Guitar Lesson 34: A brief foray into the monstrous rhythmic playing of Eddie Van Halen

In guitar lesson 34, Dan and I continue our study of rhythmic playing with a focus on the style of Eddie Van Halen.  A true monster of the guitar, Van Halen is someone who Dan has studied closely over the years and he is eager to share his knowledge.  Dan introduces a rock lick and looking particularly at the technique of muting slowly builds complexity into it.  With some final thoughts on the trem bar and piano technique, there is so much in this lesson.

Main timings

0:02:24	Who are our top 3 rhythm guitarists?
0:13:05	Several different types and uses of muting
0:15:06	Starting to study a bit of Van Halen and how we will tackle this
0:16:02	Building up our rock riff and adding complexities
0:17:32	The basic riff without embellishments and rhythmic ideas
0:19:21	Again, a fairly simple rock rhythm
0:23:57	Dynamics – using muting and arranging to bring the sound down
0:39:33	Adding fills to rock riffs
0:54:10	Tremolo bar
1:02:54	Summary
1:07:04	A final thought on piano style

Detailed timings

0:02:24	Who are our top 3 rhythm guitarists?
0:04:49	EXCERPT – Tommy Emmanuel: Amazing Grace
0:09:33	Dan’s top 3 players
0:11:24	Hendrix style fills and rhythm
0:13:05	Muting 1: the Metallica metal thing
0:13:21	Muting 2: Open out a sound using muting and release
0:13:43	Muting 3: Hendrixy funky style licks
0:14:13	Muting 4: double stops
0:14:23	Muting 5: double stops on top strings
0:15:06	Starting to study a bit of Van Halen
0:15:49	Dan introducing what we’re going to do this lesson
0:16:02	Our rock riff 1 – Playing off our A string
0:16:13	Our rock riff 2 – An A power chord
0:16:30	Our rock riff 3 – 5th fret of D and G (C5)
0:16:40	Our rock riff 4 – 7th fret D and G string (D5)
0:16:56	Our rock riff 5 -7th fret (D5 / Asus4)
0:17:04	Our rock riff 6 – An A shape
0:17:11	Our rock riff 7 – 7, 6 and 5 on the D, G and B
0:17:17	Our rock riff 8 – resolving to a A5 power chord on the 7th of the D and 9th of the G
0:17:32	The basic riff without embellishments and rhythmic ideas
0:19:21	Again, a fairly simple rock rhythm
0:19:56	Me giving the simple riff a go
0:20:45	Our rock riff 9 – with an upstroke added
0:21:36	Our rock riff 10 – Last powerchord is on the up stroke
0:22:24	MUTING.  What might be the reasons for using it?
0:23:57	Dynamics – using muting and arranging to bring the sound down
0:25:07	Playing individual strings with muting
0:25:27	Playing the strings lightly
0:26:33	Dynamics 2 – using muting and individual string
0:33:59	Rolling back the volume
0:34:06	The degrees of muting
0:35:24	Changing the release off the mute and picking pressure
0:39:33	Adding fills to rock riffs
0:40:12	The Dream is Over
0:41:16	Rhythm figure with some fills
0:42:50	Pull offs in the key of A
0:44:11	That lick from Randy Rhoads Crazy Train
0:44:15	Crazy Train
0:47:44	Hot for teacher
0:53:25	So if you’re trying to get all that into the original lick…
0:54:10	Trem bar
0:55:33	Musical U – the musicality podcast
0:59:41	catch harmonics on the way back up on the trem
1:01:08	Using trem VH style so no upward movement
1:02:06	yanking trem back
1:02:19	Bringing to the 0 point
1:02:54	Summary
1:07:04	A final thought on piano style