Yngwie on his playing and how he came to do it.

[AdRock]

I've never been a monster Yngwie fan but I really like some of his stuff. I ran across this vid and it really shows just how little effort he puts into playing like mad. Watching his right hand barely move just looks funny when hearing a million notes a second. LOL. And I expecially like the fact that he says " I know what I wanted to hear, so that's what I figured out how to do" To me, that's something a lot of guitar players should go with, including myself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOeThyZt1vg

[leftykingv2]

I've never been a monster Yngwie fan but I really like some of his stuff. I ran across this vid and it really shows just how little effort he puts into playing like mad. Watching his right hand barely move just looks funny when hearing a million notes a second. LOL. And I expecially like the fact that he says " I know what I wanted to hear, so that's what I figured out how to do" To me, that's something a lot of guitar players should go with, including myself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOeThyZt1vg

+1 Bro! I always liked his playing.

[Hellbat]

I love how he says stuff like "I don't know theory" in some interviews and then here he's like "If you take the harmonic minor and you invert it, it becomes e phrygian"

He's a killer player no doubt but like several other killer players ( eg EVH ) they spout a lot of bull too hehe.

[leftykingv2]

I love how he says stuff like "I don't know theory" in some interviews and then here he's like "If you take the harmonic minor and you invert it, it becomes e phrygian"

He's a killer player no doubt but like several other killer players ( eg EVH ) they spout a lot of bull too hehe.

I think when he mentions not knowing theory he just means he can't sight read music. Other than that I am sure he knows plenty of scales and modes.

[Tetsuo]

I think when he mentions not knowing theory he just means he can't sight read music. Other than that I am sure he knows plenty of scales and modes.

That and like Vai most likely doesn't write according to theory. He likely writes and then listens to it later and knows what it is but in the creative process part is not concerned with that.

I am sure after years of playing even bands like Greenday learn a good amount of theory.

[leftykingv2]

That and like Vai most likely doesn't write according to theory. He likely writes and then listens to it later and knows what it is but in the creative process part is not concerned with that.

I am sure after years of playing even bands like Greenday learn a good amount of theory.

I agree but not in Billy Joe " Five Chord" Armstrong's case!!!! I mean he has whole records where you can play every single song on them without ever doing anything but playing power chords. One other thing to keep in mind about Yngwie's speed is that it's easier to play that fast when you're tuned to E flat and you play on a set of .008's with a scalloped fret board and do most of your super fast stuff on one string chromatically. He is absolutely fucking amazing though.

[ginsambo]

.008's.....I didn't know that. If that is the case it's probably just to get a bit more snap to his playing on the upstrokes and vibrato maybe, but I would have thought it be actually more difficult to pick fast with wobbly, thinner strings.

I think the key to it is probably that thinner strings add a bit of roll and a more rounded and swelling kind of organic dynamic to the notes, not to mention more fluidity to the passages, which I imagine, probably wouldn't work so well with a very grainy, dryer technique with humbuckers and 11's I guess.

This kind of makes sense when you think that alot of players, for faster runs, will select the neck pup where there is more string reasonance over the pup, to make it sound more fluid and organic and less stuttery. It just gives it a better tone. I think alot of players detune for this same reason. Also it probably gives more snap to the notes when using a lighter and ultra efficient and fast picking technique.

Funny though, because when I practice my (Pretty shitty) speed picking I always seem to pick up a strat first. Either the old radius or the 10" one but somehow it just seems easier to lock in with it and single coils are either more forgiving to pick pressure inequality or probably less distracting when practicing when trying to lock in, one or the other.

Either way, it's easier to get it locked in on a strat first I reckon. Humbuckers, bridge ones especially, pick up on every little nuance in pick pressure or loudness when learning and can be harsh and brittle but overall are much dryer and don't give as much voice to each note or fluidity to the passage you are playing and you can find that you have to back off the picking pressure so much for it to become audible, that it can become disheartening learning process, as you completely lose the tonality. Ultimately you give up as its sounds like a bag of shit and all the notes together sound about as dynamic as an SDS drill, which actually works well on the chugger chugger, but not so much when you want something more melodic and tuneful and less acidic.

I like 'Malmstein' videos. Like Paul Gilbert, I think he is very open and matter of fact about what he plays. Also like Paul Gilbert, his approach to the fretboard is a common sense, no bullshit one and is relatively easy to pick up on. Specifically the way he advocates repeating patterns using octaves and learning patterns on each string on it's own and the drama of arpegios is a great and simple thing. Paul advocates alot of this octaves stuff too and it's all good common sense and can breakdown the fretboard into something more logical and accessible, shredable and something that can be understood as a solid platform to build upon.

Malmsteen is pretty much set in a certain style and tone though. Pretty much, if you want his sound, master his two and three string arpegios moving down the neck and strings, left hand muscle memory dexterity and of course legato picking, both up and down, with all your fingers then you essentially have mastered the very basics to his sound. Apart from the confidence and snap of some strings, there are no real frills to it and no tone chasing and little impossible subtletys to master that take years of experience and practice to master like certain other players, with him it is more about the notes. Although, obviously, I guess the confidence in coordination in itself can take years. He is a straight ahead guitar player and an excellent teacher I reckon.

Praise Malmsteen.

[pianoguyy]

To answer all of the above:
Eddie Van Halen was a classically trained classical pianist before picking up a guitar. Steve Vai went to the Berklee School of Music. Yngwie was a trained in classical music.
If any of them say that they do not know theory, they are full of shit.

But look at me. I was a very talented player long before I had my first theory course in high school (never had an official guitar lesson, but everyday is a learning experience). I am open and honest enough to admit to being a better play then than I am now. In fact, a lot of what theory did for me was that it gave me the ability to know why I did what I did instead of just doing it because it sounds good, and it gave me the ability to describe to others how to do what I just did.
What I would really like is to take one of those guitar creation course so I would know about neck radiuses and other crap like that, so I can know what I like and why I like it instead of walking in with my one Jackson (not all of them, just one in particular) and say 'my fingers like this one, make it like this one'.
*
*
But back to the issue at hand:
Malsteem is a good player. But if he isn't doing classical music (even his blues is classical) then he isn't as impressive.
Malsteem is also a master of effects (yet he denies a Hendrix influence). Its very clearly heard in the posted video because it isn't hidden with music of the band. When he stops playing in this video, the notes keep going. It gets easier to play 1000 notes in 3 seconds when you aren't playing 800 of them. *but he knew how to play the 200 notes long before he added electronic gizmos

Many classical musicians aren't impressed with him because he does nothing special to them. Its the rockers who never heard these notes coming out of a distorted guitar before. WOW, he's awesome.

[ps43203]

Delay is a very useful tool, ask Yngwie. In actuality, I remember being amazed at speed and now that I can play with that kind of speed, it really is easy. It's because speed and scales is plain muscle memory. You practice a scale a thousand times a day, you will automatically become fast, I never thought I was ever going to play fast when I was young. I'm not Malmsteen by the way, almost as old though. It is what you play, and what's in your heart, that makes guitar good, not playing a million notes a second. Once you can do it,go fast, you'll find that you want to play better material, that's the really hard part. I still practice everyday, the guys that say they don't, are playing shows everyday.

[ps43203]

I watched the video, and the best thing you can get out of it is exactly how little effort he uses. I mean his right hand is most of it, watch how there is no wasted motion. He is also combines alternate and sweep picking. If you're having trouble with speed, don't try, get as little of the pick as possible between your fingers and the string and gently scribble the string. Like you have a pen and your scribbling back and forth on a piece of paper, with as little space and effort as you can. The thing that helped me a whole lot was I started using Jazz picks, Jazz 3, and now black jazz tortex, and that will force you to lessen the amount of pick hitting the string, thus speeding you up. I'm not much of a teacher but I hope that helps. Playing lightly and relaxing helps a ton and of course playing stuff a million times. Cheers!

[leftykingv2]

To answer all of the above:
Eddie Van Halen was a classically trained classical pianist before picking up a guitar. Steve Vai went to the Berklee School of Music. Yngwie was a trained in classical music.
If any of them say that they do not know theory, they are full of shit.

But look at me. I was a very talented player long before I had my first theory course in high school (never had an official guitar lesson, but everyday is a learning experience). I am open and honest enough to admit to being a better play then than I am now. In fact, a lot of what theory did for me was that it gave me the ability to know why I did what I did instead of just doing it because it sounds good, and it gave me the ability to describe to others how to do what I just did.
What I would really like is to take one of those guitar creation course so I would know about neck radiuses and other crap like that, so I can know what I like and why I like it instead of walking in with my one Jackson (not all of them, just one in particular) and say 'my fingers like this one, make it like this one'.
*
*
But back to the issue at hand:
Malsteem is a good player. But if he isn't doing classical music (even his blues is classical) then he isn't as impressive.
Malsteem is also a master of effects (yet he denies a Hendrix influence). Its very clearly heard in the posted video because it isn't hidden with music of the band. When he stops playing in this video, the notes keep going. It gets easier to play 1000 notes in 3 seconds when you aren't playing 800 of them. *but he knew how to play the 200 notes long before he added electronic gizmos

Many classical musicians aren't impressed with him because he does nothing special to them. Its the rockers who never heard these notes coming out of a distorted guitar before. WOW, he's awesome.

I've never heard him deny being influenced by Hendrix.

[leftykingv2]

Delay is a very useful tool, ask Yngwie. In actuality, I remember being amazed at speed and now that I can play with that kind of speed, it really is easy. It's because speed and scales is plain muscle memory. You practice a scale a thousand times a day, you will automatically become fast, I never thought I was ever going to play fast when I was young. I'm not Malmsteen by the way, almost as old though. It is what you play, and what's in your heart, that makes guitar good, not playing a million notes a second. Once you can do it,go fast, you'll find that you want to play better material, that's the really hard part. I still practice everyday, the guys that say they don't, are playing shows everyday.

I've been telling students this forever. Speed isn't as hard as it sounds. Muscle memory and repetition.

[ginsambo]

^ This is true. I don't hear much Hendrix with Malmsteen though, I mean in terms of two and three note phrases and rhythms like Jimi used alot.

With his arpegios - what he says makes sense - you can just work them out if they are harmonic minor or dimished or whatever by ear for however many notes you want to use in each, who cares for tab or theory, just think - Steal Away the Night - Rhoads lol. I'm not big on sweep picking but it's the same for extended arpegios, you just work out what sounds best.

Playing them fast, I mean, one to the next (Without sliding your first finger as a barre and playing two notes with it with slides - as that way sounds shit) takes some practice though to get fast and accurate postion changes on one string. I found I could pick up to speed but wasn't hitting the right frets in time, so I just sat down and practiced the positions playing simple two note pulloffs from one position to another to another on the same string, I think you'll get four in E harmonic minor from the 15th postion to the 3rd on the high E before changing down strings. Did this until I had the position changes locked in, then when I did, I started playing the full arpegios again. Obviously practicing the whole arpegio would have been a waste of time because that wasn't my weakness.

Another thing I like to do, as I think to play at speed you really have to practice all the time, is practice Gilberts ((B) 3^-5-7^ (E) 3 (B) 7^-5-3^-5-7^) catching the E string with an uppick. This is because naturally I (Sometimes I think) have a natural tendency to pick down down when changing strings going up in triplets, almost like sweeping and have to fight it. Although some people advocate this sweep picking changing strings method, especially with a ton of gain, I personally don't like it because you don't get the snap and clarity to the notes that you would from pure alternate picking. It's like playing classical fingerstyle with a repeated pluck from your first finger, it makes no sense. So rather than practice 1-3-5 / 1-3-5 / 1-3-5 etc all the way up a scale, up the strings, which I see as a waste of time, I'II just practice those four notes because that locks in my pick control more efficiently as a practice routine. Although, actually when I play triplets fast I angle the pick and don't actually really know what I am doing with down and uppicks and when you angle the pick a bit you naturally lean towards alternate picking.

When playing scales fast or picked legato alternate picking just comes naturally which is the same for most people I imagine.

It's the same for picked pulloffs such as 13-10-10-12-13-12 etc. which can feel awkward at first. Just repetiton, repetition.


Malmsteen never actually reveals whether he picks pure alternate or partially sweeped when he plays ascending triplets. Like he doesn't know himself. Does anyone know what he actually does? Apart from knitting? I can't make it out. It's too fast and his right hand movement is so subtle lol.

[RR2772]

Read his book! He was obsesed from an early age playing his guitar the way he wanted. As for sweep picking he denies this and says he rarely does it. He prefers to pick the notes.

[ginsambo]

I didn't know he had a book out....is it in Swedish?