# Mario Parga > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mario_Parga > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mario_Parga.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Parga > Source revision: 1355323739 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) English guitarist This biography of a living person relies too much on references to primary sources. Please help by adding secondary or tertiary sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. Find sources: "Mario Parga" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Image of Mario Parga **Mario Parga** (born 7 August 1969) is an English guitarist. He came into the spotlight during the late 1980s when he began appearing in numerous guitar and rock magazines such as [Guitar Player](/source/Guitar_Player), [Metal Hammer](/source/Metal_Hammer), [Kerrang](/source/Kerrang), [Metal Forces](/source/Metal_Forces) and played a live guitar solo on [MTV](/source/MTV)'s 'Metal Hammer' show.[1][2][3] Parga was born in [Lytham](/source/Lytham), [Lancashire](/source/Lancashire). During the early 1990s Parga toured, played and recorded with numerous artists, most notably [Cozy Powell](/source/Cozy_Powell)[4] and [Graham Bonnet](/source/Graham_Bonnet).[5] In 1991, his debut guitar instrumental album *The Magician* was released by President Records.[5][6] Following disillusionment with the music industry, Parga shied away from the scene until he re-emerged in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles) in 1998, playing guitar on Graham Bonnet's *The Day I Went Mad*.[5] Considered by many to be one of the greatest sweep [arpeggio](/source/Arpeggio) players of the guitar '[shred](/source/Shred_guitar)' [7] and [neoclassical metal](/source/Neoclassical_metal) genres, Parga combines complex arpeggio patterns with rapid [alternate picking](/source/Alternate_picking), [Sweep-picking](/source/Sweep-picking) and string bending.[1][3][8][9] Mario was listed in the July '08 edition of the international magazine [Guitar World](/source/Guitar_World) as being one of the World's 50 fastest guitarists ([alternate picking](/source/Alternate_picking) technique) based on a scientific note clocking experiment. Despite his amazing speed, he is also renowned for his highly emotive slower playing.[1][8][10] In 2000, Parga was approached by the guitar label Liquid Note Records and recorded his instrumental 'Valse Diabolique' [11] for their *The Alchemists* album.[11] Two years later, he recorded his haunting ballad 'Hourglass' [12] for Lion Music's *Warmth in the Wilderness II*, a tribute to fellow guitarist [Jason Becker](/source/Jason_Becker). Early in 2007, Parga announced the creation of his own record label 'MidnightCafe Music', (the name taken from his track 'The Midnight Café' from *The Magician*) and plans on releasing his future [instrumental rock](/source/Instrumental_rock) guitar music through it. His long-awaited album *Entranced* was released on the label on 14 April 2007.[1][3] Mario Parga lives in [Las Vegas](/source/Las_Vegas_Valley), [Nevada](/source/Nevada), United States with his wife Shawna and their daughter Skye.[11] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-RockUnitedInterview_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-RockUnitedInterview_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-RockUnitedInterview_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-RockUnitedInterview_1-3) [Interview with Mario Parga](http://www.rockunited.com/parga.htm) RockUnited.com, July 2007 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Mario Parga](http://www.last.fm/music/Mario+Parga) last.fm 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Prognosis.com_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Prognosis.com_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Prognosis.com_3-2) [Mario Parga](http://www.proggnosis.com/PGArtist.asp?AID=8141) Prognosis.com 1. **[^](#cite_ref-RockDetector_4-0)** [Mario Parga](http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/mario+parga1) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140407090800/http://www.rockdetector.com/artist/united+kingdom/mario+parga1) 2014-04-07 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) RockDetector.com 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-lsrfm_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-lsrfm_5-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-lsrfm_5-2) [Mario Parga](https://web.archive.org/web/20110713235129/http://lsrfm.com/music/database/artist/Mario+Parga/) lsrfm.com 1. **[^](#cite_ref-PresidentRecords_6-0)** [The Magician](http://www.president-records.co.uk/catalogue/product746?THE-MAGICIAN) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20110721034137/http://www.president-records.co.uk/catalogue/product746?THE-MAGICIAN) 2011-07-21 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) President Records 1. **[^](#cite_ref-shredaholic_7-0)** [Mario Parga](http://www.shredaholic.com/sitemap.html) Shredaholic.com 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-metalcritico_8-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-metalcritico_8-1) [Entranced](http://www.metalcritico.com/modules.php?name=MReviews&op=show&rid=148) Metal Critico 1. **[^](#cite_ref-guitarlist_9-0)** [Mario Parga](http://www.guitar-list.com/allplayers) Guitar-List.com, 'Greatest Guitar Players' 1. **[^](#cite_ref-RockUnited.com_10-0)** [Mario Parga](http://www.rockunited.com/reviews2007_21_25.htm) RockUnited.com 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-dmme_11-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-dmme_11-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-dmme_11-2) [Interview with Mario Parga](http://dmme.net/interviews/parga.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20201128100534/http://dmme.net/interviews/parga.html) 28 November 2020 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) DMME.net, June 2008 1. **[^](#cite_ref-chrisruel_12-0)** [Hourglass](http://www.chrisruel.com/ChrisRuel.com/MusicReviews/JasonBeckerReviews.htm) ChrisRuel.com (Warmth in the Wilderness II) ## External links - [Mario Parga official website](http://www.marioparga.com) - [MidnightCafe Music](http://www.midnightcafemusic.com) Authority control databases: Artists MusicBrainz --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mario Parga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Parga) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Parga?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.