Play Like Eddie Van Halen

Plug in and rock out as TG gets hot for teaching Eddie Van Halen’s trademark riffs and techniques

Fact: Eddie Van Halen reinvented rock guitar for generations of players, and there’s no doubt the word ‘virtuoso’ applies. With a large arsenal of techniques at his disposal, he’d constantly move his pick hand around the guitar body to make adjustments to the volume knob and pickup selector, to use the whammy bar or kill-switch, and to find the sweet spot for his signature harmonics and tapped notes. That’s a lot of work for the right hand – and, let’s face it, it’s the fretting hand that usually takes up most of our practice time. Point is, you may need to think a little differently when you try our Evh-inspired riffs and licks. Break each one down into shorter bite-sized phrases and think about joining it all together later. There’s always something to learn, even if a lick is just too damn hard to play all the way through. For now though, you might as well jump right in...