When you guys did a signing at Tower Records in Greenbrae, my brother and I brought the sleeve from Journey's first album for you guys to sign. Steve looked visibly insulted. Oh well. We were fans long before Steve. Not so much after. I've been a starving musician for decades. We miss the music you starved for.
Neal is very underrated as a guitarist but like he said before when he plays hears Steve Perry's voice when I hear Steve Perry's voice I hear Neal's guitar playing. Neal plays with everything he has inside but the chemistry between Neal and Steve was so strong it's almost heartbreaking.
I always had a TON of respect for Neal Schon, not only because he can shred, and he knows when NOT to, but mainly because he creates solos that are like vocal melody lines. You can walk down the road singing a lot of his solos in your head. Now THAT'S great creativity. BUT, I never knew that he tried to emulate vocalists (Aretha) and completely different instruments (saxophone.) But I have heard it said that if you want to create a unique style for yourself, that's the sort of things you want to do, because it will force you "out of the box" so to speak. All instruments lend themselves naturally to the way notes get grouped together (think of the Am Pentatonic blues scale on guitar in the 5th position), because of ease of fingerings as one reason. So when you try to develop a sax solo onto guitar, you'll most likely get some very unique note combos, instead of the same old stuff that lots of guitarists use. Now that I know this about him, it helps explain how he got his own style, and takes my respect for him up ever further! Matt Bellamy does similar stuff, in that he writes a lot on piano, then learns it on guitar, which forces him to use chord voicings that aren't typical on guitar. I mean, think of playing a dom 7th chord on piano: Assuming it's the 1st inversion, all 4 notes will be in the same octave. Now try playing that same chord exactly on guitar. Play a C7 on the 3rd fret and you get: Root, Fifth, Seventh, and Third, which is in the next higher octave. On piano, the notes are in order, spaced closer together as well. To play the exact same chord on guitar would either require some serious finger stretches, or some really creative thinking. You could tune down to Eb, and finger a CMaj7 (just an open C chord, leaving the top note open, instead of fretting the 1st fret, 2nd string..., nut move it up 1 fret, fingering the root, 3rd, 5th, and the dom 7th would come from letting the 2nd string ring open.) Point being, forcing yourself to play the guitar based on different instruments will most certainly lead you in a unique direction, and get you on your way to creating your own unique style. You gotta admire any musician who approaches the guitar in this manner.
Fan since the beginning, best ever as far as I’m concerned. Definition of “guitar virtuoso”, met him on a few occasions and very nice guy. Thank you for all you do!
Neal is arguably one of the best guitarists of our time!! He is one of those rare breeds who, even though he can shred like crazy, his phrasing, sense of melody, and overall musicality is unmatched!!
Shiiiiiiiiitt! I've always dreamed of a moment like he described with Clapton...........with Neal!!!!! I played his records at night and learned and memorized the notes, then I would sit down and learn the solos on my gold top les paul deluxe.....I could do the basic structure of the solos...just not the blurry stuff....my fingers still can't move that fast...haha....Love neal!!!!!!!!
Was in the studio a few months back,and we needed a solo on a song but had nothing, so I just improvised one, the recording engineer called me Neal Schon(best compliment I ever could get) however I am only a mediocre player on my best day, but I'll never forget being likened to one of the best, even though I know it ain't so🙂
One thing about seeing and hearing Neal Schon over the years, everything he plays is perfection! He speaks of working with a single note for tone & vibrato. Thats exactly what Steve Via does.
Almost everybody plays the Blues scale. Neal, however, plays the shit out of it! This guy is everything that a guitar player should be. Without a doubt one of the biggest influences in my formative years as a player. Oh yeah, the guy has written or co-written a few decent songs in his career too. ;)
Contrast this to Gary Moore,who played through basically one amp,and maybe 5 guitars over 30 years. Neal is possibly more technical,but 2 different definitions of "soul" .Love both of them,Thanks for posting this!
+Broadfieldpoint for technical proficiency I have to give it to Neil. He's got the compositional edge. They both can shred with anybody, but Mr. Scion is an orchestra himself.
I really like the idea from 0956 and I totally agree with the affirmation from 1017, super true!!! Thank you, Neal! I thought I'm 'defect", or wrong... :-) Thank you, again!
Neil Schon is probably the most under-rated guitarist on the planet. He should be up there beyond Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai.....he is insanely talented. His solos are very unorthodox, so if you think you are going to copy a Journey solo just because you think that's what key it should be in, you are sadly mistaken. He is very, very original.
Neal's an incredible musician, but the problem with going to the trouble of learning his amazing Journey stuff, is you'll never find a singer to play it live with. 'frinstance, the solos in "Stone In Love" feel amazing to play - the vibratos and general umph are truly god like, some of the notes just sing, and the feel is just incredible - but you'll never be able to take it on stage without kidnapping Arnel or Steve ;)
You can make your dream come true if you can bring Dean Castronovo to sing Stone In Love for you. This man can replace Steve Perry. Search Journey Through Time if you doubt.
Neal and EVH had the exact same influences....note for note...I like NS better. EVH far more technical but, to a fault. Neal is without a doubt the most underrated guitarist of this generation. A fabulous player and one of the best solist ever.
Neal is waaaay more technical than Eddie. Eddie could be sloppy at times. Neal has amazing technical skill. He's a shredder, but also soulful too. EVH got his fame because he innovated so much. Nobody can take that away from him, but Neal is a better guitar player for sure.
Christ!! I've never even heard of this cat. I'm one of those people that thinks he know a lot about rock. I was listening to Santana 3 and I'm not sure which licks on that album are Neal or Carlos (an incredible album).
Yeah. I get that a lot. Not from dudes though. Oh! You are referring to the Stratocaster in my avatar... yeah, it looks sharp in black and white with black pickups and knobs huh?
Neal just knows how to make a note sing. But I think he never got the big attention he deserved. Gary Moore, for example is over-explained. Don´t get me wrong, I like Gary a lot, but in fact Neal doesn't have the attention he deserves!
Neal is more talent than evh because is eddie don’t play with floyd and his drill no sounds good , for example when vh play acoustic guitars sounds normal not impressive even satriani sounds better but For me Neal is the boss and he can play a Ibanez Universe 7 strings and now he have a 9 strings guitar
get back with hardline , soul sirkus and bad english , when i hear some people say : neal wihtout steve perry ... ( i say wtf is wrong with the people this guy was lead guitar of that bands and when he have 15 play with santana some solos then Neal must have 1 week per band playing live is my opinion.
A great guitar player, but I must say...no offense...but doesn't he resemble the actor Jerry Lewis a little bit???? haha. Still Schon is one of my top favorite guitar players.
Neal Schon is definitely one of the all-time best guitar players on the planet. Every note he plays has lots of feeling. :)
When you guys did a signing at Tower Records in Greenbrae, my brother and I brought the sleeve from Journey's first album for you guys to sign. Steve looked visibly insulted. Oh well. We were fans long before Steve. Not so much after. I've been a starving musician for decades. We miss the music you starved for.
Top Shelf Artist! Neal has always overdelivered. Seen enough of his live performances over the years to say class act.
Neal is very underrated as a guitarist but like he said before when he plays hears Steve Perry's voice when I hear Steve Perry's voice I hear Neal's guitar playing. Neal plays with everything he has inside but the chemistry between Neal and Steve was so strong it's almost heartbreaking.
raw intelligence here...this is the gift...to listen to a record and memorize at such a young age...strong musical intelligence
He is criminally underrated.
I always had a TON of respect for Neal Schon, not only because he can shred, and he knows when NOT to, but mainly because he creates solos that are like vocal melody lines. You can walk down the road singing a lot of his solos in your head. Now THAT'S great creativity. BUT, I never knew that he tried to emulate vocalists (Aretha) and completely different instruments (saxophone.) But I have heard it said that if you want to create a unique style for yourself, that's the sort of things you want to do, because it will force you "out of the box" so to speak.
All instruments lend themselves naturally to the way notes get grouped together (think of the Am Pentatonic blues scale on guitar in the 5th position), because of ease of fingerings as one reason. So when you try to develop a sax solo onto guitar, you'll most likely get some very unique note combos, instead of the same old stuff that lots of guitarists use.
Now that I know this about him, it helps explain how he got his own style, and takes my respect for him up ever further!
Matt Bellamy does similar stuff, in that he writes a lot on piano, then learns it on guitar, which forces him to use chord voicings that aren't typical on guitar. I mean, think of playing a dom 7th chord on piano: Assuming it's the 1st inversion, all 4 notes will be in the same octave. Now try playing that same chord exactly on guitar. Play a C7 on the 3rd fret and you get: Root, Fifth, Seventh, and Third, which is in the next higher octave. On piano, the notes are in order, spaced closer together as well. To play the exact same chord on guitar would either require some serious finger stretches, or some really creative thinking. You could tune down to Eb, and finger a CMaj7 (just an open C chord, leaving the top note open, instead of fretting the 1st fret, 2nd string..., nut move it up 1 fret, fingering the root, 3rd, 5th, and the dom 7th would come from letting the 2nd string ring open.)
Point being, forcing yourself to play the guitar based on different instruments will most certainly lead you in a unique direction, and get you on your way to creating your own unique style. You gotta admire any musician who approaches the guitar in this manner.
That was a good insight into your musicianship and useful too,thanks for being so generous Neal.
Fan since the beginning, best ever as far as I’m concerned. Definition of “guitar virtuoso”, met him on a few occasions and very nice guy. Thank you for all you do!
Such a good documentary! Niel Schon, you rock!
Just a tip: Nothing aggravates Neal more than NOT spelling his name correctly! it's : NEAL
Neal is arguably one of the best guitarists of our time!! He is one of those rare breeds who, even though he can shred like crazy, his phrasing, sense of melody, and overall musicality is unmatched!!
this man can survive in any band , can play pop rock , heavy rock , blues ,fusion,etc.
Exactly.
Every guitarist should watch this.
best melodic guitarist of all time rock on Neal see ya in 2016
Shiiiiiiiiitt! I've always dreamed of a moment like he described with Clapton...........with Neal!!!!! I played his records at night and learned and memorized the notes, then I would sit down and learn the solos on my gold top les paul deluxe.....I could do the basic structure of the solos...just not the blurry stuff....my fingers still can't move that fast...haha....Love neal!!!!!!!!
Neal Schon is and will always be the very best.
Neal Schon has talent beyond anyones understanding
Was in the studio a few months back,and we needed a solo on a song but had nothing, so I just improvised one, the recording engineer called me Neal Schon(best compliment I ever could get) however I am only a mediocre player on my best day, but I'll never forget being likened to one of the best, even though I know it ain't so🙂
Also 2110 and 2116, big thumbs up! Amazing guy!
Loved it! Looking forward to the Future!
First time i saw him was with Carlos in Santana At Woodstock! What a talented man!
Great guitarist, great looking guy...super nice as well...he has it all!!
Гениальный Гитарист и Музыкант! Спасибо за Ваше Искусство! Удачи!!!
Steve Perry, Neal Schon and Journey Classic.
One thing about seeing and hearing Neal Schon over the years, everything he plays is perfection! He speaks of working with a single note for tone & vibrato. Thats exactly what Steve Via does.
neal is the definition of how to make the guitar "SING!!"
Wow! Thanks so much for posting this video! Neal is the Man!~
Almost everybody plays the Blues scale. Neal, however, plays the shit out of it! This guy is everything that a guitar player should be. Without a doubt one of the biggest influences in my formative years as a player. Oh yeah, the guy has written or co-written a few decent songs in his career too. ;)
Касандра гадания на камнях
One of my FAVS ever
Playing with Clapton, doing it very well, and NOT OLD ENOUGH TO DRIVE. That is beyond impressive. That is a prodigy.
He is one of the best for sure!
Best Guitar Player in the world!
Joey Gioeli totally agree
Not many lead players give me the chills on their solos, but Schon and Gilmour do on occasion.
Gilmour cuts through the thickest of skins and touches the soul!
Sungodv Alex Lifeson does that to me, I always thought I was weird or something
10 of my favs..Not in any particular order. Neal- Randy- Ty Tabor- Neil Geraldo- Dime- Jimi- Stevie Ray- Mick Mars- Alex Liefson- EVH.
NEAL SCHON YEAH !!!
very humble guitar player
simply the best!!
Love It! Great interview.
Contrast this to Gary Moore,who played through basically one amp,and maybe 5 guitars over 30 years. Neal is possibly more technical,but 2 different definitions of "soul" .Love both of them,Thanks for posting this!
I saw Journey in Sacramento, CA in 1975.
Awesome stories. Great player
Yes he’s the one when you hear him playing the guitar it’s just a beautiful music..
It’s not a competition
It’s my heart and soul talking. Bingo!!!
+Broadfieldpoint for technical proficiency I have to give it to Neil. He's got the compositional edge. They both can shred with anybody, but Mr. Scion is an orchestra himself.
My opinion is that Neal is the best guitarist of all time!!I love Journey!
I really like the idea from 0956 and I totally agree with the affirmation from 1017, super true!!! Thank you, Neal! I thought I'm 'defect", or wrong... :-)
Thank you, again!
I like the Godin. I have one too. It's my go-to acoustic for studio use.
This guy never got the credit he deserved, a true american treasure
excelent guitar neal schon
Neil Schon is probably the most under-rated guitarist on the planet. He should be up there beyond Eddie Van Halen and Steve Vai.....he is insanely talented. His solos are very unorthodox, so if you think you are going to copy a Journey solo just because you think that's what key it should be in, you are sadly mistaken. He is very, very original.
Great guy!
awesome talent, & very humble
Que DIOS te siga bendiciendo Neal.
Neal's an incredible musician, but the problem with going to the trouble of learning his amazing Journey stuff, is you'll never find a singer to play it live with. 'frinstance, the solos in "Stone In Love" feel amazing to play - the vibratos and general umph are truly god like, some of the notes just sing, and the feel is just incredible - but you'll never be able to take it on stage without kidnapping Arnel or Steve ;)
You can make your dream come true if you can bring Dean Castronovo to sing Stone In Love for you. This man can replace Steve Perry. Search Journey Through Time if you doubt.
Talking guitars neal is pure gold. He is but should be much more famous for his skills than he is
@2:38 memorizing music in your sleep. Way to go!
Man, that thone at 1:12!
What video is that from?
when was this interview aired?
neal schon is one of the greatest rock guitarists ever, his work w/ early journey (pre steve midget) is on par w/ Page, Hendrix, etc.
I dig it!!!
01:22 whats this song?
Dr Love by Hardline
yeah i noticed that too...its a jazz picking style...NEAL SCHON ROCKS!!
Ey what’s the song @ 2:55⁉️
It's Taking Me Down from his days with Hardline
Un gran guitarrista.
God Bless You Schon
Neal and EVH had the exact same influences....note for note...I like NS better. EVH far more technical but, to a fault. Neal is without a doubt the most underrated guitarist of this generation. A fabulous player and one of the best solist ever.
well put man..I've been saying that forever. Nice to see and hear somebody else that knows that..
Yes I do agree because when I saw him play with Carlos I was very impressed.
Exactly
Neal is waaaay more technical than Eddie. Eddie could be sloppy at times. Neal has amazing technical skill. He's a shredder, but also soulful too. EVH got his fame because he innovated so much. Nobody can take that away from him, but Neal is a better guitar player for sure.
Broadfieldpoint I don’t know about that. I’ve never heard EVH ever talk about stealing phrasing from Aretha Franklin.
what year was this interview
Whats the song played in first!anybody knows the song!!!
It is Hot Cherie when he was with the band Hardline.
WHOOOO!!!! NEAL SCHON!!
Christ!! I've never even heard of this cat. I'm one of those people that thinks he know a lot about rock. I was listening to Santana 3 and I'm not sure which licks on that album are Neal or Carlos (an incredible album).
carlos is hi-licks & neal is low licks,
Yeah. I get that a lot. Not from dudes though.
Oh! You are referring to the Stratocaster in my avatar... yeah, it looks sharp in black and white with black pickups and knobs huh?
Who's the singer? I don't recognize him
Joey Gioeli
Thank you
***** It's Johnny Gioeli
SoA2k6 Yea, Johnny is the lead singer, Joey is his brother and he plays guitars/backing vocals, my mistake :)
he is a baddddd mannnnn
♥️♥️♥️
oh but stratmatt your such a dream
Why Neal does it: 11:56
Has anyone noticed his right arm when he plays...It kind odd
Holy crap
"CorbinBurgett" where the heck do you get Jerry Lewis outta Neal?? WT-?
Neal just knows how to make a note sing. But I think he never got the big attention he deserved. Gary Moore, for example is over-explained. Don´t get me wrong, I like Gary a lot, but in fact Neal doesn't have the attention he deserves!
Fucking monster!
But he is badass
I'm not a fan of a bridge single coil (it's a waste of space)!
Neal is more talent than evh because is eddie don’t play with floyd and his drill no sounds good , for example when vh play acoustic guitars sounds normal not impressive even satriani sounds better but For me Neal is the boss and he can play a Ibanez Universe 7 strings and now he have a 9 strings guitar
He is not that great...omg... What decade were you born???
get back with hardline , soul sirkus and bad english , when i hear some people say : neal wihtout steve perry ... ( i say wtf is wrong with the people this guy was lead guitar of that bands and when he have 15 play with santana some solos then Neal must have 1 week per band playing live is my opinion.
not a strat fan tbh
A great guitar player, but I must say...no offense...but doesn't he resemble the actor Jerry Lewis a little bit???? haha. Still Schon is one of my top favorite guitar players.
Mind your own business.
Keep your gay desires to yourself. We don't want to hear about it.
I cant take him seriously...I'm sorry, I feel like I'm watching Jerry Lewis shred guitar..haha