Here's some quotes from Joe I put together while working on SatchNotes (I'm going to put these, and a lot more quotes as a rotating feature at the bottom of every page):

"I write the songs first and in most cases teach myself the technique second" - Joe Satriani, BAM Magazine - April 6, 1990

"My first [guitar] lessons lasted two weeks and it was "Jingle Bells." It didn't make any sense at all. I wanted to know how to play like Hendrix..." - Joe Satriani, BAM Magazine - April 6, 1990

"I've always spent a lot of time on my records with what I think were unique rhythmic approaches ... but no one ever writes about your rhythm playing" - Joe Satriani, BAM Magazine - April 6, 1990

"When you hear an instrumental song someone is singing over, you know right away it's wrong." - Joe Satriani, BAM Magazine - April 6, 1990

"I can embarrass myself very easily on guitar. It's funny beacuse people say to me I can play anything; I'm God on the guitar. But I could make a big list of everything I can't play... I'm grateful that people don't notice that." - Joe Satriani, BAM Magazine - April 6, 1990

"Basic anotomy. That has got to be the ongoing frustration: Why can't my fingers do what I want them to do? Not being able to play what I hear in my head - that is the ultimate source of frustration." - Joe Satriani, Joe Satriani: Riff By Riff (book) by Rich Maloof

"When you hear something you don't like, don't ever play it again." - Joe Satriani, Joe Satriani: Riff By Riff (book) by Rich Maloof

"Guitars are fun. There are plenty of different kinds to play. They look cool. They sound cool. Don't *you* want to play guitar?" - Joe Satriani, Musician Magazine, November 1996

"Eee-nee-mee-nee-my-nee-moe" (Joe's vocal warmup) Joe Satriani, Guitar World, October 1990

"I think it's quite painfully obvious when someone's practicing through an amp, as opposed to someone who's really laying down some stuff that just happens to be fast." - Guitar World, November 1993

"The Squares [Joe's former band] never really fit in. We weren't rock enough. We weren't alternative enough. We weren't new wave enough and we weren't punk enough. Maybe we just weren't the right people for the band" - Guitar World, November 1993

"Mozart was a freaky kind of shredder." - Guitar World, November 1993

"I assume most guitar players are like me. They're playing, having fun; then they get a magazine in the mail that says "Shread Is Dead" and they say, "What the Hell?" They throw it away and keep on playing." - Guitar World, November 1993 [cover story: Shred Is Dead... (to be fair, the next page says "Not!")]

"...when you think about where guitar playing is going today...: it's going everywhere at the same time." - Guitar World, November 1993

"...I'll tell you one thing: I will always play the sh** out of my guitar." - Guitar World, November 1993 [in response to a question about shred having a less central role in the media]

"I'm ready to take the heat." [Joe, on the decision to sing vocals himself for Flying In A Blue Dream] - Guitar Magazine, March 1990

"My inspirations don't come from outer space, they just come to me. I have no idea why they come when they do." - Guitar Magazine, March 1990

"Song ideas have come to me in the middle of interviews, in the shower, or while I'm writing another song."- Guitar Magazine, March 1990

"I've always done 'the wrong thing' and had a pretty wonderful time doing it." [Joe, in response to a question about whether he thinks fans would be shocked by 'Enigines of Creation'] - Guitar World, May 2000

"...I pride myself on being incorrigible. I have a very hard time being told what to do." - Guitar World, May 2000

"Solos I kind of [couldn't] care less about. I know most people probably think that's what I care *most* about, but it's really the melody playing that is the cornerstone of what I'm working on." - Gutiar Magazine, August 1997

"When these guitar mags bring up that stuff up and say such and such came up with this and that which is pushing the boundaries, I just say, 'let's step back for a minute and admit something: nothing has happened for the last 100 years'. And it's okay. It's not a bad thing ... We're all working with 'tools' that have been in existence for the last 100 years and there hadn't been a new 'tool' for a long long time." - RIP Magazine, June 1994

"There's a fine line between giving the sense of freedom and being too free." - Joe discussing how he always works out parts that use pitch axis theory, Guitar Magazine, November 1996

"If someone can relate my guitar solo to an excercise in a book ... that's no fun at all" - Guitar Player, November 1989

"It really sucks when music is so perfect you just don't need to hear it anymore." - Joe discussing his intentionally-out-of-tune intro to 'Back To Shalla Bal' and contrasting it to the "perfectness" of Abba's vocals. - Guitar Player, November 1989

"When I want to play music, you've got to get me on tape or else it goes." - Guitar 2001 Magazine, Summer 2001 (Issue #10)

"Satriani's Law: There's at least a 30% chance that someone will print the name Satriani incorrectly" - Luminous Flesh Giants Tour Itinery booklet

"Sounds cool. Looks cool. Feels cool." - Joe, on what he likes most about the guitar. - Metal Edge, April 1994

"Relax. Be yourself. Play a lot." - Joe's advice for other musicians. - Metal Edge, April, 1994

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Anyone know some other good ones (and where they're from)?

These were cool. Tnx

D.

cool man thanx heaps, some of those where pretty funny

"When I want to play music, you've got to get me on tape or else it goes."

\m/

cool quotes :)

My sig has a cool quote from Joe. Altough pretty standard and famous one :)

Awesome, there are some great quotes there. Thanks for going through the trouble of compiling them.

people always spell sartiani wrong?

yeah, some book printed it 'satrini'!!

thanks for the quotes. I always enojoy reading that kind of stuff.

Thanks for the thanks, everyone :) I've got a lot more from videos and Web sites, but I'll save those for SatchNotes. I've got a business trip coming up soon, where I'll have tons of free time (and no responsibilities), so I hope to get a lot of work done on the site then.

wtf is the pitch axis theory ?

is any ''theory'' limiting? does this influence what JS or anyone does?

theory is not limiting, thats child talk. Thats infact lazy talk. if you dont learn theory you will never get even close to being as good as satch ! Although what the hell is my theory thing i mentioned :P

btw , michael schenker mentioned that he doesaent even know some of the technical terms the interviewer was asking , which surprised me ! it was some common thing . schenker also said he doesent know anything about ''classical '' music , but his stuff sounds closest to what ''classical'' music is in sound and attitude , with blues thrown in. ideal balance...

some excellent quotes there thanks for posting. Interesting he is bothered about stuff he can't play...seems we are all afflicted by this lol.

The Satrini mispell was in a copy of the Anthology tab book...I watched it on the podcast when his copy dave la Rue's copy had the mispell went and checked mine...it was correct hehe...one up I guess.

look forward to more of these quotes and your site. iIntersting insight into what makes someone like him tick.

Stew

Many thanks for that!

"Music is the language of the heart, the sound of the soul. The more we understand it, the deeper the listening experience becomes."

That was my favourite satch quote! Its deep and shows his passion for what he does! And what we should all do too!

/\/\/\/\

cool!

aha ha ha ha ha,,, anyway back on the subject,

I love reading things like this,, its really inspired me,, thank you VERY much

~Satriani Guy~

topic tidied. there is an Off Topic area for things that are (funnily enough) off topic and a PM and email facility for conversationalism. thanks peeps.

thanx.

I just saw this site, WikiQuote. It's an offshoot of Wikipedia. I've copied all the quotes to the Joe Satriani page:

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joe_Satriani

Woah, nice work man, that site is good too. Thanks for all of this.

Btw, what is "SatchNotes"???

It's a site that I'm gradually working on that will have background info. on all of Joe's songs. Only problem is it's taking me forever b/c I've been really busy lately (As in the last year...). I did spend part of last weekend coming up with designs, though. And I do have a number of business trips coming up, with lots of potential downtime... Once I finalize a design, I will post at least a little of what I have, though.

here ya go Dave, Joe himself posted on his talk2joe page last night...

" I onced worked at a "Chicken Delight" when I was in high school... froze my fingers to the bone dipping frozen chicken parts in cold batter...Joe"

I edited out the part where he was talking to an individual because she had gotten a job at Subway :)