10 Guitarists That Changed Rock Music Forever

There's a good reason why someone like Jimi Hendrix should be the king of all rock guitar. Being every bit the guitar hero that he was, his lead was the example that every guitar player had to follow if they wanted to take their craft seriously. The late '70s were a different time though, and a new kid out of California took up the crown as the king of rock guitar in just the first few seconds of Van Halen's debut record.

While Eddie Van Halen may not have thought of himself as a genius by any stretch, what he brought to the guitar was unlike anything virtuosos had seen before. Looking for a new sound when he was in the clubs of West Hollywood, Eddie's first use of the tapping technique on the neck of the guitar was something that no one had ever heard before, sounding like the guy had four hands playing the guitar at the exact same time. You can't get there without a good foundation though, and the unsung hero of Eddie might be his right hand, always having a great sense of rhythm to build on before he unleashed hell behind the fretboard during his solos.

As much as some fans may have co-opted Eddie's style for years, something was different whenever you saw other guitar heroes get by on playing a million notes per second. You can certainly work to get to that level, but it's not going to mean anything unless you have heart behind it, and Eddie never forgot to leave a bit of himself in his songs. No matter how many times he had to play these solos night after night, it was always coming from a place of fun for him.