Fredrik Åkesson (Opeth) Masterclass - GuitarMessenger.com

[@ciresolrac1049]

"here it is slow" (still goes extremely fast) this degree of awesome cannot be slowed down

[@simon515]

Haha, reminds me of some old Malmsteen instructional video where the shows his playing "slow".

[@leogeraldo4872]

Cire Solrac hahah

[@SweatLaserXP]

XDDD

[@captainflamson]

In a world filled with "shredders", Fredrik is more than just a well rehearsed technician, he is one of the few modern era guitarists with true style. So bloody fluid, but his phrasing and composition create solos that are musically important to the whole of the song. He's his own man, but if you crossed Yngwie with Allan Holdsworth and found a young apprentice to drink the potion, he might grow into a Wizard like Fredrik.

[@protagonistis]

+captainflamson yeah man this guy is out of this world! agreed on that one

[@antoniocontreras8229]

i would say that more than yngwei, i see a lot of john norum in his style... specially on the vibrato!

[@youmothershouldknow4905]

Add Jeff Beck, David Gilmore, and Joe Satriani tone and string bending magic.

[@Utubesuxmycock]

dude so aptly said! beautiful!

[@Utubesuxmycock]

hes like a variation of michael romeo

[@francismcaleister]

"Last run is pretty tricky" *Proceeds to play it perfectly at double the speed while he's laughing*

[@IndexFossil1]

Thats it,I'm turning my guitar into a coffee table.

[@rustinpeace-tt8gx]

well, I don’t know about guitar but you SHOULD turn your amp into a coffee table, see the example below: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaTZepafj9J3aZo

[@marcjohnson5148]

😆😂

[@sanusmotus1696]

😂😂😂😂 I know the feeling

[@Nichaelesv]

This man needs waaaaaaaay more credit than he gets.

[@youreokayboah2128]

Like 10x more, he adds so much to Opeth once joined.

[@brucemitchell8776]

Amen

[@JDrewism]

I mean, he is the virtuoso for the best band in the world, so...

[@arrestedshrimp]

I absolutely LOVE his vibrato, so perfect.

[@fortyeight48able]

Shreddies with taste! So rare.

[@different2261]

Welcome to Prog........ Pleb

[@tylerjacobson8012]

Put Frederick in a puffy shirt and dye his hair white and he’d look like a classical era composer. What a guitar wizard he is.

[@MegaJiiRo]

What i love about Fredrik and Mikael is that they have those 2k€+ PRS guitars and they still tend to use their SE models the most when it comes to playing live. But yea PRS SE guitars are the best guitars in their price range.

[@ndshreddermn]

Got to hang out with the Opeth band after the show at an Irish bar across the street from the venue. This guy was cool as hell.

[@hchoe741]

i really like the fact that his prs se shows a lot of wear. shows that he actually plays it a lot

[@stonerdemon]

A true guitar master and yet so humble and low profile attitude. As Mikael said, he's one of the very best swedish guitarists these days.

[@ShantanuDeshmukh88]

"i am gonna play it slow now" Plays 10x faster than what people can normally do 😁

[@pipschannel1222]

The fluency Frederik has in his playing is beyond this world. Those legato parts are killer! Really one of world's most underestimated players imho.. His melodic style sometimes reminds me of Marty Friedman. Both are focused on melody instead of speed and both of them would be insulted when called "shredders" ;-) Also really like his contribution to the new Ghost album. Those solos are kind of "simple" and "poppy" compared to Opeth's proggressive style which is really out there but they hit the nail on the head, awesome 👌

[@Greenmarin22]

This is absolutley incredible. What a gift!

[@lucagrieman3681]

Which is string-skipping, diminished, widdly-woo stuff...

[@robertwood1689]

Luca Grieman best shit ever

[@AbhishekSharma-zq5qk]

That is precisely what it is.

[@jonnnnnnnnnnnny2]

Watch me skip all the strings.... 💤

[@Zuracooking]

widdly woo had me

[@jmcsquared18]

1:04 Yes! Muting is always the trickiest part when tapping.

[@CoachAdamFit]

Soft spoken with the roar of a lion. So good.

[@smitlag]

He is damn good. He reminds me a lot of another great guitarist Michael Romeo of Symphony X. I'd love to see that duo. Opeth and Symphony X in one night.

[@Mohankeneh]

Don Smith 2 of my all time favourite bands! Would be a dream!!

[@HunterRouth]

He plays some of the most intense licks on the guitar. I wish he was more famous for his playing. He is killer!

[@blackmoon1603]

Amazing guitarist!

[@Bloink]

4:46 "Jajjemensan!"

[@ShreddedShredder0]

I saw him live with Arch Enemy and then live with Opeth (twice). Love his blues-influenced style.

[@Sticky1254]

I like that Fredrik and Mikael have cheap signatures and actually play them live.

[@rouschno1]

I have his instructional videos and his solo Powers of Ten. The dude could melt faces, that's for sure.

[@buska100]

Frederik is one hell of an amazing Guitarist, and such a laid back dude.

[@Shredder-KJ]

We need more of this guy

[@brucemitchell8776]

I sooooo love this guitar. I have one in my collection

[@Greenmarin22]

Just to be clear..He is doing bends with his pinky! haha I know I'm an amature, but damn this guy rocks!

[@Cr8Tron]

Mmm, well... It's not like he's doing it all exclusively with his pinky. And I believe they're all just half bends?

[@slowpace1984]

@@Cr8Tron Post-Haste answer!

[@oaspe]

Ive been playing for some time and still cant bend with my pinky because I have weak girl hands. I have no problem bending with my ring finger.

[@a1988ditya]

fucking beast of a player

[@alagarswamyingersoll]

Fredrik's,one of the best

[@WybjornVR]

Yeah Mikael has by far some of my favorite vocals. Give it time - I first heard Opeth five years ago and didn't become crazy about them until last year.

[@danieltourian2115]

He's my guitar hero.

[@cameronpeterson6734]

Why does Fredrik look like Brendon Fraser with a wig?

[@BP-or2iu]

Can’t be sure, but I think it’s because he has a similar looking face. But Fraser has short hair and Akesson has long hair. That’d be my guess.

[@Slashhead1]

More than being technical.. He fucking sounds cool, Awesome guy.

[@sanusmotus1696]

Best guitarist I have ever seen live!!

[@AfroMan5900]

Hes so fucking humble, having been in both Arch Enemy and Opeth. Amazing. Sad about Peter's departure from Opeth, but Fredrik is more than worthy of taking up his post. Plus his shredder repertoire doesn't hurt either

[@phyein4815]

When Peter left I was at first one of those ZOMG NO ONE CAN REPLACE PETER PETER 4 EVER guys but Fredrik shut me up reaaaaal quick.

[@waylandstrickland1157]

Great!! Really great playing and tone!!

[@fcamiola]

Frederik could've easily passed an audition to play in Zappa's band a la Steve Vai and Mike Keneally. He can pretty much play anything and has his own incredibly unique style and tone too. Mikael struck gold with Frederik after Peter left....I hope he stays until the band finally calls it quits. Legend.

[@SweatLaserXP]

Akesson is using old-school study and discipline, and taking that mastery to write solos that fit like a glove into the tracks they've written. He's obviously tremendously talented, but he's also spent countless hours doing his scales and arpeggios with a metronome.

[@Ylidie]

Oh, that sounds so generous of you.

[@rouschno1]

I must thank you. After reading your reply, I gave Ghost Reveries a serious listen, and it has since become one of my favorite cd's period. It is a total masterpiece imo. Song structures, vocals, feel, good guitar playing, this has it all. After I checked it out, having no expectations, I love it. My wife does as well, so thanks. Do they or anybody else have a cd that is similar in arrangement?

[@originalsnaky]

did i just see a BEND with his FUCKING PINKY????

[@originalsnaky]

Wessel van den Broek not really? ive seen alot of videos and i have rarely seen that before

[@dantron7073]

Wow. I need to learn the Hungarian scale.

[@MetalAllDayAllNight]

"i'll play it a little slower" still plays it insanely fast

[@Steveisnothereanymore]

This is an awesome class, it is very inspiring! I'm trying to learn those riff, it's been long that something motivated me like this video did.

[@svenzia]

Yeah must agree. I love his playing, and his sig guitar.

[@youkaihenge5892]

Maj7 and 11th tapped arpeggios are sooooo beautiful :)

[@Dochtopus]

Great stuff as always Fredrik! Hope you use some of that new stuff on the new Opeth album.

[@nowthen873]

Good lord he's unreal! So fluid!

[@loganressler]

I love how little distortion he's using. You can really "hear" his fingers.

[@zorac91]

Fucking badass! Opeth, best metal band of modern times in my opinion

[@EricMetalhead]

+Zadkiel Fontecha BEST BAND OF ALL TIME!

[@michaelsnyder1492]

Zadkiel Fontecha Amen

[@LordSummerIsle73]

He's just so damn perfect

[@Agonystt]

Totally indeed, sir !!

[@DiDi-eu5qe]

This is beautiful!

[@Shredder-KJ]

Nice playing I like that

[@MrBernardoMetal]

Damn good player from a damn good band.

[@brianshres123]

PRS which model is that?

[@rickteichroeb2817]

those inlays...

[@MaxRideout]

Just in case you didn't know, those are the inlays they use in most PRS guitars.

[@Crometeef]

Maximilian Reilly-McDowell but..they're green!! anyways, it's nice to see the SE series getting some attention. pretty underrated guitars imo

[@redwolf2635]

talented indeed!

[@GoatOfTheMountains]

I've seen people play that solo in Heir Apparent w/ tapping. Good to know how he actually plays it.

[@MiltonGore]

Diese ist sehr gute! Viel danke für diese Lektion Beitrag!

[@mr.resistance4015]

So much control! Master of our ages Wonder who taught this guy?

[@johnunderwood3132]

Fredrik is awesome

[@DanielVerberne]

What a gun of a player this is unreal!

[@lordPix3lUK]

He's so good!

[@capnmag]

Good stuff.

[@Tyler-nj5dr]

Wow. Surprisingly melodic.

[@rouschno1]

Thanks. I didn't mean to suggest that you need a virtuoso, but killer phrasing and a great vibrato mean alot to me. Any suggestions?

[@Druss2012]

Holy shit fredrik you are a beast! Absolutely amazing!

[@alpergoynusen2839]

he is combining alternate picking and legato perfectly.

[@DSoverPSP]

Which Opeth album was it? Fredrik has only been with them for the last two albums, which are Heritage and Watershed. Also, their lead vocalist Mikael Akerfeldt has also played guitar for Opeth since the beginning of the band, but he isn't quite as technical of a player as Fredrik, so maybe that's who you were hearing. He's not a shredder like Fredrik but he's a great composer with an excellent sense of musicality.

[@kevincarpenter3428]

I'm still waiting for the slow part fredrik.

[@connordix1859]

I could listen to the heir apparent solo all day

he's sooooo amazin'

[@BozCobra]

He actually plays that Heir Apparent solo NORMALLY??! No tapping? Un-fucking-believable! Kirk Hammett got nothing on this guy!

[@RohannvanRensburg]

As much as I love the Heir Apparent solo, that Nepenthe solo is nuts. Heir Apparent has hard stretches (especially legato that fast) but the string skipping with Nepenthe is ridiculous.

[@greekfreak1980]

Yup,the guy is a monster guitarist,check out the stuff he did with Talisman,before he joined Opeth,albums like ''Humanimal'',''Life'' or ''Genesis'',of the best melodic hard-rock stuff from the 90's.Specially that synchronised bass/guitar shredding with Marcel Jacob(R.I.P.) is amazing.He was only 19,when Marcel Jacob discovered him and hired him for Talisman.

[@DSoverPSP]

I think he was just a touring member, actually, but I could be wrong. I don't know if he's on any of Arch Enemy's studio work.

[@Ruben1459]

7:01

[@sgrouge]

his phrasings are diamonds.

[@matthewmeserve73]

Fredrik is a beast..

[@kevenford9368]

That’s utterly psychotic ,& scary Both the Taping & solos ridiculous wow

[@dogarnruatdika4155]

A lotta people don't realize the trick behind arppegiated tapping is muting the strings perfectly... And it ain't easy.... You will always think you've nailed it... It takes a lot of time mate!

[@DSoverPSP]

That was Akerfeldt and Peter Lindgren on Ghost Reveries, which is actually one of my favorites, but if technical guitar is what you're really looking for, then I'm not sure Opeth is the band for you. Fredrik is a great lead player, but guitar isn't necessarily the focus of their music. What makes Opeth interesting is the way they blend different styles together so fluidly and write music with a lot of depth, making every song sound like an adventure. It's just not a guitar virtuoso adventure.

[@kanis999]

Love that Hungarian stuff, don't hear that scale a lot

[@donniedollarhidejr.2766]

Finally, we have found a thing fast enough which can escape from a black hole A Fred's solo

[@JGGuitarCovers]

Even him playing the stuff slow is 100 times better than I'll ever be

[@canuckz]

i slowed the video down to 0.5 on the "slow" part and it's still too fast .-.

[@XDfromspace]

awesome

What a cool dude

[@rambache]

There is something really strange here, i've seen a lot of videos of Fredrik Akesson playing his PRS SE Model and i can CLEARLY SEE the birds's color is quite copperish greenish, and everytime i see other people's video reviews and pictures of the same signature model guitar i can CLEARLY SEE the birds's color is blueish, WHY ISI THAT???

[@Axenicsecond]

All that time Frodo spent with the elves truly paid off.

[@amialo11]

buenísimo !!

[@DSoverPSP]

As for other bands, Swallow the Sun is amazing if you're interested in a doomier approach. All of their albums are great and have a similar atmosphere as Opeth, but much darker. Agalloch is a fantastic band, sort of progressive-blackened-doom metal, and again, you can't go wrong with any of their albums. Alpine Fault is a hidden gem from Australia--think Opeth meets Nightwish, and Ghost Reveries is one of their main influences. And Emperor/Ihsahn write incredible progressive black metal.

[@DeathTrapProductions]

PLEASE NEVER FORGET THIS MAN WAS MELTING FACES IN ARCH ENEMY BEFORE OPETH!!!

[@illlanoize23]

I just wanna hug him

[@rouschno1]

Thanks, I will.

[@verysurvival]

he rocks

[@MrSahincene]

Heir Apperient's solo like egyptian sounds.

[@nicholasfultz3122]

that fucking 9 and 11 pedal tone on the descent of the hungarian lick is sick, and I kinda hate that I didn't think of that first

[@eugeneelgr]

I think he got the specs of his guitar wrong its supposed to be a mahogany neck, as listed on the prs website.