My guitar playing skills have improved a lot due to this guy: Mr. Yngwie J. Malmsteen.

I started playing the acoustic guitar when I was 9 years old. I took a few lessons from a local teacher, learned a couple of songs, but hated it. At the time I already listened to Heavy Metal and the teacher was giving me some Brazilian songs I really didn’t like. I gave up and a few years later I didn’t even know how to hold a guitar anymore.

Fast forward it to when I was 14 years old. I saw an electric guitar at my brother’s friend’s house, and asked him if I could hold it. When I did, I knew I wanted to play it!

That year, I was listening to Guns N’ Roses quite a bit. At New Year’s Eve I started an odd tradition: I’d make sure that by midnight I’d be listening to a song by a band I wanted to learn everything on the guitar I could in that new year. I don’t remember what GNR song I listened to that year, but I did learn many of their songs and leads.

Then, next year I did the same: I’ve put on some song by Metallica, and that year I learned everything I could by them. I learned the riffs, making sure to follow James Hetfield’s down-picking, and also the leads.

And then, I had Yngwie’s first solo album spinning. The song Black Star starts with that beautiful classical guitar, and as the song develops, I’m blown away. I’m thinking, "what’s happening with the guitar here…? How’s this guy playing these licks and leads?".

That year, I had Yngwie’s tunes playing for New Year’s Eve, and I did to my best learning everything I could by him during the year.

I remember watching one of his guitar lessons (in some old VHS tape) and getting mad, because he played everything so fast (even when he said "now, slow…"). But then I realized that by learning those tricks he was showing, learning to play his songs wasn’t so hard after all.

Ok, let me clarify that: playing like he does, with all that precision, is very hard! However, hearing his work from that point on I could actually figure out what he was doing.

When I listen to the songs I wrote, I can definitely find traces of these two main influences: Metallica on the rhythm parts and Yngwie on the leads. Just check out either my One Man Band material or my band’s material, Descent Into Madness, and you’ll probably hear it, too.

Unfortunately, while I like everything in Yngwie’s early material, I don’t really care about the other albums. I mean, I pick and choose songs that I really like, but in all other albums there are songs that I really do not like.

Yngwie has had a selection of great singers with him: Jeff Scott Soto, Mark Boals, Mike Viscera, Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White, Tim Owens. It’s a shame that he ended up getting stuck in his own formula and I lost interest in his work in the last 20 years or so.

Anyway, his contributions to the guitar world and to my own playing will never be forgotten!

#10: Gates of Babylon

Just two days ago I posted the original version of this song on my Rainbow (with Dio) Top 10 list. And now here’s this song again. Why? Jeff Scott Soto is one of my favorite singers, and at one point Yngwie Malmsteen was one of my favorite guitarists too. Put the two together playing one of my top favorite songs, and here comes greatness. Even though this is a list dedicated to Yngwie, I decided to start it with his cover of a song written by one of his main influences. He may actually not confess how much Ritchie Blackmore has influenced him, but listen to his own music, his licks, his solos, his ways to never play the same solo live (he plays just the most memorable lick and then improvise the rest), his attitude on stage, his "I’m a pain in the ass and I know it" attitude… he’s got it all. :)

#9: Don’t Let it End

#8: Pyramid of Cheops

This could very well be Yngwie's heaviest song. The riffs and chord progressions are dense, much different from most of his riffs, which usually sound weak (his a great soloist, but never been a great rhythm guitarist, as far as I’m concerned). The music goes really well with the theme (Egypt). Mike Vescera’s vocal delivery also fits in great.

#7: Overture 1383

#6: Trilogy Suite Op. 5

I remember how stoked I was back in the day when I learned how to play the first 1:30 minutes of this song...

#5: Rising Force

#4: I am a Viking

More great memories. This is another song I used to play with my band from teenage years. Our other guitarist used to play the lead, but at some point I learned to play it too, and it was really a lot of fun to play it. One of these days I’ll have to relearn it. The lyrics to this song are very cheesy, but the song itself is great, and so are the vocals.

#3: As Above So Below

Some more cheesy lyrics here, but the guitars are so good! I think this was the first Yngwie’s song I’ve learned to play note-by-note on the guitar back then. Good times!

#2: Far Beyond the Sun

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#1: Black Star

This is the first song I’ve heard from Yngwie, and I remember how it blew me away. When I listened to most bands around that time I could sort of visualize what was going on with the guitars, but then listening to this track I was like "how the hell is this guy doing this…?!". I had never heard anything like that. It was a time when I already listened mostly to Metal, but was also discovering classical music on my own. Then comes this guy playing this classical sounding guitar with a metal band. I was totally amazed by it.

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