Guitar legend Marty Friedman knows a thing or two about technical playing. As the co-author of Cacophony’s Speed Metal Symphony and the mastermind behind the iconic solo in Megadeth’s Tornado Of Souls, he’s long been a reference point for players looking to sharpen their technique. But in a recent conversation with guitarist and YouTuber Bradley Hall (via Ultimate Guitar), Friedman made it clear that chops alone no longer impress him.
“I’ve never been against flashy stuff ever, and I’ve never really changed my outlook on playing even from back in those days to now,” he said. “But I’m all for things having a definite meaning and a purpose. And so if something is in a place where it means something, then it hits you or at least hits me when I’m doing it enough to wanna do it.”
That guiding philosophy has kept Friedman’s playing fresh, especially in an era when blistering speed is more accessible than ever. But he’s not interested in hearing someone run scales without intention.
“But if someone’s, like, ‘Here’s my best licks one after another,’ bam, bam, bam, bam, bam,” he explained, “it means kind of less than nothing because this is a bunch of shit that I practiced. You can see the person’s life, you know what I mean? When you hear music, if you get a vision of someone sitting in front of a metronome, that’s not very sexy, right?”
That sense of purpose is what Friedman still chases in his own music — and what he looks for in others.
“But if you hear a really cool passage and then it explodes in this very interesting turn of events that you didn’t expect, that’s the kind of flashy stuff that I really dig, and I’ve always been trying to chase that,” he added. “And I’m sometimes hopefully successful, sometimes not, but that’s what I’m going for.”
So, who does catch Friedman’s ear these days? One standout is Polyphia, whose hyper-detailed and genre-defying playing has earned a dedicated following. Friedman’s take on them is simple: “Oh, yes. I toured with them in Asia — a superb band and superb guitar playing. I really like a lot of what they’re doing.”
Another is Japanese guitarist Ichika Nito, whose mix of technical flair and compositional depth has made waves online. “My friend Ichika Nito is also just a drop-dead, fantastic guitar player and composer, the stuff he writes,” Friedman said.
But it’s not just about being good at the instrument anymore — not for him. “I kind of, a long time ago, got over people being good guitar players,” he admitted. “They have to come up with something musically that interests me, because, let’s face it, there are good guitar players everywhere, but are they gonna come up with a nice piece of music and present it in such a way that I wanna sit down and listen to it?”
And when it comes to technique, Friedman sees it as a baseline, not a badge of honor. “Technique is really kind of a given,” he noted. “But guys like Ichika Nito is great. Who else? There are just tons of guys that I’m probably slipping up. Mateus Asato from Brazil is just a super, super player. There’s just a long list of guys and girls out there. Really good.”
In short, the bar has changed — and for Friedman, it’s not just about how fast or clean you play. It’s about whether your music says something worth hearing.
