Van Halen Didn't Develop Famed Technique?

05/03/2012
. (Classic Rock) Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett believes it's a matter of fact he introduced the finger tapping technique later made famous by Eddie Van Halen. But he's not bitter the American is better known than him for the effect, even though iconic VH track Eruption appeared seven years after Genesis were heard tapping.

Hackett tells Music Radar: "I'm the inventor of tapping on record. We haven't found anyone who tapped earlier than me, unless somebody did it in the 1930s � but I doubt it.

"Eddie is a fine player, of course, and he's the one who named the technique. When you see old films of Genesis from 1971 on, you can see me using the technique. It's there on many recordings, as well. The important thing is that you play as fast as you'd like, but you do it all on one string � and you have to use a finger from your picking hand instead of the pick."

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