Guitarist Reacts to Eddie Van Halen - "Eruption" Guitar Solo

[@johnbedinghaus2390]

He wasn't just a tapper....he was THE tapper!

[@hopeklemann1]

🌸 " that guy is good at guitar" The understatement of the century

[@steved1135]

The best ever. Period. I saw him live several times, and just look at the way he's always smiling. The guy truly enjoyed playing. Straight up. Magic. Miss him every day.

[@MacawMayhem]

Dude.. I've watched this over 100 times and every time it makes me want to quit. But then it turns to inspiration. He's the greatest ever. He reinvented guitar playing and inspired millions to pick up the guitar.

[@princeofpcos9804]

Great analysis, you got the nuances. The songs in here are 316, Eruption, Cathedral, Mean Street (intro) and Spanish Fly .... with a bunch of Eddie noodling in between.

[@mrh3578]

His knowledge and application of harmonics is outstanding. He and his brother started with classical piano. They used to compete in piano competitions. You can hear the classical influence.

[@Sir_Osis]

Story time.. My uncle took me to see Van Halen for my 12th birthday back in 1984 in Los Angeles. Our seats were 10th row center stage. During Eddie’s guitar solo he would use a pick, toss the pick into the crowd, play with his fingers for a bit, grab another pick, and repeat the cycle over again. I stood up on the seat back of my chair using my uncles shoulders as a brace in the hopes I could be taller than everyone else and prepared for the next pick toss and hopefully grab one. About 2 min later Eddie looks up and stares me dead in my eyes and zings a pick right at me! I’m so excited and I lean forward to snatch it out of the air…and completely fall into my uncle and onto the poor people in row 9, as the pick sadly soared over my head and to some other lucky concert goer I assume. 😭 Such a great show and still such a great memory to this day! Would’ve liked to have gotten that pick though. Lol

[@Immortalheart66]

I was at this show. 10th row floor center. New Haven Coliseum. “King” Eddie was pretty drunk,…. But it didn’t affect his playing one bit. Epic show!!!! Great reaction!!!! Long live “king Eddie”!!! 🔥🔥🔥🎸🤘✌️

[@stevenseul361]

I saw the 1984 tour in Chicago with DLR I was happy to see Eddie.

[@christinaalgate4899]

Rest in Peace Eddie

[@wg1294]

I've been enjoying your reactions. Thanks for the Van Halen. Him and both eras of the band were a soundtrack to a generation. Rock on!

[@StanCostello-f2n]

Great reaction!! The GOAT period!! Van Halen has been my favorite band since they came out in 1978. I was 12 years old. Eddie has been my idol! R.I.P. KONG EDWARD!

[@bluntforcecompany4527]

Long live King Edward.

[@rickschlosser6793]

‘Eruption’ is the intro to the song ‘You Really Got Me’. (A ‘Kink’s’ cover) It is on their self titled debut album. Together probably something you should listen to.

[@PatrickSmith]

Don’t be discouraged. This happened over 40 years ago and remains a high standard even to this day.

[@carylawson-le7og]

D*** dude, another reaction video but can't you react at the end of the video? Just as soon as somebody starts getting into it, you come back on talking all this technical c*** that no one really cares about except guitar players. So if you're limiting your audience just to guitar players, you're doing a great job. But if you're trying to relate to the general public man, you need to close your mouth more and open your ears because you talk way way way way too much. Save it for the end. Just saying!!!

[@dustydail7113]

Hi Sohum, One of your The Warning friends :) I grew up listening to Eddie Van Halen. He was the first musician that I really connected to in the late 70s and early 80s. I tried playing electric guitar because of Eddie. He pioneered so many techniques and was a classically trained pianist as well. That's why you hear some classical music bits in his playing. Love that you reacted to this solo. Excellent reaction. Keep reacting to more Van Halen and The Warning. The Warning is taking up the mantle from where Van Halen and others have left off. l

[@stevenseul361]

Thank you Sohum.... You're thinking of the song after the solo called "You Really Got Me" it leads into it. .. This is just extended. Eruption is on their first album 1978. Eddie and all the greats from the 60's and 70's were the stepping stones for the guitarists today. I knew watching your reaction to this was going to be Great. Good Job Sohum.

[@hopeklemann1]

🌸 still miss him so much 💔

[@carolynfrancis-mclucas6185]

Eddie studied classical piano and was taught by a strict, ruler-wielding Russian tutor when he was younger, and he won the competition three years in a row. He wrote the music for the band. The drummer is his brother, Alex Van Halen.

[@hopeklemann1]

🌸 THE MASTER

[@jamminjeeper5854]

LOL, you're not the 1st or last guitar player to be baffled by what Eddie(RIP) did back in the day. He continues to inspire to this day.

[@HRConsultant_Jeff]

delay is a switch on his Frankenstrat plus he is moving the volume knob up and down to create the cello sound. So sad we lost this inventive genius. And to think that he also plays keyboards and was originally given drums but he and his brother switched and both were the better for it.

[@FransKoops]

this is not the frankenstrat it's a Kramer guitar !! look at the video again Kramer 5150

[@juliebrockett3471]

Great reaction!! Don’t worry, he makes everybody want to quit!! His father was a classical musician and taught him and Alex their whole lives! Eddie played drums and Alex played guitar then they decided to switch! So they are both classically trained and Eddie plays keys as well!! He was the master of tapping and unique sounds of the 70s and 80s! I had pictures of him all over my walls in high school..Lol! He was a genius! Be well and God bless.. from Texas!!

[@Kevin-i6t5i]

Eddie and his brother Alex(the drummer) were classically trained musicians.

[@NeonNights80]

The album version of Eruption is only a couple minutes long. This version is a combination of the original song, some improv and some parts from other songs like Cathedral and Mean Street.

[@srt8rocketship241]

That guy's good at guitar. Agreed.

[@buckshotjenkins]

5150 live from this concert...a little "best of most-everything" in one incredible solo.

[@chuckhalen9543]

Welp, here you are! Probably time to do a deep dive on EVH and his music! The guy wasn’t from this planet! Happy Birthday to EVH today! He would have been 70 today! RIP!

[@listenup7284]

Doesn't get much better than prime Eddie Van Halen. He changed the way guitar was played. His rhythm playing is as revolutionary as his leads.

[@WorldWide-q8v]

Welcome to King Edward's world. Be epic, review albums, first six. Start with the debut. The guitar world changed in '78. Everything that followed in 80's rock was a reaction to Ed showing up. Everyone tried to sound like look like play like Van Halen. The entire band and their sound is incredible. They single-handedly brought rock to the forefront of popular music in the late 70's 80's. Do the albums, the Van Halen army will support.

[@somecallmetim2112]

Yeah, there's some improv, here, but there are a lot of riffs from actual songs as well, notably 10:50 (in your vid), which is a shortened version of "Cathedral" from the album "Diver Down". He's hammering on while using his right hand to flip the volume knob back and forth, creating that organ-like effect, with a heavy delay effect in the circuit. I'm sure some EVH junkie can tell you exactly what delay unit was used, but I don't know.

[@bradshagrin8352]

Check out Tina S - Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement cover

[@charlesdroidable]

Super tapper?! Bro, he invented it for rock guitar. every guitarist you ever heard drank from his well. Now 40 years later they “sweep into tapping” and make believe they are genius… this is daddy.

[@truther4life]

Eddie says he was so drunk he didn't even remember this!

[@rustyl.6358]

Dude, you had to be there. Jimi Hendrix changed guitar forever, because he played a guitar like no one ever had before. It gave birth to new music and styles. And many trying to copy. Then came Eddie, and he did the same thing. He changed guitar forever because he played a guitar like no one ever had before him. Both were inventive and musical geniuses. You've now heard all the copiers because of your age. But no one had heard anything like this before he did it. It was new and astonishing beyond words, compared to reacting to it today. He changed guitar and music forever.

[@billpimentel-vm6cu]

The electric cello.

[@MacPro8CoreMan]

I wish this was not called Eruption. There is a 1 min 41 sec instrumental on Van Halen’s first album titled Eruption that is a masterpiece, changing electric guitar for ever. But prior to the February 1978 release of their debut album, was a staple of their live shows on the Sunset Strip. What you just heard was a combination of tasty licks from over a dozen of Van Halen’s songs; cherry picked from the bands first six albums. Edward also wrote filler licks to fill in the gaps of the solo.

[@tomjudge7920]

Eddie build all of his guitars because no one made one to match what he wanted

[@barryharris4967]

Your referencing bands that the players weren't even born when Eddie Van Halen did this. You say he's throwing new techniques at you every minute this is 40 years ago

[@brianlipskey8440]

whats crazy to me is Eddie never owned or used a distortion pedal.....you hear stories of great artists meeting him and trying to play his rig ...and cant...reason why he is called "The King"....

[@georgewashington5979]

Eddie invented tapping. RIP Eddie.

[@byronayme1563]

Literally!

[@vincei-ye6dp]

Eddie put tapping on the map for sure, but he said many times that he did not invent tapping. He saw Jimmy Page playing his guitar with only his left hand when he and his brother went to see Zeppelin in California and Eddie said he just added a finger from his right hand on the neck and like the tone. But Eddie never said or claimed that he invented tapping.

[@rickycox6111]

He didn't invent it but he made every guitar player in the world want to play like him.

[@tomjudge7920]

He perfected it he didn't create it 😊

[@billpimentel-vm6cu]

Eddie invented the tapping. Everyone else copied him.

[@timnotbrianmay]

... Did this NOT make you want to put your equipment out in the trash, on next trash day?!?!?!?!? 🙀😿😾😸😸😸 And just some FYI stuff, back in the day, we called it " touch playing"!!! "Tapping"is what he does MUCH LATER, after the mean Street stuff he does, where he taps harmonics on the strings above the frets that he's holding down with his left hand! Those are " tap harmonics! "And the thing that he did with sliding his right hand down the strings while he was pulling off on his left hand! He first did that in somebody get me a doctor! I had to actually SEE a very good friend of mine do that, and explain it to me!!!!!!!!!!! As far as you are calling " tapping " goes, Eddie does hammer on and pull off technique with his right hand, in an upward direction, where he will pluck the lowest note with his right hand, while fretting that note with his left hand, and will continue hammering on with his left hand, and then his right hand, and then plucking off with his right hand, to continue the legato phrasing! And, it DOESN'T sound like a Hammond Organ... It sounds like a CELLO! The thing you called Palm muting and tapping, is the beginning of the song mean Streets! It's actually SLAPPING, much like bass players do!!!!!!!!!! And the harmonic tapping is done by fretting a note with your left hand, and then tapping over the fret with your right hand, in exactly numerical order where "natural "harmonics are found on an open string! ... You know! 12, 5, 7, 9, 4, 3... ABSOLUTELY DEPENDING on the gain structure and volume that you're playing it!!!!!!!!!! And, he was playing with touch playing 😸 with his right hand on multiple strings, while fretting the notes with his left hand, and moving them apart, and together, to create that sound, JUST BEFORE He gets into the harmonic tapping! And then after that, he goes back into touch playing three or four note arpeggios? This was what he originally did on Van Halen 2, on the song Spanish fly! Have you listen to the original " eruption " from the first album??? Just some FYI stuff... I started playing in 1973, and took lessons from a progressive rock teacher, and was taught VERY GOOD TECHNIQUE! Not bragging here, but just telling the truth... I very quickly became a local legend! I've taught many, MANY players over the years, and one who is a HUGE Eddie fan! And he credits ME as his source and inspiration! And I can tell you that he is ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!!!!!! So, what I'm TRYING to say is that You can trust what I'm telling you!!!!!!!

[@Woodwerker]

Your thumbs up went to thumbs down when I saw that you are asking for $15 for reaction requests. Get a life bro. See ya

[@BearIslandTV]

Extremely impressive dicking around. But let’s be real - this is not a song, and doesnt really convey anything at all aside from “hey guys look what I can do”

[@nunyabizness6546]

Van Halen the "stupid pet tricks" of guitarists. Probably the most overrated musician in rock history. Interesting for a minute then just mind numbing sameness.

[@briancarr4607]

BOLLOCKS 😅

[@lunker1769]

I'm glad you watched this. You should check out his son Wolfgang. he's a phenomenal multi instrumentalist. He recorded all of the instruments and sang all of the vocals for both of his Mammoth WVH albums. 👍

[@robertknapp8328]

That’s what practicing 12 hours a day will do for you. You just listened to the King. RIP GOAT