The Origin of Tapping on Guitar

[@MusicisWin]

I hope you enjoyed the video! Thanks for watching and hope everyone is doing great. Now quit reading these comments and pick up your guitar!

[@billmozart7288]

You got me

[@zackmags2458]

Can I finish my homework first?

[@neenuvasu]

I am already subscribed. CHECKMATE. TYLER

[@NivanSharma]

Music is Win yes father I will practice

[@chrisoma4]

If you wanna see true tapping look up stanley Jordan, jon gomm, alex misko or any of the rest of those guys in the percussive guitar community. Eddie can't hold a candle to them. Anyone can tap with one finger but not many can do an eight finger tapping solo while playing different layers of music independently with each hand.

[@myless.5493]

Person: Eddie, what was the note again Eddie: Its right here *accidentally touches the string*

[@plowablemars2697]

That's how tapping was invented

[@putridabomination]

Zappa did it before him though

[@commentfreely5443]

my hand is fretting

[@joshuafreedman7703]

Putrid Abomination Evidence recontinuously points out that Edward Van Halen himself never once in his lifetime has tried to claim he invented the technique, or was the *first* to use it. So making protest statements such as "Zappa did before him" is just needless.

[@MarylandGuy-ey3st]

EVH didn’t invent it but he made it mainstream in rock music

[@evanelgart5449]

Tyler thank you so much for mentioning Genesis. A lot of people don’t realize that Steve Hackett was a serious tapping pioneer and how influential he was with the technique. You’re the man!

[@aliensporebomb]

Be sure to check out “Shadow of the Hierophant” from Hackett’s “Voyage of the Acolyte” where he does an unaccompanied tapping solo between two sections but with a lot more echo. This was done in 1975,

[@tonymagrogan]

Also, the intro to Return of the Giant Hogweed in Nursery Cryme (1971). And 2m35s into Dancing With The Moonlit Knight from Selling England By The Pound (1973).

[@francescofavro8888]

@@tonymagrogan and also in the live version of "The Knife"

[@tonymagrogan]

@@francescofavro8888 that’s right. Live, because Ant Phillips did the studio version

[@LaMarcGasoldridge]

John Du Cann of Atomic Rooster was guitar tapping back in early 1971, and I am surprised no one has ever mentioned him. This even predates Steve Hackett doing it during Nursery Cryme later on in the same year.

[@IgnorancEnArrogance]

Personally I give the credit to Steve Hackett for adding the hard rock electric guitar tone that is intrinsically tied to tapping today. He also does some great tapping on The Return of The Giant Hogweed and Supper's Ready during that 71-72' era of Genesis.

[@drwugong]

I was going to say, wasn't the intro to hogweed the first in a rock context?

[@RandyResnick]

Thanks for the mention! Hey bros, at 00:01:20 you ask about Harvey Mandel and me. Harvey played alongside me in PFDA with Sugarcane in 1970 (he's in that photo) and he first saw me tapping night after night in most of my (rare!) solos. He likes to say he brought it out more to the public, which is true. This is mentioned in Van Halen 101 and by Lee Rittenour who was at the Whisky one night when we played there with Richard Greene. As for the inspiration, I did want to be able to play as fast as Don, but the inspiration came from African music, similar to Herbie Hancock's later version of Watermelon Man that used the bottle sounds. That is how it started, playing intervals too wide to play legato on the neck with the left had. That was also the time of the Chapman Stick.

[@FreeBrunoPowroznik]

Hi Randy. Fantastic to read your comment and see you on here. I'm sure I read somewhere that Zappa got his tapping (with plectrum) technique from either you or Harvey. Did you ever spot that moustache in the crowd?

[@RandyResnick]

@@FreeBrunoPowroznik Hey, great to hear from you! I recall Frank was at the same studio as we were at some point, but did not actually see him. I recall he was in a foul mood. You've seen the Italian guy on TV years before, killing it with tapping? The unique thing about what I was doing then and now is the rhythm. The tapping technique itself has been around forever. I think Harvey finally came around to admitting that he may have been "inspired" by seeing me do it. There a good example of what I was doing on my wikipedia page.

[@FreeBrunoPowroznik]

@@RandyResnick Thank you so much for the reply Randy. I've got Sugarcane Harris's anthology cd (vol 1) and I'm sure you are on some of the tracks. That music is unbelievable!

[@RandyResnick]

@@FreeBrunoPowroznik I'm glad you like it, it was an amazing experience playing with those guys!

[@markr.devereux3385]

Great comment I totally believe what you are saying. And props about the Chapman stick. The technique is integral to the instrument. I feel there is more to the story . Steve LYNCH remembers learning the technique at THE GUITAR INSTITUTE. it was floating around and Steve being the guitar master he was tracked down a fusion player that shared the tapping thing with him. This was pre-van Halen debut record. Of course EVH really fleshed it out in all its glory. But it was coming down the pike and would have hit the main stream at some point.

[@lauscho]

Steve Hackett also did some rudimentary sweep picking along with tapping on "Dancing with the Moonlit Knight". His credentials as a pioneer of shred techniques must NOT be diminished and I'd love for you to give him more love in a future episode.

[@falappisgarage_yt]

I was just excited to hear someone mention Steve Hackett. Especially in the same video as Van Halen. Hackett is severely underrated.

[@PastelComGini]

Hackett's "tapping" is very audible in Selling England By the Pound's solo.

[@neenuvasu]

Just started guitar super system. Amazing recommend to everyone. Trying to improve guitar in lockdown. Stay healthy Tyler 💙.

[@ChristianIce]

0:00 Question. 2:09 Answer.

[@devilgryphon6914]

Ahahhaha ma che ci fai qui

[@themistoklestheodosopoulos6253]

Hacket was sick. Those early Genesis albums are fire. Also the tapping on the solo from Musical Box was definitely not showmanship. It was a compositional tool.

[@pumbar]

Agreed

[@NivanSharma]

Themistokles Theodosopoulos 100% agree

[@socialdef3]

Genesis was at the top of their game in the 70's.... nobody could touch them except perhaps Yes, and in the late 70's, Rush appeared.

[@magnusbruce4051]

Yeaaah, from Trespass to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway are all prog rock essentials. Steve is such a humble and chilled out guy, too. Yeah, he was pioneering a bunch of techniques and had an acute sense of not over-playing (even though he definitely could if he wanted) but is often overlooked as a musician in Genesis. I saw him a few years ago on one of his Genesis Revisited tours. He's started incorporating some new techniques into his playing like mashing the tremolo bar and is, I think, more technically proficient than he was in the early-mid 70s. He's about the same age as the rest of the guys from Genesis, but he looks about ten or twenty years younger imo. Possibly because he's so chilled out. Back when I saw him playing Gabriel era songs was the night after I saw Peter Gabriel play the final date of his tour and in the same city. I felt there might be a guest appearance as he was in the area and Steve was doing the songs Peter sang, but nothing happened. Incidentally, Stephen Biko's son was in the audience for Peter's gig, so that made the performance of Biko just that extra special.

[@IgnorancEnArrogance]

Yeah for how incredible and moving his guitar playing was, he is probably the least showy guitar player I've ever seen, sitting and looking down for most of his entire run with Genesis like he was a session musician.

[@IgnorancEnArrogance]

The Musical Box is the first recorded instance when it comes to real electric tapping, but a lot of people don't seem to be aware that Steve used it to a further extent on at least two other Genesis songs roughly within the same year: The Return of the Giant Hogweed from the same album starts with finger tapping. Then the third movement as well as the last minute of the epic Supper's Ready in 1972 use the technique in a comparatively faster and more effective way like EHV. There is a good amount of video footage Steve playing these songs in 1971-1972. The Musical Box only has 5 seconds of tapping, whereas these two other songs give a much better example of Steve's compositional finger-tapping from the former and improvised finger-tapping from the latter. While it's obvious that EVH perfected and popularized the technique, Steve deserves a little more credit in this topic than just a quick honorable mention.

[@Blockoumi]

also in dancing with the moonlit knight in 1973

[@bobapposite4435]

Which is almost certainly where Eddie actually got it.

[@hugoleonardoamaral586]

There's also a Queen song that uses tapping. When asked where he took inspiration, Brian may said he took it from Billy gibbons in the song "beer drinkers and hellraisers" I'm pulling it all from memory right now but I still have this interview somewhere in my guitar magazines

[@rickyperaza411]

Hugo Leonardo Amaral the song is called it's late 👍🏼👍🏼

[@norman3605]

“It’s Late” from News of the World (1977). First VH album 1978. May did something quite different than Van Halen’s work on first album, as May incorporated heavy string bending using his left hand with the tapping of his right hand. In both cases you get a solo that sounds like something other than a guitar, but both styles sound quite different from each other.

[@KelliHell]

There are also a few tapped notes right at the end of the solo in "Bohemian Rhapsody"

[@andjustjizzforall]

@@KelliHell No there definitely is not any tapping in that

[@KelliHell]

@@andjustjizzforall Sorry, it's later on; right before "Nothing really matters.. etc." kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHuco4iwfrKWkLM

[@zaneroote5798]

I'd like to add 2 musicians that I can name of from the top of my head seen using a tapping technique similar to EVH's Ace Frehley was seen using it at KISS' appearance of the Midnight Special Brian May uses a similar tapping technique in the solo of "It's Late" You didn't ask for this so here you go.

[@TribalGuitars]

A lot of that tapping was often just using the pick to trill the string here and there, usually on one string for a few seconds at most. It's a tapping technique but it's not what we now know as tapping.

[@zaneroote5798]

@@TribalGuitars That's a considerable shout, but I do recall in an instructional video that Brian did, he was using his index finger instead of a plectrum or his usual sixpence piece. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[@vaporman442]

Yes, Ace taps on the extended solo on the live version of Shock me (KISS ALIVE II.) I think Gene was familiar with VH by this time, so it is possible Ace picked it up from Eddie (even though this recording was made before the VH debut.)

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Ace Frehely is a "musician?" You use that word quite broadly.

[@zaneroote5798]

@@johnp.johnson1541 i mean, he doesn't broaden it that much to some other people i can name

[@Dan-C-71]

Can’t really talk about tapping without a mention of Emmett Chapman and the Chapman Stick, most notably used by bass player Tony Levin of King Crimson and Peter Gabriel fame.

[@July-gj1st]

I really loved this video! Here’s some ideas I’d love to hear in this format: Origin of sweep picking Origin of pinch harmonics

[@dannycottar3737]

Roy Buchanan (spelling ?) was the 1st to be recorded using , pinch harmonics . He says , he used to accidentally do it . Then he started deliberately doing it . He was fantastic , RIP .

[@robertrobles4028]

Jimmy Webster recorded his tapping technique on an entire record in 1959. Webster called his technique the touch method. He was doing it years before….It’s available on KZbin. That beats all of the guys you mentioned by several years. He actually wrote an instruction book ‘the Touch Method for Electric Spanish Guitars in the 1950’s.

[@charlesperry671]

The magic about tapping is that back in the early 50’s - late 70’s, before the internet, it was a technique you had to figure out yourself. I couldn’t imagine the excitement artists like Eddie felt after figuring out how to do it in their bedroom as a teen.

[@socialdef3]

Imagine poor Eddies surprise when Steve Hackett had been doing it for years already.

[@RogueReplicant]

@@socialdef3 Why would he be surprised? He figured it out on his own, stylized it and made it his own.

[@socialdef3]

@@RogueReplicant you're absolutely right, I should re-phrase: "imagine evh fanboys surprise to learn he wasn't the first and isn't the end-all, be-all of tappy guitarists.

[@EXMORr]

Eddie (EVH) Made Tapping His Own and Brought The Technique To The Forefront !! Like Everything That EVH Does !! He Didn't Invent The Guitar , He Reinvented it To His Own Liking and Need !! The Samething Applies To Tapping He May Not Have Invented it , He Just Put His Own Spin on it and Reinvented it For His Own Use and Liking , and in So Doing Made The Technique a Part of Everyday Music !! Thank You Mr. Eddie Van Halen !! The One Thing That Eddie Really Did Was Made Playing The Guitar as Hard as HELL and The Most Fun I've Ever Had All at The Same Time !!

[@SawyerJBokusky]

Zappa had an influential type of tapping with the side of his pick, he kinda used as an overtone but I count it.

[@LeSpulch]

I was gonna say, I imagine Vai's tapping influence primarily came from Zappa and not Van Halen. I really like those real quick and chirpy Zappa taps.

[@hectormichelin]

Black napkins in 1976 live he does it

[@caiocury7655]

The earliest recording I know of is the end of the Inca Roads solo on the One Size Fits All album... From a 1974 live recording and released in 1975

[@mraycgz]

Of course it was Frank! Who else was doing anything like him at the time? Maybe captain beefeheart but that’s similar but different.

[@jackworman6780]

@@caiocury7655 yes that’s undoubtedly something he should have mentioned

[@sonicbridge1944]

As an eyewitness, I can declare that Harvey Mandel's tapping technique was being used as far back as the Early 70's. He may not have been the first to use it, but he was the first rock and blues player to noticeably incorporate it into his playing style.

[@RandyResnick]

Yes, your declaration is true! It's right when we were both in Pure Food & Drug in the early 1970's. He'll confirm he first saw me tapping, then developed his own use.

[@wowbaggerTIP]

Wait, the very first guy you showed, Vittorio Camardes, was doing that, but you said it was compositional and therefore more akin to bass. So why does Eddie tapping compositionally count, but not Vittorio? This seems directly contradictory

[@MusicisWin]

*in a rock context* Vittorio's technique is not what most would associate with tapping, even though he indeed was tapping that thang

[@mistalee9300]

@@MusicisWin I would say people like Yvette Young or Shalfi would be a quality comparison to Vittorio

[@TheZooropaBaby]

@@MusicisWin Vittorio's technique seems a bit more akin to what guys from CHON or Yvette Young do now....or maybe Ian Williams?

[@deldia]

It's definitely what I associate with tapping. As far I know he's the clearest earliest reference.

[@jacobflint9359]

@@mistalee9300 Yvette young is brilliant

[@doitnowvideosyeah5841]

First tapping I saw was Adrian Belew he used it mostly to achieve huge intervals like a low F to a d above high C. Differnet from the Hackett/Van Halen style which I think Zappa called bag pipe guitar

[@p4nico20]

there are plenty of genesis and hackett songs with tapping: the return of the giant hogweed the musical box suppers ready and so many more

[@erikberg5363]

Yeah, and while it is only "fragments", I would definitely say it was used as a compositional tool.

[@pumbar]

Dancing with the moonlight knight has atonal finger picking and sweep picking too.

[@loganressler9173]

My first thought, I expected this whole video to be about Steve Hackett

[@p4nico20]

@@erikberg5363 yeah! totaly!

[@p4nico20]

hackett definitely don't use tapping for showmanship

[@hansvandermeulen5515]

In the Genesis song The Return Of The Giant Hogweed has a recurring riff using tapping, it's doubled on organ so it's used compositionally, well before EVH.

[@jmjeffries2]

watch the video, I guess. Why do people comment beforehand?

[@James-we9ro]

"Mum can we pick up some John Mayer at the shops?" "We have John Mayer at home" At home: Music is Win

[@moufuzz2759]

I don't see the problem

[@sparklydiamondz5464]

You think he’s bad at guitar?

[@James-we9ro]

Ask one of the 117 people who understood the joke to explain it

[@t.k.326]

@@sparklydiamondz5464 I think he’s saying the exact opposite of what you said

[@nocturnal7345]

@@t.k.326 Usually, the context of this meme is that the thing at home is a mediocre version of what the person actually wants to buy, so I can't blame him if he mistook it easily, same as I did. They're both amazing anyways.

[@davefree11]

Eruption is the reason I’m here. That was my hook. The defining moment I wanted to play guitar.

[@July-gj1st]

I really loved this video! Here’s some ideas I’d love to hear in this format: Origin of sweep picking Origin of pinch harmonics

[@miriambenjisalarmedia8340]

Music is win is great!!

[@michaelmoore7975]

*Honorable Mention* In the early-mid 70's there were 3 guys starting to make waves in Texas: Eric Johnson, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Rocky Athas. Of the 3 it was Rocky, The Texas Tornado, The Malice From Dallas, The Young Eric Clapton, The Last Great Bluesbreaker Guitarist who was voted Most Likely to Succeed. Any body whoever seen Rocky back then would attest to his blazing and frenetic tapping style predating EVH as a part of his compositions in his band Lightning. Even though worldwide success eluded him, he played with Black Oak Arkansas, Joe Walsh, Glenn Hughes, Buddy Miles, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers and Double Trouble. You can still hear him playing in and around Texas.

[@doitnowvideosyeah5841]

Where does he play usually? Dallas? I never heard of him round Austin I want to check him out

[@ReasonableRam]

My favorite type of content from this channel. The informative research videos are the best.

[@chutneyferret3569]

Your channel is so thorough, seriously.

[@rowenlampe7426]

cmon man we all know it was Taylor Swift, don't you know she is our generations EVH!

[@rockaddict3744]

Pretty certain lil wayne is our generation's Eddie Van Halen 😁😉

[@yellowshark8483]

Rock Addict I agree

[@TheZooropaBaby]

@@rockaddict3744 actually Playboi Carti is this generation's EVH

[@BubbaBass_Official]

Get the f out of here now go back to where you peppy hip hop heads belong. People who said that deserve to be hang.

[@nehemiahzo_]

Jason Voorhees man Taylor Swift isn’t hip hop. Some pop music is good, e.x Shawn Mendes because he’s actually playing an instrument, and some hip hop is good e.x Post Malone, who is trying to keep rock alive too.

[@Kylora2112]

Steve Hackett also had an amazing tapping lick in Gensis's "Supper's Ready."

[@stebbarry9395]

Dave Bunker is another player that very few seem to know about. From the Wikipedia page "Dave Bunker developed and patented the first double-necked tap/touch-style guitar,[6] which he called the Duo'Lectar." in 1955. I have seen a video where he plays rhythm with one hand on one neck and melody with his other hand on the other neck.

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

The popularization of tapping on the guitar has really turned out quite well, hasn't it.

[@flutterwind7686]

Esp. the instagram guitarists

[@wayneclark3020]

First thing I thought of was " I wonder if he will mention Steve Hackett or the 1950s spanish guitar guy?" Great job. Glad to see credit given to players who deserve it in the proper historical context.

[@bLackmarketRadio]

Nothing says "I'm a guitar channel" like a hip hop outro.

[@Brewed.tea.]

Clay Old yep I might dislike the video just for that. edit. I did

[@erwin2869]

@@Brewed.tea. agreed

[@nehemiahzo_]

I think it’s because it appeals to more people

[@nucleardancemoves255]

@@erwin2869 maybe, but the people who that’d be intended for aren’t really found here

[@nirki]

In Dancing with the moonlit knight (Gensis 1973) you can hear Steve Hacket tapping for a longer time.

[@monkehm]

1:11 Ichika Nito would like a word with you.

[@angadgianirogers1844]

Tbh this low fi chill pop guitar playing nowadays is overrated. Not saying that the people who play it aren't talented. But it's just not my thing. Well that's just my opinion.

[@magpiemuneca]

@@angadgianirogers1844 *math rock

[@angadgianirogers1844]

@@magpiemuneca thanx for clarifying.

[@SetsuForReal]

Clee Clee ehhh I wouldn’t say math rock is overrated though people don’t actually know it’s math rock they assume it’s lofi

[@flutterwind7686]

@@angadgianirogers1844 Its not really meant to be in your face. It's good for a background soundtrack

[@randyhammill9021]

The live version of Get Thy Bearings by King Crimson at the Plumpton Jazz Festival in 1969 has two-handed tapping, although certainly not the EVH style. As Robert Fripp notes, “I experimented, clumsily, with right-hand tapping in 1969 but never developed the idea. Steve Hackett is the first that I know that was similar, not just Giant Hogweed, but Supper’s Ready, Dancing with the Moonlit Knight (which also includes early sweep picking), etc. One of the things that was unique about early Genesis is you had a guitarist trying to sound like a keyboard, and in many cases the keyboard sounding like a guitar. So his focus was more “classical” in approach, being part of an ensemble and playing voicings and patterns that would be more characteristic of keyboard than guitar. Eddie, of course, made the technique the focus of his playing and writing, with the music built around that technique. Which not only revolutionized playing, but writing for guitar.

[@elliottclark1340]

People seem to forget that Rory Gallagher was tapping in the irish blue rock group taste in the mid to late 60s. Brian May also tapped on It’s Late in 1977 from the News of The World album.

[@kevinbrady6075]

Nice,all awesome guitarists! Page,if you can find it,he taps out at the end of "The Rain Song" short,beautiful.

[@ClaudioDiBiase16]

I have always known, deep inside, that steve hackett was the first to use tapping as we know it. I suggest to listen to "Dancing with the moonlit knight" solo ('73)

[@Darqueness]

Dude, awesome. Just reinforces that the greats are considered greats for damn good reasons. Would love to see more lookbacks and deep dives into guitar technique history like this.

[@gigitonsvajv]

Thank you for giving credit where credit is due! RIP EVH. ❤️

[@MrEric622]

I really enjoy these musical history lessons- truly cements the legends into your head.

[@craigharrison5406]

Eddie may not have invented tapping but the things he did with it are mind blowing. The intro to Meanstreet put my jaw on the floor when I was a kid. Lightning fast tapped runs across the strings, tapped harmonics, tapped bends, nobody else was doing that stuff back then.

[@dannycottar3737]

The 1st tapping I heard was Terry Kath of "Chicago" on "Freeform Guitar" from their 1st album. It was more of a wild noisy feedback thing , sort of like when Hendrix did his fireworks . On one tune (live) on an album , on the very last chord , Hendrix kind of bumped the fretboard while holding the last chord of a tune. Plus , on Hear My Train A Coming , live , he pushes the strings BEHIND the nut , like Jimmy Page did on Heartbreaker. Ralph Towner taps on acoustic 12 string , as a guest , on the 1st Weather Report album . Zappa tapped before I ever heard of Van Halen , as well.

[@RaZvanRZ]

For those interested, look up the musical box by genesis live on belgian tv, you can see Hackett taping on his guitar around 4min05!

[@twinborn6028]

This was a really cool video! I would love to see more videos based on the history of certaon aspects of guitar, and you bringing up important players who played that way or did a certain thing to sound a certain way or make this noise. This should be a series!

[@Xari.04]

Yo Tyler what the hell, The return of the giant hogweed is literally composed on a tapping riffand it's from the same album as The musical box. Don't get me wrong tho, great video but I'm not able to agree with Eddie being the one who used first tapping as a compositional tool.

[@nathaniellawrence3395]

Not only that, but Steve Hackett's Voyage Of The Acolyte has a track named shadow of the hierophant. That track literally has a tapping solo in it, and it could very well have been EVH if you listen to it without knowing who it is. Steve also tapped on Supper's Ready :)

[@noahwebster6076]

This is my favorite channel

[@snixelpig]

Great video! More in depth than I have seen on the matter. Wish to ad Vito Bratto and Reb Beach as amazing at this.

[@DukeofItaly]

Listen to suppers ready by Genesis. Its after musical box but before Van Halen. There's a 2 minute guitar solo with a huge tapped part that blows my mind way more than almost any other solo I've ever heard

[@ziggylayneable]

I'll tell you for a fact in 1971 on nursery cryme Steve Hackett was using tapping but he was using a guitar pick cupped in his right hand instead of his finger.

[@memalley]

In popular rock music: Steve Hackett of Genesis. See "Musical Box" or "Return of the Giant Hogweed". Hogweed into lick is a compositional tap.

[@JackRainfield]

I saw Harvey Mandel doing extensive tapping in a live show in 1975. He used it a lot during the show and had a pretty developed repertoire. I had never seen someone do it before so it really struck me. It was a medium sized club and I was only about 12 feet from Harvey.

[@RandyResnick]

Ask Harvey where HE first saw it ;)

[@dannycottar3737]

Don't forget Michael Hedges , RIP , on acoustic. Plus now a days many people do it . Khaki King , Andy McKay (spelling ?). And the ones you mentioned . Cool presentation that you made ! I did not know George Van Epps did it . I saw him open up for Rosemary Clooney , outdoors at the Silverado Country Club , in California . He did not do any tapping that I noticed , but he WAS amazing ! A drummer friend of mine used to tap on guitar , a little bit . He was not really a guitarist though . Holdsworth did it some , also David Torn.

[@trujustice8628]

Nice piece on the subject. I stumbled upon it when learning blues and blue grass while doing hammer transitions. I also used to do it when I was trying to learn to read music and was given scales to practice for the following week and my teacher asked me if I practiced and I Nodded and began to two handed tap them out just to be a smart aleck. Then he gave me a whole duet song to practice for following week. We started playing together and then I started winging it and playing a counterpoint and he stopped. I thought I made him mad. I said I was sorry. He said let's keep going and finish this. He didn't give me a new assignment for the next week. He ghosted me. This happened to me twice. I told my dad i would just play for myself. I don't want to waste your money. Years later I learned why the teacher stopped. He told my dad he had never seen anyone play like me who couldn't read music. He thought he would ruin me. If only I had known. I never played as seriously as I did then. Who knew. I still used my abilities to compose music when we needed it for videos as an editor and cam person that did not have music rights. I played a keyboard. I don't know how to play piano or read music to this day.

[@jamesglacken6170]

Loving the vids really wish u would bring the podcast back

[@ronfalkoff]

Love the toccata and fugue!!! Keep Tapping and Shredding!!!

[@JUSTICE971]

Eddie Van Halen was the greatest tapping guitar shredder of all time imo

[@costalongajp]

Watched it just one day after EVH passed away. His music and tappings will last forever. RIP, EVH!

[@randykrochak]

Very good video and thank you. I would have to however disagree with "it was used in fragments and it was not used as a compositional tool prior to Eddie". As a big Genesis fan Steve Hacket was highly compositional as can be heard in Musical Box, Suppers Ready etc. Thanks again and keep up the good work!

[@factoryminis3437]

Listen to "Shadow of the Hierophant" by Steve Hackett. 1975. Start at 4:42ish.

[@Qualex14]

Listen to the guitar solo from Steve Hackett's solo debut, Shadow of the Hierophant. It's from 1975 but sounds very similar to EVH's Eruption solo.

[@dictatorrich3412]

I saw a video of Chet Atkins playing the "hot for teacher" tapping part in a live performance, almost note for note....BEFORE Van Halen recorded it!

[@raceredgt5962]

It’s the Orange Blossom Special Live Performance

[@johnp.johnson1541]

Eddie stole most of his foundation licks from Jim McCarty during his stint in Cactus.

[@markr.devereux3385]

@@johnp.johnson1541 cool❤️

[@Wakenbake7101]

Awesome video my man 🙏🏼 always fun learning the history of stuff like this

[@NewBritainStation]

A live recording of Get Thy Bearings by King Crimson at the Plumpton Festival in 1969 has some two-handed tapping by Robert Fripp. Something he never developed, (and even today uses infrequently and certainly not in the EVH sort of way). There’s a fair amount of tapping in early Genesis besides Musical Box. He also used what would later be known as sweep picking in Dancing With the Moonless Knight, along with quite a bit of tapping. Steve had a habit of sounding a lot like a keyboard (and Tony Banks like a guitar) during that era.

[@TruthGuitar]

I very much enjoyed this video. Any kind of music history is always an addiction for me. Cool Video bro.

[@turgondoitean1378]

Jimmy Page used tapping (of a sort) in their cover of "If You're Going to San Francisco" in The Song Remains The Same film. It's in between Dazed and Confused.

[@santaclause6839]

This video was good, well done. Your editing is getting really good too. Almost at a million man 👍

[@denisden934]

Steve Hackett also used the tapping technique on Supper's Ready, from the Foxtrot album.

[@thedillybarboy]

There were some other instances of guitar tapping in the 70's. For example, in Queen's song It's Late, the song includes a solo that uses tapping, done by Brian May. Brian says that he once saw someone using that technique in Texas, which influenced him to use that technique in It's Late.

[@chrispetersen4863]

Another awesome bit of education courtesy of Tyler! Thank you!

[@misterroberts4240]

you should have at least mentioned Stanley Jordan

[@gustavohenriqueperez]

and Reb Beach

[@misterroberts4240]

@@gustavohenriqueperez he does tap, have you seen Tina S tap and shred

[@viewoftheaskew]

first time I saw Stanley Jordan on Johnny Carson/Tonight show it blew my mind lol. Played it like a piano!

[@DustyD-vv8xb]

I was just about to mention him when i saw your comment. To anyone who checks stanley out, side note, he does not use standard tuning.

[@jonathanfillmore]

Loved @ 2:25, lots of blues licks, though! So good!

[@jorissirre5131]

Finally someone who recognize the brilliance of Steve Hackett

[@ViajeroAstral]

Check Steve Hacket's Shadow of the Hierophant, it has a tapping section similar to Eruption, also did tapping in Genesis Dancing with the Moonlight Knight

[@GuitarTotality]

You can watch Steve Hackett tap (just barely see) during a live performance of "The Musical Box" on "The Midnight Special". Although their first Atlantic release was only a few months old, Genesis performed two songs including “The Musical Box,” a macabre, though epic number from their third album, 1971’s Nursery Cryme, in an episode of The Midnight Special that was taped on December 18, 1973, at NBC Studios in Burbank, Calif., and aired two days later on Dec. 20. [A copy of the band’s appearance contract is here. The TV series’ official KZbin Channel has the date listed incorrectly as January 25, 1974.] 🌎✌🎸🎶

[@zeppelincurse8381]

Awesome...thanks for sharing!🎸🎶😎

[@ZachMcCordProg]

Bob Hartman of Petra was one of the first guitarists to use tapping too, just a short few years before EVH did too. Not in an EVH arpeggio kind of way, but still in a modern way, what we know of tapping now. You can hear a small bit of it on the "Judas Kiss" solo

[@blayneolson2585]

Hey Tyler! Long time viewer here. This was a cool video and I’d definitely like to see more content like this!

[@djdolceproductions899]

EXCELLENT and informative video!! Thank you!

[@MaidenKnowledge]

I will stand by, through and through, that Steve Hackett the original "tapping" player. EVH just took it to a whole new level

[@indymudshow]

First person I saw or heard do it before Eddie was ace frehley. Parts of his solo from Kiss alive 2, was directly taken and used for eddies eruption.

[@borisnachev1358]

2:35 toccata and fugue in d minor by Bach

[@shirok3284]

I love tapping so much, when I figured it out my playing has changed so much

[@SteveGouldinSpain]

Another 50s/60s jazz guitar player I saw using right hand tapping was Tal Farlow, though only a few notes.

[@hefenzy]

A few days ago I developed some trick on guitar. I call this palm tap harmonics. You know there are tap harmonics - you pick note on string before 12 fret, and then touch it octave higher. I invented way to make a pinch harmonic effect on actually tapped note - you need to tap a note and slightly touch the string with palm near neck pickup. With this trick you can record solos and confuse those who will try to pick them by ear. I want to do that in my heavy metal project

[@andrepratesgt]

you guys can find some notes about tapping in a book written by Paulinho Nogueira. He was a Brazilian classical guitarist. On his book, he talks about when he challenged his brother to play an "impossible" chord. I think it's from 1970

[@robowizard6132]

Steve Hackett to me is one of the greatest guitarists of all time. He deserves as much praise as Eddie Van Halen

[@IdoBerg]

best guitar Tab song: A7X - The Stage you should try it Tyler!

[@Wargasm644]

We all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us. But I’m pretty confident Eddie brought tapping to the masses and made it his own. Inventor, innovator....doesn’t matter. When you think of tapping, you think of Eddie. And for that reason, he gets the lion’s share of the credit for tapping. 👊🏻

[@charlieblockclocksnow]

I think of Steve when I hear someone mention tapping

[@FoghornGreenhorn]

@@charlieblockclocksnow just another tapping copy cat like eddie

[@charlieblockclocksnow]

@@FoghornGreenhorn there's no such thing as a wrong opinion, but you opinion is wrong. There is literally one person on record for tapping before Steve Hackett 😭

[@FoghornGreenhorn]

@@charlieblockclocksnow well you just admitted that there was another known tap on player prior to Steve. How many players have to copy before it's called copying? LOL gtfo

[@odinssverd]

The organ in that vid is in Sydney Town Hall. Used to work there \m/

[@Dani-ff6gq]

Mark Kendall (Great White) claims that George Lynch was tapping before Eddie, very interesting... Also, Steve Lynch (Autograph) also wrote a book on tapping and was told not to tap when playing with his band when they opened for the mighty Van Halen...

[@pakoort]

0:23 seems like an excellent tapping exercise. Mind including it in guitar SS?

[@eagles_s]

Theres an early song by Chicago called “Free Form Guitar” where Terry Kath plays thru feedback that sounds like theres a short tapping section. Wonder if I could get a confirmation on this?

[@markr.devereux3385]

VITTORIO was tapping it appeared as two-hand tap which is superior to EVH eruption single tap. I don't know about SPANISH FLY the follow up which I found very enjoyable especially using a classical guitar. That to me was the most advanced and compositional on the subject that was heard by the general public.