Inventive and Modest (Yes): Eddie Van Halen, R.I.P.

Rock guitarist Eddie van Halen died recently, mourned by legions of emulators who developed their approach to the instrument based on what he showed was possible. That is one of the ironies of popularised music. Van Halen was original, in part, as he explained, because, when doing covers, he could not copy other guitarists no matter how hard he tried. He created his own distinctive path because there was little choice. Van Halen’s emulators, by contrast, are very good at imitating what he did but they tend to do so at the expense of their own originality. Anyone could tell…