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Michael Jackson - Beat It - Guitar Cover

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Key E minor
Michael Jackson - Beat It guitar cover video
Kfir Ochaion
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Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
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Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Thriller album cover
Thriller
1982 4:18
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Michael Jackson Pop 1982 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Beat It

Few guitar moments in Pop carry as much weight as Eddie Van Halen's solo on this track, and learning it is a genuine workout in phrasing, speed, and whammy-bar technique. Michael Jackson built "Beat It" around a driving E minor riff that locks in tight with the rhythm section at 139 BPM, so keeping your picking clean at tempo takes real discipline before you even get near the solo section. The rhythm guitar part itself is worth mastering first: it sits in E Standard and uses a repeating two-bar figure that demands consistent alternate picking and solid muting to sound right. When you move to the solo, the bends, pull-offs, and tapped runs come thick and fast. Use the Practice Toolbar to isolate any phrase that trips you up, looping it slowed down until the muscle memory is solid before pushing the speed back up. The tone for the solo leans into a bright, heavily saturated lead sound, so a bridge humbucker with the gain up will get you closest.

  • The signature rhythm guitar riff is built on E minor in E Standard tuning, using tight palm muting and alternate picking to lock in with the groove.
  • Eddie Van Halen's guest solo features tapped runs, aggressive whammy-bar dips, and rapid pull-offs that make it one of the more technically demanding solos to replicate accurately.
  • At 139 BPM the rhythm part moves quickly, so practising the muted picking pattern with a metronome at reduced speed first will pay off when you bring it to full tempo.

How to Play Beat It

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 139 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The main rhythm part in E minor is relatively straightforward at 139 bpm, so most intermediate players can lock that in quickly and move straight to the solo. Eddie Van Halen's lead section is the real challenge: it combines two-handed tapping with fast legato runs, and the most common mistake is rushing the tapped notes before the fretting hand is cleanly synchronized. Practice the tapping passages in isolation using the loop feature at reduced speed, focusing on even note volume between tapped and hammered notes, since uneven dynamics expose sloppy technique immediately. Once the solo feels controlled at slower tempos, the legato phrasing snaps into place naturally at full speed.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 139 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Slash wielded a '59 Les Paul replica on 'Give In To Me,' delivering that warm-yet-cutting midrange essential to MJ's hardrock guitar moments. The guitar's thick body resonance pairs perfectly with Marshall stack overdrive for Michael Jackson's most aggressive rock tracks.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Les Paul's humbucker firepower cuts through MJ's dense pop production with natural tube saturation and sustain. This guitar provides the weighted tone needed for Slash's solos and rhythm work across the Thriller-era rock-influenced catalog.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Slash cranked a Marshall JCM800 2203 head to achieve natural tube overdrive on 'Give In To Me,' delivering the aggressive rock punch that defines Michael Jackson's harder-edged guitar moments. The amp's responsive gain structure lets the Les Paul's humbuckers shine through dense production.

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)
Amp

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)

Eddie Van Halen's modified Marshall Super Lead (variac'd for sag and compression) powered the legendary 'Beat It' solo, creating that compressed, singing lead tone perfect for tapping techniques. The Plexi's harmonic richness made the single humbucker's output cut through MJ's production.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

The Fender Twin Reverb's clean headroom and natural reverb capture the glassy, percussive rhythm tones on tracks like 'Billie Jean' and 'Rock With You.' This amp provides the transparent platform that lets funky single-coil snap and light chorus effects define Michael Jackson's pop-soul foundation.

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro
Pickup

Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro

Slash's Les Paul uses Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickups, delivering warm-yet-cutting midrange that sits perfectly in MJ's pop arrangements while maintaining rock credibility. The pickup's balanced output ensures clarity and sustain whether driving Marshall heads or cutting through dense studio mixes.

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