Yngwie Johann

Malmsteen“FATHER OF NEOCLASSICAL GUITAR/ FATHER OF SHREDDING

Lars Johann Yngwe-Lannerback

• Born June, 30, 1963, in Stockholm, Sweden

• Brother- Bjorn, Sister- Ann Louise, Mother – Rigmore

• Had constant access to classical music

• Part of a musical family, but only mildly motivated to play

Bjorn, Ann Louise, Lars

Jimi Hendrix Dead! September 18, 1970

A television special on the death of Jimi Hendrix showed the performer setting his guitar on fire, “blasting the audience with torrents of feedback”, and putting on such a show that his guitar solos became the main event.

Something woke inside Lars * taught himself keys and scales * learned music theory, as part of composing and arranging * became obsessed with practice and learning * love of Baroque style blossomed * learned to play all of Deep Purple’s music * joined 1st band

and…..

Lars Johann Yngve Lannerback

Lars changed his name

Yngwie Johann Malmsteen

It was time to become

Influences• All classical music; especially Baroque

• Bach’s unorthodox works

• Niccolo Paganini’s flamboyant style and drive toward perfection

• Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore’s classically influenced style

• Also the style of Vivaldi, Beethoven, Mozart, Kansas, Rush, & U.K.

“Classical is the peak of the development of music, and Bach is the most influential composer of all.”

-- Yngwie Malmsteen

Something big was about to happen

Yngwie went to work in a guitar shop, as a luthier. A 17th centuy lute came in for repair. Yngwie noticed the “frets” were created by peaks left in the wood when it was carved, and that they were much deeper than ordinary frets.

Yngwie decided to scallop the neck of an old Mosrite. He discovered that it was harder to play, but he could grip the strings better. “You have much more control of the

string, as far as vibrato, pitch, and so on. It’s a muchbetter instrument this way.”

--Yngwie Malsteen

How did Yngwie learn to play so fast?

• A total obsession with the instrument

• A craving to develop a unique style

• Complete devotion to the art

• Perfect pitch

• Refusal to play music he couldn’t play clean

Oh, and those cassette decks… “I had two cassette decks that I used to tape my music on– one at the rehearsal studio and one at home. The one at the rehearsal studio was slower than the one at home. So I went home and listened back to the tape I recorded at rehearsals, my guitar sounded so much faster than I actually played it. I said, ‘Wow– I can’t believe how fast I sound.’ And since my goal was to improve on everything I would play the day before, I developed a lot of speed and I began playing faster and faster.” – Yngwie Malmsteen

“If you do it very fast and clean… you will appear much faster because what you’re playing makes sense.”

--Yngwie Malmsteen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwzHx6QQaF4&feature=player_embedded

After a demo tape found its way into the hands of Shrapnel Music’sMike Varney, in 1983, Yngwie was invited to join the band Steeler. Together, they released one album.

Yngwie then joined Alcatrazz. Together, they released No Parole From Rock & Roll and Live Sentence. Yngwiedecided to leave the band.

Along with, long time friend, Jens Johanson, Yngwie started Rising Force

In 1984, Rising Force’s very first album, Rising Force

* Rose to number 60 on the Billboard charts* Earned a grammy nomination for best rock instrumental performance* Became album of the year in the neoclassical rock genre* Sold so many copies as an import from Japan, that it was

released here as well

Rising Force & Yngiwe’s performance are credited with being the catalyst for shredding– a genre whose main focus is on impossibly fast, demandinglicks rather than song writing.

Marching On

• Rising Force releases Marching Out (1985) & Trilogy

• June 22, 1987– Yngwie crashes into a tree, suffering a blood clot in his brain and nerve damage to his picking hand. He lies in a coma for a week

• Yngwie’s mother Rigmor dies

• Rising Force releases Odyssey (1986)

• Following the Odyssey tour, Rising Force is disbanded

The albums kept coming

1989- Trial By Fire: Live In Leningrad 2002-Birth of the Sun1990- Eclipse Attack!!1991- The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection The Genesis1992- Fire & Ice (Debuted at #1 in Japan, sold 100,000 copies on its release date)1994- Seventh Sign Power & Glory I Can’t Wait1995- Magnum Opus1996- Inspiration (a cover album)1998- Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Eb minor, Op. 1 Facing The Animal Live! Double Live!1999- Alchemy2000- War to End All Wars Young Person’s Guide to the Classics, Volumes 1 & 22001- Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Eb minor, Op. 1

Power, Prestige, and a Passenger

• 1994- Miami, Construction began on Yngwie’s own recording studio, Studio 308

• 2002- Yngwie is escorted from a plane, following a disagreement with a fellow passenger. He is screaming that she has “just unleashed the ****** fury” (see the title of his 2004 album)

• 2003- Yngwie joined G3, Satriani, Vai, & Malmsteen made up this prestigious group of the best guitarists of our time

• 2006- Fender updates its Signature Yngwie Malmsteen Model Stratocaster

• 2006- Yngwie receives his strings endorsement from Dean Markley

• 2008- October, Yngwie is inducted into Hollywood’s Rock Walk of Fame

• 2008- Rising Force Records is established

• 2009- Yngwie contributes 3 tracks to Rock Band

2004- Unleash The Fury G3 Live In Denver2007- Instru-Mental2008- Perpetual Flame2009- Angels of Love High Impact2010- Relentless2012- Spellbound2013- G3 Live: Rockin’ The Free Worldas well as- Play Loud Volmes 1 & 2, and Play Loud Arpeggio

Getting Back to Fast Music

Personal Life

Today, Yngwie resides in Miami, Florida, with his wife April Malmsteen, and their son Antonio Yngwie Johann Malmsteen.

Antonio was born on March 6th, 1998. He is named after his father and Antonio Vivaldi.

• Yngwie married Swedish pop singer, Erika Norberg, on May 8, 1991

• The marriage lasted one year

• Yngwie married Amber Dawn Landin, on December 26, 1993

• They divorced in 1998

It has been said, .

“At the heavy metal marriage of baroque music and rock &

roll, Yngwie Malmsteen is often accused of holding the

shotgun”

Far Beyond the Sun- History

• 1st released on Rising Force, March 5, 1984

• Performed by Yngwie Malmsteen, Moog Taurus, Jeff Scott, Jens Johansen, Barrimore Barlow

• Has been re-released seven times; on Trial by Fire:Live In Leningrad (1989), The Yngwie Malmsteen Collection (1991), I can’t wait (1994), Double Live (1998), G3 Live In Denver (2004), the DVD release of Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Eb Minor, Op.1-with the New Japan Philharmonic Live (2005), and High Impact (2009)

• Remains a staple in the live set list today

• Playing several variations of this piece can cure Yngwie of a case of writer’s block

Evil Eye- history

• 1st released on Rising Force, on March 5, 1984• Performed by Yngwie Malmsteen, Moog Taurus,

Jeff Scott, Jens Johansen, Barrimore Barlow• Had its second release on Concerto Suite For

Electric Guitar and Orchestra, in Eb Minor, Op.1, as an encore to the concerto itself

• Is very reminiscent of The Fugue• Melody inspired by Yohann Krieger’s Bourree

Concerto - history

• Work on The Concerto began in 1996

• The goal was to write a piece which was as close to orthodox classical as possible, with a guitar where the soloist usually played

• The Suite is 50 minutes long, and consists of many smaller movements

• One of these movements is The Fugue

“I came up with so many themes that I felt were good that I didn’t want to throw them all in one basket…I’d rather have them each as a proper movement.” -- Yngwie Malmsteem

Writing music

Despite his incredible understanding of music theory, instrumentation, and the sounds produced by nearly every instrument,

Yngwie never felt the drive to become skilled in the creation of the musical notation which corresponded to the music he created.

“Some of the things I had written for the instruments fell outside their range. I didn’t know that!”

--Yngwie Malmsteen

A need for this skill lead to David Rosenthal transcribing and scoring The Concerto

The Fugue- history

• June 1997- Yngwie flies to Prague to perform Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Eb Minor, Op.1

• Performed with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra• The recording was made as a multi-track, for better

post production control• The volume needed to obtain the desired tone for

the guitar was too loud to allow Yngwie to perform onstage with the orchestra

• The rattling of Yngwie’s jewelry was picked up on the microphones during quieter passages

• A decision was made to record his tracks later• Yngwie would have to work without the benefit of

being able to see the conductor

Shredding the rumors

Rumors from early in Yngwie’s career implied that he sped up the tapes while recording, in order to sound faster. After choosing to record his sections of The Concerto separately, the rumors resurfaced.An insensed Yngwie immediately began making plans to lay the rumors to rest for good.

Yngwie would record Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in Eb Minor, Op.1 again. This time he would perform with the New Japan Philharmonic Orchestra. This time the volume issues would be corrected. This time the entire concert would be recorded live.

In 2001, the rumors were laid to rest.

Far Beyond The Sun

• The keyboard, lead guitar, and rhythm guitar perform in major mode, while the bass guitar plays in minor mode

• The time is 4/4

• Guitar solos and speed anchor the piece

• There are 5 themes in this piece; Beethoven, A, B, C, and D

• A transitional sequence takes us into a series of guitar scales and arpeggios, keyboard scales and arpeggios, and a playful banter between the two

• The piece progresses as follows: Beethoven Theme, Scales and Arpeggios, Beethoven Theme, Theme A, Theme A, Theme B, Theme B, Theme C, Beethoven Theme, Theme A, guitar solo, transitional sequence, Scales and Arpeggios (guitar then keyboard), guitar/keyboard call and answer, guitar solo, Theme C, Theme D, 13-second long power chord

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eK0rvReE-4c

Far Beyond the Sun

• Beethoven’s theme-

* Theme A-

• Theme B-

Themes C & D follow…

Far Beyond The Sun• Theme C-

• Theme D-

Evil Eye

• Played in major mode, by the acoustic, steel string and rhythm guitars, and by the bass guitar in minor mode

• Rhythm is marked by a set of drums and a timpani• The time is 4/4• The number of beats per minute change several times;

from 145 to 220, to 109, to 210, to 90, to 120, to 190, and back to 90

• The introduction is Yohann Kreiger’s Bourree• The piece consists of the bourree, a main theme,

Theme 1 (which is the bourree played upside down), Theme 2 Variation A, Theme 2 Variation B, Theme 3, Theme 4, a guitar solo, and a transitional motif

• Bourree. Theme 1, Main Theme, Theme 2 Var. A, Theme 2 Var. B, Main Theme, Main Theme, Main Theme, Theme 2 Var. A, Theme 2 Var. B, guitar arpeggios, descending scale, Main Theme, Theme 3, transition, Theme 4, Main Theme

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlqPFQTpA6I

Evil Eye

Bourree-

Main Theme-

Theme 1-

Theme 2 Var.A-

Evil Eye

Theme 2 Var. B-

Theme 3-

Theme 4-

Guitar Solo-

The Fugue

• The piece is written in 3/4 time• Instrumentation includes electric guitar, 1st and 2nd

violins, cellos, 1 and 2nd violas, strings, piccolos, flutes, choir, and percussion

• It is played in major mode• The Fugue is written primarily in triple-simple meter• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAq817mTb50

The Fugue

• The Fugue is variations. • 24 motifs are combined to create few moments where

repetition occurs, while creating an all encompassing feeling that you have already heard this section

• The motifs are layered through out the orchestral notation, so as to achieve a harmoniously dense texture

• Themes manifest themselves as motifs are paired in a “first bar/ second bar” set up, like a first and last name

• Due to the complexity of this orchestration, descriptive names were given to each motif (by me)

The Fugue- motifs

1. Step Up Intro-

2. Uneven Steps Descending in high F-

3. Counterpoint Harmony-

4. Harmony to Uneven Steps Descending-

5. Descending Scale-

6. Harmony to Descending Scale-

The Fugue- motifs

7. Extended Rise and Fall-

8. Uneven Steps Descending in F-

9. Wave-

10. Arpeggios-

11. Diminutive Arch-

12. Diminished Arpeggios-

The Fugue- motifs

13. Rolling Arch-

14. Arch/Inverted Arch Slide-

15. Yngwie’s Theme-

16. String Harmony-

17. Pluck-Pause Harmony-

18. Step Up Intro in C-

The Fugue- motifs

19. Uneven Steps Descending in B-

20. Descending Scale Reversed-

21. Diminutive Inverted Arch-

22. Ripple-

23. Sawing-

24. Rapid Arches-

Imagine if you will,

The lead guitar plays Wave, Extended Rise and FallThe violins play Step Up Intro, Uneven steps Descending in High FThe Cellos play Counterpoint Harmony, Uneven Steps Descending HarmonyThe strings play Arch/Inverted Arch Slide, Uneven Steps Descending in High FAnd The Choir sings Step Up Intro, Uneven Steps Descending in High F

That is the density of a two bar section of themes.

The next section will sound familiar, but the motifs, their order, and theinstruments playing them will have changed in a constantly developing thought

Sincere thanks to those who had already collected so much great information on Yngwie,to Yngwie himself for the dedication he puts into his work, and to my husband for everything he does.