Eddie Van Halen “I've tried to avoid playing like Eddie. I've never learned the songs on purpose so I didn't steal anything. Then I had to learn the songs – I was like, ‘This is gonna be torture’”: Joe Satriani on his preparations for this summer's Van Halen tribute tour Satch is intensely studying the intricacies of the late guitar hero's technical quirks and tone, while trying to avoid outright mimicry. The fine line between paying tribute and copying is an act of needle-threading the virtuoso says he also faced during his tenure in Deep Purple “Eddie Van Halen had me play his 5150 guitar, and then he asked me to show the solo to him, because he’d forgotten it”: Jennifer Batten recalls re-teaching EVH the Beat It solo “Not the most relaxed situation for me,” the former Michael Jackson guitarist told GP in a 1989 interview "I showed Eddie Van Halen some of what I had to learn in order to pull off Frank’s music... Eddie said, 'Who would've thought that you'd be giving me a guitar lesson!': How Dweezil Zappa took EVH inside his father's playing, and left him in awe In this vintage GP interview, Dweezil also reflected on the idiosyncratic nature of his father's soloing, and how the elder Zappa worked around his technical limitations Latest Eddie Van Halen “If You Try to Make Things Too Perfect, You’ll Start Killing the Feel”: Vinnie Moore Talks Recording Guitars and His Genre-Spanning New Solo Album, ‘Double Exposure’ By Jude Gold published 22 August 23 “The more time you spend on something, the more you get drawn into that vortex of overanalyzing,” says the UFO axeman and solo artist, “and then you’ll fix something that doesn’t need to be fixed.” How to Tap Like Eddie Van Halen By Dale Turner published 9 August 23 Learn EVH's astonishing tapping techniques including slides, bends, harmonics and more Van Halen's ‘The Collection II’ Box Set Announced. Watch the Newly Remastered “Humans Being” Video Here By Rod Brakes published 9 August 23 Video The long-awaited sequel to Van Halen’s David Lee Roth era ‘The Collection’ contains four number-one Sammy Hagar era albums and a disc of rarities Video A Favorite of Eddie Van Halen, the MXR Phase 90 Smeared Its Luscious Tones Over Countless Classic Recordings By Dave Hunter published 1 August 23 More dramatic sounding than MXR’s Phase 45, more affordable and less obtrusive than the larger two-knob Phase 100, the Phase 90 hit the sweet spot Jason Becker is Selling an Autographed Peavey Wolfgang Guitar Given to Him by Eddie Van Halen By Jackson Maxwell published 24 July 23 All proceeds from the sale of the Wolfgang – one of the first 100 ever built – will go to assist Becker's family with the enormous costs of the guitarist's medical care. Learn 'The Eddie Van Halen Scale' in This Short, Simple Lesson and Add Some Attention-Grabbing Passages to Your Solos By Dale Turner published 13 July 23 Discover the memorable, three-notes-per-string symmetrical pattern that Ed frequently used for both major and minor keys Ten Mind-Blowing Rock Guitar Solos Every Player Needs to Know About By Guitar Player Staff published 29 June 23 From Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Slash, here are some of the greatest rock guitar solos ever committed to record The Essential Eddie Van Halen Guitar Lesson By Chris Buono published 29 June 23 Learn the secrets of the guitar legend's trademark soloing style “Nobody Can Be the Best Guitar Player. There’s No Such Thing”: Mind-Blowing Guitarist Harvey Mandel Riffs With ‘GP’ on His Music, Guitar Technique and a Certain Player by the Name of Eddie Van Halen By Bill Milkowski published 28 June 23 Fifty-five years since his solo bow, “The Sustain King” shows no sign of slowing down on his latest, ‘Who’s Calling’ Nuno Bettencourt: This is Something About the Progression of Eddie Van Halen's Tone that “Nobody Talks About” By Jackson Maxwell published 12 June 23 “People don't do that," Bettencourt told Rick Beato of this particular quirk of EVH's playing. "It's usually the other way around.” 123456789Archives Get The Pick NewsletterAll the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors MOST READ1Jimmy Page reflects on the Yardbirds, and his short-lived two-guitar tandem with Jeff Beck 2Jackson Browne, John Mellencamp, Mavis Staples honored by Bruce Springsteen at second annual American Music Honors 3Peter Frampton reveals the stories behind five of his classic tracks4PRS SE CE24, SE Custom 24 Quilt and SE Swamp Ash Special review 5How a deeply personal twist of events brought a beloved 'Burst into Vince Gill's life
“If You Try to Make Things Too Perfect, You’ll Start Killing the Feel”: Vinnie Moore Talks Recording Guitars and His Genre-Spanning New Solo Album, ‘Double Exposure’ By Jude Gold published 22 August 23 “The more time you spend on something, the more you get drawn into that vortex of overanalyzing,” says the UFO axeman and solo artist, “and then you’ll fix something that doesn’t need to be fixed.”
How to Tap Like Eddie Van Halen By Dale Turner published 9 August 23 Learn EVH's astonishing tapping techniques including slides, bends, harmonics and more
Van Halen's ‘The Collection II’ Box Set Announced. Watch the Newly Remastered “Humans Being” Video Here By Rod Brakes published 9 August 23 Video The long-awaited sequel to Van Halen’s David Lee Roth era ‘The Collection’ contains four number-one Sammy Hagar era albums and a disc of rarities
A Favorite of Eddie Van Halen, the MXR Phase 90 Smeared Its Luscious Tones Over Countless Classic Recordings By Dave Hunter published 1 August 23 More dramatic sounding than MXR’s Phase 45, more affordable and less obtrusive than the larger two-knob Phase 100, the Phase 90 hit the sweet spot
Jason Becker is Selling an Autographed Peavey Wolfgang Guitar Given to Him by Eddie Van Halen By Jackson Maxwell published 24 July 23 All proceeds from the sale of the Wolfgang – one of the first 100 ever built – will go to assist Becker's family with the enormous costs of the guitarist's medical care.
Learn 'The Eddie Van Halen Scale' in This Short, Simple Lesson and Add Some Attention-Grabbing Passages to Your Solos By Dale Turner published 13 July 23 Discover the memorable, three-notes-per-string symmetrical pattern that Ed frequently used for both major and minor keys
Ten Mind-Blowing Rock Guitar Solos Every Player Needs to Know About By Guitar Player Staff published 29 June 23 From Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page to Stevie Ray Vaughan and Slash, here are some of the greatest rock guitar solos ever committed to record
The Essential Eddie Van Halen Guitar Lesson By Chris Buono published 29 June 23 Learn the secrets of the guitar legend's trademark soloing style
“Nobody Can Be the Best Guitar Player. There’s No Such Thing”: Mind-Blowing Guitarist Harvey Mandel Riffs With ‘GP’ on His Music, Guitar Technique and a Certain Player by the Name of Eddie Van Halen By Bill Milkowski published 28 June 23 Fifty-five years since his solo bow, “The Sustain King” shows no sign of slowing down on his latest, ‘Who’s Calling’
Nuno Bettencourt: This is Something About the Progression of Eddie Van Halen's Tone that “Nobody Talks About” By Jackson Maxwell published 12 June 23 “People don't do that," Bettencourt told Rick Beato of this particular quirk of EVH's playing. "It's usually the other way around.”