So first, i realized Joe taught Vai, and I had this idea of superiority. Then I listen to vai's music and it sounds crazy good, a lot different than joe's and a lot more techinically demanding. Then I realize joe taught vai at a very very young age so that doesn't mean much.

Anyway, I also realized that i think it was on guitar world, the top rated virtuosos was i believe Eddie V H then Vai, and Joe wasn't even on the list.


Question is, is Steve a helluva lot better than Joe in terms of technicaly guitar skill?
Is this widely known?

I mean Vai has got the meanest hands i've ever seen, his fingers are like 2x as long as joe's and it seems like he has a lot more potential.

he is just different , not better! :)

Yes vai is technically better but that doesnt really mean anything imo.The lenght of one's fingers is a matter of genetics not skill ,nobody chooses their fingers.They both are great musicians and great guitarists but I like Joe's music better.

I think Vai just explores his creativity more which is more 'adventorous' than Joes but Joes music is more suited to mainstream tastes, Id say if you put them in a face off it'd be a draw. Personally Im more of a Vai fan but Joe is more my style wierd but at the end of the day they're both cool

I think that Steve Vai is the god of guitar. I personally prefer Joe's music, but I love Vai's too and I think he is the best guitarist on the planet.

I've liked Joe ever since I heard Flying In A Blue Dream back in 1990.

Steve Vai is a great guitar player and I like his stuff but I'd pick Joe over Vai anyday. That's just me. :P

Different style.

Undoubtedly most of fans here will go for Joe. I think his music is simpler and more introspected. Just a couple of notes will bring you into his intro-world. I don't think anybody else can write a song like "love thing" or "Forgotten Part II" in such relax and easy way.

Vai's technique is better than joe, but that doesn't mean his music is better as well. I like his "tender surrender" the best, and "fire garden" in my opinion is one of the best-ever albums alongside with "surfing with the aline". However, most of his other products, especially the latest album, I think just go too far and is full of excessive technique show-off. When you watch his London DVD, you will find this problem more obvious

Good music let people listen and echo. Playing music and playing guitar are two different things.

Dudes, we allready have thred with this topic in General Music disscution.
cheeres.

Here!

There buds.


Yeah, you cant really compare them, joe and steve are two different people with two different techniques, you just have a favourite-I know who mine is...

As a person I would say I would rather hang out with satriani he just seems cooler but that's not the point when it comes down to it it's really all about Opinion when it comes to who's better technically they both have their pro's and cons, like Vai sometimes IMO abuses the tremolo bar it seems as if he just uses it too much, but like I said this is just my opinion anyone could argue with me on it I couldnt care just because you can sit there all day and argue whos better(malmsteen,vai,satch,petrucci etc.) but to me its just opinion cuz someone can play totally out of key and really wack and who knows there's probably someone out there who likes it better than Vai or Satch. Well I obviously don't but yeah I guess you can argue who has better technique but c'mon you know damn well Joe knows just as much as Vai does about techinique especially if he taught Vai how to play, I mean it's not like there's any really new techniques as of late. Well IMO I tend to like Joe's music better just because it's catchy and he can make a good solid album that will have something on it for everyone whether you listen to instrumental rock or not. On the other case some of Vai's music is just so weird to me and alot of other people too, not syaing he's a bad guitarist I just think joe makes better music. But Vai does have alot of good songs like The Boy From Seattle, For the Love of God etc. So when it really comes down to IMO is that I like Satch better than Vai plus he's been around longer and has obviously experienced more than Vai in his career.

welll said and I second on his comments!

Thay are just two different worlds emerged form same basics...

Steve is a showman..and eccentric. Steve is very demanding, and very, very technical.

Joe, is a simple man who has spent hours and hours on a guitar. Beauty and bliss come from Joe...Wizardry and spontaniousness from Steve.

Youve got to be kidding i think joe is has way more demanding solo's and anyway how would any of you guy's be able to compare there technical ability can any of you tap like vai or play those insane legato slurrys that joe pulls of with ease i think not.I mean look at joe's technique in san fran sisco it's absolutly flawless it nearly always is (nearly) when i see vai i no he is absolutly of the chart but i don't think his technique is as good nor his playing as joe.I also think andy timmons has a better technique than vai go have a look at 90th ibanez anaversarie vid and tell us wat u think.With out a dout i would have to go with joe but thats just my honest opinion.NO OFFENCE though.

YOu can't really judge who is better because they don't play the same style. Vai is like very adventuous and satriani has alot of fusion and blues and stuff. They can both play about the same stuff...I just think satriani's music is more heartfelt. Joe has actual songs, where vai has experimental craziness. They both rock!

both are just as good, but, people reckon vai is better just because he got a grammy. my opinion is that joe is the god of virtuso. vai on the other hand, is more creative but some of his stuff just dont sound good imo.

the fact is Vai is in MANY ways, better than satch, but nobody wants to compare them, cos they are just being true to themselves - satch composes songs with amazing melodies, and vai lpays crazy stuff, like his mentor Frank Zappa.

Vai is technically better than satch. but there are many things that Vai does that even Satch can do, and vice-versa. but they don't want to start a competition. they were good friends, they still are, and they'll never do anything to break it.

btw, steve's new ablum is amazing, definitely better than ultra zone(was that his last album before RI:R?).

the way i see it that steve wouldnt be where he is today without joe's help

I dont see Vai better than Joe ...its more of whoms music you prefer more as
to whom thinks one better than the other..I like Vai tones and some of his licks
I even admire him as a guitarist but to me reality he distastfuly goes to far -

the real art is to create music that people would listen to over and over for it touches them in some way or is heartful played (not trying to prove something or outdue)...i think thats where Joe the Teacher fits in..its all done within taste ...

I guess theres nothing wrong with expermint or trying something new
but to me Vai takes something good and goes overboard ..

not meaning to offend anyone just sharing a opinion of taste\prefernce and why

well said..

its just like I said earlier... skillfully they are the same they can both pull off amazing tricks and I doubt theres anything Vai could do that Joe cant and vv it just Vais style is more 'adventurous' that he seems to be more skillful where is joe is more of a traditionalist and likes to be true to the original and keep it to an extent 'lower key'

but they still both cool and its VERY hard to compare them as muzzy said the basics are the same but the final product is too different.

I think of Joe and Vai like Butter and Margerine. They are both amazing on toast and... Vai seems a little more mapped out and experimental; however very structured. Satch sometimes covers up insecurities with Wah and Distortion.

Joes music is about being cool and being expressionful

Steve's music is about looking cool and using music to peer into the human soul

In one way Steve can do 50 things joe cant and vice versa

Comparing the music, I like more Joe, but Vai have a special energy, specially in live performances.
But one thing is true: Joe's musics are an introduction for Vai's musics.

I have tried to listen to Steve Vai for years and no matter how long I listen I hear nothing. No feeling, no direction, nothing. Joe can play 5 notes and make it sound better than Vai playing 100 notes. Vai ought to give it up by now. I mean the rock star image and flashy thing. It's over. Period.

I just don't 'Get' Steve Vai, I think he's a great player but I don't hear any composition in his playing. His music just sounds like a really talented player noodling around or practicing how to make weird sounds. He is adventurous though... I would say he's way too adventurous for me. Joe on the other hand, well I guess I just think his music is more accessible to the average person. I would say that a non guitar player could listen to and enjoy most of Joe's music but I would not say the same thing about Steve.

I prefer Steve over Joe. It's nothing to do with technical ability, I simply think Steve is beyond a 'guitar player'. He is a musician, whereas IMO Joe is a 'guitar player'. And, don't get me wrong, a damn good one at that. But none of Joe's songs have really 'done it for me' in the same way as, for example, For the Love of God or Lotus Feet 'do it for me'.

Yes, Vai has ungodly chops, as does Joe so I don't think this is a fair way to compare them but in terms of their song writing ability I prefer Steve.

Hmm i wouldn't be able to choose between them really, i like both of them as much as each other :smoke2:

Well, I notice that most people who don't appreciate Steve's music can't understand it. It is a huge deviation from flurried pentatonincs and Phrygian mode. I think to appreciate Vai, you might need a broader spectrum of knowledge about modes and phrasings to feel and hear the music behind his obscure methodology.
-_-

I'd rather not compare them. it's just pointless. one person will say Joe's better, the other one will say Vai is better. i'll say both are.

btw, Real Illusions:Reflection is the best Vai record EVER. i've heard Pasion And Warfare, Sex And Religion, The Ultra Zone. and this is the onl memorable one. the riffs sta in my head, unlike many of th other Vai tracks.

Real Illusions is nearly at the top of my list too, mainly because of 'Lotus Feet', the best piece of music Steve has ever written.

I like Vai alot, like Joe he is amazing to watch, and a superb musician.
Im not sure i rate one above the other, but Joe is a better writer imo, Steve is a better singer imo, on guitar there isn't alot between them, i did used to have Vai rated slightly higher overall, but i think its to close to call really.

I feel that Vai is VERY cosmic in his journey of music. Passion and Warfare is by FAR and HANDS down my fav Vai album.....it just smokes....I saw him tour with DLR for the Eat Em and Smile tour and him & Billy Sheehan just stole the show with their double solo......another milestone for Vai in my book is his work for the PCU soundtrack, it's really wacked and vital in sound.....

Joe on the other hand is an emotional player and very sensitive to everything around him, very intelligent in his approach.....he writes spectacular stuff. He seems to embody what making music is all about......the love of music itself. Joe also is my favorite out of the two bar none.....he knows how to pull on those heart strings and keep the blood pumpin at the same time.

:) :)

The 2 main points for each that come to mine out off a long debate I've had with myself:

I think Vai is a technically better guitarist and is faster.
I think Satriani has better tone and writes better music.

Overall, I would pick Satriani as the better "all around" guitarist.

No one can really say 'better' music as it's all a personal preference type thing. I agree with you about Vai being better technically. They both have great tone IMO.

Well, the majority of Vai's cannon just doesn't do it for me - he's off in his own little Frank Zappa universe, and frankly, I'm glad he's off doing his own thing and following his muse, because we need people like that out on the fringes just to remind us how far music can be taken. But that doesn't necessarily mean I want to listen to him.

That also doesn't necessarily mean he's not as "good" as Joe, or vice versa - Vai's alternate picking and sweeping are better than Joe's, but Joe takes the edge in legato. Tapping, they're too different to compare - Vai does more scalar tapped lines, while Joe's tapping is... Well, he pushes the frontiers of how the technique is used more than Vai, I think - look at Day at the Beach and Rasberry Jam. Can I choose one over the other? No, and I think it's pointless to try.

Now, all that said... When Vai's on, he's ON - "Alien Love Secrets" is so good that I'd say Joe's "Crystal Planet" disc is one of the few instrumental rock albums that can even be compared to it.

Anyway, if you want to talk sheer technique, Rusty Cooley smokes them both. :lol:

Vai is awesome and quite the entertainer. In saying that, I am a Joe fan first, Vai fan second. I have seen both a bunch of times and they both put on great shows. The Sex and Religion tour was freaking incredible.

My friend and I have this discussion regularly. I think Joe is more melodic, he sees him as boring. I think Vai is tooo experimental sometimes where that is what my friend likes about him. There are too many Vai songs where I'm going WTF??????

Dont get me wrong, I have all of Vai's Cd's, but I buy Joe's the first day they come out.

I think they both have their qualities, and it's hard for me to put one over the other, I personally feel like I go through phases between the two. I would say Vai is what I consider more of an acquired taste, whereas Joe's music is more readily accessible. For example, Joe's melodies instantly impress themselves on me, I can remember them after the first listen; Steve's are more difficult to get into for me, but always worth it once I do. However, I must say all of his seventh songs are impeccable, but as far as his experimental aspect, I feel sometimes a few of his songs could have been refined a bit more, although it's his music, and he does a fantastic job as it is. Joe's is more more melodic and I think I'm personally more partial to that, although Steve displays a great sense of melody too, and when he really takes off on a solo, as he does in many songs, it's hard to dislike that, too. I could probably talk in circles all day about this two and comparing them, but I'll leave off here. In my opinion they're both great musicians, with their own individuality, both worthy of immense respect.

As far as technique goes, there's something to be said for that, but ultimately, it's the music that is what it's all about. Rusty Cooley is admittedly better in my book than some with technique near his as far as note selection goes (Francesco Fareri comes to my mind), but I vastly prefer the styles of Satch, Vai, Petrucci, etc. or, to name another technical giant rivalling Rusty with a beautiful ear for music, Shawn Lane.

Hi all, I'm new here and I want to add just my 2 cents.... I like them both, for me they are superb musicians. I discovered Joe first, listening to Crystal Planet, and it is awesome. I like very much his energy, his bluesy feel, his touching melodies.
But then i tried Vai, because I knew Satch had been his teacher and so felt that Steve had to be good. Well listening to his "Infinite Steve Vai Anthology" I thought "What the Hell, this guy's from another world...".

Anyway, I like them both, but because of my attitude toward experimental musicians I'm slighlty biased on Steve. THe fact that he keeps getting better album after album counts too. I mean his last album is my favourite: it's super. While in Satch discography my preferred album is still Crystal Planet, I'm waiting for his next hoping it'will be better than his last....

IN the end I think they complete each other, in fact in my car I listen to an MP3 compilation I made using all their albums I own! :lol:

I really like Vai's music even though taught by Joe his touring with Zappa really shows with his writting of music especially with the recent years of cds. I can't wait to see what his next cd will evolve into.