Getting good at an instrument is not an easy thing to do.
Some kids have extraordinary talents that are far beyond their years, like this 8th grader who plays Eddie Van Halen perfectly. He lights up the stage at his school’s talent show, even going viral for his captivating guitar solo that is no easy piece to play.
This kid has some serious skills on the guitar!
Van Halen’s “Eruption” is an instrumental rock and roll guitar solo that was released in 1978, and is widely known as one of the greatest guitar solos of all time.
As the video starts, his peers cheer for Eric as he begins getting set up and ready to play.
At first, the nervous kid drops his whammy bar onto the stage before he gets it together and the show begins. As he starts playing the complex solo, the crowd becomes completely entranced by his powerful guitar playing.
About 0:50 seconds into the video, Eric gets to one of the most difficult parts and nails it!
The young guitar prodigy doesn’t skip a beat as he goes through the complex solo, playing it better than most adult musicians. Eric just makes it look so easy, but “Eruption” is far from that.
You can hear the screams of middle school girls and moms, all yelling for the 8th-grade boy playing the electric guitar like a mad-man!
Nearly 1:48 into the video, Eric moves both hands onto the neck of his guitar to play some insane riffs.
For the grand finale, Eric makes his guitar scream with both hands on the neck of his instrument. With talent like this, it’s no surprise that the audience is losing their minds for the young musician.
Eric was totally up for the challenge of playing one of rock and rolls most difficult guitar solos, but it turns out he’s not the only kid with this kind of talent.
Social media sites like YouTube have made it possible for kids all over the world to showcase their talent, and many have gone viral for covering Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption.”
In one video, a 10-year-old named Garret plays “Eruption” by Van Halen and gets over seven million views for his epic performance at his school’s recital.
In another video, 14-year-old Tina covers the complex solo and goes massively viral with over 21 million views. Those are just a couple of examples, but there are plenty more talented kids who’ve uploaded their skills to YouTube!
Eric’s phenomenal talent show solo has been viewed over 8.4 million times, with over 51,000 people liking it.
You don’t come across talent like this very often, but when you do, it deserves some kudos! Thousands of YouTube users also left comments for the 8th-grade guitar phenom. Many people couldn’t believe he played it so smoothly!
Because the video was posted online in 2008, Eric is probably a grown man now who shreds his guitar 10 times better.
Hopefully, he stuck with his passion and is still inspiring people 12 years after going viral.
Although there are plenty of talented people on the internet, this video is really something special!
As rock music fans know, “Eruption” is one of the hardest songs to play—so we give Eric big props for taking it on so well.
To see middle schooler Eric flawlessly play Van Halen’s “Eruption” solo, just watch the video below!
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