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RARE PHOTOS: 3 - The Real Truth

Loved by Yngwie Malmsteen, Santana and Slash, the harmonic minor scale is an essential part of every guitar player's vocabulary – and it's more versatile than you might expect

Whether you're checking into the Hotel California or sheltering from the cold November Rain, the harmonic minor scale is right there with you. This lesson demystifies it with examples you can use now

Guitar World

“I thought, ‘Man, I am so out of my depth here. This is like asking me to play basketball!’”: Rob Chapman recalls his trial by fire transcribing Yngwie for his debut session, and reveals what he learned about Malmsteen’s phenomenal picking speed

Chapman was thrown in at the deep end but he says there was much to learn from the session – about recording, managing expectations and the secret behind Yngwie's technique

MusicRadar

“This guitar holds the magic of Malmsteen’s fast-paced, virtuosic playing”: One of Yngwie Malmsteen's main Fender Strats is up for grabs – and it comes with a free Ferrari

Malmsteen's #4 Fender Stratocaster, modded to the guitarist's taste, has been played on stages around the world

Guitar World

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“The culmination of 45-plus years developing a sound that’s perfect in every possible way… Prepare to be amazed”: MXR’s new Yngwie Malmsteen signature overdrive pedal could be its most dynamic overdrive to date

The streamlined drive pedal is engineered for expressive dynamics in order to accommodate Malmsteen's fiery playing

Guitar World

“Music and guitar playing comes from within and it’s to be enjoyed at any level”: Yngwie Malmsteen has a very important message for anyone who plays the guitar

The neoclassical shred virtuoso says leave competition to the athletes…

MusicRadar

“Grunge? I don’t know too many things where people are praised for having less skill”: The blazing story of Shrapnel Records, the 80s label that gave shred to the world

How guitar shredders Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X, Cacophony and Richie Kotzen turned Shrapnel Records into the fastest label of the 80s

Louder

“‘You got long hair, right?’ Right. ‘And you’re over 6 feet tall?’ I’m like, ‘I’m 5’7 but I’ll have an operation’”: Marty Friedman recalls missing out on joining Kiss because of his height

Yngwie Malmsteen and White Lion's Vito Bratta were also rejected due to image-related reasons

Guitar World

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“It’s such a beautiful instrument. I think when people started hacking them up and putting humbuckers in them, it ruined the look”: Yngwie Malmsteen explains what makes the Stratocaster the perfect electric guitar (and why he scalloped the frets anyway)

While everyone else was ripping on Charvels, Malmsteen was going far beyond the sun with a traditional three single-coil Strat. Why? Because it is “the pinnacle” of the electric guitar

Guitar World

“I never practiced – never practiced ever”: Yngwie Malmsteen may be one of the most accomplished players of all time, but he didn’t develop his superhuman guitar skills by practicing, apparently

Fancy becoming the next Yngwie Malmsteen? Well, you won't need to practice your A harmonic minor, according to the man himself

Guitar World

"I never practiced": Unpicking Yngwie Malmsteen's guitar claim

If he's right, how did he get so good?

MusicRadar

Blackie Lawless tells fans who think W.A.S.P. don't play live at all to stay away from their shows

W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless admits to using back tracks in live performances and has no time for the critics

Metal Hammer

The Strat turns 70 and the return of the cooler-than-ever Creed – only in the new Guitar World

Featuring new interviews with Ritchie Blackmore, Brian May, Buddy Guy, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Belew, Tom Morello, Yngwie Malmsteen and Mick Mars and a review of the new PRS Mark Tremonti MT 100 amp

Guitar World

“I came to America with a guitar and a toothbrush. When Fender said they wanted to make me a Strat, I didn’t even know what a signature guitar was!” Yngwie Malmsteen traces his Stratocaster story – and recalls the origins of his scalloped signature model

As part of Fender's Strat Sessions, Malmsteen discusses his love affair with the instrument, and tracking the Heaven Tonight solo with his first prototype signature guitar

Guitar World

"It's a nuclear violin": Yngwie Malmsteen gives us the Strat history lesson with his guitar collection that we didn't know we needed

He loves Strats and he knows his muses intimately: "70 years ago this was very futuristic – it's a futuristic design now"

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

“I’ve never been a shredder. I’m never going to out-do Yngwie Malmsteen. I’m more from the Schenker and Blackmore school”: Judas Priest’s Richie Faulkner on the secret to headbanger riffs, and half-nailing, half-blagging the Painkiller solo

Judas Priest's Invincible Shield finds the British metal institution surviving against the odds. Its very own bionic man Richie Faulkner gives us the guitar POV on a venerable work of British steel

Guitar World

“Eddie Van Halen’s main solo is a greatest hits of all his best guitar licks”: Dweezil Zappa issues update for What the Hell Was I Thinking? – his ambitious mega-track featuring Eddie Van Halen, Yngwie Malmsteen, Brian May and more

The track features solos from “at least 40” superstar guitarists, and its mastermind says finishing the 35-years-in-the-making mammoth is now a big focus

MusicRadar

“I made Yngwie play on a really slow blues… He sounds even faster”: Dweezil Zappa reveals plans to finish epic all-star track featuring 40 players, including Brian May, and Eddie Van Halen playing a “greatest hits of all of his best guitar licks”

Zappa has been working on this instrumental piece for over 30 years and it features Joe Walsh, Eric Johnson, Angus and Malcolm Young and more, and two solos from Eddie Van Halen

Guitar World

“That was the one and only thing I found with Strats that I don’t like. I think they’re awful”: Yngwie Malmsteen reveals the one spec of certain Stratocasters he's not a fan of

While this feature might not work for him, Malmsteen admits other players make it “sound great”

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Guitar World

“Even Eddie Van Halen – god bless him, I love him – was mainly pentatonic. I was radically different”: Yngwie Malmsteen on Rising Force and the introduction of a neoclassical shred icon

Breaking out of Alcatrazz and releasing Rising Force in 1984, a young Yngwie Malmsteen took us all through a supernova of virtuosity that changed guitar forever

Guitar World

“When I recorded with Jason Becker, he was still able to speak… he articulated exactly what he wanted, down to every pinch harmonic, vibrato and out-of-tune note”: Shrapnel veteran Michael Lee Firkins reflects on the final days of shred

The former Shrapnel star discusses bringing bluesgrass to shred, working with the great Jason Becker and his pivotal role in establishing the Yamaha Pacifica

Guitar World

“People think Seventies Fenders are bad, but that’s not correct”: Yngwie Malmsteen explains why players shouldn’t be quick to disregard early '70s-era CBS Strats

The Stratocaster’s CBS era may be remembered as one of the instrument's lowest points, but the Swedish virtuoso has pinpointed a key fact regarding the first decade of CBS's ownership of Fender

Louder

“Neoclassical metal wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t heard Selling England By The Pound”: Genesis’ Tony Banks is Yngwie Malmsteen’s prog hero

Swedish guitar virtuoso hails keyboardist’s Bach-style playing (and he also has soft spots for ELP, Kansas and UK)

Guitar World

“I love a lot of those classic players. I just didn’t want to play like them. Like Captain Kirk, I wanted to go where no-one’s gone before!” Yngwie Malmsteen names 11 guitarists who didn’t shape his sound – but he still thinks are great

The larger-than-life Swedish maverick was more influenced by violin than guitar – but he still has soft spots for some mind-blowing players

Guitar World

Van Halen, Metallica, SRV, Iron Maiden, Rush, Dio, Yngwie, Vai and the greatest guitar albums of 1984 – only in the new Guitar World

Featuring new interviews with Ace Frehley, Alex Lifeson, Adrian Smith, Adrian Belew, Earl Slick, Mike Ness, Steve Vai, Vicki Peterson, Vivian Campbell, Yngwie Malmsteen and more

Guitar World

“Django Reinhardt was our god – I played a Selmer Maccaferri-style guitar, grew a mustache, wore a suit... the whole thing”: Big Thief’s Buck Meek names 10 guitarists who shaped his sound

The understated indie guitar hero is well-versed in blues and jazz tradition, but also takes inspiration from Marc Ribot, Connie Converse... and The Shaggs’ Dorothy “Dot” Wiggin

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