VAI.COM

Today Steve attended Jemfest X, a 10-years-and-counting celebration of the Ibanez JEM and Universe guitars, and taught an amazing Alien Love Guitar Secrets Masterclass. Were you in attendance? If so, you are invited to share your thoughts about today and this weekend!

The Vai Masterclass at Jemfest X was amazing. The session lasted 4 1/2 hours. Steve went deep into the Mental and thought process of creating music. I am going to be a better guitar player and musician because of the masterclass. Thanks Steve.

Btw, the "I am" was a lesson on positive thinking by Steve.

Also meet Andy. Cool guy.

Absolutely brilliant.
The wealth of knowledge is still sinking in. I will meditate about it on the plane.
I've never had the opportunity to meet Mr. Vai before this weekend and
I'm still surprised at how approachable he is, you get a sense of how genuine he is immediately and he makes himself very accessible.

It was more than I imagined it would be.
Andy is a cool individual, it was really nice speaking with him at the jemfest event.
He's working on some big projects with Steve this year and he's very exuberant about them. I can't wait to see what's in store for us.

Peace.

Ey guys, was at the Masterclass yesterday, the best day of my life!! Steve is so cool and down to Earth, the information and insight he gave us was incredible. I got to jam with Steve at the end I couldn't believe it!!!!!

My wife bought me a ticket for the Alien Secrets Guitar Masterclass for my birthday, (and I bought hers, cuz she's a huge fan as well). What an amazing day! The session was expected to go from 1pm-4pm but actually lasted close to 2 hours longer. Steve is so down to earth and was willing to discuss and answer any question. Being able to get that close and interact with a musician/artist of Steve's caliber is a once in a life time opportunity that should not be missed. I brought a notebook with me an left with at least 6 pages of notes on Steve's topics (and I write small). Writing, idea and riff development, new approach ideas for practicing, as well as Steve's methods for overcoming and accomplishing challenges which could be applied to any aspect of life made this session worth way more than what the tickets cost. Thanks again to Steve and also to his staff for making this opportunity possible for us, it was truly a great experience. Thanks to Steve also for giving me a new outlook on the guitar, I was beginning to feel as though I was running out of reasons to play and after listening to Steve I have re-found my passion for the instrument and look forward to learning, playing, and recording for the rest of my life. One last note-Steve if you read this I just wanted to let you know the 2 CD's and LP version of Passion and Warfare you autographed for my wife and me are now hanging in my studio right next to my Frank Zappa autographed Uncle Meat LP (yes it's the real deal). You and Frank are the 2 biggest musical influences I have and I know that even if I never become famous, I can always be creative with music, because as Frank said, "Music is the Best!" Thanks again!

Every now and then, you have one of those "redefining" moments in your own life... Steve's Alien Guitar Secrets Masterclass at JEMFEST X definitely qualifies as one of those for me.

JEMFEST X alone was just a superb event in itself, but being able to sit in a room with Steve Vai absorbing his musical wisdom is something that I will never, ever forget. AGS was so much more intimate than I'd ever imagined.. The interaction with all of us was at a level you'd expect from a one-on-one student/teacher session. Steve's approach to composing music was a real eye opener. But I think the biggest impact for me was his methods on applying the appropriate focus during every kind of activity. Steve outlined creative ways of keeping your mind focused on what you're composing, practicing, or playing, and gave us all his masterful techniques for effective learning. He took tons of questions from all of us, and answered every one with thoughtful clarity.

The jam at the end of the session really kicked some butt! Guitarists from all ages got up there on stage and traded licks with the master. While I wasn't one of them, it was a really cool thing to witness.

The meet & greet was quite special.. Every last one of us got to spend time with him at the desk, have him autograph our guitars and swag, chat for a bit, and get a picture taken with him. What an absolute treat it was to meet him in person. As William puts it, Steve is so down to earth.

I feel a new passion for the guitar and for music in general. Thank you, Steve, for sharing so much of yourself.

And to Andy: You did a great job handling everything. And thanks for letting us all drool on...*cough*.. I mean thanks for letting us take such a close look at the new floral Jem and share our opinions on this fine new design! Truly a beautiful guitar.

Good luck sorting through all the video & pictures from the event -- I know that will be a mountainous task.

See you at the next AGS for sure ,

Gary Weber
"The guy with the green/purple lighted-fretboard JEM tribute guitar"

It makes me feel REALLY good to hear that you guys and gals had fun at the AGS class.
I had a great time putting it all together for you (though Steve did most of the hard stuff...heh heh).
I don't make a dime from Jemfest, so my 'paycheck' comes in the form of posts like yours.

THANK YOU to Mr. Vai and all the AGS Master Class attendees for joining us this year at Jemfest X!!!!

It was great meeting you guys too! After all of the amazing experiences I absorbed, I snuck in an hour of Florida sun and baked it all in. Kevan and Gabe are amazing individuals. Also, thanks to Leon hooking up a ride to the airport with a Whole Foods pitstop en route. See you soon!

Just wanted to drop in and say how much I enjoyed AGS. I got a lot out of it and would go again in a heartbeat. Seeing him perform in a small room like that, just ten feet away, was incredible. The stories from his days of transcribing Frank Zappa's music were both entertaining, and very motivational. And I love how Steve actually demonstrated some of the practice techniques he was talking about, so you could really watch his thought process unfold and see what he was getting at. I told my wife the class was "1/4th 'The Secret', 1/4th 'Think and Grow Rich', 1/4th awesome stories and performances, and 1/4th guitar and practice techniques." I'm also really digging his signature on my LP pickguard.

Wish I would have gotten picked to jam w/ Steve, but there's always next time! Thanks to all the people who helped set it up and make it happen - it was a fantastic day. I can't recommend it enough to musicians of all levels. I couldn't stay for Jemfest, but it looked like it was a lot of fun.

Words don't even begin to describe how awesome this class was, but here goes!

Revitalizing? Inspiring? Life changing?

Yes.

A strange but funny moment for me was when I got a water bottle out to take a quick drink, and Steve looked over at me. I took a sip and put it down, and then Steve asked someone to bring him a bottle of water.

Completely random, but it sticks out in my mind haha.

It’s been a while since I’ve neglected a forum, so I just had to register here to post my sincere thanks and kudos for the Orlando Alien Guitar Secrets Master Class put on by Steve and Co. and facilitated by the Jemfest Crew.

Saturday was the fulfillment of a 20 year journey, and I know the timeframe is right because I’m the guy who owns the pink “Steve Vai Newsletter #1 (Revised)” in Andy’s pictures from the event, and the postmark is dated 1990. I’d also brought “Steve Vai News” newsletters volumes 1, 2, and 4 (no idea where 3 is), but figured I didn’t need to break them out to remind Steve of all of the statements he’d made that are probably better forgotten .

Anyway, I can’t say that Steve is the reason I play guitar, but I can say he’s the reason I play guitar today. I had been playing guitar only a couple of years and I was already aware of Steve from listening to DLR and Whitesnake , but then P&W came out (on cassette, now wish I’d had vinyl) and what I heard on that album both inspired and frustrated me to no end. It became the soundtrack to my life. The more I listened, the more I became a fan until Steve Vai was the #1 Greatest Guitar Player IN THE WORLD!!! The second CD I ever purchased was ‘Passion and Warfare.’ (‘Nevermind’ was the first…as a gift for a girl…what a waste). Buying an album I already owned??? Hell YES!!!

And then came Sex & Religion. Kinda killed it for me, but I continued to play guitar although I approached it very mechanically thinking that would make me good/a musician/a good musician. I was in a couple of bands (cover and jam) and just moved on with my life. Eventually, I realized I was not cut out to be a professional musician and the guitar just sort of faded away…

Fast forward 15 years. P&W still held an exalted place on my MP3 player, but the rest of Steve’s later catalog was a mystery. On a whim (or was it nostalgia), I bought Sound Theories Vol 1&2. Impressed, this inspired me to pick up my guitars again. I decided I would approach the guitar differently than I did the first time, so I spent hours cleaning and setting up my forgotten guitars until they played like a dream (including the JEM 777VBK I bought in 1993). Then, I started studying theory. And learning new songs. And trying to get back the chops I had once possessed. But, I ran into the same rut I had so many years ago, trying to figure out how to approach my playing. Was I a musician, or simply a guitar player?

Then came WTWTA. Holy Fucking Shit. Why I bought it I don’t know, but THAT was inspiration. Old enough to realize I couldn’t reach that level, I still wanted to PLAY! And I wanted to be more than a player, even if just for myself. I began practicing more often, began thinking about guitars and music more. A long held belief that I needed a new acoustic to supplement my awesome electrics (and to replace the cheap Oscar Schmidt I’d bought a decade earlier as a replacement to my original cheap Kay) led me to a freak chance to buy the Ibanez ECE30 played by DW on the WTWTA tour. (The one in the Gracie stand. Yes, I felt really weird in bringing it as the only acoustic I saw at the AGS. And please Steve, don’t bust Dave’s balls too hard!). I now try to play daily when I am not travelling for work, and am studying and otherwise trying to get better when I am on the road.

And then to the AGS itself. What better inspiration to take my playing to the next level , whatever that might be? I learned more about playing the guitar and being a musician in those magical 4+ hours than I could have imagined going in. I’m out of the rut. I’m ready to enter the next phase of my playing, where I can express myself through the instrument in ways I’d never expected or understood. It’s good that other have described the specifics as it all went way too fast for me, but thanks again to everyone who made the event possible. I hope I can attend another AGS at some point down the road, and maybe then decide to volunteer for the chance to jam! I’m already looking forward to the next Jemfest.

Chris

Wow. Was that longer than I had planned! As I heard someone say just before Steve walked out: “I’m about to be a kid again”, so I was in writing the above, gushing and shamelessly name dropping. Sorry all!

I got my first CD player as a high school graduation gift in 1991. The first CD I bought was "Flex-Able," which I already owned on cassette. Buying and album I already owned??? Hell YES - if it's Steve Vai (and has bonus tracks). =)