Tony is the only neo-classical shredder from the 80's who actually had a classical music education and background. He wasn't just copying Yngwie licks like the others were. Anyone here talking shit needs to post their own Chopin piano videos for us to watch. Notice how people keep stopping to watch him play? It's because he's bad ass.
I met Tony years ago. Such a super nice guy. I asked him how he can be so great on his instruments. He said he didn't have a life, meaning, it was all music, all the time. ALL THE TIME. That's all he ever did.
Not only is he incredible on guitar AND piano - he plays different styles - rock,classical,blues,jazz ..... on both guitar and piano ..... The Best imo
In the 80's everyone new that Tony's shit was higher level, special, REAL NEO-CLASSICAL FUSION, not organized scales and arpeggios. And this was told to me by some of the leading hard rock guitarists of that time who I played with and talked to about who was "Hot". Tony's stuff on Maximum Security was some of the best written instrumental metal you can get your hands on, to this day, piano or no piano.
0:57 Chopin Etude in F minor. To get through this piece is difficult because it is hard not to tense up. MacAlpine plays it effortlessly with a pretty even tone on the right hand. His arpeggios on the right hand are very even, too. He lowers his wrist on his right hand a touch when playing this etude but heck, what ever works for him!!! I’m a huge fan of this guy.
I don't believe my eyes or ears..he's great on guitar.. and even better on piano.. stunned to say the least . I just found out today he plays piano. shocked....
Ok to inform everyone Tony was a acknowledged piano prodigy at age 6….won many awards and competitions at his age level…and competed and most of awards against older composers..and branched into guitar age 12/13 Enough said..he has played synth and piano for many projects including Steve Vai touring band and on guitar probably just as good as Vai on guitar..Tony is an insane all around gem..!
His chopin pieces are some of the best i have ever heard. Everyone with a solid musical appreciation should know about this man's work. CHEERS TONY KEEP ROCKIN!
I've always admired people who can excel on more than one instrument. I have a hard enough time as it is practicing guitar, and this guy could bury me on both guitar and piano! Truly an amazing gift he has.
Wow... a lot of hate going on in these postings. Bizarre. Tony's an epic musician, with a mind that creates gorgeous and complex music (both metal and classical), from a foundation of discipline and mastery. Everything he does is delicious and moving. I'm been an awed and admiring fan since the 80s. Tony MacAlpine fucking rocks. Nuff said. Peace, all. =)
@AnnaAnnaYes Yep I love Satch's Surfing With The Alien album but Tony's Maximum Security is a powerful and moving album, packed with soaring melodies and epic emotions. Whenever I listen to this album it sends all kinds of emotions and energies through my whole body, and inbetween all of this I am admiring the sheer brilliance of both the compositions and performances. This truly is a masterpiece.
An absolute brilliant musician. I have a hard enough time trying to master the guitar, and he burns on both guitar and piano. God has truly blessed him with a great gift.
holy shit he is freaking insane....if somebody should be described as a real musician tony is the definition of that. have u ever seen someone being amazing on a piano and a guitar like him??? blows u right out
U R Fucking Right!!! How can a single guy be a true master of piano as he is (he's a concertist) and still be a electric guitar god, a shredder with amazing phrasing??? Just unbelievable.
As everyone eventually clears out the man in the suit that is clearly a pianist himself stays near by as he appears to be very impressed.. and one more thing looking back on this so many years later how young he was .. crazy right .. ps you can still go see Tony at the Baked Potato in Hollywood from time to time. What a talent & such a nice guy.. He will talk to anyone who approaches him
A very valid point: though he is a supremely talented, superbly trained, and thoroughly seasoned musician, he looks just the opposite of that in this vid. I still dig it because I know some of those peoples' jaws were rolling when this seeming panhadler displayed masterful prowess on the ivories: delicious absurdity.
Serious question: are there any other multi-instrumentalists who play at this level of virtuosity? Shawn Lane had a natural gift for piano, but tony here is clearly a reference level classical musician. I guess there's Stevie Wonder and other pop stars, but I wouldn't call them multi-virtuosos. Gary Husband comes to mind as a phenomenal drummer and jazz keyboardist. I dunno. T-Mac is just a monster.
I read that he memorized all of Beethoven's sonatas. Who cares if he's the best pianist ever. The simple fact that he can play classical music proficiently shows his level of musical discipline. Combine that with an amazing talent for guitar and his ability to play classical/metal fusion (and more recently jazz fusion) and you have a fairly rare talent. Any musicians out there feeling qualified to criticize.. well... where's your you-tube video?
So much envy on some posts... Anyone who posted anything negative probably hasn't made a great life out of a music career, he has gone to places most wish for.
im a guitarist.. have been for 15 years. Can play a bit of piano too, used to play before i started on guitar. Playing two different rythym's with 10 digits, is far more difficult than any technique i have learned on a guitar. Guitar is mostly played with 4 fingers, and although it is difficult to master yes, its nothing on what your watching right now.
@AyanRafique - The point is, even a relatively simple tune on the piano, say for instance, "The entertainer" unless you have the ability to split your brain and play two different melodies at the same time, it's far more difficult to play than a tune that in "theory" should be as easy to play on the guitar. The actual fingering of the notes is easy, and that applies to both melodies on both hands. playing them together however, is where the difficulty lies.
tony is one of my heros from the 80 but why does he look like a homless in his cloths its a total contrast to the people walking by in there expensive suits... he looks like the wunderkind from the bronx who starts to play and no one expected him to be that great...
@AnnaAnnaYes I have plenty of Leviathan releases I think, but was not aware of the female vocalist thing so early on. I'll seek out the albums you mentioned. Oh and yes I will try and take more care (had a bad car crash Xmas 2010 but lived to tell the tale and ok + got another car last month). Thanks :-)
i appreciate thought behind the music. like jason becker. sure he is very fast but he uses modes so much if you had to show the changes in keey they would be evry 2 or 3 bars. and they're not just alternating. he is going thorugh as many possible. he is not trying to show off. he acctually put thought and made somthing that sounds so natural and techniclly perfect at the same time.
Sorry Signore Luigi ma Io non vedo il video in tua cannal. My Italian sucks but hey I was really looking forward to seeing yu playing and I agree. One of the main reasons guitar Gods in general take the folk world by surprise is because of their actual ignorance about music. In the end you have to thank them, if it wasn't for them how would the common folk will know about these things?
Stop with the insults already that's not gonna get you anywhere. I never said that any instrument is easier than the other I said the difficulties for each are on different stages of the learning curve. Piano is easier at the begging in the sense it requires less strength but more control. Someone might look at it that way and another might think the contrary depending on their innate abilities. I wouldn't focus in the instrument but in the music. The instrument is just a conduct, musica é'
@brando18guitarplyr - Very very few guitar players, yourself included, will ever use polyrhythm's on guitar. There is no left / right divide involved. So basically it is far more difficult to master. Why do you think this man took to guitar like a duck to water?
@AnnaAnnaYes I might have already heard this but sadly I do not like his sound or style. I'll give it another shot though seeing as you recommended it. On a related note about melodies and so on, may I recommend very highly Jeff Kollman. Search for the band Edwin Dare and albums 'Can't Break Me' and 'My Time To Die' and also check out his solo albums. Each time you listen to his solo stuff, it reveals more goodies.
personally i think you can talk about piano if you no what your talking about even if you don't play i know exactly what it takes to play the piano and i don't plat the piano i just have lots of music knowledge and play the guitar at an advanced level so i think people like me pass to talk about an instrument they don't play. I agree it takes a different approach to each instrument some people may find different instruments take more or less work to advance to the next level persay.
I was dissappointed on his guitar playing in Vitalij Kuprij's VK3 album. Sucks too cause I guess Vitalij didn't want T. Mac to play keyboard on that album. They could've had dual keyboard shredding going on!
@Hardysamnin Blahh don't say that! There are difficult things on the guitar that are a pianoist's nightmare, and there are crazy things on the piano that are a guitarist's nightmare. But in no way is one instrument necessarily more "Difficult" than the other.
@AngryLlamaz I think he is actually better in the piano, he could easily devote himself as a classical concertist and have total success, I think his passion is rock anyway
You're right. He's no Jim Stanza either. Or Neil Rigotoni. He's also not a Jeff Hossenfeffor or a Bob Smith. Nor is Bill Jones or a Tom Smith. He's no Yakov Eatshitski either.
@Dihelson if he memorized everything he must have more of an understanding of the song than if he were to just play it off sheet music. You don't know what's going on in his head, I hate people who watch a video of a musician and just assume their playing is without feeling just because it's skillful, open your fucking mind.
Tony is the only neo-classical shredder from the 80's who actually had a classical music education and background. He wasn't just copying Yngwie licks like the others were. Anyone here talking shit needs to post their own Chopin piano videos for us to watch. Notice how people keep stopping to watch him play? It's because he's bad ass.
So ridiculously good it's painful
One of the very few guitar virtuosos on earth who is equally well adept of playing the piano at a PRO level
If only we still had Shawn Lane...
Tony was a pianist first before he picked up guitar.
I met Tony years ago. Such a super nice guy. I asked him how he can be so great on his instruments. He said he didn't have a life, meaning, it was all music, all the time. ALL THE TIME. That's all he ever did.
Not only is he incredible on guitar AND piano - he plays different styles - rock,classical,blues,jazz ..... on both guitar and piano ..... The Best imo
In the 80's everyone new that Tony's shit was higher level, special, REAL NEO-CLASSICAL FUSION, not organized scales and arpeggios. And this was told to me by some of the leading hard rock guitarists of that time who I played with and talked to about who was "Hot". Tony's stuff on Maximum Security was some of the best written instrumental metal you can get your hands on, to this day, piano or no piano.
This was the result of YEARS of hard work,he had to WOODSHED,to get those chops,both as Guitarist,and pianist,great composer too!
0:57 Chopin Etude in F minor. To get through this piece is difficult because it is hard not to tense up. MacAlpine plays it effortlessly with a pretty even tone on the right hand. His arpeggios on the right hand are very even, too. He lowers his wrist on his right hand a touch when playing this etude but heck, what ever works for him!!! I’m a huge fan of this guy.
Amazing talent. Tony Macalpine is for me THE most talented musician in a generation.
0:56 - 12 Études, Op. 25 No. 2 in F Minor 2:12 - 12 Études, Op. 25 No. 1 in A-Flat Major (Harp Study)
0:00: Ending of Liszt Tarantella
0:57: Chopin Etude Op.25 no. 2
2:13: Chopin Etude Op 25 no. 1
I don't believe my eyes or ears..he's great on guitar.. and even better on piano.. stunned to say the least . I just found out today he plays piano. shocked....
can't stop smiling, guitar or piano, he is a master...
Ok to inform everyone
Tony was a acknowledged piano prodigy at age 6….won many awards and competitions at his age level…and competed and most of awards against older composers..and branched into guitar age 12/13
Enough said..he has played synth and piano for many projects including Steve Vai touring band
and on guitar probably just as good as Vai on guitar..Tony is an insane all around gem..!
His chopin pieces are some of the best i have ever heard. Everyone with a solid musical appreciation should know about this man's work. CHEERS TONY KEEP ROCKIN!
I knew he was good , but he is even better than i thought.
His velocity is amazing
So relaxed and flowing
So frickin awesome! The only musician I know who is a real virtuoso on 2 instruments, but I assume there are others too
I've always admired people who can excel on more than one instrument. I have a hard enough time as it is practicing guitar, and this guy could bury me on both guitar and piano! Truly an amazing gift he has.
Wow... a lot of hate going on in these postings. Bizarre. Tony's an epic musician, with a mind that creates gorgeous and complex music (both metal and classical), from a foundation of discipline and mastery. Everything he does is delicious and moving.
I'm been an awed and admiring fan since the 80s. Tony MacAlpine fucking rocks.
Nuff said.
Peace, all. =)
Tony is a genius. not everybody can see that.
dimeheck I can!! You are 110% correct
And on each album he usually has a Chopin song or two 🎹
@AnnaAnnaYes
Yep I love Satch's Surfing With The Alien album but Tony's Maximum Security is a powerful and moving album, packed with soaring melodies and epic emotions. Whenever I listen to this album it sends all kinds of emotions and energies through my whole body, and inbetween all of this I am admiring the sheer brilliance of both the compositions and performances. This truly is a masterpiece.
Holy damn. I did not even know he played piano. Amazing!
Check out Steve Vai live in Astoria, he is the Keyboardist and 2nd Lead Guitar
Incredible musician
An absolute brilliant musician. I have a hard enough time trying to master the guitar, and he burns on both guitar and piano. God has truly blessed him with a great gift.
holy shit he is freaking insane....if somebody should be described as a real musician tony is the definition of that. have u ever seen someone being amazing on a piano and a guitar like him??? blows u right out
U R Fucking Right!!! How can a single guy be a true master of piano as he is (he's a concertist) and still be a electric guitar god, a shredder with amazing phrasing??? Just unbelievable.
Amazing talent! His music will live through the ages.
Tony Mac is so good, he could fart etudes.
You are one of my best influence ! Your are amazing Tony .
Tony MacAlpine is a gift to us from God.
As everyone eventually clears out the man in the suit that is clearly a pianist himself stays near by as he appears to be very impressed.. and one more thing looking back on this so many years later how young he was .. crazy right .. ps you can still go see Tony at the Baked Potato in Hollywood from time to time. What a talent & such a nice guy.. He will talk to anyone who approaches him
Very few guys like this. Shawn Lane played piano insanely as well.
Fantastic artist. The tony tone is magic! Thanks maestro!
It's got to be the coolest feelings when you can go to a piano and play the great composers of the past
A very valid point: though he is a supremely talented, superbly trained, and thoroughly seasoned musician, he looks just the opposite of that in this vid. I still dig it because I know some of those peoples' jaws were rolling when this seeming panhadler displayed masterful prowess on the ivories: delicious absurdity.
Amazing
Serious question: are there any other multi-instrumentalists who play at this level of virtuosity? Shawn Lane had a natural gift for piano, but tony here is clearly a reference level classical musician. I guess there's Stevie Wonder and other pop stars, but I wouldn't call them multi-virtuosos. Gary Husband comes to mind as a phenomenal drummer and jazz keyboardist. I dunno. T-Mac is just a monster.
Unreal musician!!!
immensely gifted musician.
Brillant guitar player. Concert level piano player. He should be in tux and at Carn
no other human beign is capable of master 2 instruments like him . he is divine.
I knew you are the man!! I’ve been listening to TM since the 1st album!! Awesome
Tony is amazing! wow
The guy in the suit is ready to say; we can do six months same as cash today.
Superb
One of the greats.
Tony is classicaly trained. His playing is just amazing. I wonder what KastleRevenge can do with the piano to critisize others like that.
And it's all in his head
some people is made for music!!
simple!
great player!
I read that he memorized all of Beethoven's sonatas. Who cares if he's the best pianist ever. The simple fact that he can play classical music proficiently shows his level of musical discipline. Combine that with an amazing talent for guitar and his ability to play classical/metal fusion (and more recently jazz fusion) and you have a fairly rare talent. Any musicians out there feeling qualified to criticize.. well... where's your you-tube video?
I love how people keep stopping to watch.
awesome!!
So much envy on some posts... Anyone who posted anything negative probably hasn't made a great life out of a music career, he has gone to places most wish for.
Notable! Muy buen video!!!
tony like chopin?
🙏
im a guitarist.. have been for 15 years. Can play a bit of piano too, used to play before i started on guitar. Playing two different rythym's with 10 digits, is far more difficult than any technique i have learned on a guitar. Guitar is mostly played with 4 fingers, and although it is difficult to master yes, its nothing on what your watching right now.
DA REAL THANG!!!!
I was 4 in that year and Tony was and is THE SHIT
Do the dummies walking by realize that the great Tony MacAlpine is at work?
Wow.
T mac is so lucky to be so good! I wish i could do that.
A real musician
鍵盤も弾けるの知ってたけどここまで弾けるとは…
Waaaaay too talented
@leozingy
I know whom I would rather listen to and that is Tony.
You've never owned any of his cds? Every album has at least one classical piano piece on it.
@AyanRafique - The point is, even a relatively simple tune on the piano, say for instance, "The entertainer" unless you have the ability to split your brain and play two different melodies at the same time, it's far more difficult to play than a tune that in "theory" should be as easy to play on the guitar. The actual fingering of the notes is easy, and that applies to both melodies on both hands. playing them together however, is where the difficulty lies.
1. unknown for me /request info
2. chopin etude opus 25 no 2
3. chopin etude opus 25 no 1
4. unknown 4 me / request whats it
Also w/ Vinnie Moore.
Forget the piano. The jerry curl is world class!
tony is one of my heros from the 80 but why does he look like a homless in his cloths
its a total contrast to the people walking by in there expensive suits...
he looks like the wunderkind from the bronx who starts to play and no one expected him to be that great...
move along, nothing to see here, just Tony Macalpine stretching his fingers.
@AnnaAnnaYes
I have plenty of Leviathan releases I think, but was not aware of the female vocalist thing so early on. I'll seek out the albums you mentioned. Oh and yes I will try and take more care (had a bad car crash Xmas 2010 but lived to tell the tale and ok + got another car last month). Thanks :-)
i appreciate thought behind the music. like jason becker. sure he is very fast but he uses modes so much if you had to show the changes in keey they would be evry 2 or 3 bars. and they're not just alternating. he is going thorugh as many possible. he is not trying to show off. he acctually put thought and made somthing that sounds so natural and techniclly perfect at the same time.
Sorry Signore Luigi ma Io non vedo il video in tua cannal. My Italian sucks but hey I was really looking forward to seeing yu playing and I agree. One of the main reasons guitar Gods in general take the folk world by surprise is because of their actual ignorance about music. In the end you have to thank them, if it wasn't for them how would the common folk will know about these things?
Stop with the insults already that's not gonna get you anywhere. I never said that any instrument is easier than the other I said the difficulties for each are on different stages of the learning curve. Piano is easier at the begging in the sense it requires less strength but more control. Someone might look at it that way and another might think the contrary depending on their innate abilities. I wouldn't focus in the instrument but in the music. The instrument is just a conduct, musica é'
@brando18guitarplyr - Very very few guitar players, yourself included, will ever use polyrhythm's on guitar. There is no left / right divide involved. So basically it is far more difficult to master. Why do you think this man took to guitar like a duck to water?
Insane talent...he could win a gold medal in the olympics if he wanted
What’s his hand span on piano, think it’s like 11 note span 😱😱😱 think I saw someat on RUclips elsewhere… anyone know?
i wish he would do more classical piano recordings - im sure he could do all teh studies
@MackCockstack - Oh, ok =)
@AnnaAnnaYes
I might have already heard this but sadly I do not like his sound or style. I'll give it another shot though seeing as you recommended it. On a related note about melodies and so on, may I recommend very highly Jeff Kollman. Search for the band Edwin Dare and albums 'Can't Break Me' and 'My Time To Die' and also check out his solo albums. Each time you listen to his solo stuff, it reveals more goodies.
@RoyZAZA He's no douchebag sitting in his mother's basement dissing people who actually have a career, either.
@boredouttamind Fucking A right, brother...couldn't agree more.
@luigiperso - Music is the same on every instrument. To say you cant talk about piano unless you're a pianist is rediculous.
personally i think you can talk about piano if you no what your talking about even if you don't play i know exactly what it takes to play the piano and i don't plat the piano i just have lots of music knowledge and play the guitar at an advanced level so i think people like me pass to talk about an instrument they don't play.
I agree it takes a different approach to each instrument some people may find different instruments take more or less work to advance to the next level persay.
I was dissappointed on his guitar playing in Vitalij Kuprij's VK3 album. Sucks too cause I guess Vitalij didn't want T. Mac to play keyboard on that album. They could've had dual keyboard shredding going on!
@leozingy are you talking guitar or piano, tony was def beyond shawn him at piano
Not a clue!
Multi Player
@venom1stas
Art Tatum.
hold it there don't leave out Jordan Rudess and Derek Sherinian
@Hardysamnin Blahh don't say that! There are difficult things on the guitar that are a pianoist's nightmare, and there are crazy things on the piano that are a guitarist's nightmare. But in no way is one instrument necessarily more "Difficult" than the other.
@AngryLlamaz I think he is actually better in the piano, he could easily devote himself as a classical concertist and have total success, I think his passion is rock anyway
You're right. He's no Jim Stanza either. Or Neil Rigotoni. He's also not a Jeff Hossenfeffor or a Bob Smith. Nor is Bill Jones or a Tom Smith. He's no Yakov Eatshitski either.
And they’re NOT TONY MACALPINE EITHER 😎
played keys with steve vai. yep.
Is it a promo video for Baldwin pianos ?!?
@brando18guitarplyr - Playing with 10 digits, is harder than 4.
does anyone know the name of the song he plays?
@Dihelson if he memorized everything he must have more of an understanding of the song than if he were to just play it off sheet music. You don't know what's going on in his head, I hate people who watch a video of a musician and just assume their playing is without feeling just because it's skillful, open your fucking mind.
Right there is passion in classical, not to mention smoothly transitioning through techniques that are totally different than one another