What do you think about Yngqie Malmsteen?

[Kaotiksoul6sic6]

i was just wondering what you guys think about yngwie malmsteen ive been listening to him lately and his guitar skills just blow me away and he has a song that is called im a viking does anyone know his background

[Moody]

I vaguely rememmber that he was Swedish, and that 'Malmsteen' is not his real surname.

His playing style was modeled on that of Ritchie Blackmore, but taking the Classical-influenced riffs much further.

His speed and fluency was quite amazing.

I have a feeling that he succumbed to that trashy rockan'roll life-style, becoming a bloated has-been.

Now, if he had only gone into White Power music ...

[vegetz]

I saw Malmsteen about a year ago. he is still in prime form from a playing standpoint.

The problem I have with Malmsteen is his constant use of Harmonic minor scales, i mean harmonic minor is cool but he doesnt use much else. Ive also heard he married a non-white and basically beats her. but i cant say that for sure since i didnt research it myself.

If you like Malmsteen check out Jason Becker as well.

[wrathchild72]

I live in the same area he does, he beat up a woman who was then his girlfriend and was arrested, he later found another woman and married her, I can't remember which was which but one of those girls is either Lebanese, Palestinian or Turkish, I'm pretty sure it's his current wife. His first two albums are classics, I don't care for the rest. He's a total A-hole in person, real snob. He did an impromptu concert in the beach a few months back, nobody there knew who the hell he was but people walking down the street were stopping and watching him play, I mean even old people, everybody was amazed by his little show.

[Moody]

Vegetz's mention of the Harmonic Minor is interesting; do you think there are prefered 'Aryan' modes?

That's not as silly as it sounds, as Plato in the Republic says that only certain modes should be used by the Noble, and other modes ignored.

I quite like Phrygian myself.

[vegetz]

Originally posted by Moody Lawless
Vegetz's mention of the Harmonic Minor is interesting; do you think there are prefered 'Aryan' modes?

That's not as silly as it sounds, as Plato in the Republic says that only certain modes should be used by the Noble, and other modes ignored.

I quite like Phrygian myself.

I suppose it depends on your tastes. I personally think that the 7 modes of the major scale plus harmonic minor are 'European' sounding scales.

As I am sure you know, the different modes provide for different tones in the music. Major (Ionian), Lydian, Mixolydian have happier upbeat sounds. Minor (Aeolian), Phyrgian, Dorian are darker sounding scales. Also Locrian, which is diminished, has a darker sound.

The reason I brought up harmonic minor in regards to Yngwie, is because he lives off that and diminished. Every tune i hear by him is full of those two scales. I simply think he over uses the scale, not so much that i think the scale is 'non-Aryan'.

[Moody]

I personally think that the use of the harmonic minor in rock-guitar improvisation was a way of getting away from the blues-based modes, - whether the ubiquitous 'blues scale', or the minorish Dorian mode.

To avoid that constant flattened seventh, players like Malmsteen emphasised modes like the harmonic minor with its more 'classical' intervals.
He also used the diminshed as you say, as well as a lot of arpeggiated figures; his use of these latter two may have been influenced by jazz-rock players such as Al Dimeola and John McLaughlin.

So I think we can read some racial/cultural significance into Malmsteen's use of the Harmonic Minor.
But I agree that it became over-used, - but never as over-used as the blues-scale.

[vegetz]

Absolutely. I would much rather listen to the classical sounding harmonic minor than 'dime a dozen' blues players. On occasion I do come across pentatonic in classical music, such as in Paganini's Moto Perpetuo.

My latest tabbing venture has been J.S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue in A Major (BWV 536). The intro theme includes obviously A major, but with a nice modal/diminished arpeggiated run which isnt super fast but is quite melodic and pretty. Its the first 30 seconds or so of the prelude.

ill attach the tab file (txt format) to this post. its for electric guitar.