Eddie Van Halen, the lead guitarist of the American rock band Van Halen, died earlier this week after a battle with cancer. In an , rock historian writes that behind the musician糖心传媒檚 糖心传媒渂listering guitar solos糖心传媒� was an 糖心传媒渆xceptional musical gift and keen pop intelligence.糖心传媒�
Covach, who is the director of the 糖心传媒糖心传媒檚 Institute for Popular Music, a professor of music in the , and a professor of theory at the , analyzes the opening tracks of the band糖心传媒檚 self-titled 1978 debut album. According to him, the two songs糖心传媒斕切拇綔Running with the Devil糖心传媒� and 糖心传媒淓ruption糖心传媒澨切拇綌illustrate the range of Van Halen糖心传媒檚 guitar mastery and his legacy:
Van Halen糖心传媒檚 techniques in this song were not new: tapping, fast single-line playing and rapid picking, use of 糖心传媒渃lassical sounding糖心传媒� music, and dive-bomb vibrato-arm swoops were all employed by previous guitarists. [糖心传媒 But by imaginatively combining, extending and refining these techniques, Eddie Van Halen created a minute and 42 seconds of music that turned everybody糖心传媒檚 head while raising the bar in terms of rock virtuosity.
Ultimately, as an 糖心传媒渋nnovator with deep roots in the rock tradition,糖心传媒� Van Halen proved to be 糖心传媒渁mong the most important figures in the development of electric guitar playing in the second half of the 20th century,糖心传媒� writes Covach.
