Nina DiGregorio, acclaimed musician and maestro of the violin, has left audiences awestruck with her virtuoso performances alongside musical titans like The Killers, Cheap Trick, Shakira, Boz Scaggs, Peter Cetera, Stevie Wonder, and Trans-Siberian Orchestra to name a few.
However, amidst her illustrious career, it’s her electrifying rendition of Eddie Van Halen‘s iconic “Eruption” on a 7-string fretted violin that truly cements her legacy. In an undeniable display of skills, DiGregorio took on Van Halen’s guitar masterpiece, pushing the boundaries of her instrument with uncanny precision.
“I struggled and fought the limitations of the instrument,” DiGregorio recalled in an interview with Classic Rock. “I had some really hard practice days, but the best motivation for me is ‘it can’t be done.’ It took a combination of newly learned left and right-hand techniques, played precisely, practiced slowly for clarity, forever to even make the right sound. The spaces that you need to hit, quickly, on a fretted violin are much smaller than that of a guitar.”
“I tweaked the effect chain and technique right up until the 11th hour on the very final day of doing this. One day near the end of it, I was practicing in the studio, and Brody – her husband – was taking a shower. When he got out, he said to me he thought I was playing the recording of Van Halen. That was my breakthrough day. I knew I was close. I haven’t worked this hard since my master’s recital on classical violin. I’ve ripped up my fingers to shreds, they bled, they blistered,” DiGregorio added.
Reflecting on Van Halen‘s influence, DiGregorio acknowledged his unparalleled impact in the world of guitar and, indeed, on her own journey as an electric violinist: “Eddie Van Halen was in a class all of his own. His sound, technique, rhythm, and musicality changed the game for all guitarists (and this electric violinist) that followed.”
“I am a far better performer, a far better violinist, with a much larger range of abilities, thanks to the months (or years) I put into dissecting his style and taking the time to do this on a violin as close to how he did it (so effortlessly) on a guitar as possible. Thank you, EVH, for making so many of us better musicians,” she acknowledged gratefully.
