“I wouldn’t want to see you trying to do my kind of solo. I wanna see Steve Vai go crazy!”: The priceless advice Robert Fripp gave Steve Vai about playing his parts in King Crimson tribute
Taking on the guitar parts of King Crimson legend Robert Fripp is a daunting prospect for any guitarist, even one with a stature like Steve Vai.
So when Vai agreed to assume guitar duties in BEAT – the supergroup put together to celebrate the ‘80s era of King Crimson – he did so with a degree of trepidation.
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But his hesitancy was put to rest when Fripp himself reassured him that he didn’t need to play exactly like him, and could inject some of his own personality into his parts.
“Approaching it as a guitar player, I had to study Fripp,” Vai says in the new issue of Vintage Guitar. “I got into his disciplinary style. There were two spots where I had to reconnoiter things.
“On Frame by Frame [from King Crimson’s 1981 album Discipline], there’s that relentless cross-picking riff that’s simply outside of my wheelhouse, especially at my age. I didn’t feel like I could play it consistently every night, so I needed to figure something out. So, I took it into my wheelhouse, which is tapping. That worked. It’s reflective of the original, but removed.
“On a couple of the riffs on Elephant Talk [from the same album], I decided to hammer instead of pick. Everything else falls within my ability. When it comes time to take a solo, it doesn’t make sense to sound like Fripp.”
He goes on: “Fripp said, ‘If I were sitting in the audience, I wouldn’t want to see you doing my kind of solo. I wanna see Steve Vai go crazy!’ So, that’s what I do.
“Adrian and I add a dynamic that’s perfectly balanced for the music. We’re so different, yet we come together on many things within the show.”
Alongside Steve Vai, Beat is composed of Crimson alumni Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, and Tool drummer Danny Carey. The group has a series of tour dates planned for this year in South America.
For a full list of dates, head to their official website.
The post “I wouldn’t want to see you trying to do my kind of solo. I wanna see Steve Vai go crazy!”: The priceless advice Robert Fripp gave Steve Vai about playing his parts in King Crimson tribute appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
