Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Black Friday
  • Artist news
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Davey Johnstone and Elton John are back-to-back as they perform live, with Johnstone playing his Captain Fantastic Les Paul Custom
Artists Davey Johnstone on the making of Elton John’s 1975 masterpiece, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Close up of a Taylor GS Mini acoustic guitar lying on a wooden floor
Acoustic Guitars Best acoustic guitars 2025: Super steel string acoustics for all players and budgets
Wolfgang Van Halen
Artists “Usually I’ve done the demos on my laptop, which can be a bit creatively stifling”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his new album
Paul Gilbert
Recording Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
David Gilmour plays a Black Stratocaster onstage in New York, on a moody stage lit in dark blue.
Artists David Gilmour shares an essential tone tip for guitarists using a whammy bar with a delay pedal
Jacob Collier
Artists Using his signature ‘DAEAD’ tuning, Jacob Collier recorded a 5-string acoustic guitar album in just four days
Wolfgang Van Halen
Artists “Some riffs have that swing. You hear it in the first Van Halen album”: Wolfgang Van Halen's new song echoes classic VH
Derek Trucks takes a slide solo on his Gibson SG as Tedeschi Trucks Band performs live at Madison Square Garden.
Artists Derek Trucks is one of the greatest slide players of all time – here’s how he decides when to use it
Wolfgang Van Halen
Artists “My dad would say the best solos are the ones you can hum and sing”: Wolfgang Van Halen on the art of soloing
Don Felder plays his iconic white Gibson doubleneck electric guitar onstage. Note the double jack: that mod is crucial when playing Hotel California, which he surely is in this picture.
Artists Don Felder on why he had to mod his white Gibson doubleneck to play the Eagles’ biggest hit – and how he got the idea from Chet Atkins
Rick Graham is photographed in a dark setting with a warm stagelight in the background; he holds his new signature electric guitar, a shell-pink S-style with a reverse headstock
Artists Charvel and Rick Graham team up for Pro-Mod signature model with relic'd nitro cult colour finish
Wolfgang Van Halen
Artists “My list of voice memos is in the thousands!”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his songwriting process for his new Mammoth album
John McLaughlin
Artists “I don’t have many guitar players’ albums on my iPhone, but Jeff is there”: John McLaughlin on the magic of Jeff Beck
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
Drum Lessons & Tutorials 13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
Van Morrison
Artists How Van Morrison recorded his greatest song
More
  • Charlie XCX + John Cale
  • Lily Allen's songwriting camp
  • Fleetwood Mac for Glasto?
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Simon Phillips
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Quick licks: advanced #13

News
By Guitar Techniques ( Guitar Techniques ) published 3 May 2012

Van Halen acoustic and Akkerman-style lead

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Advanced lick one: Eddie Van Halen-style mock flamenco

Advanced lick one: Eddie Van Halen-style mock flamenco

We've used Van Halen's acoustic work as inspiration for this example. The pick plays the fast tremolo parts and the fretting hand taps the lower notes as smoothly as possible. It's a clever way for a pick player to sound like a flamenco guitarist - aim for volume balance though!

Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
Advanced lick two: Jan Akkerman-style lead

Advanced lick two: Jan Akkerman-style lead

Here's a tribute to Focus' Dutch guitar master. Note the use of the Hungarian Gypsy Minor Scale (A, B, C, D#, E, F, G#, A), which is characteristic of his lead work. For best results, use a Fender Twin sound cranked and a bridge position humbucker to really cut through.

Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2
Guitar Techniques
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players image
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Wolfgang Van Halen
“Usually I’ve done the demos on my laptop, which can be a bit creatively stifling”: Wolfgang Van Halen on his new album
 
 
Paul Gilbert
Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
 
 
David Gilmour plays a Black Stratocaster onstage in New York, on a moody stage lit in dark blue.
David Gilmour shares an essential tone tip for guitarists using a whammy bar with a delay pedal
 
 
Jacob Collier
Using his signature ‘DAEAD’ tuning, Jacob Collier recorded a 5-string acoustic guitar album in just four days
 
 
Wolfgang Van Halen
“Some riffs have that swing. You hear it in the first Van Halen album”: Wolfgang Van Halen's new song echoes classic VH
 
 
Derek Trucks takes a slide solo on his Gibson SG as Tedeschi Trucks Band performs live at Madison Square Garden.
Derek Trucks is one of the greatest slide players of all time – here’s how he decides when to use it
 
 
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
 
 
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
 
 
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
 
 
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
 
 
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
 
 
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
 
 
Latest in News
Universal Audio UAFX pedals: the company has updated its amp modelling pedal lineup, adding MIDI connectivity, improved presets and app integration.
Universal Audio gives its UAFX amp modelling and effects pedals an almighty power up, adding MIDI connectivity, improving presets and app integration
 
 
app
KV331 Audio is giving away one of the best iPad synths we've ever tested for free
 
 
Johnny Marr demoes his new signature Jaguar Special with its trio of custom-wound lipstick pickups.
Fender and Johnny Marr reimagine the Jaguar with signature stunner featuring three custom-wound lipstick single-coils
 
 
SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- Episode 19 -- Pictured: Young FIne Cannibals during the musical performance on May 13, 1989 (Photo by Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
Fine Young Cannibals confirm that She Drives Me Crazy was recorded at Paisley Park using Prince’s gear
 
 
Taylor Jacob Collier GS Mini: featuring a brightly-coloured rosette graphic designed with the musical polymath, this beginner friendly acoustic has a bold five-string design for his signature DAEAD tuning.
Taylor teams up with Jacob Collier for signature acoustics that declare standard tuning DAEAD – and they’re accessibly priced
 
 
A Warm Audio tube condenser microphone
The early Black Friday guitar deals don't get much better than this sale at Thomann - save up to 69% on two top-rated guitars, a Warm Audio condenser mic, a Behringer synthesizer, and loads more
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...