Steve Vai is considered by many to be one of the greatest guitarists of all time, so it’s safe to assume he receives a fair amount of fan mail. Presumably he’s also a busy man, so it’s heartening to see that he responds to at least some of it with letters like the handwritten one below, sent to an aspiring guitarist named David.

Transcript follows. Image supplied by D. Barr.

Image: D. Barr

Transcript

Light Without Heat, Inc.

Dear David,

I received and read your letter. You sound dedicated.

The desire to play an instrument must come from within you. You should not wait for a letter or an approval from anyone else to decide that you should play. Either you don’t want to or you have no choice because your heart compels you to.

If your looking for an outlet for your emotional expression, a musical instrument, especially the guitar, is great.

I’ll try to answer some of your questions…

1). I believe emotions can be reflected in music under any state of mind.

2). I have written some very depressing music but I have chosen not to release much of it.

3). I have never written music while drunk or stoned. I don’t do that stuff.

I wish you well pal,

(Signed, ‘Steve Vai’)

Love music