Chords for Steve Vai - Passion and Warfare Interview 1990
Tempo:
71.45 bpm
Chords used:
F
Abm
Fm
Eb
E
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[E] [Gm]
[C] [Gm]
[D] [G] So let's go back to the beginning.
[Cm] How did Vi first [Bb] get involved with [F] music?
I started playing the organ at a very early [D] age [Dm] and then I mutated to the guitar.
I always, everything that I do on an instrument or what I do when I write music [N] or perform
is very natural to me and I thought it was very natural to everybody.
You know, if I could, if I sat and played something, I thought that every guitar player
would play it.
I never thought I'd ever really amount to anything in the scheme of things because I
thought everything I could do, I'm sure everybody could do.
But the one thing I didn't realize is what I was spending 10, 15 hours a day learning
how to do it.
You know, and it was just a neurotic part of my personality when I was a kid, I guess,
that caused me to just sit there and play until I was blue in the face.
But one of the things that really enables you to express your special talent is having
the nerve to do it, having the courage.
Sometimes I believe that the most special things that a person does comes from their
intuition and everybody has an intuition like that of sorts and that's why we all have
some type of special gift.
At least this is the way I [Fm] feel about it.
Steve Vai was discovered by Frank Zeppa and got another break thanks to guitar [Eb] hero Yngwie Malmsteen.
[Cm] A funny story is Alcatraz was out on the road and Yngwie [Gm] had just left the band and they
had this major [Eb] show coming up and [Cm] his fans were like [E] hardcore at the [Eb] time.
This was when he was coming to fruition.
And [Abm] I remember I was walking out on the stage [F] and nobody knew that Yngwie wasn't in the band.
I had learned [Abm] the whole show in one day.
And I'm walking out and I hear [N] Yngwie, Yngwie.
So it was a unique moment, to say the least, when I got on stage.
It was great though because it was the type of situation you don't get in very often.
So I was savoring it actually.
I mean it was a lot of humility and a lot of pressure but I was [Abm] actually getting a kick
out of it.
And when I went on [N] stage, mouths dropped to the floor.
I consider it a successful gig because nobody clapped but nobody left.
Vai's contribution to David [Fm] Lee Roth's sound and success is evident.
[C] Inspired by [G] competition with Eddie Van Halen maybe?
No, you see I've been going [Fm] through that my whole life.
Even from the Zappa days when [F] Adrian Ballew was in the band and I [G] took his place or Warren
Kukurulo and then Al Catraz with Yngwie and then David Lee Roth [Abm] with Eddie Van Halen
and then White Snake.
I can't really be bothered by that.
I would be miserable.
I would never be able to do my job.
I would be so apprehensive.
[Am] Can you imagine?
Edward Van [Fm] Halen?
I mean he's one of my favorite [Ab] guitar players.
He's fantastic.
What he's done for the guitar.
I would never try to diminish that and I would never [B] try to compete with it.
[N] I just do what I do.
[F] And kids [Ab] would pick up on that and they'll just know that within 10 minutes, you [F] know,
this is what this guy does and that's what this guy does.
I get my best results [B] that way.
I'm always trying to better [N] myself as a musician when somebody comes along who is capable of
doing things beyond what I can do or I just find it as an inspiration.
I would be a fool if I competed with the people who I have replaced.
From David Lee Roth it was on [Ab] to White Snake and now his [C] solo album Passion and Warfare.
And whilst the guitar sounds are distinctive, are they deliberately so?
[Abm] No, what I would do is just do what's natural [F] to me.
[B] You know, if you, [N] what you play, what you play or what you create is what you are.
You know, it's just a reflection of your personality.
I really have no choice.
You know, if somebody says, well play this solo, you know, here's eight bars, play a solo.
[Eb] I just have to do what's natural to me.
I've got this weird tweak in my [E] personality that's maybe a little, it's got a little bit
of a comical edge to it or an absurdity to it.
And I always put that into my playing.
That's sort of a trademark of sorts, you know.
But that's what I would like to hear in a guitar solo, so that's what I put in a guitar solo.
Each song is a chapter now in a novel that I'm writing.
[N] It's real interesting, real fun.
There's no holds barred.
You know, if there is a certain situation I'm trying to depict, it's not like it has
to be censored for MTV or censored for television.
You know, it goes into realms of fantasy.
You know, it's like, it's a very colorful story.
It covers a gamut of, like I was saying, talking about lust, but you know, then again, anger,
humility, devotion, you know, it goes on.
It's really interesting.
[C] [Gm]
[D] [G] So let's go back to the beginning.
[Cm] How did Vi first [Bb] get involved with [F] music?
I started playing the organ at a very early [D] age [Dm] and then I mutated to the guitar.
I always, everything that I do on an instrument or what I do when I write music [N] or perform
is very natural to me and I thought it was very natural to everybody.
You know, if I could, if I sat and played something, I thought that every guitar player
would play it.
I never thought I'd ever really amount to anything in the scheme of things because I
thought everything I could do, I'm sure everybody could do.
But the one thing I didn't realize is what I was spending 10, 15 hours a day learning
how to do it.
You know, and it was just a neurotic part of my personality when I was a kid, I guess,
that caused me to just sit there and play until I was blue in the face.
But one of the things that really enables you to express your special talent is having
the nerve to do it, having the courage.
Sometimes I believe that the most special things that a person does comes from their
intuition and everybody has an intuition like that of sorts and that's why we all have
some type of special gift.
At least this is the way I [Fm] feel about it.
Steve Vai was discovered by Frank Zeppa and got another break thanks to guitar [Eb] hero Yngwie Malmsteen.
[Cm] A funny story is Alcatraz was out on the road and Yngwie [Gm] had just left the band and they
had this major [Eb] show coming up and [Cm] his fans were like [E] hardcore at the [Eb] time.
This was when he was coming to fruition.
And [Abm] I remember I was walking out on the stage [F] and nobody knew that Yngwie wasn't in the band.
I had learned [Abm] the whole show in one day.
And I'm walking out and I hear [N] Yngwie, Yngwie.
So it was a unique moment, to say the least, when I got on stage.
It was great though because it was the type of situation you don't get in very often.
So I was savoring it actually.
I mean it was a lot of humility and a lot of pressure but I was [Abm] actually getting a kick
out of it.
And when I went on [N] stage, mouths dropped to the floor.
I consider it a successful gig because nobody clapped but nobody left.
Vai's contribution to David [Fm] Lee Roth's sound and success is evident.
[C] Inspired by [G] competition with Eddie Van Halen maybe?
No, you see I've been going [Fm] through that my whole life.
Even from the Zappa days when [F] Adrian Ballew was in the band and I [G] took his place or Warren
Kukurulo and then Al Catraz with Yngwie and then David Lee Roth [Abm] with Eddie Van Halen
and then White Snake.
I can't really be bothered by that.
I would be miserable.
I would never be able to do my job.
I would be so apprehensive.
[Am] Can you imagine?
Edward Van [Fm] Halen?
I mean he's one of my favorite [Ab] guitar players.
He's fantastic.
What he's done for the guitar.
I would never try to diminish that and I would never [B] try to compete with it.
[N] I just do what I do.
[F] And kids [Ab] would pick up on that and they'll just know that within 10 minutes, you [F] know,
this is what this guy does and that's what this guy does.
I get my best results [B] that way.
I'm always trying to better [N] myself as a musician when somebody comes along who is capable of
doing things beyond what I can do or I just find it as an inspiration.
I would be a fool if I competed with the people who I have replaced.
From David Lee Roth it was on [Ab] to White Snake and now his [C] solo album Passion and Warfare.
And whilst the guitar sounds are distinctive, are they deliberately so?
[Abm] No, what I would do is just do what's natural [F] to me.
[B] You know, if you, [N] what you play, what you play or what you create is what you are.
You know, it's just a reflection of your personality.
I really have no choice.
You know, if somebody says, well play this solo, you know, here's eight bars, play a solo.
[Eb] I just have to do what's natural to me.
I've got this weird tweak in my [E] personality that's maybe a little, it's got a little bit
of a comical edge to it or an absurdity to it.
And I always put that into my playing.
That's sort of a trademark of sorts, you know.
But that's what I would like to hear in a guitar solo, so that's what I put in a guitar solo.
Each song is a chapter now in a novel that I'm writing.
[N] It's real interesting, real fun.
There's no holds barred.
You know, if there is a certain situation I'm trying to depict, it's not like it has
to be censored for MTV or censored for television.
You know, it goes into realms of fantasy.
You know, it's like, it's a very colorful story.
It covers a gamut of, like I was saying, talking about lust, but you know, then again, anger,
humility, devotion, you know, it goes on.
It's really interesting.
Key:
F
Abm
Fm
Eb
E
F
Abm
Fm
[E] _ [Gm] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [Gm] _ _
[D] _ [G] So let's go back to the beginning.
[Cm] How did Vi first [Bb] get involved with [F] music?
I started playing the organ at a very early [D] age [Dm] and then I mutated to the guitar.
I always, everything that I do on an instrument or what I do when I write music [N] or perform
is very natural to me and I thought it was very natural to everybody.
You know, if I could, if I sat and played something, I thought that every guitar player
would play it.
I never thought I'd ever really amount to anything in the scheme of things because I
thought everything I could do, I'm sure everybody could do.
But the one thing I didn't realize is what I was spending 10, 15 hours a day learning
how to do it.
You know, and it was just a neurotic part of my personality when I was a kid, I guess,
that caused me to just sit there and play until I was blue in the face.
But one of the things that really enables you to express your special talent is having
the nerve to do it, having the courage.
Sometimes I believe that the most special things that a person does comes from their
intuition and everybody has an intuition like that of sorts and that's why we all have
some type of special gift.
At least this is the way I [Fm] feel about it.
Steve Vai was discovered by Frank Zeppa and got another break thanks to guitar [Eb] hero Yngwie Malmsteen.
[Cm] A funny story is Alcatraz was out on the road and Yngwie [Gm] had just left the band and they
had this major [Eb] show coming up and [Cm] his fans were like [E] hardcore at the [Eb] time.
This was when he was coming to fruition.
And [Abm] I remember I was walking out on the stage [F] and nobody knew that Yngwie wasn't in the band.
I had learned [Abm] the whole show in one day.
And I'm walking out and I hear [N] Yngwie, Yngwie.
So it was a unique moment, to say the least, when I got on stage.
It was great though because it was the type of situation you don't get in very often.
So I was savoring it actually.
I mean it was a lot of humility and a lot of pressure but I was [Abm] actually getting a kick
out of it.
And when I went on [N] stage, mouths dropped to the floor.
I consider it a successful gig because nobody clapped but nobody left.
Vai's contribution to David [Fm] Lee Roth's sound and success is evident.
[C] Inspired by [G] competition with Eddie Van Halen maybe?
No, you see I've been going [Fm] through that my whole life.
Even from the Zappa days when [F] Adrian Ballew was in the band and I [G] took his place or Warren
Kukurulo and then Al Catraz with Yngwie and then David Lee Roth [Abm] with Eddie Van Halen
and then White Snake.
I can't really be bothered by that.
I would be miserable.
I would never be able to do my job.
I would be so apprehensive.
[Am] Can you imagine?
Edward Van [Fm] Halen?
I mean he's one of my favorite [Ab] guitar players.
He's fantastic.
What he's done for the guitar.
I would never try to diminish that and I would never [B] try to compete with it.
[N] I just do what I do.
[F] And kids [Ab] would pick up on that and they'll just know that within 10 minutes, you [F] know,
this is what this guy does and that's what this guy does.
I get my best results [B] that way.
I'm always trying to better [N] myself as a musician when somebody comes along who is capable of
doing things beyond what I can do or I just find it as an inspiration.
I would be a fool if I competed with the people who I have replaced.
From David Lee Roth it was on [Ab] to White Snake and now his [C] solo album Passion and Warfare.
And whilst the guitar sounds are distinctive, are they deliberately so?
[Abm] No, what I would do is just do what's natural [F] to me.
[B] You know, _ if you, [N] what you play, what you play or what you create is what you are.
You know, it's just a reflection of your personality.
I really have no choice.
You know, if somebody says, well play this solo, you know, here's eight bars, play a solo.
[Eb] I just have to do what's natural to me.
I've got this weird tweak in my [E] personality that's maybe a little, it's got a little bit
of a comical edge to it or an absurdity to it.
And I always put that into my playing.
That's sort of a trademark of sorts, you know.
But that's what I would like to hear in a guitar solo, so that's what I put in a guitar solo.
Each song is a chapter now in a novel that I'm writing.
[N] It's real interesting, real fun.
There's no holds barred.
You know, if there is a certain situation I'm trying to depict, it's not like it has
to be censored for MTV or censored for television.
You know, it goes into realms of fantasy.
You know, it's like, it's a very colorful story.
It covers a gamut of, like I was saying, talking about lust, but you know, then again, anger,
humility, devotion, you know, it goes on.
It's really interesting. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [Gm] _ _
[D] _ [G] So let's go back to the beginning.
[Cm] How did Vi first [Bb] get involved with [F] music?
I started playing the organ at a very early [D] age [Dm] and then I mutated to the guitar.
I always, everything that I do on an instrument or what I do when I write music [N] or perform
is very natural to me and I thought it was very natural to everybody.
You know, if I could, if I sat and played something, I thought that every guitar player
would play it.
I never thought I'd ever really amount to anything in the scheme of things because I
thought everything I could do, I'm sure everybody could do.
But the one thing I didn't realize is what I was spending 10, 15 hours a day learning
how to do it.
You know, and it was just a neurotic part of my personality when I was a kid, I guess,
that caused me to just sit there and play until I was blue in the face.
But one of the things that really enables you to express your special talent is having
the nerve to do it, having the courage.
Sometimes I believe that the most special things that a person does comes from their
intuition and everybody has an intuition like that of sorts and that's why we all have
some type of special gift.
At least this is the way I [Fm] feel about it.
Steve Vai was discovered by Frank Zeppa and got another break thanks to guitar [Eb] hero Yngwie Malmsteen.
[Cm] A funny story is Alcatraz was out on the road and Yngwie [Gm] had just left the band and they
had this major [Eb] show coming up and [Cm] his fans were like [E] hardcore at the [Eb] time.
This was when he was coming to fruition.
And [Abm] I remember I was walking out on the stage [F] and nobody knew that Yngwie wasn't in the band.
I had learned [Abm] the whole show in one day.
And I'm walking out and I hear [N] Yngwie, Yngwie.
So it was a unique moment, to say the least, when I got on stage.
It was great though because it was the type of situation you don't get in very often.
So I was savoring it actually.
I mean it was a lot of humility and a lot of pressure but I was [Abm] actually getting a kick
out of it.
And when I went on [N] stage, mouths dropped to the floor.
I consider it a successful gig because nobody clapped but nobody left.
Vai's contribution to David [Fm] Lee Roth's sound and success is evident.
[C] Inspired by [G] competition with Eddie Van Halen maybe?
No, you see I've been going [Fm] through that my whole life.
Even from the Zappa days when [F] Adrian Ballew was in the band and I [G] took his place or Warren
Kukurulo and then Al Catraz with Yngwie and then David Lee Roth [Abm] with Eddie Van Halen
and then White Snake.
I can't really be bothered by that.
I would be miserable.
I would never be able to do my job.
I would be so apprehensive.
[Am] Can you imagine?
Edward Van [Fm] Halen?
I mean he's one of my favorite [Ab] guitar players.
He's fantastic.
What he's done for the guitar.
I would never try to diminish that and I would never [B] try to compete with it.
[N] I just do what I do.
[F] And kids [Ab] would pick up on that and they'll just know that within 10 minutes, you [F] know,
this is what this guy does and that's what this guy does.
I get my best results [B] that way.
I'm always trying to better [N] myself as a musician when somebody comes along who is capable of
doing things beyond what I can do or I just find it as an inspiration.
I would be a fool if I competed with the people who I have replaced.
From David Lee Roth it was on [Ab] to White Snake and now his [C] solo album Passion and Warfare.
And whilst the guitar sounds are distinctive, are they deliberately so?
[Abm] No, what I would do is just do what's natural [F] to me.
[B] You know, _ if you, [N] what you play, what you play or what you create is what you are.
You know, it's just a reflection of your personality.
I really have no choice.
You know, if somebody says, well play this solo, you know, here's eight bars, play a solo.
[Eb] I just have to do what's natural to me.
I've got this weird tweak in my [E] personality that's maybe a little, it's got a little bit
of a comical edge to it or an absurdity to it.
And I always put that into my playing.
That's sort of a trademark of sorts, you know.
But that's what I would like to hear in a guitar solo, so that's what I put in a guitar solo.
Each song is a chapter now in a novel that I'm writing.
[N] It's real interesting, real fun.
There's no holds barred.
You know, if there is a certain situation I'm trying to depict, it's not like it has
to be censored for MTV or censored for television.
You know, it goes into realms of fantasy.
You know, it's like, it's a very colorful story.
It covers a gamut of, like I was saying, talking about lust, but you know, then again, anger,
humility, devotion, you know, it goes on.
It's really interesting. _ _ _ _ _