 Yngwie
Malmsteen
Lars Johann Yngve Lannerbäck, better know
as Yngwie Malmsteen was born on June 30th in 1963.
Malmsteen was born into a musical family in Stockholm. On September
18, 1970, at age seven, he saw a television news broadcast reporting
on the death of Jimi Hendrix, that drove his obsession with the
guitar. Yngwie has been quoted as saying , "The day Jimi Hendrix
died, the guitar-playing Yngwie was born".
At the age of 10 he took his mother's maiden name Malmsteen as
his surname, and changed Yngve to "Yngwie" which means
"young Viking man" in Swedish.
Malmsteen was a teenager when he first encountered the music of
violin virtuoso Niccolò Paganini, whom he cites as his biggest
classical influence. Through his emulation of Paganini concerto
pieces on guitar, Malmsteen developed a prodigious technical fluency.
Malmsteen also cites Jimi Hendrix, Brian May of Queen, and Ritchie
Blackmore of Deep Purple as influences.
Yngwie broke new ground and contributed to the evolution of modern
rock guitar, with his modal progressions and classically influenced
techniques. He is often credited, along with Randy Rhoads, with
increasing the popularity of the neoclassical heavy metal genre.
Malmsteen is also known for his use of custom scalloped fretboards.
This is similar to a regular fretboard, but with wood 'scalloped'
or scooped away to form a concave shape in between the frets. Even
for the experienced guitar players, the scalloped fingerboard is
difficult to perform on, as there is no surface contact between
the finger and wood to aid in the feel of the vibrato. The strings
of the guitar, when fretted, are easily pushed sharp and out of
tune. The highly accurate, yet delicate, controlled touch required
to play properly with Malmsteen's modified Stratocaster is elusive
for most, and an integral part of Malmsteen's technique.
In the early 80s Yngwie played with the bands Steeler and Alcatrazz
and in 1984 he release the guitar landmark album “Rising Force”.
Yngwie has released 21 solo albums in the last 23 years.
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