Steve Mavronis
Member
This is a short scale lesson from my Yngwie Malmsteen 100% fan tribute page: http://home.comcast.net/~yngwie100/
Neoclassical guitar playing has a very distinctive sound. This is due in large part from use of the Harmonic Minor scale, which is also extensively used in classical music. It was truely the Heavy Metal scale of the baroque era! No wonder that it is the basis for much of Yngwie's musical style, guitar riffs and solos. Here are a few instructional illustrations that I made (over Yngwie Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster) showing suggested Harmonic Minor guitar scale fingering patterns that Yngwie might use in the keys of E and A. Practice these by trying to combine both scale patterns 1 and 2 of each key up and down the fretboard, including other places not shown here where they also repeat 12 frets apart. Try to start on the key's root note (highlighted yellow) by sliding to and from the 1st and 7th note in the scale interval. You will find the 3 notes per string fingering patterns are very symmetrical and thus become easy to remember:
Neoclassical guitar playing has a very distinctive sound. This is due in large part from use of the Harmonic Minor scale, which is also extensively used in classical music. It was truely the Heavy Metal scale of the baroque era! No wonder that it is the basis for much of Yngwie's musical style, guitar riffs and solos. Here are a few instructional illustrations that I made (over Yngwie Malmsteen's signature Fender Stratocaster) showing suggested Harmonic Minor guitar scale fingering patterns that Yngwie might use in the keys of E and A. Practice these by trying to combine both scale patterns 1 and 2 of each key up and down the fretboard, including other places not shown here where they also repeat 12 frets apart. Try to start on the key's root note (highlighted yellow) by sliding to and from the 1st and 7th note in the scale interval. You will find the 3 notes per string fingering patterns are very symmetrical and thus become easy to remember: