steve Vai and Tom Morello cry

By Matt Owen published

Spoiler alert: it wasn't Rise – a track that Bettencourt says has become so popular because he didn't play it sitting down