steve vai - crossroad duel

8/4/2019 Steve Vai - Crossroad Duel

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, - n : a n s e rl ptiol1 Steu;e I f_a i. E U G E H E 'S T R IC K B A G I

Played bySteve Vai Transcribed by Gulthnhl! Govan

The film 'Crossroads' pays tribute to the legendsurrounding the enigmatic Robert Johnson, whosecontemporaries were S9 much in awe of his playingthat some believed he' could only have. acquired hisskills by selling his soul to the Devil, ..

In the film, Ralph Macchio (0 1 'Karate Kid'fame) plaj,iS Eugell.e, a young Conservatory. ' tra lrne,_~guJtar ist whose interest In the Bluesls so ~grea:l thai: h:~;rsacrilioes his promis~ng

future to seek. out the roots 0 '1 themusie 'he lruly laves. He finds a mentor in oldIBluesman 'Blind IDog' Fulton, who owes, h,issoul te Sai:an as the forfeit ora Johnson-esque.deal made in his youth. The f~lm readIes its,e IJmaxwnen Eugene-is given the o,pportunitytnsave-tle ola rtlaO'SSOLiI by engaging in anead-cutttn' d,uel' wilhJack ,Butler, Lucifer's latestprotege {played bylhe approprialely dark andlTiellaclllS' Steve Vail"IniUaliy, cth,e duel pits Butler"s nt-tecn,

ffamboyan Bock style (sounds li~e M r Va! tome . . . ) ,agaill ist IEug,elile's' e8irt!~y slide work(\>uppHM by R1y'Co()de~)~. however, whenEugelll@ fir'la~ly savss F:ul1on's soul he does so,t loU: !y mm airn i l' lg t r !J910 M Is Blues ideas, but by.delivering tile dazzlingnechnical showcasetra~ ,scribe C! here ~ a tip, of HIe hat to h isgroum;ling in Classical muslo.Some might argue m at Ih is . bizarre !'Wist

detr.acts from the,"m,oral' of the Wm(feeltrlum,plilngover fla s~ e tc) b ut ElJgefl~'$ TrickBag is !und jmiab~~ n e x am p le o f 'saroq1!le.andRoll' at its f ine$'~, It, was recorded U ls lRg aQIilOlirvelljackson, g :,u ita r and a G arv in X 10 0Bstack aljd it,you,wefl;! Yl!onde,~ng W h . y I he gu ita rinltle film sports flQ ,name on th e headstodk.rlJ[mour' has i~ltl@t Ihe I :Amdu~~, blaQ~ed ltoul,concerned tha~ audieqces mighf CQnne9t the'Jackson' bra'lid na~ wilh the netlon ofMlclhael Jac~son _~e!1([1~.hls~ull18rr,and i'names.a re otten blaoked oO t In Ame~iBan films ttmlllgh- pre,Bum.ably bacausa tthey'(l gPt p~yfflg:;;ponsorship _, so who knows h O w mUGh~rLlth1here is.in this story.)Fiegal'dinli lfue maner of Ie,mpo; this pie~ewasleatined'ori a iree reoordwh'ichoame w i l h

the March ' : a s iss,l!Ie of Guitar Pla.yer mBgazilil!\3'aJfd'on mat versi,olll the !Spa.ed,is -151 bpmme~aslJred at ',ba!f~'6 where the main themeoome!l;iJi). 1 : - 1 : J, the \liamepassage in UneiB m v e r s l o t l ) , c l "in at'a ; lfiearty 159 .Dllma"rnd

sounds s!1alper then concert pitch; either it hasbeen sped up slightly or I h.ave a Ilyperac,tivevideo recorderl Wha.tever Ihe case may be,bear In m f nd l tn at tlhetempo indication is only'Ihere as a, rough guide; a pn~ce like Il1is ismeant to , be playedl 'rubato' ~ Ie expressivenessbeing more im,p{I.rtantthan a metronomic beatTake asmany libe!1ies with ttl.e timing as youlike - Steve ,certaiin]y doasl

Performance notesT'iiI'rs is : a simple four note repeaijng f igure, butplaying itt at the ,speed o~ fihe oriflinalpertermance ICllk'es considerable left handstamina. By way 01 makingi Ufe slightly easier, Iwould recommend ll isingf ingeJs 1,2 and :3(ralher than 1, 3 and 4, .a combinaUonl whiclii -Ihollg'h technicaliy 'ecrreer _ is wOO.keramI lesseff,ective)t. If g;e~ing the Irill up 1: 0 speed stillproves to be a problem, you may wlshlo'cheaf(andl why not1) by tapping the fifth fre t C s withthe tight hand" whilst p.laying. tile other notescorrvent~onaHy - a fiM example of how "mal)}'hands mak.e lighl wOI~k!' {To hear Ihelulipotential of this twohanded idee listelil to 8m ySheehan's slighlly more e:laborale'ttrili at Ihebeginning 0 1 the Mr .Big t rac~ Adrlicted To Thi ltRuSh).Bars 9~1EiThis is a typically ' l leo-Classloal'series of a.rpeggioos~ but wher !eas manyexponents otm e genre would sWeep~p i~k .p a.s sia ge s IIk,e this, Steve uses alternatepicking: w~lhthe {Icoaslonal hammered nOle:this is perh~ps the more dilfiol,lItt approach, butthe ine;reasedl clarity makes it worth t'~e extraeHort.Note that this. fingeringl Is iJd,eal torerr

overdriven guits" sound, where, note separationls:..essential to avoid a messy elash ofovertones. Compare this with Wi iiiamIKan


2/6

- ---E U G E N lE 'S I R IC K B A G I e Stel le va l 1I'ilnscrip.fiIlD

w:hich S t,e v e a pp are ntlypractised w hen he a t l e n d e C !Belklee; the idea is 1 0 ~nd 'anIhe diffarent placee on thelretboard where a;finYgillvennote 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 be played (in I:hlscase, aUbut twooll l1e riotesare os, spreadeventy overth e w l!o l'e ra ng e 0 1 tn e .1 19 ck) .6ars 38-41 Till is is a : roulroctave : A Harmonic minorse a ls:

1 :2. A B

~34~6,7C 0 E F.G# T he firs t ba r 'Ie a~ure s aconvenl~nt symme tr loa J. f jn -

ge~ing, where the patternestablished on the E and.Astrirtgs is h:ipsalecl on each$~bsequ'ent p,a,ir.When yourun Q Uit 91 .sl;~ngs .< 1 series ofposItIon shifts win transporlyou to the topmost registers'o 1lh e .lir ng e ro oa rd . l! Bu t eventhls Is not enough to reachthe high A of bar 41, will.ichSteveexeoutesby pUJshingthe I 1 i : sl:dng ag lalnst thepa'~epieceO'It!h~'ba;ss p h : : k l , i p .Ulnforlunately, tillis will notwork on every guitar and,indeeG, iJ your lrrstrumenthas fewer than 24 'frets, II isH I e qu 'ip pe d 1 0 negolia:leevenbar 40, let a~orle'that lop A.lin this case I S!lgge-st E x 3asan arlema.tivelinQering. ThJsuses pinched harmenles tob,ing "the highest nctes dOWJ rnto a. more senstble area ofIh'8 neck. P'or the (jesiTe~effecl, aim 10plaoe'the sideof tne right hand thumbexactly ha1'fW e r t between theINO!and ths brklge: tile noteshould then soundan octave.higher.(In me ~ilmRalpmMacchioa ppe ars to h av e M difficullygelling a top A out o r Ill. 21frel: Te~ecaSl'er - setup torslIde piaying~1- wlthoutsemuch as a single p~nchedharmonic. TMs Is; an ad-vaneed te~hn;lque, known as'miming',and it only works inIhe moviesl)

Speaking of ihe movj,as',that's aH l'o~ksI Good luckWI~ thts chaneng~ngworkolJt,a nd re m em b er: t~lere,'s no~ub6 t lhJ le fOr pra~ tiCe llirl~essQI ,course you fancy headingd lown to Ihe C~ossroads,J ! IDckBu tt e r s t yl e , 1, 0 s e e . w h a tprice your soul w iH fetch allucifer"s Lic'!c Watehouseor BOIe ll z9 bub 's A.lrpeggloEmporium)! Sse you . '


3/6

----- - ---Transcription Steve Vai. EUGlENE 'STRICK BAG

Ex t VITI

EBGDAE 1

II~ ~'~. [[ -. , .- I I- r- ,I I: - - I II ,.... t)' "'A' . . . i It: l - .~ P i . . . . . I m i I a III I 0 ' # . ; , . , 1 "~J m ap

lP etcH PO H" n ~" n'" ,~ . . . . !~ . . . " . . ." ,~ '" "- n ,~ ~ -" ;.. " " " . . . .." '" -.,.Ex 2 (Excerpt from Paganinl's 5th caprice)

8M-------------------------------------------------------------XIfI XV

EBGoAE 5

, . , XU I X I V ". XIV It.. I , I I, I -:-. ,----; . '1' I ,, , I . , I-l I , ,~,

I - - - - '- - -- - -~~ ,. - , , . , I , . . . .,,,- , . - . , _ . , . L.. L"_" . _ ,~ ". ~ .~ ~ ". ' ' " ' ! ... ,.~ . ~ . . . . .~ ,'" . . . . ,'_ . _ ,~ ." . . , . , . . . . ,~. ,~,~ ,~ . , , . , " ..,. , " . . . . ." . . . . " ,I, 'Y " 1'I(Sw)- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~~~ - -.- ~ - ~ ~~ - - - - ~ - ~

XIV XII

EBGDIi .E B

. . . _,_, X IX,." II I I I, I, I~ 1" . ' . . 4 . . ., . . .

etc.. .~ ,~ ~ , . . , ,~ , . _ .~ .~ ,no 0 " ., , ' ." !


4/6

_

EUGENE ' STR ICK BAG . S te ve V ai Transcript ion

E u g e n e 's T r i c k B a gby SieveVail '::;161/159(See text) II (X5]

EBo C 3[)Af:1 1

, - ~, I i 1 i. ." .. , I .01 1 1 . , . . I ./' , : : " , " , . "'l" . . .. ~- - - _ . . . . . _ ~ "",-,- .JH I PO I H PO H PO H PO H PO HI PO H PO H PO H i PO H PO H PO H.- - -. . . . ,. _ .- . . . . - - --- --- - - -. - - - ' _ -.-T ri ;, , , ' ;. i-: _ , , ' ., ;,; A " '= ;.; " '" ' . . . ~ !. . . . ~ '" '" ~ " . . . . . " . . . - , _ . . .A. 1 " 1 , . .

E8GDAE 7

" - - - ,. . Vi r.'\~ I, ,,l- . 1 ..--;;.I - . , . '...1 '!" .II~ r i t r-BSSPO H IP O H PO' H PO H PO H PO II H PO H PO HI PO IH PO H J_PO,... .- --- -- .-. .- - - . . . . . . . . . - -" " ;;;,' ,;.' ,F . , '" .. . , " , , , ' 'ii: , , ' , . . . .."I . . . . .- . . - . . . - . . . .


5/6

- -- - --Transcription Steve llai. EUGIENIPST R I C K BAG

EeGDAE 13

- ~ ~ ' " t = 'F'! VII vm IX X H . 1!-. IX """,,-Vlll V -, I " " " " " " f I ~~ }, I ~ ~ I,

~ ....7 .__ - :;j _ . - r it - ~it a tempo o f H H H MU I co S~ .~ ~ .~~r 72. .. . . . . ,n , , . . " " "..-.. .. ; ,,,'u r.... '....H". " " . . ~ . . . ~-0 . . . . "' -.;, .~ ~ ~." . J . . .. . . '" Y . . .

gfjssXVIVlIl (Iin 1 " ' : \

Am8M-------------------------------------------------------------_. x v, xm .... XlV.~ ,. xm XIV 1 1 - . . . .I!! -I'

I I II ~ - - ,-- - - - . . . .a Je mp o~ V r; V I"l V r- l V etcE , . . . , . , . . '" ' , . . . ' .. . , . " . " . . . . ,.-B I " ,.. . 'v ' ' ' ' , " '" r ., I~..,.G I- '''' .,",- , , , , ''''- r", -" . u ,~ ", 'v ~0 I ' . . . IA I -IE ' I I16,1'7 ~Am) (E7) (Am) (E7) (A) (Om)(8~)--------------~~~-~--~------~-~--~~~-----------------------~.. XI]] XIV XV

r - ; _BGDAE 19 (G7)

I - XJU. f ! . ". . . I , XIV .",.- -I'"' - . - I I I I--I'"' - . ~ - - . ' I -I'"' ,. .~ - -I'"' - - " -~-I'"' . _1 . .: I , I , ,I I ~ ,~ i I - -. . . . . . . . .- -I ct . . . . .I~. II" 'v ~ , . . ," ,n In ,. . , . , . 'u ~ .~I 'n '" n '" ,'_ " ,- '''' , . . . . , _ , .. . '''' . _ " " '''' . . . '". . . . - _ . _ . , _ . " ,'-' 'uI ,yI

(C) (F) (G~dim7) (Am)

(8 ra ) - - - - - - .- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- :: - .- - -_. - .- - - - .- - - _..:_- - -. - -- - -. - ,_ . - - - - -- - - - - - - - .gllss gli55 . . IV,.., ~ .g~ss ~. g!.SS __glis5 gfJS 5 giiSS _ _ _ _

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- - - ---TR ICKBAG . Steve Vai frarnscripli

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steve vai - crossroad duel

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