Beat It

Hey guys!  Thanks for requesting this awesome MJ hit and this is definitely my favourite tune by him not only because it rocks but because it has an amazing Eddie Van Halen guitar solo in there.  RIP Eddie.

Steve Lukather played the rhythm parts in this tune and I wanted to double check on his positioning.  You can check out what he’s doing here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu1wBu9CbbI.  I will have to note that he’s sliding the second part of this riff (the rhythmic double stops) near the end of the video, however in the studio recording, I’m hearing it being picked each time.

One thing I tried to get when tabbing this solo was the crooked whammy bar release at the start of this solo.  Which was one of the tougher parts for me.  And also getting the second tap harmonic because I’m not using an amplifier cranked (I’m using Amplitube with headphones on).  Whammy bar dives, Pinch Harmonics, Tremolo Picking, fretboard tapping, this solo has all the cool techniques and it is also amazingly phrased.  Even if you get everything right, it’s really hard to sound like Eddie Van Halen.  And it’s crazy to think that he could do all that and at the same time, run around on stage and do back flips and whatnot.