Eddie Van Halen Virtuosos

For as long as I can remember, my dad always had his music playing. In the car, in the house, everywhere. In time, his music became my music; and it still is. Though my dad’s music taste was vast, his staple was Van Halen. Little did I know how much that band would shape me as a person. While most fans were in love with David Lee Roth, (the singer) I was all about Eddie Van Halen; the greatest guitarist in the world. The greatest because to me, he isn't just a guitarist. He’s an innovator, a genius, and one of my biggest role models. While I think all art is powerful, it’s all subjective, and to me, Eddie Van Halen is the perfect example to why art is so powerful. For he has created the passion, perseverance, and creativity that lives inside me today.

Loud, soothing, meaningful, and deep, rock music has many characteristics. These characteristics are ones that rock music fans appreciate. But, many people have different preferences of music, such as pop, rap, country, and other genres. Although there are several types of music, most modern music comes back to the foundation of rock and roll. Many artists have been influenced by the heart-wrenching power of rock music. Most people that enjoy rock music do not know how rock started. It is a genre that has evolved over the years.

The vocalist and guitarist of the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia was one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century, impacting both the musical and cultural realms. Jerry Garcia was fated to become one of America’s most influential people ever since he was born into Jose Garcia’s household. During his childhood, Jerry Garcia lived in an environment that fueled his musical development and experienced many events that pushed him closer changing the path of American music and culture. Jerry Garcia was a member of the American 1960’s counterculture and really embodied the ideals and goals of the group as a whole. Thanks to the influence of his adolescent development and his

Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll or rock 'n ' roll) is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States. The music we know as rock and roll emerged as a defined musical style in the mid 1950s, even though a form of it had been on the horizon for at least a decade or so. A quarter of the American population moved during World War II, and that is what brought southern, rural, sacred and secular traditions into contact with urban-based music and its audiences. Rock and roll drew on many different styles. It derived most directly from the rhythm and blues music of the 1940s, which it developed from earlier blues, boogie-woogie, jazz and swing music. It was also influenced by gospel, country, western, and traditional folk music. With the combinations of all of these genres of music, that help to create this new style of music excited a worldwide generation of young listeners. Even though it had the attention of young listeners it started to upset the already established social, cultural and musical authorities. With this new music style coming into full affect along with new dances and people having voicing out their own opinion caused a lot of turmoil. Many people began to question this new genre of music and labeled it as the devil music while other loved it and couldn’t help but dance

In this paper, I am going to discuss my experiences playing in the WNE, the bass guitar, and the one and only Willie Nelson. In the legendary WNE, I am the bass player. For this project, it took hours on end of studying the bass inside and out to become this legendary player that I dreamt of before this project. The electric bass, a mystical object that is the foundation of every song, was invented by Paul Tutmarc. Since the 1960s the bass guitar has replaced other instruments

(Carl) ¨Eddie Van Halen changed the face of rock music and sent a generation of young guitarists into their rooms to practice¨. His tone and style brought him instant fame in the guitar world. The path of hard rock will forever change because of his contributions to the guitar world. This is a great example of how the guitar impacted music because Eddie later became one of the most famous guitarists in the world and his band “Van Halen” would become the biggest rock band in the world. The 21 year old Eddie Van Halen started a guitar revolution and many more young guitarists followed in his footsteps. That generation brought in some of the greatest guitarists that rock music has ever seen, and Van Halen started it

The extraordinary performances, recording, and lyrics of James Marshall Hendrix have made him impossible to forget. This American rock music guitarist made a legendary mark not only in the history of rock 'n' roll but also on the pop culture as a whole (Ross 32). With unique techniques never seen before and blatant sex-related performances on stage, he became one of the most influential music figures of the 60s (Kamin).

A little later, Eddie heard Michael Anthony on the bass and thought that he was perfect for their band. Still, something was missing; Alex thought they needed a front man. He suggested that they let David Lee Roth be the front man, mainly to save the rent money on the PA system. David Lee came on board and thought the brother’s last name sounded cool, and the rock group "Van Halen" was born.

     From the sounds of Elvis many other important bands of the sixties were inspired, even people a thousand miles away from America. One of these important bands was the Beatles. The Beatles took the rock sound and added more lyrical and musical complexity to the sound. The Beatles were the starters of the “British Invasion” in 1963 when they released “I want to Hold Your Hand” (Kallen, 2012, 31). After their first single they had immense success with other hits such as “She Loves You” and “Woooo!” The Beatles continued to reinvent their music on the various other albums throughout the sixties delving into complex, heavy existential concepts and psychedelic elements, becoming the most relevant influence for modern rock.

As one of the most popular music genres, rock music has grown and expanded to incorporate many styles throughout the years. A rock band usually consists of a vocalist, an acoustic drum kit played with a strong beat, usually a back beat, and features electric and acoustic guitars. From its beginnings in the late 1950s and early 1960s until the present day, rock has changed styles seemingly every decade as new bands become popular because of their unique style of music. Throughout the years rock has influenced our culture and helped shape the world we live in today.

One of the most influential figures in modern music to this day, Jimi Hendrix, was a complex and unusual man for his time. Being most well-known for his eccentric performances and style, both in fashion and in music, Jimi stood out in the western world 's very uniform Rock’n’Roll scene. Playing with his teeth, burning his guitar, rising to fame in a matter of weeks all contributed to his remarkable life. Jimi Hendrix’s life and rise to fame were exceptionally unordinary and extraordinarily influential. Filled with curiosities from the day he was born to his tragic drug-related death, Jimi was unusual. Accordingly, these curiosities are what makes Jimi Hendrix such a notable figure in history.

music evolves, yet keeps its values intact. To many, rock music is an essential element of

Van Halen took heavy metal to new heights. After more than two decades of playing sold-out concert halls, selling millions of albums and enduring various lineup changes and solo projects, Van Halen is recognized as one of the most resilient and successful rock bands to emerge from the 1970s and continue into the 1980’s. Eddie and Alex Van Halen were raised in Pasadena, the children of Dutch immigrants who immigrated to California in 1967. The Van Halen brothers grew up taking classical piano lessons.

For thousands of years, music has been influencing people in extraordinary ways. The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band should not be mistaken as an ordinary album. Without a doubt, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an incredibly innovative album, stands as the most influential album of all time; it stands as a true masterpiece. People all around, especially artists, were influenced greatly by the innovations the album brought to the world of music. Many people have said that from the moment they heard the first track of the album, it was life changing. Like the first falling domino tile of a domino show, June 1, 1967, would mark the start of the influence of many generations of music to come. The album helped popularize concept albums, in which songs are connected to a theme, which would inspire many musicians to do the same. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was a psychedelic rock album; a manifestation of life in the 1960’s. This genre of rock is home to the work of numerous artists who were influenced by the album’s use of this style of rock. The hours of work put into by the Beatles to create this album surpassed those of any of their albums. Not only that, it altered the way music was recorded by creating their own recording techniques. Surely, these recording techniques and tactics were used by future artists in their work which then led to the creation of legendary music. Sgt. Pepper’s opened the gate to innovation; an album whose impact on

“Rock and roll is a type of popular dance music originating in the 1950s, characterized by a heavy beat and simple melodies. Rock and roll was an amalgam of black rhythm and blues and white country music, usually based on a twelve-bar structure and an instrumentation of guitar, bass, and drums.” (Kamien, 2015, p.378) The popular music was first called rock and then rock and roll then back to simply rock. Rock and roll music contains many diverse styles. Genres that influenced rock and roll music included jazz, gospel, blues, country and western, classical music, and folk music. Rock and roll music has a raw sound that gets the crowd hyped in a special way. The most important instrument used in rock and roll music is the electric guitar. The electric guitar is the reason for the amplified sound in rock and roll music. “Rock-and-roll guitarist Chuck Berry established a style of