I dedicated all the time I had to it. The 10 hour workout was just what I put in the magazine at the time, but for me it was every waking moment.
Interpretation
Dedication to one's passion is an all-consuming endeavor that goes beyond mere appearances.
In this quote, Steve Vai emphasizes the depth of his commitment to music and practice. He suggests that the hours reported in the magazine only scratch the surface of his true dedication, which encompasses all his waking moments devoted to honing his craft and pursuing his passion for music.
In practice
During a speech on perseverance, I might reference this quote to illustrate the importance of hard work.
I think every artist subconsciously wants to evolve themselves. Sometimes they get stuck in ruts because of pop culture, peer pressure, stuff like that. But what excites me most is exploring my own musical insights and expanding upon them.
If you want to play something that you hear, you need to listen with your mind's eye. You've heard of the mind's eye, right? Your mind has an ear too. It's a kind of listening, but it's not using your ears to listen. It's listening with your inner ear, and that's what you want to translate onto the guitar.
The tone is in your fingers, not in your amp or effects.
I could never overstate the importance of a musician's need to develop his or her ear. Actually, I believe that developing a good 'inner ear' - the art of being able to decipher musical components solely through listening - is the most important element in becoming a good musician.
If you want to play something that you can't, you need to see and hear yourself doing it in your minds eye. It will start to happen
A good solo is like a book. It will start out in a phrase, it will go on in paragraphs, and then it will have a great ending.
Stay hungry, remain humble and get better today.
You were not born a winner, and you were not born a loser. You are what you make yourself be.
You don't just become number one because you sing like everybody else. There is something different you bring to the table. Make sure you are constantly getting into the newest technologies. Learn the history of what you do, and always respect the ones who came before you.
Anyone can do running. Running should be easy. It should be fun. It should include everyone. It shouldn't be a punishment for eating cheesecake, which is what we've turned it into.
Don't get discouraged if you're hammering away at a sentence or a paragraph or a chapter, and it keeps coming out wrong. You're allowed to get it wrong, as many times as you need to; you only need to get it right once.
People have to go through trials and tribulations to get where they at. Do your thing - continue to rock it - because obviously, God wants you here.
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