Celebrate Sammy Hagar’s Birthday with a Van Halen–Style Guitar Lick

This October 13th marks Sammy Hagar’s birthday — the Red Rocker whose voice and energy powered bands like Montrose, Van Halen, HSAS, Chickenfoot, and The Circle.

Although best known as a singer, Hagar has always surrounded himself with world-class guitarists — from Ronnie Montrose and Neal Schon to Joe Satriani, Vic Johnson, Gary Pihl, and of course Eddie Van Halen. Each collaboration pushed rock guitar forward in its own way.

A Tapped Bending Pentatonic Lick, Van Halen Style

To celebrate, we’ve prepared a free interactive exercise from our 100 Extreme Rock Licks for Guitar collection:

• Style: Eddie Van Halen–inspired

• Technique: tapping + string bending fused into a pentatonic framework

• Sound: explosive, dramatic, and instantly recognizable as “classic EVH flavor”

• Skill Level: intermediate to advanced players looking to expand their tapping vocabulary