Neoclassical metal
Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,[1][Note 1] consisting of elements borrowed from both classical and speed metal music. Deep Purple's Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord pioneered the subgenre by merging classical melodies and blues rock. Later, Yngwie Malmsteen became one of the most notable musicians in the subgenre, and contributed greatly to the development of the style in the 1980s.[1][Note 2][2] Other notable players in the genre are Randy Rhoads, Michael Romeo, Jason Becker, Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Alexi Laiho, Uli Jon Roth, Stéphan Forté, Wolf Hoffmann,[3] Timo Tolkki, and Marty Friedman.[1][Note 3]
Neoclassical metal
Late 1970s and early 1980s, Europe and North America
Although the genre is mainly associated with guitarists (especially lead guitarists), keyboardists like Jens Johansson, Michael Pinnella, Alex Staropoli and Janne Wirman are also found playing in this style, with Jon Lord as an early influence on the genre.
Definition[edit]
Neoclassical metal takes its name from a broad conception of classical music. In this it is a concept distinct from how neoclassicism is understood within the classical music tradition. Neoclassical music usually refers to a movement in musical modernism which developed roughly a century after the end of the Classical period and peaked during the years between the two World Wars.
On the other hand, neoclassical metal music does not restrict itself to a return to classical aesthetic ideals, such as equilibrium and formalism. Its influences include both the Romantic musical period and the Baroque period of the seventeenth and first half of the eighteenth centuries. The music of late Baroque composers such as Vivaldi, Handel and Bach was often highly ornate. Neoclassical metal musicians such as Yngwie Malmsteen and Joshua Perahia are inspired by this aspect of Baroque music[1][Note 4] and also by later composers such as the violinist Niccolò Paganini in using runs and other decorative and showy techniques in their performances.
Neoclassical metal music thus looks to classical music as broadly understood by the general public and not to the more specialist technical definition used within classical circles.
Styles and theory[edit]
A common feature of neoclassical metal is the diminished seventh chord. It can be a useful tool for modulation, as it's possible to move by minor thirds through the chord, then use the diminished 7th as a leading tone to resolve to the tonic. Pentatonic scales are also prevalent (as in the vast majority of rock and metal styles). A scale often used by neoclassical metal musicians is the harmonic minor scale, which is similar to the natural minor, but has a raised 7th (in the case of E, the D goes to D♯).
Modes are also used on occasion.