Neo-Classical

So I wanna be more classical, Ive been playing nothing but Bluesy type rock since i picked up a guitar and im having a hard time getting away from the boring pentatonics, theyve become like second nature to me.. How should i go about learning the neo-classic style?

I find neo-classical very fun to play. The KING of neo-classical is Yngwie Malmsteen. They have some lesson's on here on his style. But Scale wise he never uses the minor pentatonic, The Yngwie neo-classic scale is the Harmonic Minor Scale.

The best place to start is with your dad's classical music collection :D. Track down some late-Baroque/early-Classical stuff (Vivaldi, Scarlatti, Mozart, Haydn, the various Bach boys) and give it a listen, looking for stylistic trends that suit you or that grab your interest. If you're not already familiar with classical theory, whether you choose to learn it in depth or not is your choice. The more focussed neo-classical players have a solid grounding in theory, but there's nothing stopping you from learning Paganini passages by ear and improvising variations on them in your music. :)

Originally Posted by: antinazi85So I wanna be more classical, Ive been playing nothing but Bluesy type rock since i picked up a guitar and im having a hard time getting away from the boring pentatonics, theyve become like second nature to me.. How should i go about learning the neo-classic style?

Depends on which neoclassical style. The Yngwie movement is a bit of a misnomer; actual neo-classical is fronted by gentlemen like Walter Piston, Ernest Bloch, Prokofiev, etc.

Originally Posted by: Jolly McJollysonDepends on which neoclassical style. The Yngwie movement is a bit of a misnomer; actual neo-classical is fronted by gentlemen like Walter Piston, Ernest Bloch, Prokofiev, etc.

Hey! What do you reckon Prokofiev would sound like on an overdriven electric guitar? :cool:

If you want to see a lot of the techniques used in neo-classical shred, check out www.theodoreziras.com This guy is one of my favourite guitarists at the moment, there are loads of videos demonstrating a lot of the techniques used (sweep picking, arpeggios, tapping, alternate picking etc) which can help a lot. Also, check out Vinnie Moore (www.vinniemoore.com), possibly the best neo-classical player out there (not just overdriven shred! he plays spanish, classical and flamenco too) with a massive depth of musical knowledge and superior compositions that stay away from cloning Yngwie's style (unlike 90% of all other such players). Also check out www.jasonbecker.com, plently of runs tabbed out and a lot of downloads available (check out the tracks from Perpetual Burn). Jason Becker was heavily influenced by the likes of Paganini, Chopin, Lizst and Bach, worth checking out.

Neo-classical is really just using ideas from Baroque era composers and using the scales and patterns they used really fast on an electric. It's not really classical music as far as the era goes, and it's not classical in the sense that classical guitar is a completely different instrument played a completely different way.



But for what you are talking about, check out Jason Becker, Malmsteen, and a heavy as crap band called Necrophagist, get their Epitaph album.