Yngwie Malmsteen thinks that competition is for sports and athletes, not for guitar-playing. The rocker recently took to social media to address the competition among guitarists.
“So I see a lot of these comments where people are saying I can’t be as good as you or I gave up playing the guitar after I saw you,” the guitarist shared. “Music and playing the guitar is not a competition even though since the beginning of my career, that is what they wanted to portray that’s why they have all these best guitarist that guitars blah blah blah.”
“Music and guitar playing comes from within and it’s to be enjoyed at any level, no matter where you are in your life,” the guitarist continued, “even if you are making a career out of it if you play with the thought that I’m going to compete with another guitar player or another musician, you will be miserable. Competition is for sports and athletes not for guitar playing period. It’s not a competition the instrument of the guitar is to be played and enjoyed at any level. Now go pick up that guitar.”
Although the guitar virtuoso doesn’t see being a guitarist as a competition, he does think that most guitarists today sound the same. “Steve is a dear friend and completely unique in his own right,” the rocker said of Steve Vai during an interview with Guitar World. “That’s one of the most rare things about guitar players, actually – having a completely individual sound. Most guitarists sound kinda similar.”
“Again, I don’t want to come across as I’m saying anything bad, but it seems to me that most guitar players listen to other guitar players, who in turn were also listening to guitar players when they were learning. That can become a little bit of a trap that people fall into,” he added.
Malmsteen has won a lot of awards for his guitar skills, including Guitar Player Magazine’s Best Rock Guitarist Award six times and a spot at No. 9 on Time Magazine’s Top 10 Greatest Electric Guitar Players list in 2009.
The guitarist is getting ready for his next tour. It’s scheduled to start on September 26 in Fort Myers, FL, and wrap up on November 22 at Lillian S. Wells Hall at The Parker at Ft Lauderdale.
So I see a lot of these comments where people are saying I can’t be as good as you or I gave up playing the guitar after I saw you. Music and playing the guitar is not a competition even though since the beginning of my career, that is what they wanted to portray that’s why they…
— Yngwie Malmsteen (@OfficialYJM) September 1, 2024
