Two Hand Tapping 1965!

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Tito
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Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by Tito »

im in no way diminishing evh's contribution to music,but i found this really interesting!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7M8L1rAUsI
Paul Wolfe
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by Paul Wolfe »

I hate it when people post videos saying "EDDIE VAN HALEN DID NOT INVENT TAPPING" no shit, no one really thinks he did. Ed made it famous by being really fucking good at it. Stanley Clarke is better at it, but never got famous the way Ed did because Ed did it in really cool songs.
oth
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by oth »

besides being the greatest rock guitarist,evh was the greatest showman guitarist...and if i think about it,he was probably better than dave himself.EVH was very physical in concert and had more moves than townsend et al.
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by Paul Wolfe »

oth wrote:besides being the greatest rock guitarist,evh was the greatest showman guitarist...and if i think about it,he was probably better than dave himself.EVH was very physical in concert and had more moves than townsend et al.
It's hard to realize how much of an influence he was looking back. A lot of guitar players now move like Ed did back in the day, but, obviously, that's because of Ed.

Kind of like the fact that KISS started the fireworks and smoke so common in rock concerts today. You look back at a KISS show from the '70's when they were "the greatest show on earth" and it looks tame by today's standards, but in the day, it was amazing and influence all who followed.
oth
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by oth »

if ed s jumps and strutting had any influence i havent noticed it....i think what he and dave did live is just too hard and was inate and part of the music and vibe...ive seen all these singers try to do spit jumps in videos etc and it is laughable/spinal tapish dlr attempt.
VH showmanship was revolutionary and was never seen before nor since.Whenever i see live bands and their stage moves i always see that their attempting to do something and when i see vh,i see what those bands couldnt grasp.Not that youre supposed to be the circus but vh nailed showmanship.Most bands i saw back in the 80s like ozzy,dio,sabbath,priest pulled all the cliche moves like headbanging or devil horn stuff.Only queen and vh were original and great.And vh blew away queen for stage moves.
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

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oth wrote:if ed s jumps and strutting had any influence i havent noticed it... Most bands i saw back in the 80s like ozzy,dio,sabbath,priest pulled all the cliche moves like headbanging or devil horn stuff...
You're right, those bands didn't show a VH influence, but they were also precursors to VH. Look to the Sunset Strip party bands (of which VH was one) - Motley, Ratt, Poison, et al got what VH started. Winger was another one that got the movement down. You may not like their music, but we're talking visuals here.

Basically you would need danceable party rock to move the way Dave did. He always said his place in the band was to make sure what Ed came up with was danceable.
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orion_damage
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by orion_damage »

Paul Wolfe wrote:I hate it when people post videos saying "EDDIE VAN HALEN DID NOT INVENT TAPPING" no shit, no one really thinks he did. Ed made it famous by being really fucking good at it. Stanley Clarke is better at it, but never got famous the way Ed did because Ed did it in really cool songs.
Can you post something of Stanley Clarke? I've Youtube'd this guy and watched four different videos and he didn't do any finger tapping like Eddie.
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by Paul Wolfe »

Sorry, I meant Stanley Jordan... my bad.

Interesting article written by Jordan on getting started with tapping can be found here. It's an article from Guitar Player magazine published in 1984 (after Ed made tapping famous) which states that Stanley Jordan had been playing in this "touch-style" since 1976 (or before he could have been influence by EVH).
Stanley Jordan wrote:THE TOUCH, OR TWO-HANDED TAPPING TECHNIQUE can provide limitless possibilities for exploration on the guitar. The earliest documented guitarist using this approach was Jimmy Webster in the 1950s. It has now begun to enjoy considerable use among guitarists. The essence of tapping is this: By hammering the string against the fretboard with your finger, you can produce a note with one hand. You don't need to pluck or strum, because the impact of the string hitting the fret causes the string to vibrate. Either hand works, and you can even use both hands tapping simultaneously on the fingerboard, performing independent parts.


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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

Post by Paul Wolfe »

Billy Sheehan has the best comment I've read on the EVH subject:
A lot of the great guitarists really haven't been able to communicate outside of their fellow musicians or guitar aficionados. But you look at a piece of music like "Jump" -- that sold more than the other guitar hero-types put together. When you hear an Ed Van Halen solo, you're not just wowed by technique. There are other solos that are faster and more burning -- and may even be more difficult to play -- but his solos still have the greatest impact. It's all a matter of style.
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orion_damage
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Re: Two Hand Tapping 1965!

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Paul Wolfe wrote:Billy Sheehan has the best comment I've read on the EVH subject:
A lot of the great guitarists really haven't been able to communicate outside of their fellow musicians or guitar aficionados. But you look at a piece of music like "Jump" -- that sold more than the other guitar hero-types put together. When you hear an Ed Van Halen solo, you're not just wowed by technique. There are other solos that are faster and more burning -- and may even be more difficult to play -- but his solos still have the greatest impact. It's all a matter of style.

Absolutely true and the same idea is true for people trying to compare the skill level of yesterday's guitar heroes to today's guitarists.
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