Thursday, July 19, 2012

Eddie Van Halen is the Greatest Guitar Player of all Time









How the solid-body guitar came to be is of some dispute.  Most will agree, though, that Les Paul helped to make it successful.  Chuck Berry and Buddy Guy both influenced Rock n Roll.  The Beatles changed the perception of guitar music forever.  Jimmy Hendrix found new and interesting sounds.  Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana both demonstrate some of the greatest technical skill in the industry.  Laurence Juber has a unique style that is simply amazing.  But as talented and important as these guitarists are, none have contributed more than Eddie Van Halen.

Eddie took the skills, talents, and discoveries of his predecessors and raised them to new heights.  He helped develop the "Super Strat" to create new sounds that would have made Hendrix smile.  His speed, skill and precision compare with the guitar greats, both then and now.  He plays Rock, Blues, Classical, and Finger Style with incredible skill and his own unique flavor.  He made "tapping" and "shredding" mainstream guitar concepts, influencing the next two generations of guitar players.  Today, he continues to astound guitar fans with his skill and innovation.

2007 Eddie Van Halen solo






5 comments:

  1. David: My personal preference still lies in the direction of Stanley Clarke, especially when accompanied by Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQu7OVkUVio&feature=related
    -- three amazing bassists -
    Stanley Clarke& Marcus Miller&Victor Wooten live Vienne France
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    Rich: Skill isn't enough. Overall ability and influence are more important.
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    Dillon: Three way tie between John Petrucci, Steve Vai, and Alan Holdsworth. Jason Becker isn't too far behind. Eddie's influence on rock definitely shows but I can play the majority of his stuff, I can slop through some of the previous mentioned guitarist works but I can't even slop through all of it lol
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    Dillon: IMO just based on the technicality and how much I struggle to play them
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    Rich: Understood. But you're commenting on skill alone. there are musicians who are probably more skilled, but contribution is way more important than simple skill. There are a lot of very skilled guitar players who never make it in the industry ...See More
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    Dillon: Well in that case Hendrix and Harrison are better guitarists than eddie :) either way I don't think he's the best IMO. He paved new sounds on the guitar, but he wasn't the one to invent shredding or picking, he only popularized it
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    Dillon: Sorry not picking *tapping*
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    Dillon: I believe Dwayne alman was the one to invent tapping, and the pioneer of shred from What I can tell was the Paige man himself
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    Dillon: Wow my phone needs to stop this autocorrect nonsense lol *Page*
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    Don : Is limiting the genre to R&R possibly prebiasing the results? While I am not a guitar-knowledgeable person, there are classical guitarists that are likely the peers of R&R artists.
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    Dillon: Yea definitely, that's the problem with guitar. There are limitless genres get the guitar, very difficult to put a title on "best guitarist in the world". You really need to break it down into classes and make a "best guitarist in the world...See More
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    Rich: That's why this is a good debate topic...
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    Dillon: Well duh that's why I'm debating silly
    :D
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    Rich: BTW: I transferred these comments over tot he blog site.
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    Rich: Hey Dillon... What about Randy Rhoads?
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    Dillon: Oh okay :P I will move on over to there I suppose that's why you started it hahaha silly me

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  2. (Comments above transferred from Facebook)

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  3. Randy Rhoads was the man, very unfortunate what happened to him at such a young age I can only imagine what he could have accomplished if he was still alive. Don't get me wrong, Eddie is one of the best, and most likely the largest influence in the development of metal/hard rock, but I guess as a player I put a heavy emphasis on technique. His is amazing but what people have done with his original idea's catch my attention more than what he accomplished like sweep picking and legato playing such as Joe Satriani. I love eddie, and when I first started playing I always wanted to be like him but that came quick compared to other things I have tried. He still gets mad props though! The grandfather of metal!

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  4. Check out Jason Becker - Altitudes, here is the link:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGzGPSN_9cU

    Very sad story, he made only two studio albums and then was diagnosed with ALS at age 19. By the end of recording his second album he was so disabled he could barely play. He is still alive today but can't talk and is completely paralyzed. However he can move his chin and his musician friends developed a way for him to compose music still my moving his chin. I often wonder what he could have accomplished if he could still play.

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  5. Honestly, Dillon, as big a fan as I am of EVH, I tend to agree with you on the importance of technique and skill. I like Clapton here. I also really enjoy the finger style of Laurence Juber (click the link in the original post).

    This link is a great example of the difference between technical skill and entertaining talent:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPdyCSXNjPA

    Both players are amateur nobodies...

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