Jason Eli Becker (born July 22, 1969) is an American composer and former guitarist. At the age of 16, he became part of the

Shrapnel Records Shrapnel Records is an American record label group founded by record producer Mike Varney. The group principally uses the ''Shrapnel Records'' record label, a guitar-oriented label which features shred guitar, hard rock, metal and progressive ...

-produced duo

Cacophony Phonaesthetics (also spelled phonesthetics in North America) is the study of the beauty and pleasantness associated with the sounds of certain words or parts of words. The term was first used in this sense, perhaps by during the mid-20th century ...

with his friend

Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...

, and they released two albums, '' Speed Metal Symphony'' (1987) and '' Go Off!'' (1988). Since the dissolution of Cacophony in 1989, Becker has undertaken a solo career, releasing seven albums since his 1988 debut '' Perpetual Burn''. He later joined

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Known for his wild and energetic stage persona, he was the lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen for three stints: from 1974 to 1985, during 1996, and from 2006 to when ...

's solo band and recorded one album with him, '' A Little Ain't Enough''. Becker's performing career was cut short by

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, Terminal illness, terminal neurodegenerative disease, neurodegenerative disorder that results i ...

(ALS), which he was diagnosed with in 1989. By 1996, Becker had lost the ability to speak, and he now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. He continues to compose with the aid of a computer and has since released '' Collection'' in 2008 and '' Triumphant Hearts'' in 2018, as well as various compilations.

Biography and career

Early years

Becker was born in Richmond Hospital on 23rd Street on July 22, 1969, and raised in Richmond, California, by his parents, Gary and Patricia (Heffley) Becker. His maternal grandfather was actor Wayne Heffley. He was exposed to the guitar at an early age by both his father and his uncle who were guitar players. He absorbed all kinds of music from around the world and melded different aspects of each style into his playing. He cited

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

and

Eddie Van Halen Edward Lodewijk Van Halen ( , ; January 26, 1955 – October 6, 2020) was an American musician. He was the guitarist, keyboardist, backing vocalist and primary songwriter of the rock band Van Halen, which he founded with his brother Alex V ...

as early influences.

Cacophony and solo career

Becker started out playing alongside

in the Mike Varney-produced duo,

. Together, they put out two albums, '' Speed Metal Symphony'' and '' Go Off!'' and toured Japan and the U.S. While they never went mainstream in the U.S., they proved popular enough in Europe to sell out almost every performance. In 1989 Becker joined

's solo band, having released his first solo album titled '' Perpetual Burn'' in 1988, while Friedman joined

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

in 1990. He has since released the albums '' Perspective'', '' Collection'' and '' Triumphant Hearts'', as well as two albums of demos, entitled '' The Raspberry Jams'' and '' The Blackberry Jams''.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis diagnosis

In 1989, Becker joined

's solo band to work on his third album '' A Little Ain't Enough'', replacing

Steve Vai Steven Siro Vai ( ; born June 6, 1960) is an American guitarist, songwriter, and producer. A three-time Grammy Award winner and fifteen-time nominee, Vai started his music career in 1978 at the age of eighteen as a Transcription (music), transc ...

, who left the band to record and tour with

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1978. The group were originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their ow ...

. While preparing for the album, Becker began to feel what he called a "lazy limp" in his left leg. He was soon diagnosed with

(ALS;

Lou Gehrig's disease Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and lo ...

) and was given three to five years to live. He finished the recording using lighter gauge guitar strings and other techniques, which made it easier for him to play with his weakening hands. Although he managed to finish the album, he did not join the supporting tour due to his inability to perform on stage; former Lizzy Borden guitarist Joe Holmes took Becker's place on tour. His ALS gradually robbed him of his ability to play guitar, to walk, and eventually his ability to speak. He now communicates with his eyes via a system developed by his father. Due to the nature of the disease, he remains mentally sharp and, with the aid of a computer, continues composing. In the back of the ''Perspective'' CD case, Becker states "I have Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. It has crippled my body and speech, but not my mind." His medical condition has remained stable since 1997. In 2003, Becker posted on his website that he was feeling better and had gained some weight, while the folder for his 2008 album '' Collection'' also mentions an upcoming book.

''Perspective'' and ''Raspberry Jams''

In 1996, Becker released an album called '' Perspective'', an instrumental album composed by him (with the exception of

's song " Meet Me in the Morning"). The writing of the music had been started before ALS completely disabled his abilities. By using guitar, and, later, when he was unable to use both hands, a keyboard, he continued to compose while his disease worsened. However, when Becker could no longer even play the keyboard, his friend and music producer Mike Bemesderfer helped him with a music-composing computer program that reads movements of his head and eyes, enabling Becker to continue to compose after he lost control of the rest of his body. Three years later, Becker released ''Raspberry Jams'' (1999) and ''Blackberry Jams'' (2003); the first contained various unreleased demo tracks, and the latter contained demo tracks and alternate versions of songs that were later reworked and published on other albums. Two tribute albums to Jason Becker have been issued. Titled ''Warmth in the Wilderness I'' and ''Warmth in the Wilderness II,'' they feature guitarists such as

Paul Gilbert Paul Brandon Gilbert (born November 6, 1966) is an American hard rock and heavy metal music, heavy metal guitarist. He is the co-founder of the band Mr. Big (American band), Mr. Big, and was also a member of Racer X (band), Racer X, with whom he ...

, Joe Becker, Rusty Cooley, and Mattias Eklundh. The album profits were sent to Becker to help him with his medical finances.

''Collection''

On November 4, 2008,

released a new Becker album entitled ''Collection''. The album includes three new songs in addition to some older recordings (some previously unreleased) and features

, Greg Howe,

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American rock music, rock guitarist, composer, and songwriter. Early in hi ...

, Michael Lee Firkins,

, and Steve Hunter.

''Boy Meets Guitar''

On August 20, 2010, Becker declared that he was considering releasing an album of music he recorded when he was in his teenage years. He released this album, titled ''Boy Meets Guitar'', in 2012.

''Triumphant Hearts''

In October 2016, Becker launched a campaign to fund an album, which was initially estimated for release in July 2017. The campaign raised more than $100,000. The album, '' Triumphant Hearts'', was released on December 7, 2018.

Musical style

Considered a virtuoso guitarist and one of the top players of his time, Becker studied the works of violinist

Niccolò Paganini Niccolò (or Nicolò) Paganini (; ; 27 October 178227 May 1840) was an Italian violinist and composer. He was the most celebrated violin virtuoso of his time, and left his mark as one of the pillars of modern violin technique. His 24 Caprices ...

and was a playing partner with Marty Friedman. He later arranged Paganini's 5th Caprice, performing it during an instructional guitar video. Becker's compositions often include high speed scalar and

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

passages—trademarks of his shred style of guitar playing. Often incorporating advanced techniques such as sweep picking, alternate picking, artificial harmonic accenting, tapping and hybrid picking; he was among the leaders of the field during the technical shred guitar and

neoclassical metal Neoclassical metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is heavily influenced by classical music and usually features very technical playing,Stephan Forté, "Metal néoclassique" in ''Guitarist Magazine Pedago'', Hors Série #29, "Les secrets du m ...

trend of the mid to late 1980s and is still respected and honored by his musician peers today. The song " Serrana" appearing in the album ''Perspective'', is an example of his sweep-picking skills. He demonstrated the arpeggio sequence during a clinic at the Atlanta Institute of Music. A video of this performance first appeared on his ''Hot Licks'' guitar instructional video.

Influence on other guitarists

Many guitarists cite Becker's playing as an influence, including

Nita Strauss Nita Strauss (born December 7, 1986) is an American musician. She is currently a guitarist for Alice Cooper, has also been a touring guitarist for Demi Lovato and has a successful career as a solo artist. Strauss is regularly featured on the cov ...

, Guthrie Govan, Herman Li,

Chris Broderick Christopher Alan Broderick (born March 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as a former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. He is also formerly the lead guitarist for Jag Panzer, appearing on four albums between 1998 and 2004. ...

, and Daniel Mongrain, among others.

Media

Becker has appeared on many magazine covers throughout his career, including the February 1991 issue of ''

Guitar for the Practicing Musician ''Guitar for the Practicing Musician'' was a guitar magazine published in the United States by Cherry Lane Music from 1982 to 1999. The magazine was published monthly. In 1992, it was the most popular music publication at newsstands, selling 74 ...

'' along with Jim Martin of

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

, the June 1991 issue of '' Young Guitar'', and the July 2012 issue of ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' was an American magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francis ...

'', among others. He was also extensively interviewed for the 2017 book, ''Shredders!: The Oral History Of Speed Guitar (And More)'', by author Greg Prato.

Equipment

Becker's first guitar was a Franciscan acoustic. Prior to joining Cacophony in 1987, Becker worked his way through the Franciscan, a Takamine acoustic, a Fender Musicmaster, and finally, a black "Dan Smith" era

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double- cutaway electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corpora ...

(likely a 1982 or 1983 model) with a DiMarzio Steve Morse humbucker in the bridge (seen in the "Black Star" video, ). On his message board, Becker said "I recorded SMS peed Metal Symphonywith my Strat." For his next guitar, Becker said on his message board "Mike Varney got Hurricane to endorse us after we recorded Speed Metal Symphony. I liked how they were like Strats, only beefier." On ''Perpetual Burn'', Becker said on his message board: "I used my white and black Hurricane guitar for everything. For clean tone I went direct. For dirty tone I used a 100 Watt Marshall with a Boss Super Overdrive pedal." The Moridira Hurricane guitar he used is called a Limited Edition LTD.2 model, believed to be made in Japan. (It is not a Hurricane EX series, which appears to be lower quality.) His LTD.2 was a "strat copy", but with a HSS pickup setup, a 24-fret rosewood fingerboard, and unique Floyd Rose where you do not have to cut the strings. For pickups, Becker said on his message board: "I just used the stock pickups it came with." The pickups were Japanese-made pickups. While Becker is pictured with a blue Hurricane guitar on the cover of ''Perpetual Burn'', he did not use this blue guitar on the album. Differences on this guitar from his first Hurricane include DiMarzio pickups, a maple fretboard, and 24 frets. (Marty Friedman recorded the whammy parts of his song "Dragon Mistress" using Becker's blue Hurricane, one of the rare times Marty has recorded whammy work.) For the second Cacophony album, Becker switched over to

Carvin Carvin () is a Communes of France, commune in the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of France about northeast of Lens, Pas-de-Calais, Lens. History During World War I, from October 1914 to October 1 ...

gear, utilizing 2 DC Series models, one in a trans blue finish with flamed maple top, and another one in a solid burgundy finish (This is the guitar seen in the famous "Yo Yo" video from the 1989 Japan tour with Cacophony). Both have double cutaway bodies, Kahler locking tremolo systems, six in line machine heads and two Carvin humbucker pickups. He used these up until he was diagnosed with

ALS Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or—in the United States—Lou Gehrig's disease (LGD), is a rare, terminal neurodegenerative disorder that results in the progressive loss of both upper and low ...

in 1989. During the sessions for '' A Little Ain't Enough'', Becker used various Carvin, Ibanez, ESP and Valley Arts guitars, as well as a Les Paul on some tracks and a Gibson acoustic for select things. Becker has also been pictured with a few Hamer superstrats as well. From 1989 to 1991, Becker used various guitars, most notably a Peavey custom model with the numbered fretboard markers. Also used were an

Ibanez is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United Stat ...

Custom Shop guitar (probably based on an RG), a custom from Performance Guitars, a couple of various unknown Strat style guitars and a black Hurricane with three single coil pickups. Becker has allowed Paradise Guitars USA to release a Jason Becker signature guitar. It is similar in appearance to the numbered Peavey, but with a different headstock shape. Becker used various types of amplifiers in his music. Before joining Cacophony, he used a small Peavey Studio Pro 40 with the older style Peavey vertical silver stripes on the grille cloth. During his early days Becker was also seen with a red Marshall JCM800 head and 4x12 cabinet. For the first Cacophony album, Becker used an ADA MP1 preamp. He recorded Perpetual Burn with a borrowed 1970s Marshall half stack and a BOSS Super Overdrive and Cacophony's second album was recorded with a Carvin X100B stack. For the

album '' A Little Ain't Enough'', Becker used "eight different Marshall amps." He also used the SX300H head at some point during that era. After Cacophony, Becker used various amps, including a "Fender M80", an unknown Marshall amp, an ADA preamp and possibly the aforementioned Peavey combo. Becker typically used Dean Markley and SIT strings.

Paradise Guitar

In 2008 Paradise Guitars worked with Becker to design a Jason Becker signature guitar. The design is based on the Peavey with colored number

fret A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical inst ...

inlays. Features include an

alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...

body,

maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...

neck The neck is the part of the body in many vertebrates that connects the head to the torso. It supports the weight of the head and protects the nerves that transmit sensory and motor information between the brain and the rest of the body. Addition ...

with steel 2-way truss rod, maple 16" radius

fingerboard The fingerboard (also known as a fretboard on fretted instruments) is an important component of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument. The stri ...

, 24 jumbo thin frets with colored number fret marker inlays, black

Floyd Rose The Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, or simply Floyd Rose, is a type of locking Vibrato systems for guitar, vibrato arm for a guitar. Floyd D. Rose invented the locking vibrato in 1976, the first of its kind, and it is now manufactured by a company ...

Pro Style floating

Tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are multiple types of tremolo: a rapid repetition of a note, an alternation between two different notes, or a variation in volume. Tremolos may be either ''measured'' ...

with Floyd Rose Tremolo stop, Sperzel red satin tuners, 14-degree tilt-back

headstock A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the tuning pegs or other mechanism that holds the s ...

with black Paradise logo and matching tremolo and electronics plates. The pickups are DiMarzio pickups; a PAF Pro-Custom in the neck colored yellow and red, a DP116 HS-2 in the middle colored green, and a Tone Zone-Custom in the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

colored pink and blue. These colored pickups complement the colored inlays and seem to give the guitar a

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

effect. There is also a red five-way switch and purple 1–11 volume knob.

Kiesel/Carvin Tribute Guitars

In 2012, Carvin worked with Becker to design the JB200C Jason Becker Tribute, a guitar that is modeled after the original DC200 guitar he used toward the latter part of his career. In 2015, Kiesel Guitars, which took over Carvin's guitar manufacturing, worked with Becker to release a second tribute model, called the JB24 "Numbers" guitar. It is the third incarnation of his "Numbers" guitar, previously released by Peavey and Paradise guitars. For the official launch of Becker's signature Seymour Duncan Perpetual Burn Humbucker and the Carvin JB24 numbers guitar, Danny Young was chosen as the guitarist for both performances due to his stylistic resemblance to Becker and Paganini. The Perpetual Burn performance was played on the Carvin JB200C.

Documentary film

A feature-length documentary film about Becker entitled '' Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet'', was released in 2012. The film includes interviews with Becker, his family and friends, and the various musicians he has worked with, including

, Richie Kotzen, and Steve Hunter.

Discography

Cacophony * '' Speed Metal Symphony'' (1987) * '' Go Off!'' (1988) Marty Friedman * '' Dragon's Kiss'' (1988) * '' Inferno'' (2014) Solo * '' Perpetual Burn'' (1988) * '' Perspective'' (1996) * '' The Raspberry Jams'' (1999) * '' The Blackberry Jams'' (2003) * '' Collection'' (2008) * ''Boy Meets Guitar, Vol. 1 of the Youngster Tapes'' (2012) * '' Triumphant Hearts'' (2018) David Lee Roth * '' A Little Ain't Enough'' (1991) Joe Becker * ''

Short Stories A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

'' (2005) Other works * '' Richie Kotzen'' (1989, producer) * ''Daydream by the Hudson'' on Steve Hunter's 2013 The Manhattan Blues Project Compilations * ''Guitar Masters'', 1989, Roadrunner Records * ''Metal Guitars – High Voltage Instrumentals'',1998, Disky Communications * ''Shrapnel's Super Shredders: Neoclassical'',2009, Shrapnel * ''This is Shredding'', Vol. 1, 2009, Shrapnel * ''This is Shredding'', Vol. 2, 2009, Shrapnel Tribute * Warmth in the Wilderness: A Tribute to Jason Becker, 2001, Lion Music * ''Warmth in Wilderness 2: Tribute Jason Becker'', 2002, Lion Music * ''Jason Becker's Not Dead Yet! (Live in Haarlem)'', 2012, Primal Events Instructional * ''Hot Licks – The Legendary Guitar of Jason Becker'' * ''In The Style Of Jason Becker'', feat. Max Dible. DC Music School Films * '' Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet'' (2012) * '' One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das'' (2012)

References

External links

Jason Becker's official website

Becker's MySpace page

Shrapnel Records official website

Documentary film website

Paralyzed guitarist continues to produce music , Abc7news.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becker, Jason 1969 births Living people American heavy metal guitarists People with motor neuron disease American musicians with disabilities American lead guitarists Musicians from Richmond, California Guitarists from California American male guitarists 20th-century American guitarists Cacophony (band) members 20th-century American male musicians Shrapnel Records artists The David Lee Roth Band members