Loretta Lynn: They've Killed Country Music

[The IbanezerScrooge]

As soon as you find me a country guitar player who can go note-for-note with Steve Vai, let me know.

Check out Brad Paisley. I thoroughly dislike his music, but have mad respect for his guitar playing. If there is one that could hang with Vai it might be him. There are also certain styles of country music that require discipline and a lot of practice to play correctly. Some even Vai might have trouble with.

This video shows some differences in styles between mostly metal guitarists, but Brad hangs. His is my second favorite solo (begins at about 5:13) next to Nuno's (begins at about 4:40) in this video.

 

[durangodawood]

Check out Brad Paisley. I thoroughly dislike his music, but have mad respect for his guitar playing. If there is one that could hang with Vai it might be him. There are also certain styles of country music that require discipline and a lot of practice to play correctly. Some even Vai might have trouble with.

This video shows some differences in styles between mostly metal guitarists, but Brad hangs. His is my second favorite solo (begins at about 5:13) next to Nuno's (begins at about 4:40) in this video.

Whoa was that the same Dan Weiss the showrunner?

Yeah his playing was a little clunky next to those masters.... but objectively he's not bad.

 

[sunshineforJesus]

I love this song.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

I think Vai is crap. You think good music is a guy who can play basic scales really fast? That's like thinking "Shakespeare took a month to write Romeo and Juliet, but I know of this guy who can write a play in one day!"

If you're referring to someone who just plays scales really fast, you may be referring to guys like Malmsteen and not guys like Vai or Satriani.

Even other professional guitar players go to Vai and Satriani for guitar lessons when they want to improve their skills.

 

[ThatRobGuy]

Technically, I guess Ralph Macchio beat Steve Vai once in a guitar battle... (haha, even though it wasn't actually him playing that part)

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Technically, I guess Ralph Macchio beat Steve Vai once in a guitar battle... (haha, even though it wasn't actually him playing that part)

Great movie! It was Arlen Roth, Ry Cooder and Bill Kanengiser sharing Macchio's blues parts and Steve Vai playing all of Jack Butler's (of course) and Macchio's classical parts.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Was country music ever good in the first place? lol
(I know...my anti-country music bias is showing haha)
As soon as you find me a country guitar player who can go note-for-note with Steve Vai, let me know.

While I love shredding, it ain't the only way to play. Steve Vai and Joe Satriani never seemed to leave the 80s as good as they are.

I aged out of the shred stuff a while ago, but Vai's playing still appeals to me in some ways because it's so uniquely lyrical and vocal, which, I suspect, grew out of his early work transcribing human speech while playing with Frank Zappa.

Satriani is fast, but his songwriting has been boring and uninspiring for a long, long time. I remember cruising along listening to Crystal Planet thinking that I liked the melodies but wish that he'd let his super-awesome hired drummers do something more interesting than straight 1/4 and 1/8 notes on the hi-hat.

If you're referring to someone who just plays scales really fast, you may be referring to guys like Malmsteen and not guys like Vai or Satriani.

Even other professional guitar players go to Vai and Satriani for guitar lessons when they want to improve their skills.

Yngwie is pretty cringey, too, but I'd probably listen to him before Satch these days.

 

[Chesterton]

You just go shut your big fat stupid mouth! Vai is God (if there were actually such a thing)!

Wow, that's weird. The spellchecker didn't catch you misspelling Stevie Ray Vaughn as "Vai".

Seriously, though, your description of his playing as "play[ing] basic scales really fast" shows that you either haven't listened to much of his stuff, you don't play guitar at any serious level or both.

Guilty on both counts.

Technically speaking Vai is probably the most technically accurate and consistent guitarist that has ever recorded music.

That could be the problem.

What you hear on his records you will hear very, very closely live because when he was learning to play he focused on accuracy and consistency. Speed came along for the ride, but that's not all he's about. Musically, he has his fans and his haters. Some of his stuff is awesome, some just technically brilliant even if not super pleasing to the ear, and some of it is kinda dumb. Picasso wasn't always a cubist either.

If you're referring to someone who just plays scales really fast, you may be referring to guys like Malmsteen and not guys like Vai or Satriani.

Even other professional guitar players go to Vai and Satriani for guitar lessons when they want to improve their skills.

I hear a lot of difference between Vai and Satriani. I like some Satriani stuff, he can pull some emotion out of an electric guitar. It depends on what you want out of music. I want some joy, sadness, laughter, anger...some kind of emotion. Listening to a guy play 1,000 notes in ten seconds does nothing for me, to me it's like watching track and field events, or cup stacking. Do I admire that someone can do something technically more proficient than other people? Yeah, I guess so, but watching it or listening to it is not my idea of entertainment.

 

[shakewell]

But 'I'm here to start feeding it,' says 87-year-old.

Loretta Lynn: They've Killed Country Music

Here ya go, Lorettie.