Eddie Van Halen and Jeff Beck—two names synonymous with guitar mastery, two players who revolutionized how we hear and experience the instrument. Recently, an old video surfaced showing Eddie channeling the style of Jeff Beck, blending their unique approaches into a captivating moment of musical magic.
In the video, Eddie Van Halen is in his element—having fun, experimenting, and paying homage to a fellow guitar god. With his Stratocaster in hand, Eddie captures Jeff Beck’s signature use of the whammy bar and fluid phrasing.
Jeff Beck was an inspiration for Eddie Van Halen. Known for his groundbreaking use of tone and technique, Beck was a player who continually pushed the boundaries of what a guitar could do.
Eddie and Jeff were innovators, but their styles couldn’t have been more different. Eddie brought a rock-and-roll energy, using techniques like two-handed tapping and dive bombs to create explosive soundscapes. Beck, on the other hand, was a master of finesse, using his fingers and the whammy bar to extract emotion from every note.
There’s a good chance that Eddie has pulled his fair share of licks from what Beck has done. Regardless of his patented licks that no one can touch, Eddie’s basic blues vocabulary on the guitar stemmed from blues, so Beck would have been an obvious influence alongside players like Eric Clapton.
There are even a handful of songs where Eddie manages to take a few pages out of Beck’s playbook. Despite the massive amount of effects, the twinkling intro of ‘Hear About It Later’ off of Fair Warning is an interesting take on how Beck normally used his volume pedals, with both guitarists being able to sound like a human voice rather than an instrument.