You can say what you want about Yngwie’s “feel” vs. “technicality”, but he’s got one of the most beautiful vibratos of all the guitarists I’ve ever heard (of course IMVHO).
Holy shit Paco is great. I think I’ll be using this thread to diversify my musical tastes.
There are a few guys like this on youtube. I can’t play it but I like it.
Yep, those fast guitarists are on to something.
If they hit enough notes in a given second, eventually they will get the right one. 
Billy Gibbons
Me likey Orianthi (she was handpicked by Michael Jackson to be his tour guitarist before he died). Girl’s got some serious chops:
Dave Mustaine. Without him there would be no Metallica.
Here’s an example of someone who plays both soulful and fast. Both songs are have Tony M. and George Lynch trading leads.
[quote]roybot wrote:
[quote]legendaryblaze wrote:
What?
It depends on the feel he is going for. Far beyond the sun, black star, etc…all of them have plenty of stops/pauses within. I’m not quite sure where you are going with that.
Sure, sometimes he has runs that are 10 seconds long and non stop notes, but that is the type of musical device he likes to use.[/quote]
Well let me clarify: I personally don’t like Malmsteen’s music because it is all style over substance.
If you still doubt what I’m saying, then try listening to one of his songs and try humming the tune back from memory. Unless you are a musical genius with amazing perfect and relative pitch, you’re not gonna get very far. He often plays faster than the ear can follow (even in his slower songs), which in mind is the kiss of death for a guitarist. Beyond fast fingers and knowing a lot of scales and modes, there is nothing there for me.
In comparison, listen to someone like Satch who is just as technically proficient, but whose songs stick in the memory a lot easier - even if your not a fan (I’m not saying that memorable songs = a good player, but memorable songs are a measure of an artist’s compositional skills).
Yes, Malmsteen has technical ability, but it all comes across as very clinical. Plus, no matter what style he can ape well, he still built a career out of Paganini.
This is the sort of music Malmsteen built his reputation on. Where are the dynamics here? There is no light and shade. Just unnecessarily fast playing, which is where his appeal lies.
He admits himself that he is just trying to be ‘extreme’ for the sake of it.
I’m still not sure what you like about his music.[/quote]
Did you listen to the Malmsteen song i posted? “Crying”.
That one one sounds very good. Yes, I agree…to a certain extent…that most of his music is very clinical and more or less the same formula (harmonic minor sweep here, and add some phrygian there).
However, I ask you to sing any Metallica or AC\DC solo and see if you can do it. You probably can’t. Why this matters is beyond me.
I will give it to you that his music can be cut and dry, and very formulaic. He does have a few gems though. I posted one at the end of this post. I suggest you listen to it. I can also hum it (except for the very very fast parts).
He might claim he is Paginini reincarnate, doesn’t mean he borrows everything from him. He does use the same few phrases over and over, but it’s part of his style.
That being said, I agree with SteelyD: he has amazing vibrato (and tone).
What do I like about his music? I actually find some of it sounds very good.
I came from a classical-ish background, so I like the classical ish phrasing. Add on top the piercing notes, it just sounds good to me.
I also find his music interesting (to play) due to the difficulty level.
Which, in turn, makes it interesting to listen to.
I find this to be very melodic and fun to play.
It might not make you cry, but it doesn’t mean it’s devoid of any emotion.
edit: Arpeggios from Hell was supposedly composed for that instructional video to illustrate how you can create something using the same chord but ‘arpeggiating’ it over the entire fretboard.
Malmsteen’s playing is like a Pringles potato chip. A Pringles chip is perfect. Every Pringles potato chip is exactly like every other Pringles potato chip. They stack neatly, and can be packaged in a perfectly uniform manner inside a tube. Who cares if they taste like cardboard?
Just because I have it to hand, here’s an excruciatingly good solo:
^Winner. Maybe not of all of time, but best guitarist today. Look at his stuff with Gov’t Mule. He runs 9-11 min solos.
Back to rep the repless…
Duane Allman
Dickey Betts
Greg Ginn
Richard Thompson
Andy Summers
Hugh Cornwell
Bob Mould
Marc Bolan ( x2 I guess )
Andrew Eldritch
Bernard Sumner
[quote] legendaryblaze wrote:
Did you listen to the Malmsteen song i posted? “Crying”. [/quote] Yes…and it still falls under the “faster than the ear can follow” comment I made earlier.
[quote]
I ask you to sing any Metallica or AC\DC solo and see if you can do it. You probably can’t. Why this matters is beyond me. [/quote]
Why is it beyond you? I explained, quite clearly, why it is important in my last post. The ease in which you can memorize a song is an indication of good, solid compositional skills.. It is only “beyond you” if you’re assuming that I was saying that a tune is only good if it is catchy - and that’s not the point I was making at all…
Besides, Metallica and AC/DC songs would be far easier to commit to ear than most of Malmsteen’s back catalogue, solos or not.
[quote]
I will give it to you that his music can be cut and dry, and very formulaic.[/quote]
That’s probably my main gripe. I’ll concede that he has attempted to diversify, but he didn’t do that for a long time, and the results aren’t that impressive, IMO.
[quote]
He might claim he is Paginini reincarnate, doesn’t mean he borrows everything from him. [/quote] He did for many years, to the point that he based his choice of scales on Paganini. “His” technique is still firmly rooted in a style that N.P. came up with and yet Malmsteen is still viewed as a maverick… [quote] He does use the same few phrases over and over, but it’s part of his style.[/quote] Repetitive, because the style wasn’t his own to begin with.
[quote]
That being said, I agree with SteelyD: he has amazing vibrato (and tone).[/quote] I wouldn’t classify Malmsteen as one of the greatest guitarists ever based on that criteria. He falls short in quite a few areas. I don’t hate Malmsteen, and I’m not trying to piss on anyone’s opinion but he is massively overrated. I’m not alone when I say that…
[quote]
I came from a classical-ish background, so I like the classical ish phrasing. Add on top the piercing notes, it just sounds good to me. [/quote] Malmsteen’s style is about as far removed from legit classical playing as you can get. It is an over-the-top approximation of what a classical violinist might sound like on an electric guitar. True classical players do not sound anything like him; he sounds even less like one on an acoustic.
But that’s beside the point. My main issue is that his music just isn’t that exciting.
[quote]
I also find his music interesting (to play) due to the difficulty level.
Which, in turn, makes it interesting to listen to.[/quote]
That’s fine, but “satisfying to play” is not “interesting to listen to”.
That video was an example of his trademark style. It doesn’t matter what the purpose of that piece was when I could’ve posted one of countless album tracks which sound more or less the same…
One thing to consider is that fast/technical does not preclude ‘feel’ and ‘emotion’. In Yngwie’s case, he grew up listening to classical/baroque music and formed emotions and links to feelings through those modes. Ritchie Blackmore was the same way. His playing is full of emotion (FTR, I’m not a big Blackmore fan beyond his songwriting).
Paganini expressed himself through playing quickly. So did Mozart. “Emotion” need not be limited to 3 notes in a blues scale (a la BB King).
“Feeling” is just “perspective”.
[quote]roybot wrote:
Me likey Orianthi (she was handpicked by Michael Jackson to be his tour guitarist before he died). Girl’s got some serious chops:
[/quote]
Hye! That’s exactly the PRS I play - same colour and everything. Had never heard of this woman; she’s a pretty crazy guitarist…
More Orianthi (with Steve Vai):
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
One thing to consider is that fast/technical does not preclude ‘feel’ and ‘emotion’. In Yngwie’s case, he grew up listening to classical/baroque music and formed emotions and links to feelings through those modes.[/quote]
Reliance on exotic modes to express an inner emotional state has its downside, though. If it’s taken to extremes, it produces music that’s abstract or just plain weird. It is still emotional to the player (obviously, because the emotions which inspired the music are theirs), but doesn’t evoke those same feelings in the listener, so the music ends up getting in the way of the message…if that makes sense.
[quote]roybot wrote:
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
One thing to consider is that fast/technical does not preclude ‘feel’ and ‘emotion’. In Yngwie’s case, he grew up listening to classical/baroque music and formed emotions and links to feelings through those modes.[/quote]
Reliance on exotic modes to express an inner emotional state has its downside, though. If it’s taken to extremes, it produces music that’s abstract or just plain weird. It is still emotional to the player (obviously, because the emotions which inspired the music are theirs), but doesn’t evoke those same feelings in the listener, so the music ends up getting in the way of the message.[/quote]
C’mon- flying around an A-minor scale isn’t really all that exotic.
Do you think Steve Vai’s music is ‘unemotional’? Frank Zappa’s?
