Steve Vai

     Today’s guitarist is another guitar god (there have been so many guitar gods><), who is Steve Vai. How greatest is him? Well, his skills are too incredible that people consider he trade his soul to devil to earn them.

      Born in 1960, he began to learn guitar at 13, and his guitar teacher is Joe Satriani, who becomes a famous guitarist as well. Steve Vai practiced guitar not just on his own or just played in band. He attended the Boston’s Berklee College of Music and majored in jazz and classical music. 

    

     Hence, some of his songs are not just common pop music, but like a concerto featuring with a whole orchestra! The most surprising is that he wrote the music score for every instrument in the orchestra!

     Let's listen to one of his most famous song - For the Love of God.

 Steve Vai - For the Love of God

     It is said that when he composed this song, he was on a ten-day-long fast in order to reach an "altered state of consiousness". I think you will understand the meaning after you hear it!

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Hi everyone! The guitarist I’ll introduce today is the one that I mentioned in my last article. He is the person that inspired John Mayer to become a professional guitarist. What kind of person is he? How important is he in the blues music world? Let’s find it out.

Stevie Ray Vaughan was born on the October 3, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, and died in a helicopter accident in on August 27, 1990.

His musical talent was inspired by his elder brother, and he started trying different instruments when he was a boy. Stevie Ray Vaughan received his first guitar as his seventh birthday gift. From then on, he listened to blues, rocks, as well as jazz, and practiced diligently. In 1963, he got his first electric guitar, which was a hand-me-down from his elder brother. That’s the year he joined his first band. Look! He was just an eleven-year-old child!

 

At 1971, Stevie Ray Vaughan had his own band - The Cobras.(He was just 17 years old then) After many years of struggling, he released altogether four albums; each one got great success and made him become one of the greatest blues guitarist in the history.

Sadly, those whom the gods love die young. Alter performed at a concert with Eric Clapton, he took a helicopter bound for Chicago. Due to some technically mistake, the chopper crush into a hill, and all crews on board were killed. What a legendary death! It’s sad that such sorrowful thing happened. How I wish that he were still alive and performed more songs to the world!

 Stevie Ray Vaughan - voodoo chile

                                     Stevie Ray Vaughan - Mary Had a Little Lamb

John Mayer

This week I’m going to introduce my favorite guitarist – John Mayer! I used to think he is just a pop singer and has little talent in songwriting or guitar playing. I was totally wrong! After learning to play guitar, I started to know that his skill is at an extremely high level, and the song he writes are like celestial sound. 

John Mayer was enchanted by the instrument at the age of 8 after seeing the guitar performance in the movie “Back to the Future”. At 13, a neighbor gave him the cassette of Stevie Ray Vaughan, who was one of the greatest guitarists, and led him to build his interest in blues. The young John Mayer escaped into the world of the music from the arguments of his parents - "disappear and create my own world I could believe in" he said.

Practicing hard two years, John Mayer formed his own band and had some performance at bars even though he was just a high school student. The disease cardiac dysrhythmia found him at 17, and he was hospitalized for a weekend. This incident led to the birth of the songwriter in his soul!  

 Let’s appreciate some of his songs which I like the most!

 

John Mayer - Neon

 

John Mayer - Daughters

  

John Mayer - Ain't no sunshine (cover)

      And, of course, my favorite song!

 

John Mayer- Slow Dancing In A Burning Room

     Thanks for reading my post today~ Hope you all love John Mayer! I hope one day I can play guiatr as good as him!
     (btw Tomorrow is his birthday XD)