Marty Friedman Biography

Martin Adam "Marty" Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist. He is perhaps best known as the lead guitarist for the thrash metal band Megadeth for close to ten years. He was born in Washington, D.C..

Friedman is a self-taught guitarist, known for his improvisation and for fusing an Eastern musical feel with Western musical styles, such as neo-classical, thrash metal and later on into progressive rock, J-pop, jazz, New Age and the like. Going beyond traditional scales, Marty often arpeggiates the chords over which he plays, using an unconventional picking technique favouring up-strokes. He is also known for frequent use of melodic and wide vibrato.

Prior to joining Megadeth, he formed and played lead guitar in several other bands, including Deuce, Hawaii, Vixen (not the all-female band of the same name), and notably Cacophony. Marty collaborated with Jason Becker on two albums, Go Off and Speed Metal Symphony. Cacophony features neoclassical metal elements and synchronised twin guitar harmonies and counterpoints.

Friedman was the lead guitarist for Megadeth from February 1990 to December 1999. During this period, Megadeth released a string of gold and platinum albums.