In a recent chat with United Rock Nations, Yngwie Malmsteen stated that he never practiced but instead played as if he was always performing.
The guitarist said he aimed for perfection each day, explaining:
“I didn’t practice. I never practiced — never practiced ever. I played as if I was performing. I wouldn’t accept myself going [hums a scale]. Never. Only play perfect now. I [would be] telling myself, ‘Don’t sound like you’re fucking trying to do something. Do it.’ Mental focus so much that it became just every day more and better and better and better.”
Malmsteen further talked about why practicing is the wrong word for his approach to guitar playing:
“I never practiced. I mean, it’s inadvertently practicing, because I played so much. But I improvised. And I would say, ‘I wanna improvise in A harmonic minor,’ for instance. But there was no way I’m gonna play a wrong note; there was no way I’m gonna play a B flat in that scale. I just wouldn’t do it. [I was playing] like crazy, improvising. Not scales. I mean, obviously scales. I’m very well aware of music theory — I know it super well — but I would never practice. That’s the wrong word.”
Tom Morello’s Practice Routine
Many musicians have unique practicing routines that shaped their style. For example, Tom Morello changed his routine and developed his own style after trying to play like Malmsteen. He told Guitar Interactive Magazine at the Download Festival in the UK last month:
“We were opening up for two cover bands in a college on a Wednesday afternoon – a throwaway gig. At soundcheck, each of the other bands had a top-notch Yngwie Malmsteen-level shredding guitar player, and that’s what I was trying to be.”
Morello added:
“I started practicing guitar eight hours a day. I started practicing mistakes. I started deconstructing the instrument. It was just a piece of wood with some wires and some electronics. And if I can make a noise, then that noise can be the centerpiece of a song or a solo. That was the moment I stopped being a musician and started being an artist.”
Malmsteen is currently preparing for his upcoming North American tour in the fall. His tour kicks off on September 26 in Fort Myers, Florida, and ends on November 18 in New York City, NY.