{"id":2931,"date":"2020-10-07T16:42:13","date_gmt":"2020-10-07T21:42:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.streamapse.com\/?p=2931"},"modified":"2020-10-07T16:42:13","modified_gmt":"2020-10-07T21:42:13","slug":"eddie-van-halens-signature-guitar-style-changed-rock-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/?p=2931","title":{"rendered":"Eddie Van Halen’s Signature Guitar Style Changed Rock Music"},"content":{"rendered":"

The legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen has died<\/a> aged 65. One of the most influential guitarists of the modern age, Van Halen was known for his mastery of the two-handed tapping<\/a> technique and for bringing the virtuosic rock guitar solo back into the popular music mainstream in the late 70s and 1980s.<\/p>\n

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One of the great innovators, Van Halen formed a bridge between 1970s rock styles and heavy metal sounds of the 1980s. He delivered his best work with a nonchalance that belied the training and dedication driving him and his band to succeed.<\/p>\n

Born in the Netherlands in 1955, Van Halen came from a musical family. His father played saxophone and clarinet professionally and ensured Van Halen and his older brother, Alex, started piano lessons from a young age.<\/p>\n

The boys\u2019 training in classical music and theory would influence Van Halen\u2019s guitar playing, particularly the famous two-handed, finger tapping technique, where harmonic ideas derived from the keyboard found new expression on the electric guitar.<\/p>\n

Young tour de force<\/h2>\n

The family immigrated to the US in 1962 and the young Van Halen brothers later discovered rock music, with Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton as early heroes.<\/p>\n

In his first Guitar Player magazine interview<\/a> in 1978, Van Halen mentioned Clapton as a formative influence, having learnt his solos note for note.<\/p>\n

In 1972, while still in high school, the brothers formed the band Mammoth, hiring a public address system from David Lee Roth. Van Halen originally sang as well as playing guitar, but he tired of combining duties so Roth (and his PA) joined the band.<\/p>\n