Former Megadeth lead guitarist Marty Friedman has said he hopes “the traditional guitar solo dies a slow and painful death”.
The 61-year-old, who performed with Megadeth from 1990 to 2000 and has since continued a solo career, made the comment in an interview with Guitar World while discussing his approach to lead playing.
“[I] play these long melodies like a singer, which is very self-indulgent as a guitarist,” Friedman says.
He then compares that outlook to what he believes to be the conventional approach to the guitar solo.
“Usually, the lead guitarist comes in, gets an eight-bar solo, plays a bunch of stupid licks, maybe adds something hot and fancy that will impress, and then they get out.
“But I’m replacing the vocalist when I’m soloing, meaning I sing with my guitar. So, rather than saying, ‘Here’s the obligatory eight-bar solo,’ if necessary, I’ll be selfish because that’s exactly what I want instead of a boring old solo.”
Friedman adds that “the obligation to say, ‘I need to do something flashy and get out’” has “killed guitar solos in American mainstream music”.
To that end, he concludes: “I hope the traditional guitar solo dies a slow and painful death.
“Guitar solos need to be inventive,” he elaborates. “They need something to keep listeners involved, especially those who are not learning to play and only listen.
“Because when you're learning to play, you tend to be impressed with anything you can’t do, right? And if you’re young and just catching the guitar bug, that excitement can be magical. It’s like, ‘How do they do that!?’ That element is awesome... but it means less than zero in everyone else’s eyes.
“We need guitar music that makes those people feel something. It’s the responsibility of guitarists to bring something to solos that will achieve that.”
Friedman replaced Jeff Young as the lead guitarist of Megadeth and made his recording debut on the band’s 1990 classic, Rust In Peace. He performed on four further albums – Countdown To Extinction (1992), Youthanasia (1994), Cryptic Writing (1997) and Risk (1999) – before leaving, citing creative differences.
Friedman recently shared a stage with Megadeth as a guest member in 2023.
When lead guitarist Kiko Loureiro left the band last year, he nominated Friedman to replace him.
“I even mentioned to management and Dave [Mustaine, vocals/guitar] that I thought bringing Marty Friedman back would be amazing,” Loureiro told Guitar World.
“I have no idea if they’re talking about it or talking to him, but I did say that. But again, I have no idea beyond that, and I don’t want to make anything more complicated.”
Megadeth are currently touring with Wintersun guitarist Teemu Mäntysaari.
