When did Eddie Van Halen start tapping-late 1976 or 1977

[oth]

Listen to Ed s solo in the link.Its from May 1976.No tapping.Ed frikkin rips it up but there is no tapping: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EiKtb0oYmY

Did ed not know how to tap then?If so,that would mean he would only have about a year to learn the stuff to put it down for VH 1.Thats unreal.Is there any tapping on the gene simmons demos and when were those done?


And if you wanna see some real tapping from 1971 check this video link half way down the page: http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/news/gen ... o_takeover

Ed didnt invent tapping he just fully exploited it and incorporated it into his playing.

[The Flying Dutchman]

Did ed not know how to tap then?If so,that would mean he would only have about a year to learn the stuff to put it down for VH 1.Thats unreal.

Don't forget Ed's talent was unreal.....!
Not sure what year he started tapping but I think 1 year was plenty of time for somebody with the enormous talent like Ed had. And who was playing all the time! He must have been about 19, 20 then, when really dedicated, kids at that age (or younger) can make giant leaps technical wise in pretty short amount of time. Ed came on the idea to incoporate his right finger when he saw Jimmy Page on tv doing some pull offs with only his left hand. It started from there. Ed also said he was convinced people did it before him altough he never saw somebody doing it before him.

[BowTie29]

Most of Van Halens record except Jamies Cryin was written basically before they recorded so he just would have done the tapping parts within that year, but he did almost all of his solos spontaneously so if he wanted tapping he would have just played it when he had the chance to solo.

Also, today is the day when they got offered the deal from Warner Bros at the Starwood

[oth]

Did ed not know how to tap then?If so,that would mean he would only have about a year to learn the stuff to put it down for VH 1.Thats unreal.

Don't forget Ed's talent was unreal.....!
Not sure what year he started tapping but I think 1 year was plenty of time for somebody with the enormous talent like Ed had. And who was playing all the time! He must have been about 19, 20 then, when really dedicated, kids at that age (or younger) can make giant leaps technical wise in pretty short amount of time. Ed came on the idea to incoporate his right finger when he saw Jimmy Page on tv doing some pull offs with only his left hand. It started from there. Ed also said he was convinced people did it before him altough he never saw somebody doing it before him.

If you read that 2nd link steve hackett goes into it.
Like to come up with the tapping for spanish fly,dance the night away,ice cream man after only knowing how to tap for a year is insane.Ive read that there are no recordings of ed tapping before 76.That first link is eruption without tapping and the next year he had tapping in it.The guy is sick.

[kamalayka]

Ed's tapping is only the most basic style. It's not exactly rocket science.

Now, if Eddie did THIS after a year or so, I'd be impressed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcQYt7xvA8M

(around 1:27) Nothing new under the sun. . .

And Paganini was doing crap like this on the violin two hundred years earlier!


and here, around 1:52
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Svm_Vnntyk

And Brian May of Queen, around 5:14:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ

[oth]

Roy smeck is not doing any evh tapping there...he s just making chords with his left hand and pulling off notes with his index finger.Not tapping and left hand pull off/hammer-on.Ed blows that out.

Its not the speed of tapping or whatever, its incorporating a new technique with feel and purpose into the song.Its a part of the song or lead not a shred lesson.To be able to figure out how to inject this new technique to be meaningful is the amazing part.

[Paul Wolfe]

So, the Roy Smeck video showed me nothing that actually comes across as 'tapping' as defined in today's guitar world.

Ed has freely admitted that he didn't invent tapping (as Oth pointed out). The thing Ed did was take an idea he had seen Page do (bending a note up and tapping a higher fret before releasing the bend) and expand on that idea. Why do people talk smack about Ed? Randy didn't invent classical music, yet everyone is in awe of his use of classical playing in his music.

Ed's tapping is only the most basic style. It's not exactly rocket science.

You are 23, right? Born in 1989? So you were -11 when Ed recorded Eruption. No offense intended here, just trying to put things in perspective. In 1978 Ed's playing was indeed rocket science! Everybody's jaws dropped and they all said, "How'd he do that?" In the time you've been playing guitar, Ed's style has been dissected, studied and understood to the nth degree. Your playing benefits from what has come before you. We old guys had to struggle to figure it out until someone published an article on it.

That said, Eruption is still the benchmark for rock guitar. Sorry RR fans. And while I'm at it, how many RR fans gush over Dee while classical guitar players find it rather simplistic? It's all in your perspective.

[kamalayka]

Eddie is good, and I understand he was revolutionary, but there are guys from before him who impress me much more. Les Paul's playing from the fifties and forties blows my mind much more than flashy-sounding licks saturated with sound effects. And maybe I am biased because I have been doing classical piano music since long before I even knew what rock music really even was, but when I hear any rock guitar solo from any era, I am not as impressed as I would be had I only known that kind of music. (The only reason I sort of like Randy Rhoads is because of his sense of melody.)

I am not trying to disrespect Van Halen or the impact he had in a distorted rock guitar context, or rock music in general, but I find other, earlier stuff much more profound.

[Paul Wolfe]

I am not trying to disrespect Van Halen or the impact he had in a distorted rock guitar context, or rock music in general, but I find other, earlier stuff much more profound.

It's all good. We all like what we like. I wasn't saying you were disrespecting EVH, by the way, I just have heard so many people who weren't around in '78 bash Ed for relying on the tapping thing too much.

[kamalayka]

If I am not mistaken, Gene Simmons "discovered" Van Halen around 1976-1977 and flew them to New york to record what was at that time the world's most expensive demo. Nothing ever came of it, but Ace Frehley claimed that Eddie stole the tapping idea from him during this visit.

It would make sense if you think about it. Eddie didn't actually start tapping until around this time period, and there actually IS footage of Ace doing it in pre-Van Halen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiVDnAY8O3g (at around 3:20 he does his tapping part.)

[oth]

honestly,i think a 2yr old baby on crack could outplay ace frehley in that video.That was hideous.People get kicked out of Guitar Centers for playing like that.
No,that would not inspire anyone to tap,but if it did, it makes them even more phenomenal.

[kamalayka]

Did you see the part at 3:20? That was the point of the video-to show that there were people playing tapping crap in a distorted rock guitar context.

(And for the record, I've heard FAR worse in guitar center. The typical shredder who can't bend to pitch is a common offender.)

[Stiltzkin]

. And maybe I am biased because I have been doing classical piano music since long before I even knew what rock music really even was

...by that standard, Yngwie should be in your top 3

[oth]

Did you see the part at 3:20? That was the point of the video-to show that there were people playing tapping crap in a distorted rock guitar context.

Sorry but i dont think you know what your talking about here really as far as what tapping is.Yes ace frehley is playing tapping crap.And really that was barely tapping-very primitive.

Have you ever heard spanish fly,mean streets,push comes to shove,drop dead legs or even Hot for Teacher?Me thinks not.You need to.

Spanish fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDsa4uDM3zU

And here is how you attempt to play meanstreets: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7REzdVa ... re=related

Ace taps?

[kamalayka]

I don't want to get into an argument.

And yes, I am aware of Van Halen. I have every album on vinyl and CD (except for their newest one). The point I was trying to make was that Eddie wasn't the first guy in distorted rock guitar to have two hands on the fingerboard.

What about Steve Hackett? The intro to the song, "Return of the Giant Hogweed" has tapping in it. It's a little slower than Van Halen, but it's still tapping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxePi7ZjfKE

And Mean Streets is cool, but it's not really tapping as much as it using bass slap technique-but with his hand over the fingerboard. It's cool, and it's definitely original, but it's not AS original as some people might think.