Print

[razgueado]

Holy crap! Eddie Van Halen is dead.

[Travellin Dave]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

[Travellin Dave]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

Oops, a hair late...

[razgueado]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

Oops, a hair late...

Sorry, I'm a guitarist and this came flooding in from all directions on the computer after I returned from a doctor appointment.

For me, EVH's genius manifested not in his guitar solos but in his rhythm comping.  Most guitarists, when playing behind someone singing, strum the strings, play chord arpeggios, or do some sort of muted stabs.  Maybe they throw in some fills at the end of each phrase.  Then they shine in their solos.  If you're not a guitarist, then here are some examples from the top of my head: "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.  "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. "Taxman" or "The Word" by the Beatles.  "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.  "Back in Black" by AC/DC.  And I could go on and on and on.

But Eddie?  Eddie did this wild shit in the grooves behind the vocals.  And as wild as it is, it's never overdone or intrusive, always musical, always funky.  Listen to "Hot for Teacher" or "Ice Cream Man" from 1st era Van Halen, or "Finish What You Started" from the Sammy Hagar era.  Even if you don't play guitar, your ears will tell you this sounds very different from what other guitarists do. 

And to me, that is what made Eddie special.  All the two-handed tapping and speed and all that made teenagers bang their heads and all, but Eddie's incredibly deep groove is what made real musicians weep with envy.

[A Friend of Charlie]

Holy crap! Eddie Van Halen is dead.

I just read this online. Should have known cigarbanter would have the scoop first.

[A Friend of Charlie]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

Oops, a hair late...

Sorry, I'm a guitarist and this came flooding in from all directions on the computer after I returned from a doctor appointment.

For me, EVH's genius manifested not in his guitar solos but in his rhythm comping.  Most guitarists, when playing behind someone singing, strum the strings, play chord arpeggios, or do some sort of muted stabs.  Maybe they throw in some fills at the end of each phrase.  Then they shine in their solos.  If you're not a guitarist, then here are some examples from the top of my head: "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.  "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. "Taxman" or "The Word" by the Beatles.  "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.  "Back in Black" by AC/DC.  And I could go on and on and on.

But Eddie?  Eddie did this wild shit in the grooves behind the vocals.  And as wild as it is, it's never overdone or intrusive, always musical, always funky.  Listen to "Hot for Teacher" or "Ice Cream Man" from 1st era Van Halen, or "Finish What You Started" from the Sammy Hagar era.  Even if you don't play guitar, your ears will tell you this sounds very different from what other guitarists do. 

And to me, that is what made Eddie special.  All the two-handed tapping and speed and all that made teenagers bang their heads and all, but Eddie's incredibly deep groove is what made real musicians weep with envy.

I'm no musician but I hear what you're saying. I love listening for things that are happening in the background. No doubt Eddie was a genius.

[Oyam18]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

Oops, a hair late...

Sorry, I'm a guitarist and this came flooding in from all directions on the computer after I returned from a doctor appointment.

For me, EVH's genius manifested not in his guitar solos but in his rhythm comping.  Most guitarists, when playing behind someone singing, strum the strings, play chord arpeggios, or do some sort of muted stabs.  Maybe they throw in some fills at the end of each phrase.  Then they shine in their solos.  If you're not a guitarist, then here are some examples from the top of my head: "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.  "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. "Taxman" or "The Word" by the Beatles.  "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.  "Back in Black" by AC/DC.  And I could go on and on and on.

But Eddie?  Eddie did this wild shit in the grooves behind the vocals.  And as wild as it is, it's never overdone or intrusive, always musical, always funky.  Listen to "Hot for Teacher" or "Ice Cream Man" from 1st era Van Halen, or "Finish What You Started" from the Sammy Hagar era.  Even if you don't play guitar, your ears will tell you this sounds very different from what other guitarists do. 

And to me, that is what made Eddie special.  All the two-handed tapping and speed and all that made teenagers bang their heads and all, but Eddie's incredibly deep groove is what made real musicians weep with envy.

I'm no musician but I hear what you're saying. I love listening for things that are happening in the background. No doubt Eddie was a genius.

https://youtu.be/L9r-NxuYszg

[razgueado]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

Oops, a hair late...

Sorry, I'm a guitarist and this came flooding in from all directions on the computer after I returned from a doctor appointment.

For me, EVH's genius manifested not in his guitar solos but in his rhythm comping.  Most guitarists, when playing behind someone singing, strum the strings, play chord arpeggios, or do some sort of muted stabs.  Maybe they throw in some fills at the end of each phrase.  Then they shine in their solos.  If you're not a guitarist, then here are some examples from the top of my head: "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.  "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. "Taxman" or "The Word" by the Beatles.  "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.  "Back in Black" by AC/DC.  And I could go on and on and on.

But Eddie?  Eddie did this wild shit in the grooves behind the vocals.  And as wild as it is, it's never overdone or intrusive, always musical, always funky.  Listen to "Hot for Teacher" or "Ice Cream Man" from 1st era Van Halen, or "Finish What You Started" from the Sammy Hagar era.  Even if you don't play guitar, your ears will tell you this sounds very different from what other guitarists do. 

And to me, that is what made Eddie special.  All the two-handed tapping and speed and all that made teenagers bang their heads and all, but Eddie's incredibly deep groove is what made real musicians weep with envy.

I'm no musician but I hear what you're saying. I love listening for things that are happening in the background. No doubt Eddie was a genius.

Both Eddie and Alex Van Halen were pianists before they started playing rock n' Roll, and both won prizes at the junior level for it. I think this was key to their virtuosity and cleverness on guitar and drums respectively. They had a clear understanding of stacking and linking motifs - little musical phrases that are repeated throughout a composition. They both thought in multiple dimensions instead of linearly. Most Rock n' Roll musicians, being self-taught, are completely linear. There are rare exceptions, but they are far rarer than people think.

[Oyam18]

COVID19 test today, I think the nurse touched my brain with the swab. 😢

[razgueado]

We lost Eddie Van Halen today.  RIP

Oops, a hair late...

Sorry, I'm a guitarist and this came flooding in from all directions on the computer after I returned from a doctor appointment.

For me, EVH's genius manifested not in his guitar solos but in his rhythm comping.  Most guitarists, when playing behind someone singing, strum the strings, play chord arpeggios, or do some sort of muted stabs.  Maybe they throw in some fills at the end of each phrase.  Then they shine in their solos.  If you're not a guitarist, then here are some examples from the top of my head: "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.  "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. "Taxman" or "The Word" by the Beatles.  "The Wind Cries Mary" by Jimi Hendrix.  "Back in Black" by AC/DC.  And I could go on and on and on.

But Eddie?  Eddie did this wild shit in the grooves behind the vocals.  And as wild as it is, it's never overdone or intrusive, always musical, always funky.  Listen to "Hot for Teacher" or "Ice Cream Man" from 1st era Van Halen, or "Finish What You Started" from the Sammy Hagar era.  Even if you don't play guitar, your ears will tell you this sounds very different from what other guitarists do. 

And to me, that is what made Eddie special.  All the two-handed tapping and speed and all that made teenagers bang their heads and all, but Eddie's incredibly deep groove is what made real musicians weep with envy.

I'm no musician but I hear what you're saying. I love listening for things that are happening in the background. No doubt Eddie was a genius.

https://youtu.be/L9r-NxuYszg

Despite being an Eddie fan, I always considered "Eruption" mostly pointless. It's impressive as hell to those who don't play, and even to people first learning how to play. But once you get past the novice stage, you quickly realize that this is just a series of guitar techniques strung together, and the techniques aren't that hard to learn.  Learning to play Stevie Ray Vaughan's "Pride and Joy," or Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" is a far more daunting proposition. Or Hendrix's "Little Wing." All of these have very difficult guitar techniques in them, some of them nearly impossible for people who don't have the massive hands that Vaughan, Johnson, and Hendrix were possessed of.

[razgueado]

COVID19 test today, I think the nurse touched my brain with the swab.

Got lobotomized, didja?

[A Friend of Charlie]

And now Johnny Nash has also passed away at the age of 80.

[A Friend of Charlie]

@bluecollar: 8 minutes until game time...

[Travellin Dave]

For those of you still around, a little musical interlude by Weird Al.

https://youtu.be/un9x-DjTMT0

[A Friend of Charlie]

I went to grab a bite to eat and what happened to Deivi? We're still in the 2nd.