Recently, Guitar World asked Yngwie Malmsteen to make a list of the singers who changed the guitar community. He also talked about what he thought about musicians in general. He said these things about Steve Vai’s music:
Dear Friend, Steve is a one-of-a-kind person who I love. Actually, having a sound that is all your own is one of the rarest things about guitar players. “Most guitarists sound pretty much the same.”
The artist talked about it:
Once more, I don’t want to sound like I’m saying anything bad, but it seems like most guitar players learn from other guitar players, who learned from other guitar players. That could turn into a trap for some people.
His Influence Doesn’t Come From Other Guitarists
According to Yngwie Malmsteen, he got ideas for his sound by looking at other places. Classical music and instruments shaped the way he played. In the 1980s, he told Guitar World:
People who play the guitar tend to sound a lot like other guitarists if they only listen to them. I try to sound very different from other musicians. You can get away from the usual guitar-playing styles if you listen to other instruments like violins, flutes, or keyboards.
He likes the music of Niccolò Paganini and J.S. Bach:
“Bach was the most important classical composer of all time, and classical music as a whole has hit its peak.” Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt all learned from Bach. Mozart even copied Bach. When Bach died, Mozart was only a child. Classical music comes from it; it’s almost like a religion.
Check out his new talk show here.
