Hey Friend,

If anything can coax a guitar hermit out from under his rock, it’s the death of a musical icon. I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the loss of the great Eddie Van Halen. 

When it comes to rock guitar, only a handful of musicians come to mind as truly influential and inspirational. Those that not only mastered the instrument, but developed and defined new techniques and sounds.

EVH was at the top of the list.

There are defining points throughout history of events that changed the course of a people or civilization.

Rock historians point to the arrival of The Beatles in the US as a turning point for rock music, and it’s true. There are countless stories from now famous rock stars of seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time and being inspired to go out and get a guitar the next day.

Jimi Hendrix then juiced the rock sound with his “extreme” overdrive, giving the music an edge that opened the door for a harder, more aggressive style of rock.

Eddie Van Halen was next in evolutionary journey.

Like Hendrix before him, Van Halen came on the scene with a raw and almost chaotic sound — one that shook up the existing blues-based rock guitar of the late 1970s. Eddie didn’t so much as change rock guitar, but more evolved it, showing the world there was still new sonic frontier to explore.

And that sound launched countless new guitar players, inspired to try and capture the swagger and fiery energy Eddie infused in his playing and performance.

He was the Pied Piper of rock guitar for my generation, but his influence has touched every guitar player since. In a world of branding and marketing, his for guitar players has as much name recognition as Coke or Playboy. 

We have all benefited from his refinement of tapping and picking technique, as well as composition of guitar solos. He also taught us loads about creating interesting and instantly recognizable riffs and solos.

From the high-speed tapping, to the tremolo dive bombs and harmonics, no one can mistake an EVH written or performed solo. 

On that note, perhaps the best thing we can do right now is put some Van Halen on and crank it, loud and proud. Here’s one for ya…