16-Year-Old Guitarist Tina S. Plays Iron Maiden's "The Trooper"

Sixteen-year-old French guitarist Tina S. is back with a new video (her first of 2016), which she posted to YouTube today, February 5.

This time, Tina—who has covered everyone from Steve Vai to Eddie Van Halen to Gary Moore—tackles Iron Maiden's classic 1983 classic, "The Trooper."

Written by Iron Maiden bassist and founder Steve Harris, the song is based on the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava (1854), which took place during the Crimean War. It also was inspired by Lord Tennyson's poem of the same name. Thank you, Wikipedia!

"I've been listening to Iron Maiden since childhood, and my favorite is 'The Trooper'," Tina told GuitarWorld.com. "Also, lots of people ask me to play this one!"

As always, Tina is playing her Vigier Excalibur Custom guitar. She was taught and filmed by her guitar instructor, Renaud Louis-Servais.

Be sure to check out Tina's effortless covers of Jason Becker's "Altitudes," Van Halen's "Eruption," Vai's version of Paganini's 5th Caprice, Dream Theater's "The Best of Times" and her shred tribute to Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi.

You also might want to check out her take on Yngwie Malmsteen's "Arpeggios from Hell," which she performed and posted in 2014.

For more about Tina, check out the links above (and under RELATED CONTENT), and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

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Damian Fanelli
Editor-in-Chief, Guitar World

Damian is Editor-in-Chief of Guitar World magazine. In past lives, he was GW’s managing editor and online managing editor. He's written liner notes for major-label releases, including Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'The Complete Epic Recordings Collection' (Sony Legacy) and has interviewed everyone from Yngwie Malmsteen to Kevin Bacon (with a few memorable Eric Clapton chats thrown into the mix). Damian, a former member of Brooklyn's The Gas House Gorillas (opens in new tab), was the sole guitarist in Mister Neutron (opens in new tab), a trio that toured the U.S. and released three albums (opens in new tab). He now plays in two NYC-area bands.