Uli Jon Roth
The Hendrix disciple who pioneered neoclassical rock guitar
Ulrich Roth was born in Düsseldorf and began playing seriously in the late 1960s, inspired by the Beatles, the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Eric Clapton's blues playing. His ambitions quickly broadened as he discovered David Gilmour, Ritchie Blackmore and Jeff Beck, and from 1971 he studied piano and classical guitar, drawn to the playing of Andrés Segovia and the violin of Yehudi Menuhin. In the early 1970s he led the band Dawn Road, which would soon merge with a better-known group.
When Michael Schenker left the Scorpions for UFO in 1973, Roth took over lead guitar, and several Dawn Road members came with him. Across Fly to the Rainbow, In Trance, Virgin Killer and Taken by Force, he became a key songwriter and sometimes lead vocalist, bringing psychedelic Hendrix-style fire and growing classical sophistication. The Sails of Charon solo showed techniques that would define neoclassical metal. After the live Tokyo Tapes in 1978, he left the band to follow his own musical vision.
His new project, Electric Sun, released Earthquake in 1979, Fire Wind in 1981 and Beyond the Astral Skies in 1985. The music leaned ever more heavily on classical ideas, harmonic minor melodies and Middle Eastern modes. His partner, artist Monika Dannemann, co-wrote songs with him and painted the covers. Around this era he developed the Sky Guitar with luthier Andreas Demetriou, an instrument with dramatically extended range designed to let him reach violin-like registers.
From the 1990s Roth moved toward symphonic works, composing symphonies and concertos and performing with orchestras, while releasing albums such as Metamorphosis of Vivaldi's Four Seasons and Under a Dark Sky. He toured Europe with the G3 package in 1998, reunited with the Scorpions at Wacken in 2006 and launched the Sky Academy seminars that same year. Later projects revisited his Scorpions years, and in 2017 he founded Sky Guitars to produce his instrument designs.
The 10 greatest Uli Jon Roth solos
- 1Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1977
- 2Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1974
- 3Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1976
- 4Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1976
- 5Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1975
- 6Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1977
- 7Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1976
- 8Electric Sun · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1979
- 9Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1975
- 10Scorpions · solo by Uli Jon Roth · 1975
The sound
Roth blends Hendrix's expressive, psychedelic abandon with the discipline and harmonic language of European classical music. His solos use pedal-point sequences, rapid arpeggios, harmonic minor runs and exotic modal colors, delivered with a vocal, singing vibrato and sweeping whammy-bar gestures. On a standard Stratocaster in the 1970s he already achieved a fluid, violin-like tone, and his extended-range Sky Guitars later let him push into extreme upper registers. He treats the guitar almost as an orchestral instrument, favoring long, sustained lines and dramatic dynamic arcs over pure shred.
- Fender Stratocaster (guitar) His main guitar in the Scorpions years, used for his Hendrix-inspired tone.
- Sky Guitar (guitar) Custom extended-range instrument with scalloped frets and 30 or more effective frets, developed with Andreas Demetriou.
- Vibesware guitar resonator (effect) A sustainer device that lets notes hold indefinitely for violin-like passages.
- Blackstar Artisan 100 and Series One 200 (amp) His current amplification for large, articulate lead tones.
- Framus Dragon (amp) A high-gain head he used in an earlier era.
- Dean Sky Guitar (guitar) Dean produced a limited run of 25 Sky Guitar models in 2011.
Covers
- Hound Dog, originally by Big Mama Thornton A playful rock-and-roll romp in the middle of the Scorpions' Japanese concerts.
- Long Tall Sally, originally by Little Richard A raucous, fast-paced tribute to early rock and roll.
- Kojo no Tsuki, originally by Rentarō Taki The band honored their Japanese audience with this traditional melody, rendered with gentle, lyrical guitar.
- The Four Seasons, originally by Antonio Vivaldi Roth reimagined the Baroque concertos as a fusion of orchestra and electric guitar.
- Little Wing, originally by The Jimi Hendrix Experience A heartfelt nod to his greatest influence, played with deep reverence for Hendrix's phrasing.
Timeline
- 1954 Born in Düsseldorf, West Germany
- 1971 Begins studying piano and classical guitar
- 1973 Joins the Scorpions after Michael Schenker's departure
- 1974 Fly to the Rainbow is released
- 1977 Taken by Force features The Sails of Charon
- 1978 Tokyo Tapes released; leaves the Scorpions
- 1979 Electric Sun releases Earthquake
- 1998 Tours Europe as part of G3
- 2006 Founds Sky Academy and reunites with the Scorpions at Wacken
- 2017 Founds the Sky Guitars company
Facts
- Several members of his band Dawn Road joined him in the Scorpions in 1973.
- His Sky Guitars have up to 30 or more effective frets.
- Electric Sun's Earthquake was dedicated to Jimi Hendrix.
- Fire Wind was dedicated to Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
- His partner Monika Dannemann had previously been in a relationship with Jimi Hendrix.
- Dannemann painted the covers for all three Electric Sun albums.
- He has composed four symphonies and two concertos.
- He has been a vegetarian since his Scorpions days.
- He lives in rural Wales.
- His Sky Academy seminar series held its first international event in New Zealand in 2008.