RIP Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen has passed away from a long battle with cancer.

His contributions to modern rock music go unchallenged.

I will run down just a few of his innovations off the top of my head and in the video below I will give some musical examples of his genius.

Here is a small list:

-put a humbucking pickup in a Strat style guitar which combined Fender and Gibson which had never been done

-popularized tapping and other unorthodox techniques

-used a variac to lower voltage to his stock Marshall amp allowing more power tube tone contributing to his “brown sound” as he called it

-helped design the locking tremolo system and used tremolo bar in new and innovative ways

-popularized symmetrical scales in rock guitar

-brought virtuosity to rock guitar playing with his speed and finesse on guitar

Please check out the video below for more expansion on Eddie’s playing technique.