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

[RR2772]

There are 2 books out. One is Relentless by Yngwie himself in English. And then there are a Swedish book done by people who knew him but not authorized. I am not sure if there is an English version of it but have seen something that hints towards it when doing a search for it.

Relentless is not a bad book and does give an insight from Yngwies point of view.

[ps43203]

A couple more good tips for those wanting to shred like Yngwie. Learn patterns you actual like to practice or make an etude, whatever, and play it every way possible. Ascending, descending, in increments of 4th's, 5th's, as in 123 123, 1234, 1234, starting withe the note you last played, a b c, c d e, e f g. If that makes sense, lol. Also pay close attention to how you start picking, with an upstroke or down stroke, what easier for YOU? Always practice more, what is the most difficult for you and go SLOW. If you follow these simple approaches you will be flying in no time. You can watch videos and read all you want, but if you can't apply it to your playing it useless. Also when scaling away finish it with a chord in the right key, does not matter where you are on the neck, power chord, whatever, just finish each scale with a chord! This help you apply it to reality and music, that the goal right? I see so many people shred away, but have no idea what they are doing, don't shred to shred, make sure you can apply it to a song. If you are in a rut, watch some youtube videos and take a piece and make it yours. Don't copy ANYONE, start with iron man and change it to rubber man. You get the idea...

[ps43203]

^ 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.

good advice here too, do what works for YOU. If something does not feel right, keep changing it until it feels good and then go with it. Try and make up a lick in your head and then figure it out, that's what Randy, Yngwie, Gilbert, all of them do, that is why they are good because they do what works for them. Randy was not the most technical player ever, yet he did what was in his heart, and it is totally obvious, and timeless. If you're having a shit day, write about it, or a good day, for that matter. Just never get discouraged, because although some learn faster than others, everyone has sucked or started somewhere. Pro's aren't all special, Randy was, but most are dedicated and worked their asses off to get where they wanted to be.

[ps43203]

I'm gonna go practice now, lol. Love to all........

[Hellbat]

There are 2 books out. One is Relentless by Yngwie himself in English. And then there are a Swedish book done by people who knew him but not authorized. I am not sure if there is an English version of it but have seen something that hints towards it when doing a search for it.

Relentless is not a bad book and does give an insight from Yngwies point of view.

The unauthorized biography is called "As Above, So Below". It's an interesting read and probably paints him in a less flattering light than the authorized, which I haven't read. One thing is for sure, both probably tell what a crazy life the dude has had.

[Rupe]

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

Me either...quite the opposite in fact, although I think he looked at Hendrix as more of an inspiration than an actual influence.

That said, he has denied the Blackmore influence on many occasions, even though he essentially played the same guitar, set up in a similar manner, and copped all the guy's stage moves (and clothes).

I also never hear him mention DiMeola as an influence (anybody have an example where he did?) even though Mike Varney has said numerous times over the years that Al is the player Yngwie talked about the most early on. He's also the first player that came to mind the first time I heard Yngwie's alternate picking. Uli is also suspiciously absent from Yngwie's influence discussions.

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

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

Tuning....string gauge....& scallops....do NOT make it easier or harder to play "fast" !!

[javert]

In terms of technique, expression and tonal affinity, I would say that Yngwie is much closer to Uli than Blackmore. He covers songs by both (and Hendrix) on his Inspiration album, though.

[leftykingv2]

Tuning....string gauge....& scallops....do NOT make it easier or harder to play "fast" !!

I find it a lot less difficult to play a lighter gauge string. Bending, speed or whatever. It's always been harder for me to play any gauge higher than 10's. And less tension on the strings means less tension on the hands. I.E. Easier to fret. At least in my opinion.

[BLOOD SPLATTER]

Bending?? Of course!!


But speed....nfw....tuning/string gauge/scalloped or not!!

[dvscool]

I have always loved YJM! but hes the WORST teacher EVER LOL......

[leftykingv2]

I have always loved YGM! but hes the WORST teacher EVER LOL......

+1

[leftykingv2]

Bending?? Of course!!


But speed....nfw....tuning/string gauge/scalloped or not!!

So you're saying that it doesn't take less effort to play on a lighter gauge string? Especially one that happens to be tuned down. The smaller the string and the less tension there is on it the easier it is to play at least for me. I find that when it comes to legato it's a lot easier to do it on a lighter sting with less tension. Of course your picking won't get faster but your fretting hand having to put less effort in to fret a note does make it easier for me to play a little faster. I find that I am slower on legato especially if I use a bigger gauge string because it takes more effort to fret. Maybe it's just in my head who knows but I did play a set of .008's a few times and I did feel faster than I do on .010's. Just my opinion though.

[RR2772]

As for Jimi and Yngwie playing his licks. He saw Wild thing from Monterey 1967 and the impact made him want to be the guitarist. He was a Deep Purple fan but at some point outgrew Deep Purple/Rainbow.

It is all in his book!

[Tetsuo]

So you're saying that it doesn't take less effort to play on a lighter gauge string? Especially one that happens to be tuned down. The smaller the string and the less tension there is on it the easier it is to play at least for me. I find that when it comes to legato it's a lot easier to do it on a lighter sting with less tension. Of course your picking won't get faster but your fretting hand having to put less effort in to fret a note does make it easier for me to play a little faster. I find that I am slower on legato especially if I use a bigger gauge string because it takes more effort to fret. Maybe it's just in my head who knows but I did play a set of .008's a few times and I did feel faster than I do on .010's. Just my opinion though.

Absolutely agree and general physics would agree with it. I think heavier gauges can definitely sound better as can higher action but they are going to be more difficult to play especially fast. What did SRV play? 12's. Sounded great but he wasn't playing super fast he was concerned with tone.