A YouTuber's guide to Andy McKee

Behind the blur of sweep-picking and fret-tapping, many world-renowned guitar virtuosos can’t write a decent song to save their fucking lives. It may be exciting to watch the poodle-haired Yngwie Malmsteen do wrist-snapping arpeggios on YouTube for two minutes, but the songwriting featured on tunes like “Crucify” will likely be worthless to anyone craving something deeper than kissy-faced wankery. What distinguishes acoustic guitar virtuoso Andy McKee (who plays Wednesday at the Majestic Theatre) is how he channels his classical chops, ridiculous techniques, and impeccable sense of rhythm into shimmering one-man pop tunes that are actually worth a second listen. The Kansas native has put out several proper albums (including last year’s The Thing That Came From Somewhere, a collaboration with fellow guitarist Don Ross), but his popularity owes a great deal to the YouTube videos that showcase his fluid handiwork. In that spirit, Decider hunted down the McKee videos that best show off why he’s not just another viral-video showoff.

“Drifting”


How McKee is finding time to click those rhythms out between finger-tapping the melody and hammering the bass chords is beyond comprehension. It may be dizzying to watch McKee work, but he takes the time to build solid melodies, and in this case, a surreal sense of calm.

“Into The Ocean”


What is that freakish monstrosity, you ask? It’s a Ron Spillers harp guitar, and McKee’s effortless leaps to the bass strings complement his lush, finger-picked chords rather well.

“Ebon Coast”

This tune shows off the absurd amount of control McKee has over his right hand, which brightens the melodies with quirky rhythms.

“Crucify”


And now, for comparison’s sake, some, er, accompished turbo-squiggles courtesy of Yngwie Malmsteen. Can we have the harp-guitar thing back now?