Joe Satriani

"Basic anatomy. That has got to be the ongoing frustration: Why cant my fingers do what I want them to do? Not being able to play what I hear in my head — that is the ultimate source of frustration."

"When these guitar mags bring up that stuff up and say such and such came up with this and that which is pushing the boundaries, I just say, "lets step back for a minute and admit something: nothing has happened for the last 100 years." And its okay. Its not a bad thing … Were all working with "tools" that have been in existence for the last 100 years and there hadnt been a new "tool" for a long long time."

"My first [guitar] lessons lasted two weeks and it was "Jingle Bells." It didnt make any sense at all. I wanted to know how to play like Hendrix..."

"It really sucks when music is so perfect you just dont need to hear it anymore."

"Song ideas have come to me in the middle of interviews, in the shower, or while Im writing another song."

"I write the songs first and in most cases teach myself the technique second."

"If someone can relate my guitar solo to an exercise in a book … thats no fun at all."

"Ive always spent a lot of time on my records with what I think were unique rhythmic approaches … but no one ever writes about your rhythm playing"

"I can embarrass myself very easily on guitar. Its funny because people say to me I can play anything; Im God on the guitar. But I could make a big list of everything I cant play... Im grateful that people dont notice that."

"Mozart was a freaky kind of shredder."

"The Squares [his former band] never really fit in. We werent rock enough. We werent alternative enough. We werent new wave enough and we werent punk enough. Maybe we just werent the right people for the band."

"My inspirations dont come from outer space, they just come to me. I have no idea why they come when they do."