It's hard to put any kind of method to Vai's playing, but as for Satch . . . he plays a lot of lydian, usually over add9 chords and the like. His progressions tend to "roam" around a lot through different keys (called pitch axis). One second he'll be playing in lydian, and the next second he'll modulate to dominant phrygian.
View post (Satch style improv)
View threadIt's hard to put any kind of method to Vai's playing, but as for Satch . . . he plays a lot of lydian, usually over add9 chords and the like. His progressions tend to "roam" around a lot through different keys (called pitch axis). One second he'll be playing in lydian, and the next second he'll modulate to dominant phrygian.