Some of the most challenging peices to play?

it's pretty cool watching his picking hand move...

as for stuff more technical than that? i'd be thrilled to be able to halfway play that

I don't know .Why dont visit http://www.delcamp.net and find out yourself :lol:

Yngwie malmsteen pieces are probably up there on the technical scale. he has strong basis in neo-classicism so you know he's gonna be a technique nazi =P But what's most impressive about Yngwie Malmsteen? His stuff actually sounds good, and has feeling to it. This Serana song, I feel, falls under the category of joe satriani-type music- Great technique, no soul.

FOUL! Haha just kidding, I just had to throw my two cents in when you mentioned Joe. I enjoy Malmsteen, but Satriani is a hero of mine. I think he's got barrels of feel and soul.

To stay on topic: The most challenging pieces aren't necessarily always the fastest or the ones with the most goofy chord shapes. Speed comes with repetition, but to be able to inject emotion and tone into each note is a more elusive skill. Look at Satch's "Always With Me, Always With You", or even "Summer Song", which is a rocker but has a TON of emotional energy. Makes you wanna drive with the top down and the radio up. Taking this idea further, look at blues players like Albert King, or BB King. Neither of those two legends shred like the virtuosos, but I dare you to try and play like them. They can both squeeze unbelievable mileage out of a relatively simple phrase. They make the guitar sing.

His stuff actually sounds good, and has feeling to it. This Serana song, I feel, falls under the category of joe satriani-type music- Great technique, no soul.
That's funny; your opinion is the exact opposite of mine. I think that Yngwie is fun to listen to on occasion, but is a little dull most of the time. He does seem to play well when he slows down, but I find that he forgets his phrasing when he's flying at full tilt. His slower parts have some emotion, but he seems to only be able to express the Power of Metal.

On the other hand I find Satriani to be one of the most amazing guitarists I've ever heard. Everything he plays seems to ooze emotion out of its seams. Joy, specifically, is what I hear in his playing. He makes playing the guitar into an expression of all the best things in life. Not so much on Engines of Creation, though. You can't hit home runs all the time, I guess. His latest album, Is There Love in Space, is phemonenal. It just makes me happy to be sitting there listening to it. It's also one of the most technically amazing albums around.

*Remembers a discussion in the Opionions section about Malmsteen*

But, I think whoever created this thread avoids that, by saying "technically" challenging.

But alas, the only remotely technically challenging song I know is Eruption. If I knew any of Malmsteen's song names, I'd probably name one of those.

Check out the album by John Williams "The Guitarist." Some seriously challenging pieces there.

By the way, if you want to be able to play like that, practice sweep picking. It's all in knowing your arpeggios and being able to sweep pick. Easier said than done of course but not impossible.

I have to agree with what people are saying. Satch has a hell of a lot more soul then Yywngie. Satch is one of my favourite preformers to watch, because hes got tonnes of soul.

Most Yngwie Stuff is really complicated and probably the fastest playing, while still sounding clear. He draws lots of inspiration from classical themes and Ritchie Blackmore, but he speeds it up so much, it's silly. It can get boring, but generally.. It's pretty neat.

There's this song called Fire Strings that's supposed to be insanely difficult to play right. Steve Vai should be able to barely do it, I hear. But I haven't seen a recording of it. And I don't remember who it's by.. So.. uhm..

lol shoulda known it would start another Yngwie debate...

Anyway for the record Ygnwie stuff really isnt that hard as far as shredding goes (at least a lot of isn't. Some of it is still insane, of course), he has a very limited number licks and you can pick em up quite fast. As I play his stuff (and having had a look at the Serrana tab) I can safely it is not as hard as those crazy arpeggios in Serrana.

With that said though Yngwie's 'Asylum I' is pretty damn hard to say the least - 4mins of almost non stop shredding. :shock:

Yngwie stuff really isn't the fastest around, but it is amazingly clean for the speed. And yes, it is really repetitive.

But.. y'know... his clothes make up for it.

A lot of classical guitar pieces can be ridiculously hard on to play, especially stuff that originally wasn't written for the guitar (like violin or piano music). Even stuff that doesn't blast away at 200 bpm can be fairly hairy because of all the rapid change fingerings and the fingerpicking chops required, for instance Mozart's "Rondo alla turca".

well it wasn't written for guitar, but Grainger's Licolnshire Posy is is the hardest piece I've ever tried to play as a whole. There are other pieces with more challenging single phrases, but it has the most challenging rythms I've ever tried to play. I still can't even touch most of the movements, but it feels nice to be able to play 2 of them.