Play Like Yngwie Malmsteen: How to Master the "Sevens" Mechanic

(Image credit: MN Chan/Getty Images)

In this instructional video, guitarist Troy Grady investigates one of the unusual asymmetrical groupings of Yngwie Malmsteen’s scale playing: a concept known as "sevens."

"Although Malmsteen is known for launching a wave of interest in three-note-per-string scale playing, he is ironically a pioneer of unorthodox note groupings that fit better with his unique combination of downward pickslanting and sweeping," Grady says.

"In this lesson, we examine Malmsteen’s ingenious use of groups of seven as a device for moving up the fretboard. The uneven distribution of notes in this pattern—three on one string, and four on another—makes string-switching super efficient, and a blazing Malmsteen classic is born.

For more about Grady's Masters in Mechanics series, visit troygrady.com.

Grady is also writing and producing lessons for GuitarWorld.com these days. Be sure to check out two installments of "Cracking the Code with Troy Grady"—Yngwie Malmsteen's Rotational Picking Mechanic and Eric Johnson's Pickslanting Pentatonics.

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Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas, was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron, a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums. He now plays in two NYC-area bands.