Former Megadeth Guitarist Marty Friedman Shares the Art of Shredding

Guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman doesn’t practice. You might think, "Well, it must be second nature after forty-plus years of playing." But the self-taught musician says he's never sat down and ran scales regularly or went through chord progressions to learn his instrument of choice.

“Even when I was a teenager, I was never sitting at home and playing drills and exercises,” Friedman, 62, shares. “Of course, I’ve done some, and of course, you definitely have to do some to develop certain things, and I even do those things now if they led me to something that I’m working on in a song.”

For him, it’s more about “doing it,” whether that’s with a band, in the studio or live. “But I never, ever practice. This is the thing: I never practice, but I’m always playing and always working on a project, playing concerts, recording, writing music, editing music, arranging music, learning music, working on music,” he continues. “All of those things, to me, are much more beneficial than any kind of practice.”

Friedman’s curriculum vitae since jumping into the heavy-metal scene during the 1980s is a testament to that. Stateside, he’s well-known for his ten-year tenure in Megadeth from 1990 to 2000, particularly his debut on the 1990 classic, Rust in Piece, after being a part of shred group Cacophony with fellow neoclassical guitarist Jason Becker. He’s also built a successful solo career by releasing more than a dozen albums since his inaugural record, Dragon’s Kiss, in 1988, becoming one of the most preeminent guitar masters of modern times. In his current home of Japan, where Friedman moved full-time in 2003, he’s a pop-culture powerhouse. The Japanese government even tapped him as an Ambassador of Japan Heritage in 2017, making him the first non-Japanese person to receive the title, and commissioned him to compose the “Japan Heritage Official Theme Song” with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, which is played at official government-related events such as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Aside from his massive music success and continued collaborations, Friedman has also appeared in more than 900 Japanese television shows (millennial metalheads might remember Friedman as voicing Mr. Gojira on Metalocalypse).

So yeah, there’s not too much time in his schedule to practice. “It’s crazy, man. I think being an extreme workaholic helps a lot, and I love the job that I do,” he says from Tokyo. “I love being a perfectionist. I’m also fortunate that I don’t have to put anything out until it’s done, until I sign off on it. By the time you get what you’re hearing, that’s exactly what I want you to hear. Whether you hate it or like it, that’s what Marty Friedman is.”

The latest example is his new album, Drama, which released in May via the Italian label Frontiers Music Srl. He describes it as “the most well-thought-out project I’ve ever done.”

“I’ve always wanted to do a record like this. For the most part, it’s just...unapologetically romantic,” Friedman says. “It’s just romantic from top to bottom.”

Friedman and his band — guitarist Naoki Morioka, bassist Wakazaemon and drummer Chargeee — are embarking on an American tour to share the soaring instrumentals. They'll be in Denver on Monday, January 27, at HQ. Acoustic duo Nikki Stringfield and Patrick Kennison will open the show.

The twelve songs on Drama are melancholy and melodic, ethereal and epic. While “Dead of Winter” is the only track with vocals, courtesy of Like a Storm’s Chris Brooks, the music speaks for itself. “Song For An Eternal Child” is a tale of inspiration, triumphant in its orchestral enormity. Then there’s “Thrill City,” Drama’s heaviest song, on which Friedman flexes those classic thrash chops. It all comes together like a film score.

“It’s been a labor of love from day one,” Friedman says. “It took years to make this thing, which is really weird in today’s musical climate, where everything is single, single, single. I wanted a whole album, and I wanted this album, so it took time, but I got it.”

He reveals how he makes his guitar emote in such a way. It’s very “guitar nerdy,” but it ultimately comes down to forgoing what has become guitar-shredding clichés — sweep-picking, pinch harmonics, whammy bars, fret-tapping.

“The second you do those things, it immediately makes no question that the listener is hearing a guitar,” Friedman says. “So I avoid all of those things. When you strip all of those things away, you’re left with the melodies. Then you have to find a way to vocalize melodies, like a vocalist is singing them rather than a guitarist is playing them.

“I’m really making a huge conscious and subconscious effort to be a singer with my guitar,” he says.

And that’s what makes his guitar playing so memorable and captivating: It can’t be taught or replicated by just anyone.

“One thing that I’m pleased about with my music is it keeps evolving and it evolves into a much better place, and much more pleasing to myself,” he says. “I can honestly say, in my opinion, my best and favorite music is now.

“I’m trying to bring...goosebumps and maybe some tears and chills,” Friedman concludes. “Sometimes music does that.”

Marty Friedman, with Nikki Stringfield and Patrick Kennison, 8 p.m. Monday, January 27, HQ, 60 South Broadway. Tickets are $30.