Joe Satriani Guitar Methods. Part 1

I am a guitar teacher living in the UK, I have studied many diciplins and am compitent at many styles. This article is a tribute to someone who has influenced me greatly and in my oppinion is a living legend -- Joe Satriani.

Introduction

Joe Satriani along with his most famous pupil Steve Vai have reveloutionised modern rock guitar in much the same way that Hendrix did in the '60s. As a guitar player who has been a keen follower of the instrument for 15 years now it increacingly angers me that these musicians are not given the credit that they diserve. Satriani for example regularly looses to guitarists such as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. Although the afformentioned names are both acomplished musicians to varying degrees in their own right they are quite simply not in the same musical league as Satch and it is a tragedy that in our modern times such incredible devotion to the mastery of the instrument can go largely unoticed by the general public. It is understandable that artists such as Yingwie Malmsteen or Michael Angelo.

Batio are not more widely recognaised as they are both centered around a very narrow area of guitar technique that only another guitarist could truly appreciate but Satriani is as melodic as he is technical. You only have to listen to tracks such as flying in a blue dream to appreciate that this is a man who is able to compose somthing that is truely musically compelling. The technical secetions in his compositions are expertly crafted using extensive musical theory. The sheer range of styls that he is obviously not just influenced by but is completely at ease with makes listening to his album a pleasure even for someone who knows nothing of guitar playing. The talent that he displays can be accurately compared to that of great classical composers such as Mozart and Beethoven in the sence that he is able to create expression using purely musical instruments and no vocals which is an ability that escapes the vast majority of musicians who are famous in the music scene today.

Practical Analysis (Part 1)

Joe Satriani is proficient in every exotic rock technique that I personally can name. Just because you can't do this and you probably don't know anyone else who can dosen't mean you never will be able to. All it takes is the dedication. In order to analyse his technique it is best to start from the basics. I'm going to assume a basic understanding of guitar terminoligy.

1. Legato

Legato is the latin term for smoothly. In guitar terms it basically means playing with hammerons and pull offs. Joe's legato technique is very fluid. He has achived this level of fluidity through metronome practice of scale shapes. He has also payed close attention to his left hand tecnique. If you observe his left hand especially his 4th finger they will always stay very close to the finger board of the guitar and will prempt the next section thus his fingers are always close to where they need to be therefore he can play faster. If you are to achive this in your playing you will need to slow down drastically. Little finger movement is the bane of many average guitarists technique and is how you can spot a professional. Make sure you put in the hours so you can control all your fingers even if they aren't fretting notes.

If you wish to achive this try learning patterns within scales such as those used in the introduction to Steve Vai and David Lee Roth "Shyboy." If you can play the introduction on that song up to speed then you are proficient with the technique. Once you have mastered that try the run down after the pick tapping on "Surfin' With The Alien."

Tips: for "Shyboy" intro and "SWTA" section metioned above plus futher general exercises.

Practice on - Clean - Listen to mistakes.

Practice to a metronome start with a tempo you can easily manage increace that by 2-5 bpm per day to start with. As it gets faster decreace the increace.

Listen carefully to the fluidity of your legato technique.

Warm up excersise. Make sure you practice every finger combination. A great exercise to test even advandced players get a pen and paper write down every combination of the numbers 123 and 4 1234 1324 1432... Not just starting with 1 either and then practice in leagato in every position from say fret 2 to 12 on every string as many of these shapes as you can (using a metronome). The cromatic patterns they create on the fretboard are a lot trickier than they look!

Practice through this section daily and find more pieces that rely heavily on legato try playing Yingwie Malmsteen "Blitzkrieg" with legato.

2. Advanced Whammy Techniques

Joe satriani uses his floyd rose for extreme pitch changes harmonic whales flicks and vibrato. He uses these to great effect in a large number of his compositions. Extreme pitch variations can be found in many of the songs on the surfin with the alien album flicks can be found on the song surfin with the alien and floyd rose vibrato on many of his compositions.

In order to master any floyd rose technique you must first have the equiptment. A high quality double locking tremlo system that is well set up is essential. Hold your arm corectly. Wrap fingers 3 and 4 gently around the arm. Flicks can be achived with just the little finger by sharply and rapidly depressing the whammy bar just prior to the note that you want to play and then releasing on the note. Vibrato with a floyd rose is best achived with small circular movements not simply an up and down movement.

Tips:

Play a note then try and hit that note from another much higher or lower using your whamy bar. Or better still get a recording of notes playing and hit them with your whammy bar.

Practice widening and tightening the vibrato around a note using your whammy bar.

Practice hitting natural harmonics and then bending them to different pitches in time to a metronome.

The whammy bar can be used to effectively manipulate feedback.

3. Advanced Tapping Techniques

Joe's tapping techniques are far above average. Althogh some acousitc artists have taken these techniques to the extreme Joe has much to teach us about advanced tapping. The first case study is in "Mystical Potato Head Groove Thing." Try learning the section in the 'verse' (1:35). The proper technique to do this is to use your right hand to deaden the strings at about the 4th fret making sure not to hit any natural harmonics and then use your legato to play the arpeggio. Start it very slowly it is very difficult indeed (50 bpm).

An example of another advanced tapping technique utilised by joe satriani can be found in the song "Midnight." In this song he uses multiple fingers on the right and left hand to play arpeggios and extended chords. This technique is a hell of a party trick and I would strongly advise learning this song as it is a great introduction to multi-fingered tapping.

Tips:

Start slowly and practice small movements with both hands you want your taps to be smooth.

For you beginners out there don't press to hard on the fretboard it's the impact speed that matters not the stength you depress the fret.

Try tapping and fretting as close to the fret wire of the fret above as possible your sound will be more pronounced that way.

Summary

This is the end of part 1 of Joe Satriani. Please comment this article with sugestions for part two or tell me that part one was so bad that I shouldn't write a part two etc. Content will definately include a theoretical analysis of his work and some more techniques.

POSTED: 10/03/2006 - 07:47 am

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Comments

[erotic_snails]

this is seriously a good lesson. it takes you through section by section and the bullet point tips are good. id be glad for the next part. what will the next part consist in? i rated this a 9

[froster]

great article thanks..agree with the claim that satch and vai's music are underappreciated

[RockIsWhereIts@]

If you want to know how to do the "Practice hitting natural harmonics and then bending them to different pitches in time to a metronome."
Check out this web adress:
http://www.actoguitar.com/joe-satriani-actolesson/7127-how-do-satch-squeal.html

[RockIsWhereIts@]

By the way great article... thanks

[Paddles]

Good article, but it could really use some clean up in terms of grammar and spelling; it's kind of hard to read as is.

[Kadrean]

Fantastic, Satriani is someone I've just started looking into, and this lesson reallys helps!! Great stuff, keep it up

[farvinafro]

Superb work!Satriani is my guitar idol!
i give it a 9!hm my ideas for the second one: satriani's soloing techniques, how-to-create a satriani-like-melody and his fingering techniques.just my oppinion.Thnx!!

[tmuchfreetime]

excellent lesson! thank you!

[a0kalittlema0n]

i definately agree with you about how versitile and great of a player he is to the point where he can impress anyone not just a guitar player its soo true and no one respects him enough but also great lesson i have been waiting for one of these

[Eirien]

Wow, great lesson man! I've been trying to get that shyboy intro upto speed. I can manage to do it at about 150 bpm, but it's still a long LONG way up to 260. Can't wait to hear about the theory in the next lesson.

[irishRW]

This is a class lesson! Some very useful tips on the whammy. Could you, perchance, recommend a moderately affordable guitar with a good system?

[Lippy]

Great lesson man. Some useful tips on tapping im looking forwards to the next lesson.

[a0kalittlema0n]

hey irishRW heres a good guitar i recommend (as i just got it and i love it)
http://www.music123.com/Ibanez-RG350DX-Electric-G
uitar-i90360.music
or
http://www.music123.com/Ibanez-RG350-Exclusive-i3
31460.music

(same guitars just diff colors)

[595Metallica595]

satriani may not shred fast as malsteen but he sure makes better music

Checked.

[lee590]

what did you mean when you mentioned SLASH? you mean he/s not good????

[ulrichmc]

I believe he meant that he is "quite simply not in the same musical league as Satch," which is very true.

[Julian_Slash]

Great stuff though i disagree with you on one point. Satch is great, seriously but Vai on the other hand, he ain't in the same league, he may be as proficient as Satch in terms of technical ability but in musical ability, Satch would whoop him hands down. Not many people can appreciate Vai's music but kudos to those who do.

Holla

[Les__Paul__630*]

Satriani is an awesome guitar player, and this lesson rocked

[guitar21@WE]

nice lesson man

[shinobi_hirryu]

Write a part 2 regardless.

[guitar-7777]

i highly agree whit you joe is got some talent one of the best i have ever heard im a big fan of him and it dosent seem that people realy notice him

[king_O_dudes]

ulrichmc wrote:

I believe he meant that he is "quite simply not in the same musical league as Satch," which is very true.

even that sounds like a diss on slash, "not in the same musical league"
it just sounds like he was saying slash doesnt deserve the success and recognition he has, i love satriani's playing too and i agree he should be more widely known

[TOB00]

plz plz plz make a part 2. Im sort of stuck on my chops. I cant really improve very much it seems, learning 2 play guitar is harder than i thought. This Is helping though. Everybody should read the economy picking lesson as well, it rules! :
m:

[zRoCkIsAdDiCtIn]

the lesson didnt really open up more for me (im a satch/vai ADDICT) but the main reason i clicked on it was a joy that there are more people who truly appreciate these guys as much as me,

for example - i saw him april 13th last year at nokia theatre, and waiting outside in the line people asked us, "who you gonna see?"

-joe satriani

-"whos that?"

its true our society has fallen to not appreciate all the skill guitarists such as these have and has been reduced to terms of good looks and power chords, but im happy to kno theres still hope haha =) FIGHT BACK haha

[guitardude1039]

lee590 wrote:

what did you mean when you mentioned SLASH? you mean he/s not good????

omg... he said,

"it increacingly angers me that these musicians are not given the credit that they diserve. Satriani for example regularly looses to guitarists such as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash. Although the afformentioned names are both acomplished musicians to varying degrees in their own right they are quite simply not in the same musical league as Satch and it is a tragedy that in our modern times such incredible devotion to the mastery of the instrument can go largely unoticed by the general public."

if you would just read that thoroughly.. it will awnser your question.

[amroze]

i think this is a great lesson! somehow i find it as an advanced lesson. Hope you can share some legato and tapping exercise tabs. thanks!

[robeiniesta]

hey amazing lesson! but personally, those players like malmsteen, satriani, steve vai.... aren't my favourites. They might be the most skilful players on earth but I so much prefer jimmy page or hendrix.... I think they're more expressive and better musicians. just an opinion. great analysis anyway!!

[^SynysterGates^]

Well Satriani is better than Curt Cobain
Man this is good lesson!!!
Hendrix is the revo.
And another good guitarist is Synyster Gates of A7X
He is soo young at the age 26 and is playing sooooo good if you havent checked him out you should
ONce again, Nice lesson

[red headed axe]

great article definitly waiting for the next

[Phill-Rock]

could you include some tabs in your next lesson? ps. my dogs name is satch

[get-born]

PLEASE DO A STEVE HOWE ONE!!!!!

[_zac_]

a john petrucci one was would be rad

[DTownIndy]

Great lesson. In the second lesson could we have some "Why and When"
When do I play legato in my own music?
Why would I play it there?
Can't wait for the next one.
Thanks

[Pingis_Or_Death]

where can i find some of pick'n'grin's lessons? I just can't find them anywhere

[all hail the d]

I think its just a kneejerk reaction to say players like Satch have no feel ect. his records have a beautiful sense of melody and flow.

Great lesson. In the second lesson could we have some "Why and When"
When do I play legato in my own music?
Why would I play it there?

I agree completely

[Calgone]

It's a decent article, but the grammar seriously needs to be cleaned up. I found it difficult to read.

[CVZ6977]

Great lesson just wish you had included some example tabs to practice.

[holelotsand46]

DUDE WHY ISN'T MATT BELLAMY A GUITAR GURU?

[HughF]

Anyone realize this guy can't spell? lol...

[Linus Satriani]

Love it! Really nice, really. Satch is my own guitarhero so its very enjoyable reading for me.
I would like to get some tips about wich scales or some special arpeggios that is repeated in his playing. I mean is there any typical style of music theory that he uses in his composing? And myabe aply some tabs!

[God'sGuitarist]

Man!! I never realized how much i didn't know about playing guitar! A part 2 with tablature would be awesome.

[fhdx]

maybe more how and what to do next time. Like explain things in tabs.

[lycano]

making a tab for this i understand very well that lesson

[6l2k08]

i am happy to hear someone realize that satch is better than vai,i have thought so for years,i think steve is more of a guitar tricks kind of player,and joe is the well rounded player,joe is extesively into the blues which is very important especially for an american guitarist to know,dont get me wrong though,i do think steve is number 2 on the list as the greatest,he is truly amazing.

[leadlix4emblem]

soombody carnt spull thingz rite. rofl just jkin about the intro part. Great job.

[Jawshuwa]

"Satriani for example regularly looses to guitarists such as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash."

Slash is understandable; he and Satriani are very melodic most of the time, but can shred if they so please. Cobain, on the other hand, is quite possibly the worst famous guitarist to have ever lived. Oh yeah, powerchords with no progression in the songs, just repetition, definitely a good guitarist.

That last statement bleeds with sarcasm, if you didn't catch it.

[ManoDelDiablo]

Great article, looking forward to #2.

Heh, I get to go see Mr.Satriani tonight.

[singurel]

Part 2.A must..this will really informative....wish i had an electric guitar to practice with those vibratos... oh well....already knew some of the tapping stuff(had to figure out myself, i wanted Van Halen song >)

again...part 2 is a must

[Headbanger_1]

Yeah... Satch is really unnapreciated. have to say hes definately one my all time favorite guitarists. its just amazing how much he can do and how much i can learn from him. sure guitarists like slash get more attention, but theyre in a different league. they play different styles and use different methods. Satch uses many many MANY different skills and techniques that they do not. nice job on the lesson by the way

[Alex Growllin]

Kirk Hammet was taught by Satiriani!!!
I think that shows how good he is!!!

[SavageNights]

This would be better if it was just run through Word.

[sstratman1958]

I wish I could afford lessons from Joe, I do agree that Satirani, Eric Johnson, Steve Via, John Jaunese and the Like, do not get their just recognition in forwarding the art and science of the Guitar and the possibilities it holds within. The lesson was informative but not earth moving (at least for me) I do however look forward to reading and learning from the next

[logan547213]

awesome article

[sitek]

very good article. it is a shame though that vai and satch and yngwie are unappreciated and underplayed. some of the best music i've ever heard has come from those guys

[♣LakeBodom♣]

Jawshuwa wrote:

"Satriani for example regularly looses to guitarists such as Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash."

Slash is understandable; he and Satriani are very melodic most of the time, but can shred if they so please. Cobain, on the other hand, is quite possibly the worst famous guitarist to have ever lived. Oh yeah, powerchords with no progression in the songs, just repetition, definitely a good guitarist.

That last statement bleeds with sarcasm, if you didn't catch it.

I do like Nirvana's music and I also agree with what u are saying however i think that Neil Young is worse at pllaying the electric guitar than any other professional musician (He should have stuck with the acoustic)

[vanhalenforever]

PLEASE MAKE A PART 2!!!
this is gonna drive me crazy waiting

[madguyposerhomi]

heeeeey slash is good man

[kennethdave]

Ur so right man, satriani is one guitarist i respect lots...and i'm waitin for part 2 man...where is it??

[ConfusedBirdman]

There is a fair share of legato in mystical potato head groove thing, just so everyone knows.

[___MUSICA___]

Some Of Satch Songs:

Midnight- this music create an illusion of being alone in a dark room at 0000hours.

Always With Me Always With You- even without any clue about the title you can feel that this portrays a very sad love story.

Starry Night- its not hard to imagine stargazing in an open field even when it is 1200hours.

Just Look Up- a song which can uplift a discourage soul.

His songs doesn't need lyrics to portray complex emotions. Not just basic happiness, fear, anger or sadness but a WHOLE STORY and STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. He has achieve a level of a true musical genius. But sadly doesn't even included in Rolling Stone 2003's 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time.

[STEALmyDOG]

I feel like Satriani Uses what he knows and what he can do, to make music, but Vai and Petrucci use music to show what they know and can do.

[zildjianababy]

rock on!!!!

[olschoolfool]

Satch is what inspired me to become better.As ive been around since the late fifties,he is one of the most accomplished pure guitarist Ive ever seen.A man with little to say except thru his guitar,HE is the best.....Rock_On!!!!

[SurfinWithSatch]

___MUSICA___ wrote:

Some Of Satch Songs:

Midnight- this music create an illusion of being alone in a dark room at 0000hours.

Always With Me Always With You- even without any clue about the title you can feel that this portrays a very sad love story.

Starry Night- its not hard to imagine stargazing in an open field even when it is 1200hours.

Just Look Up- a song which can uplift a discourage soul.

His songs doesn't need lyrics to portray complex emotions. Not just basic happiness, fear, anger or sadness but a WHOLE STORY and STATE OF CONSCIOUSNESS. He has achieve a level of a true musical genius. But sadly doesn't even included in Rolling Stone 2003's 100 Greatest Guitarist of All Time.

Definately mate, another good example in my opinion is Summer Song, whenever I am listening to that sitting outside in the sun drinking a beer I get a chill down my spine from pure elation. Another one is Motorcyle Driver, I must have listened to that song a hundred times by now, and every single time I have got goose bumps, like I'm on a motorcycle going at 100mph, so intense.
Anyway about the article, I loved it, it's so refreshing to see someone with as much passion about Joes music as myself. I must say that while most people who respect him, respect him for his ability with his fingers, for me it isn't just that. I met him backstage at a show about half a year ago, and even though so much many idolise him (and he knows it) and he could see I was clearly shaking (anyone who has met him knows what i mean, you cant help but shake when you shake the hand that create such magic) besides all that, I have never met a nicer man in my life. So humble, the first thing he did when he entered the room was say "ok, how many signatures am I writing" then he laughed, and he took 5 minutes to talk to each person and have a photo taken, just such a down to earth guy that you could easily say "allo" to in a pub and have a general chat with you know. Aswell as that he got his manager to give us all a bunch of posters for free. Anyway back to the music, when I discovered Joe I had been playing guitar for only about 2 months and was considering giving up, then I heard Big Bad Moon and though "hey I like this, what else does this guy have" I got flying in a blue dream and was hooked after that, ever since I have been determined to become a good guitar player just to emulate my idol.

Sorry about the very long post about my admiration for Joe but I really can't help it lol

[PinksPalace]

I've been listening to Satch since I was a baby little did I know I was listening to a true musical genius. His songs can lure me to sleep or send me into wild impulse. Something I did as a child was mouth his notes like he was singing. Likewise if you like at him live or Vai Live they make very flamboyant exaggerated movements which resembles lead singers and even MOZART!!

[sixstringer311]

To the guy who was wanting Slash scales and such, it's called pentatonic minor for the most part, with a lot of wide bends. Ascending and descending. Not dissing on Slash cuz I like him, but I can play his stuff pretty easily. Satch on the other hand, now that can take some work.

[leftylikejimi]

Excellent lesson,I think I know this guy from a Joe Satriani fan site,that I have been to he has good stuff there too! Joe is the best out there,and certainly one of the best of all time!Rock on!

[Bendybaws]

Satch just isn't as widely know as Slash, etc but in the circles in which he is known he is very much appreciated.

He's a guitarist guitar player and one of the true virtuosos, along with Vai and probably Petrucci, although Joe is King.

As for the guy slagging Neil Young - Eat Shit

[Iron Horse]

Loosen your Strings. Sometimes it's quite fookin hard to realize that speed and technique isn't everything. I can prove this by saying simply this: Who of you thinks that the Whammy-bar acid trips of Steve Vai are more musical than any solo played by Slash.

[Iron Horse]

I don't mean that I wouldn't like Satch, but saying that he owns, in every possible ways Slash, is quite dumb. Because although Satch is GRRREAT, and he knows how to compose music, and how to play guitar, and he usually 'plays for the song', but still it's like saying Mustard is better than tomato sauce, because mustard is stronger.

[Renegade_Elite]

dude... sweet lesson. hit me up for another one!

[BassTalk]

I have yet to find out another guitar player who can rival Satch in terms of combining musical, technical and theoretical complicacies to make music which would impress even a non-guitar player. Seriously.
And, BTW, this lesson is aimed at intermediate-level players (like me) who already know all their stuff and just have to bring it to perfection.

[moosedotorg]

hey dude this is pretty good lesson but if you havnt already listen to his song searching its my favorite so far.he plays on a 7 string guitar and makes a small bass like part in the beginning also at around 10 he starts doing this slide thing with wah wah and whammy and its the coolest sound that i have ever heard on guitar ever. so plz listen to it.

[slashedaxl103]

Who isnt better than kurt cobain honestly?

[|Guitarhead|]

An absolutely awesome lesson, thanks so much for this, Joe Satriani is the best at his trade!!!!!

[guitarsolo_17]

thanks this is good, but , you didn't go to school did you?

[HenryJoe]

i agree with the claim at the top i know a kid at school who thinks slash is a god and i said no he isnt then he asked me to name someone better i named 50 and it goes to show how much the shred gods are underapreiciated

[brush200400]

good intro, good lesson. there are some english errors that make it hard to understand some sentences. oh well every lesson is like that

[acdcrock2000]

This was an awsome lesson. Lots of info there. I totally agree with you. He doesn't get as much reconition as he should. Artists like the malmsteen and Paul Gilbert and Angelo Bato don't because they are shredders. We don't look at shred music as much as we should and it's a shame because they are technically excellent. I want to be a shredder but am only just starting to get to grips with it. It's very hard. Anyways, some tips for part two of the satch techniques:
1. add some tabs for examples rather than telling us what part of the song it is in. What if we don't have that song.

Thats all i can fault you on this tab mate. Excellent work.

[-XM-]

Midnight is one of the most underrated guitar tracks in history... it should of started a guitar revolution in my opinion.

[joseche]

595Metallica595 wrote:

satriani may not shred fast as malsteen but he sure makes better music

TRUE !!!

[simmons100]

good