YNGWIE MALMSTEEN Says He 'Never Practiced' Guitar: 'I Played As If I Was Performing'

In a new interview with United Rock Nations, legendary guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen was asked if he spent "many hours each day practicing" his guitar playing when he was a kid. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "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. 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."

A little over a decade ago, Malmsteen told Classic Rock Revisited that he doesn't allow himself to get burnt out on music.

"I've been playing for so long that I don't practice much anymore," he explained. "I play guitar all the time but it's not like I'm practicing songs. When I get inspired, I go to the studio and when I'm on stage, I'm inspired because of all the people. But I don't go off stage on to the tour bus and listen to music. That intensity that I want to retain, I want it to be real because I can pull out the autopilot any day, but that's not the real thing to me. I don't like to do that. When I play, I need it to be honest and in the moment. That goes for being on stage or in the studio. For instance, if I go in to a studio to record a solo or whatever, and it doesn't happen right away, I just say, 'fuck it' and I'm out of there. I don't keep on doing it. I won't do another take. Either it happens or it won't."

Yngwie will embark on a 40th-anniversary tour this fall. Support on the trek, which will kick off on September 26 in Fort Myers, Florida and conclude on November 18 in New York City, will come from singer-songwriter Kurt Deimer.

For more information, visit www.yngwiemalmsteen.com/tour.

Yngwie's latest album, "Parabellum", was released in July 2021 via Music Theories Recordings/Mascot Label Group. Only four of the songs on the LP feature vocals. The album title is Latin, translating as "Prepare For War".

After working with some of the top hard singers of the past four decades, Yngwie now handles much of the lead vocals himself in his own band, backed by a lineup that includes keyboardist Nick Marino, bassist Emilio Martinez and drummer Kevin Klingenschmid.