Video of Yngwie playing close up.

musteatbrain

Having a look at this video, he picks much lighter than I thought. He's very efficient with it all

DLM

He has to: the top strings are eights, down to Eb – pick too hard and you'll be way out of tune.

CaseOfAce

AS Setzer is to rockabilly guitar, Malmsteen is to (neo-classical) shred. Top of the heap. Stunning player.

He really did set the guitar world on fire when he came to prominence back in '88 and the Odyssey album. We'd just had Satriani and the Surfing album and then ... this came along. Jaws dropped.

Wannabe's around the world barricaded themselves in their bedrooms practicing phrygian dominants and diminished sweeps...

The usual criticism is it's flash over substance etc... but .. listen to that intro he plays on Crystal Ball. Wow....and that solo.
There's nothing artificial in the way he uses sweeps as well.. you don't even realise he's doing them  - it's just such a natural part of his style. 

hollywoodrox

Economy of movement  his right hand only seems to appear fast when he hits a fast tremolo picked run , wonderful to see & hear 

prowla

To me he's like Ritchie Blackmore sped up to 45 rpm.

I do like some of the humour in his interviews & videos, though I'm not sure it's all intentional.

Reverend

CaseOfAce said:

AS Setzer is to rockabilly guitar, Malmsteen is to (neo-classical) shred. Top of the heap. Stunning player.

He really did set the guitar world on fire when he came to prominence back in '88 and the Odyssey album. We'd just had Satriani and the Surfing album and then ... this came along. Jaws dropped.

Wannabe's around the world barricaded themselves in their bedrooms practicing phrygian dominants and diminished sweeps...

The usual criticism is it's flash over substance etc... but .. listen to that intro he plays on Crystal Ball. Wow....and that solo.
There's nothing artificial in the way he uses sweeps as well.. you don't even realise he's doing them  - it's just such a natural part of his style. 

Malmsteen made his name long before Satch. He was being lauded on the metal underground by the start of the 80s. Even before Alcatraz, 

DLM

Yes, when he claims to have influenced Metallica, he's probably right, I'd take the bet that Lars got his music on the tape-trading scene well before Yngwie flew to the US with The Duck and a spare pair of jeans.

relic245

Can't get that tune out of my head now it's so catchy. I'll likely be whistling that all bloody day now

Having said that (in a tongue in cheek way) I am in awe of his technical ability.   I don't care for his music but as a guitarist I can appreciate what he does and the amount of effort that it must have taken to get to that level. 

CaseOfAce

Reverend said:

CaseOfAce said:

AS Setzer is to rockabilly guitar, Malmsteen is to (neo-classical) shred. Top of the heap. Stunning player.

He really did set the guitar world on fire when he came to prominence back in '88 and the Odyssey album. We'd just had Satriani and the Surfing album and then ... this came along. Jaws dropped.

Wannabe's around the world barricaded themselves in their bedrooms practicing phrygian dominants and diminished sweeps...

The usual criticism is it's flash over substance etc... but .. listen to that intro he plays on Crystal Ball. Wow....and that solo.
There's nothing artificial in the way he uses sweeps as well.. you don't even realise he's doing them  - it's just such a natural part of his style. 

Malmsteen made his name long before Satch. He was being lauded on the metal underground by the start of the 80s. Even before Alcatraz, 

That might well be true Reverend - but in terms of becoming known by most rock guitarists it was well into the mid-80s. I'd certainly never heard of Alcatraz until after then (and I've never heard a single record by them either even now).
There was a whole roster of shredders on Shrapnel Records back in the 80s - Malmsteen amongst them - who people would only have known about from reading the occasional Guitar World magazine column,

It wasn't until he teamed up with Joe Lynn Turner and got songs together that guitarists started tracking back and hearing the likes of Black Star and Far Beyond the Sun.

axisus

I have to admit that I've come back and watched bits of the video a few times now, I'm completely entranced by the effortless way he is playing. And the way he skips a few strings and frets to do that tiny trill occasionally - amazing! happens in a fraction of a second. I honestly think I have a newfound appreciation of him now.

theatreanchor

Gotta admire his dedication to the Strat. 

Hootsmon

I think he is wonderful. His right hand picking style does whatever is required in whatever style to get the sound in his head out........no alternate picking for YM.....no downstroke or up strokes or sweeping....its EVERYTHING!! Y'all spot that upstroke rake thing he used multiple times? What a class act. Although I don't care for his music his tone and intonation ability is just beyond...oh, and vibrato too

Fishboy7

Just found a couple of Yngwie books in the cupboard    

The Rising Force book also has the bass parts transcribed. 

 

grappagreen

Wonderful! From the moment I heard Black Star on Flexidisk free with Guitar Player I was hooked

The solo's on Alctrazz' NPFRR are still probably my all time favs and I still play some of the tunes and get the same OMFG feeling when he rips.

He never sold out, kept the faith, believed in what he was doing and at the end of the day you can't fault that..despite everything else.

I love the playing of so many guitarists across many genres but YJM is a bit special to me and always will be.

Si

carlos

DLM said:

He has to: the top strings are eights, down to Eb – pick too hard and you'll be way out of tune.

And a very thick pick, so if he digs in too much it will all fall apart.

beed84

No need to apologise for Malmsteen content, I bloody love him! His effortless technique is mesmerising and he's one of the few 80s guitarists who still blows me away when I hear him. I've not heard his more recent stuff, but everything up to Eclipse was top tier for me.

EDIT: Can you imagine being 21 and having Rising Force to your name? Mental. 

DLM

1: After all these years teaching myself to ALTERNATE PICK EVERY NOTE, doing things the way Kyng Yng really does it is bloody hard.

2: What is up with all these Tassies playing so well?

Evo

He definitely picks a lot fewer notes than I always thought in those licks. 

Maybe it's a studio vs live thing, but there's definitely some Greg Howe style "hammer on from nowhere" stuff going on in some of those insanely fast licks.