Originally Posted by: bbzswa777... I've been learning the chorus of Black Star by Yngwie, and I've finally got it down (yes, even the fast alternate picking). But I haven't yet mastered the crazy solos in the rest of the song, of course.
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The main melody in YJM's Black Star is indeed two guitars in harmony thirds.
YJM used his Duck Strat ('72 big headstock maple scalloped neck & Dimarzio HS-3s) through several Marshalls & a DOD250 pedal. And it was LOUD. The reverb was added after the fact with studio gear.
http://www.yngwiemalmsteen.com/yngwie/about-yngwie/equipment/
http://www.groundguitar.com/yngwie-malmsteen-guitars-gear/
YJM's tone is surprisingly clean. It is overdriven, there is distortion. But there is also a lot of natural big, loud tube amp volume.
Last, and most importantly, is his touch & technique. YJM is among the best at vibrato (string bending) of any rock guitarist. People vary on their taste on his over the top use of speed, or his style of writing, playing, performing. But that guy's vibrato is one of the best in the business.
First & foremost work on bending up slowly & confidently, then bring the note back down and shake it back & forth slowly. If you do it too quickly, it sounds too nervous & nothing like YJM's slow, wide, violin like expression.
After that you can get close to his tone if you get the volume up as high as possible, but the gain down around 60-75%. 100% is just too much for that tone. You want to hear the notes singing, not buzzing.
Finally, on most of the melody licks he uses his neck pickup for that warm, saturated tone.
[QUOTE=bbzswa777]It sounds like he might even have another guitarist playing the same thing at the same time, maybe even in another octave?
Yes, the main melody is harmonized in thirds. YJM double tracked this in the studio. Live, he has the keyboard player do the harmony line.
I used to play this tune live all the time back in the 80s in a single guitar band. I just played the main lower line for one phrase, then the higher harmony for the next verse. One time I had a friend sit in & we played it as is on the recording! It was awesome. :)
Here's the official tab.
http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdFPE.asp?ppn=MN0062226&
Here's the lesson section of YJMs website.
http://www.yngwiemalmsteen.com/yngwie/media/lessons-tips/
Here's my lessons on speed, shred guitar technique.
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=287
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=928
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=929
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=973
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=980
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1308
http://www.guitartricks.com/tutorial.php?input=1583
Hope this helps. Have fun with that great tune!
