Joe Satriani has been asked what defines shred – and his answer probably isn’t what you think it would be.
Anything from the repertoire of Steve Vai (who Satch has just collaborated with on a new single) would have been an obvious answer, but Satriani isn’t that predictable. Instead, he’s surprisingly cited Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl as a song that “embodies the attitude of shred”.
“Part of the performance has to challenge the norm,” he told YouTube channel Master of Shred. “I remember hearing Neil Young play the solo for Cinnamon Girl. It’s one note but it’s a shred because of that attitude that goes into it.
“He probably thought you’d be expecting something that sounds like Jimmy Page and he goes, ‘No, I’m gonna play this one note… and you’re gonna love it,’ and that embodies the spirit of shred.
“It’s certainly not what Charles Caswell [of Berried Alive] and Jason Richardson are doing,” he adds, “but I think that if they don’t put that [attitude] into their shredding it’s just demonstrative, and that’s a sin of performance.
“The audience knows if you’re just demonstrating something that’s rehearsed, or are you connecting with them by saying, ‘Check this out, I’m gonna do something that’s gonna blow your mind and yeah, it’s a bit edgy.’”
The guitarist is fresh from touring with the original G3 lineup and is in the middle of a co-headline tour with Steve Vai. Yet, while many associate shred excellence with lightning-fast playing, Satriani has offered an alternative perspective.
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“It’s not the quantity that defines the shred,” he says. “Context is important; what are the chords behind the solo, what are the bass notes, what’s the groove [and] how is that all fitting in and being this foundation for the solo? If you don’t take this into account, you’re just demonstrating.
“Tom Morello in Rage Against the Machine in that context is total shredding. He could have played [like] Neil Young or Slash, but he said, ‘No, I’m gonna play this and you’re gonna like it.’”
Following his tour with Steve Vai, Satriani will be teaming up with Sammy Hagar, Michael Anthony, and Jason Bonham to play some Van Halen songs together as part of the Best of All Worlds tour this summer.
In a previously released portion of his Master of Shred interview, Satriani also revealed he’s building a new guitar amp specifically designed to capture Eddie Van Halen’s guitar tone.
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