Steve Vai - Building The Church

[Vailover4ever]

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is another example of Steve's genius.

[metalgodmaiden]

its been long since i visited this vid...!!! i remember i used to watch this every day...!!!! steve vai man..!!!! this guy is just unbelievealble!!!!

[kydkobra89]

This guy is just a legend

[neilczan]

one of the finesst wor doen by stev vai

[ElvisBluntman777]

The tapping intro - FUCKING BEAUTIFUL!!

[paulharuo]

Tony! Dave! with Vai and Billy!

[edmatper]

Have you ever noticed that the melody between 1'20 and 1'26 sounds like the Titanic song ? ;)

[bebeard17]

poor mr. dave weiner, I only remember him for his phallic surname

[xAquinasx]

@bebeard17 What, are you 6 years old?

[bebeard17]

@xAquinasx No, worse, 16 :p

[Rodrython4]

for some reason this song reminds me of pokemon

[tibyv8]

I love this song for it's hardcore feel, but I have a question. For me, Vai is a very talented guitar player. However, I don't really like his style because of his excess of effects and that goddamn whammy bar. I listen to something, and from 5 to 5 seconds there is a guitar scream or some noisy annoying shit. Don't you think sometimes he just uses effects and noisy crap a lot more than is needed? And if you plan to insult me for making a blasphemy, please, keep your words. Thanks

[dmcgraye]

@tibyv8 Well i just think you need to be more open minded in two ways that are dependent on each other. First you need to realize that artists have the authority to mutate a genre all they want. Second you need to see that as long as those mutations used creatively then there is no reason to dislike the newly mutated genre other than fear of something different. If you can't see that the harmonics, lifts, and pushes were placed with uncanny precision and planning, then I'm sorry.

[Thespoonmusic7]

alto solo

[legnasin]

THATS SOME HARDCORE SHREDDIN!!!!

[monomaiden]

dam you gotta know you are awesome when you have tonny and billy playing your songs ^^

[petebutt4]

I wish I had a fan blowing my hair back all the time. it's epic

[Mattkillsall]

the end of this song makes so happy, not cuz its over, but because its so amazing

[KH2R0xas]

This song is amazing

[Guitareben]

@KH2R0xas Yea man! Have you heard the "where wild things are" version? It is incredible :O. (the newest live album). Even better than this one :O. But this is still amazing :D

[KH2R0xas]

@Guitareben Yeah, I think they're both awesome versions. I don't really like the Violins in that version. Steve does not play the tapping solo the same live as in the studio however. He cheats :P

[Oc34nDrop]

Why do I cry everytime I listen to this song?

[RestInPeaceDecency]

If someone has some fight energy (or maybe will of laugh) and found like me that Muse's guitarist is not the "guitar God" (cough cough), can he remind that truth on that link please : watch?v=F1y0LhGukiQ

[BolFelix]

this song's goes well with the title, seems passionate and strong, kinda like sacred... I love steve vai :)

[rannarenee]

D' TRANCE

[metalgodmaiden]

..mind boggling!!!

[eihwazone]

wow...unbelievable...if i was a man.....i'd have a hard on too!!!

[helimech60]

Steve is one of the greatest....

[worldsman]

Tommy MacAlpine is very very good! But Steve Vai rocks.

[handman4646]

hes gotta have a sustain pedal

[3000grandslams]

i like the inlays on that guitar.

[3000grandslams]

i agree.

[mkklmann]

What are you, gay? :)

[fishguru73]

Another unbelievable melody from Steve.

[hackerslayer666]

undescriptible, beautiful

[oojibar]

The Dictators make a far better racket  ;o)

[whammybarfreak]

Anyone happen to know what kind of shirt that is and where to get it? I've seen John 5 wear one exactly like it so I'm sure it's not custom, I'm performing this song at the end if the month and I'd love to have a shirt like that

[dappawap]

yup, it does not matter if you play well when you don't have the right shirt

[whammybarfreak]

lol, ikr, steve wears the coolest clothes dude

[gisc55]

probs the best ending to a song ever, sweetest sounds coming from the god enchanted ibanez gem

[UyenoRK]

I'm a die hard Satriani fan however this song "Building the church" is a inspiration to me because of it's power, tone, creativity, sound and passion. Sometimes I listen to this and picture me rolling into my work and playing this piece on the breakroom table with all the "Hot" chicks that work with me asking me to take them home.. lol you rule Vai! you and satriani have the "Mojo" one day i'LL POP UP ON YOUTUBE AND ROCK TOO JUST WAIT...

[KrazzyKripples]

@UyenoRK haha i dream about stuff like that all the fucking time haha :P

[Stratplayer05]

@UyenoRK If you are a die hard Satriani fan you shoul

[ShadowLancer128]

@Stratplayer05 Cheers, to Instrumental Rock, and bringing it all back to the 80's, where women loved Music, and not Teenage little boys, where Guitars spoke volumes more than photoshopped singers screaming, "baby!" and where Music was not a competition, but a collaboration.

[ShadowLancer128]

@UyenoRK ... Same here. Cheers. \m/

[eupesio]

@UyenoRK jJEjEJjEjJEe yeah amazing song

[kschiavo]

@UyenoRK okay... another guitarrist that plays for the ladies

[rintintin7529]

@UyenoRK If you like this please listen to the Britney Spears version of this

[KreatorOfDeath1985]

Why doesn't he make more stuff like this??

I'm a Steve Vai fan for sure, but this and "For the love of god" just stand out to me and I am sure a lot of you!

[asis666]

tender surrender has one of the sweetest solo. bad horsie? whispering a prayer i can listen to that all day

[ASteveVaiFan]

Those are my favourite works of Vai's along with "I'm the hell outta here" but I guess we have to accept that he's an experimental musician and a lot of what he produces won't be this style of music...I love the guy, but we need more churches built by him...or something to that extent.

[silvano751]

@KreatorOfDeath1985 another few that really stand out to me are die to live and juice

[dmcgraye]

He has an incredible array of sounds, blue powder, liberty, Jaboom, bad Horsie are also distinct and great

[MrTommamma]

che bel tepping, bravo steve vai

[dani21090]

the best parts are at 1:00 and at 4:09.

awesome tapping ever!!!

[ASteveVaiFan]

If you play guitar you can probably learn that...the left hand just hits one note, then the other, and back and forth alternating which hand hits a note at a time...and the right plays 3 notes in a less patterned way...there's a good instructional video online of it...it's easier than it looks, but in no way is that meant to bash Vai's talent...he does insane things.

[thevogelrider]

6:20 ?????

[gerPzoidberg]

OMG!! Sheehan playing a 5 strig bass! Love that sound

[NatethePlate]

i love how at 1:45 the light shines on his guitar it looks epic lol

[PzAz04Maus]

He fingerfucks that guitar.

[turtleygirl]

This was the first song I heard by him. And so it began.... lol

[gatitosmuertosEID]

Vai = God :D

[SatchJimmy]

Vai > God

[mangosnake]

Vai = Sex

[SatchJimmy]

@mangosnake

Vai > Sex

[majordilligaf]

6:20 is epic

[Animosity67]

psht.. u all are full of shit. he didnt sell his soul he went to berkleys school of music and was taught and inspired by the worlds greatest musicians. its a gift. and he uses it well. no one sounds like him.

[toddrm2009]

He's the devil's guitar player? haven't any of you watch the movie Crossroads haha

[Piratcykel]

Saw it yesterday, but it's obvious that Steve sold his soul to the devil :)

[despoiler79]

Simply the best... of the best

Name one guy who can play like Vai....

[UnicornPow3r]

None :)

[BamdamnJam]

@despoiler79,

Satch... if not that even better...

[despoiler79]

I know Satch "can" play the song but it will not be the same...

[VermilionZero]

not really a robot.

accuracy & technique is top,

however the emotion is NOT getting lost.

unique.

[findeiamorkaduko]

is vai a robot ???

omg  he plays awesom the guitarr!!!

[iGotMetal]

beastly

[2timmy4u]

Dude, Steve Vai playing Megaman music. Awesome.

[DemonEyesDara]

isnt this from the G3 in tokyo dvd? :D

[ChivoBrincado]

yes

[aquawars101]

god of thunder guitar... VAi

[PsyberCelt]

What YOU do is what matters. Not your "critique" of Steve or anyone else who is engaged in life.

[ashjakarta]

I like the way tony bows his head.... ha ha

4:11 really energizes me... what a man..... the way he looks at the istrument and plays it... is like he playing with a toy.....

no limits with creativity!!!!!!!!!!!!!

my guru!!!!!!!!!!!

[zellbolzano]

Just show man! Afterall, he always praises Tony Mcalpine, Eric Sardinas nad many more as better guitar players than him!

[honkyslaya]

he makes the faces because he wants to add a comedic aspect to his performances. i heard it in an interview once. Dont say shit bout steve vai

[carlosewm]

I didn't say shit, I just pointed out what I feel that is strange on his behavior, calm down lol.

[gbsons]

musicians arent allowed to enjoy their music?

[carlosewm]

for some reason, the audio and video are out of synch 0.o

[TheBanyanEmperor]

welcome to youtube ;)

[stitcha123]

at 6.43 i think tony mcalpine is caling vai a rude word. the c one.

[wilfredthomas]

I just cant seem to get over this. His playing at the end is simply amazing.

[NerfLad]

I've never seen Jeremy Colson with a shirt on.

[cornypoop123]

He uses like the same guitar to play this song every time.

[madmanadam1]

He needs certain guitars to do certain things so each of his guitars are made especially to do certain tricks and stuff like tom morello :D

But steve vai came first ;pp

[ibanezbloke]

Its because this guitar is tuned to Drop D down a tone. And this isnt any different from Flo - it has a sustainer in the neck pickup, its just tuned differently (And some how has a much darker tone). Oh, and vais strange effects come from thousands of euros worth of rack equipment, as well as a million different floor pedals on numerous albums.... Morellos weird effects come from 6 pedals ;)

[madmanadam1]

nononono

i Know he uses pedals, But that " whack the pickup" trick is because he uses that guitar and with certain pickups and no he doesnt use drop D >.>

Other guitars are drop C or have 7 strings and steve is normal tuning :P, and morello had the toggle switch INSTALLED especially just to do that wicked ass Killswitch effect

But lets just stop asking/arguing and admire the awsomeness XD

[ibanezbloke]

This is in drop D down a tone, check if you want. He uses it in Bad Horsie, which is in C minor anyway. And what "Whack the Pickup" trick?

[madmanadam1]

6:21 is the pickup trick

and i did check , i tried playing the intro (FAILED) and the guitar was standard tuning whilst the rythem was drop c :P (drop C is the same as drop D down tone)

[ibanezbloke]

They're technically different tunings - drop C is TECHNICALLY CADGBE, whilst D down a tone is CGCFAD. I think that the strange effect for the intro is a harmoniser and pitch shifter together, so it looks higher up the neck than it should be. And that neck pickup trick is just using the sustainer pickup, which is also on FLO (or evo, I can't remember)

[madmanadam1]

well i guess we'll never know unless we ask the dude XD

And i didnt know it wason FLO as well O.o

But you get what i mean right so if yours and my tuning work the same then it doesnt matter does it XD

[benjaskap]

actually that sond yo get it by "karate-chopping" the whammy bar... my big doubt is how does he get those harmonics by blowing on the strings¿? the onlything i get by doing that is just some cool feedback but no harmonics... any help with this?

oh and the why he uses that guitar , i heard he once said it was because it "just looks awesome... tapping two hands, AND lights? awesomeness ..." haha

[madmanadam1]

certain pickup and guitar to do the blowy harmonic thingy

[turtleygirl]

Haha! "Because it just looks awesome."

Fair enough, most of the time that is enough of a reason!

[sdonovan666]

there was an interview recently in guitar player where he called it "guitar trickery" he said it was done with pedals but wouldn't tell his secrets

[sdonovan666]

wait im sorry the pedal thing was something else. im sure it has something to do with the sutainer pick up set they are made by fernandez and vai uses the older model that has a hubucker and a single coil. the new model is just a humbucker

[strat0caster266]

The blowing on the pickups is just for show, what he actually does if you watch a video of it is flip a switch on his sustainer which boosts the note into a higher octave

[ExoneratedUndead]

FERNANDES SUSTAINER

[IbanezMS1995]

its cause he needs the fernandes substainer on it

[anguto]

who is the drummer?

[AdamHaga]

jeremy colson

[gweetarshredder]

possibly the best thing ive ever seen. period.

[oren88]

Agree! and the part at 6:10 is freakin' crazy, i never heard \ seen something like this before.. crazy!

[madmanadam1]

Thats steve vai for you :P

Jump abord the train along with the thousands of people that have been blown away by him :D

I saw this song live And seriously when he played this song the energy that came off him was amazing

[Clinton06]

I'm The Hell Outta Here is cooler. check it out =]

[gweetarshredder]

ah youve actually raised a good point... Vai's performance of that song on the G3 live in Denver is freakin amazing!!! :)

[PGF94]

judo chop at the end :D

[Babeman12]

i wouldnt want a guy named "dave wiener" in my band

[plaidman42]

Why not, dude?  Dave's awesome.

[BassistsDoItBetterr]

hahah steve vai and his custom guitars.. LED frets

[jimmyguitarhero]

It's just wonderful

Wonderful Guitar

[ElJucifer]

i think that sayin Hendrix, Clapton and Santana are way ahead of Vai is a really dumb thing to say. if you mean they came before him in time then yeah but to say ther better guitarists is really stupid because obviously he has taken what people like them have done an developed that to a way higher level. im not even a big vai fan, but i can ecognize that vai is a technical master, not jus at speed, he has incredible control of his instrument and can express himself in anyway he likes.

[nspade13]

i love Vai, and when people see me listening to in tstrumental songs they ask me how i can listen to a guy playing guitar for hours.

The guitar talkes to me better than any singer. Any steve vai makes love to me through his guitar :)

[turtleygirl]

I completely agree.

But apart from that, it's just stupid to compare people at that level! They are all amazing in different ways. If Clapton tried to do what Vai did, he'd fail miserably, and if Vai tried to do what Santana did he's fail epicly! I've always loved Vai because he was the one who got me into that kind of guitar music. But everytime I listen to him, I just think he's great. Good composer, too.

[Rock123sk8123]

But if steve vai takes things from other gutarists to better himself , without them he wouldnt be at the level he is , people i ve named have changed music i n there own way, not saying vai hasnt

[ElJucifer]

thats a fair point, no one guitarist can develop a style intirely ther own because everyone has influences, im jus saying its a very popular thing to automaticaly say hendrix or clapton is best, its important to respect the greats but i think its important to also see that guitar playing has developed since then and Jimi has been surpassed

[rainmaker113]

jeez steve, your guitar shiny enough?

[1banez1ceman]

Haha

[adiyoda2]

omg this is awesome

[partynmyjeans]

i watched him play with the guitarists from korn and i realized, bottled up inside from korn intro would mix awesomely with the tapping intro with this o.O

[wslx0195]

I just watched the 5 finger tapping solo around 4:30 about 10x over and over now.

[831993]

Steve vai rocks man

he is freaking cool

[sasquatch435]

Does anybody know exactly how he does the outro starting at 6:19?

[turnipfarmer77]

wammy wammy wammy wammy etc

[chichiport]

Fernandes sustainer pickup, using that you dony need to touch the strings to make them sound.

[Melodicdeath666]

that tapping section is fucking insane

[HawkTheLightbringer]

Steve Vai =The Alien

[BIFIMASTER1]

i hate sheehan...

he might be good, but it's not his band it's steve's.

he looks like an idiot with his red pants.

his moves are also senseless....

[jofa117]

dont hate man, let the retard bring the shame unto himself lololol

[RealRiffs]

you're right, it is Vai's show. That's why Steve Vai takes up 90% of the camera. Don't hate on Sheehan.

[corratecxverts01]

me 2 look him at 2:25 ... omg :D but he is good 100%

[Testament2222]

how the hell did he even think of tapping in such an abstract way??!! mad man

GODLY

[Archarion]

6:19 - end

The best ^.-

[DanRaccoon]

If Jesus played guitar, he would be Steve Vai.

[VaiGod1]

exactly what I say!! Vai=God :)

[jellytroid]

his music is just amazing..I like him better than petruchi

[Nahbeuk]

I love this song !

[infernal6969]

Awesome song \m/ but little out of sync around 4 mins :p

[alistaircherry]

does he use a sustainer pickup on this?

[MusicMarried]

a thing i like about vai´ s playing is the way he make it look so elegant and easy. The fingermovement is just incredible elegant!

[iulianro81]

this video has "lag"...

[GuitaristWithaHat]

this is epic and I think the meaning of "building the church" is actually spiritual

[kjdwcherufvheruf]

make that guitar scream like a bitch! lol

[DiscipleInNOW]

LOL.

[francofd]

that red pants haha!

[DevoGuitar08]

billy sheehan is just awesome :D

i like the way he feels the beat from 1:11-1:20, looks so amazing

[JonP1961]

Yep. sheehan's tone is badass!

Saw him in Boston for G3. Nothing against the G's, but for me, Sheehan stole the show. and I play guitar, LOL!

[sephirothblade]

i think he meant building the church in a story, didnt he write a story to go with real illusions or something? it has something about it in the album leaflet

[Abyss1500]

it's just the name of the song. i don't think he means anything with the name

[0ua812]

What does he mean by building the church?

[shredcity12345]

I think he was trying to express the journey in creating something we can all be part of.

[LikidySplitz]

Because everybody is part of a church?

hehe prolly means more like establishing another branch of corruption. Lets not get into God though please.

[Slipstream0001]

Maybe it has some deep hidden meaning; like building a church for example.

[pngilman]

preparing an atmosphere of reverence.

[fupoto]

DUDE!!!!! i finger taps intro

chez in my pants

[qyasser]

can some one explain to me the dynamics of a twin necked bass? .. does one neck have more strings like the guitar? or are the tones different??

[Azza8808]

Can be a number of things. You can have different tones (from the pickups). Different output (if you have two jacks) for simultaneous effects. But largely it's for tuning imo. You double the amount of note range if the strings above (or below) are tuned down an entire step.

[crazyguitarluver]

could also be that some of their songs are in drop D or some are in E flat instead of standard E

[richboysp8y]

i always thought it was the lead and the bass

[Skurgefaust]

i love the fact billy uses Yamaha guitars , i used to have a pacifica, it was my first axe actually. I see him mainly using the 2nd neck for songs that require lower tuning. or higher if thats how hes got it set up. Also i do believe his bass has the switch up on the headstock that drops his top string down a whole step?

[badboogerfinger]

One of the greats. Great compositions, great attitude and great live shows!!!

[tucktimosprime]

id give my right arm to have that guitar,,err,scrap that, maybe a toe..

[Profeshian]

What would you play it with?

[Tongaaaaas]

thanks man!

[Tongaaaaas]

i love the sound of that guitar!

wich pickups does he use?

[Destroyer858]

He uses dimarzio evolution pickups

[wilsonshane]

Yes you are right,but the tone and sound any guitarist has comes from his two hands.Vai has said this,and EVH has also stated this.Peace.

[evtanoxx]

nice anectote from vai himself (heard it so at his masterclass a few days ago): eddie visited him at his house and wanted to show him a couple of new ideas on guitar, so he grabbed vai's guitar, played it through vai's effects, amp, cab, in vai's house... and "had the nerves to sound exactly like eddie van halen" (quote), haha! then vai grabbed the guitar and sounded exactly like himself. so yeah... i guess there's a lot to this "it's in the fingers" point.