Tapping the Sources

I read with great interest Don Heckman’s review of the Guitar Summit concert at Caltech’s Beckman Auditorium (“Four Players, One Remarkable Instrument,” March 9). He described Stanley Jordan’s guitar-playing style as follows: “. . . he plays the guitar by tapping the strings in two-handed, piano keyboard style, [producing] sounds not quite like anything ever before heard from the instrument.” Has Mr. Heckman been living in a soundproof cave for the past 20 years since Eddie Van Halen first introduced “tapping” and “hammering” to the music world? Not to take away from Jordan’s talents, but Van Halen originated this style of guitar playing.

DON LEVY

Irvine

Editor’s note: The tapping techniques used by Jordan and Van Halen are slightly different. The technique itself predates both players and is often credited to ‘50s jazz guitarist Jimmy Webster.