- ou can'tescape Eddie Van Halen's contributions to the collective guitar consciousness.

From the top of the charts

to movie and TVmusic to local guitar shop "spoo" (see TheReal Frank Zappa Book for an explanation of this term),
you'll find ample evidence of Edward's indelible mark. To the legionsweaned on his playing,it's a giventhat Van Halen
wrote the book on contemporary hard-rock guitar. But those who cut their teeth on late '60s and early '70s rock are
also in Eddie's debt; he redefined the mechanics of heavy guitar just when screamin' solos had become a lost, even
scorned, art. When Van Halen hit the scene, the tables turned almost overnight. It was more than okay to play hot,
wild guitar on virtually any gig;it was expected. Eddie made it safe to play again!
Examples la through ld are characteristic of Van Halen's "beyond blues" approach to pentatonic- and blues-scale mater-
ial. Squawky pick harmonics and descending chromatic passing tones enhance the short A pentatonic- major fillin [Link]. Ex.
lb begins with a syncopated, three-against-four motive derived from the seventeenth-position
A pentatonic-minor scale. The 2nd (111)and 6th (C#)lend [Link] a Dorian vibe,while [Link] blends
B blues and Dorian elements. B~.Jesse Gress
[Link].
AS
J= 140

;z

v v v v v v
semi-harm.
B R P 1/4 B1/4 B1/4 B1/4

J J

Ex. lb.

J= 130

B B B B B B R P B

[Link].
ES
J= 176 r. .

--
3 3 3 3

P P P H 1 H

40 VON HOLEN
 [Link]. 8m?

J= 130

B. B P PP B

Many of Edward's solos climax with a precise, tremolo-picked single-string ascent followed by a high bend; the version shown in Ex.
2a is played over the IVchord (Ain the key of E).The variation in Ex.2b approaches the final bend with a short, repeated melodic sequence
A5(lv)
Ex.2a. 8va -- ,
J= 135

trenl.
B I s s s --s
... 1;---12-
..... -l-..... -::.....
:;ii!

Ex.2b.
~~ : ,

Irem.
s s s s B B ~
....---..

One of the most important whammy-bar innovators since Hendrix, Eddie makes frequent use of "bar-as-pick" articulations. In Ex.
3a, for example, a single pick attack accommodates the entire ascending A pentatonic-minor lick. Bar articulations combine with ham-
mer-ons and pull-offs for the Mixolydian riff in Ex.3b. The seventeenth-position A pentatonic-minor lick in Ex.3c shifts mid-measure
to a three-against-four "bar-picked" pattern with hammer-ons and pull-offs.
&~ ~ &~
J= 138 - J= 130

w/bar w/bar w/bar w/bar w/bar w/bar R

R
~s ~s s B R P ~~ R P H ~B R PH ~-

Ex.3c.

J= 130 Perhaps the earliest tapping technique to catch on wide-

ly was to add notes above a bend held by the fretting hand. Ex.
4 illustrates a blend of bending, tapping, releasing, and pulling
~3-J off. In Ex. 5a the bent note becomes a pedal tone beneath a
w/bar w/bar w/bar
,-l~ tapped melody that outlines an 111minor melodic sequence.
B P ~H P ~P ~P The pedal-tone taps in Ex.5b use descending chromatic tones
for a quick, bluesy cadence; the final tonic is tapped one fret
lower to compensate for the half-step bend. In Ex. 5c, the fret
hand pedals two notes while the taps do the walkin'.
m HOLEN
41
Ex.4.

-
B R
Hold
T
- P R B T P R B

) 7 I(

EX.5a.

J=92 F#m
A 11 II

,. - -
Hold *
B-------------
TP TP T P B

--r; n. A 11 f\ ,. 1\ ~ A 1'£'

4-4
It
. Taps and pull-ofts written at actual fretboard positions while bend is held (this example only)

Ex.5b. Ex.5c.
E Am
J= 120

o o o 6
*
Hold
TP TP TP TP B T TP TPPH TP TPPH TP TPPH TP TPPH

.vibrato with fret hand

EX.6a.
Am
.I = 100 Many of Edward's tapped figures are based on
A .J I
. ,r ------. symmetrical fingerboard patterns. The three-
against-four motive in Ex. 6a makes the A penta-
'-
tonic riff sound more complex than it actually is.
Ex.6b features five-note groups with symmetrical
TPH T P H T P H T P P H T P T P P
,
fingerings; note Eddie's string-switching tech-
,,, " .., ." .., " nique and syncopated, bluesy cadence. Ex. 7 be-
A .;, -;; ;" .;, '" .., ;,
R ." .;, gins with symmetrical taps and then introduces
tapped slides. Try rhythmically displacing this lick
Ex.6b. by a sixteenth-note in either direction.

J= 156 5 5

5 5

T P P P H TPPP H TPPP H TPPPH TP T P T P T P B P

42 YBI HHLEN
Ex. 7.

Gjim Devilishly fast tapped slides zip off the fin-

gerboard in Ex. 8. To play the piano-style taps
8va ~--~ ~ ' in Ex.9, place your fretting hand over the top of
the fingerboard and tap with your middle (m) and
'-3-.J index (i) fingers while muting the strings to-
1-3-1 T P H TS P P TS P P TS P P wards the nut with your pinky. The picking
TPH .-----.... ~~~
hand, also using the middle and index fingers,
taps symmetrical shapes until the last bar. The
riff outlinesA7, B7, C7,D7, and [Link] back to
a conventional fretting-hand grip for the per-
cussive Ex. [Link] learn the picking-hand tap-
Ex.B. ping pattern-between the
thumb (p) and index finger (i)-
and then add the muted fret-
ting-hand taps. This thumb/
slap action is rooted in funk
bass. Start slowly, gradually
working it up to tempo.
TS PH P TS PH P TS PH P TS PH P TSPHP TS PH P

Ex. 9.
A7 87 C7 D7 E7
J= 175 *

m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i m i
TT<I><I> T T <f) <!> T T <I> <I> T T <I> <I>

. Circled notes tapped with pick hand.

Ex. 10. Van Halen's faux-tapping has fooled the best of us. Ex.11features
E5
J= 132 conventional picking, but its wide fretting-hand stretches and sym-
metrical shapes simulate a tapped sound. Eddie also uses cross-pick-
ing with unexpected open-string punctuation for a "phantom tap"
effect. Ex. 12a, an angular riff based on a repeated five-note motive,
contains a surprise open [Link] this shape accented in groups of both
P slap i slap p p slap i slapp slap i p-p four and five,as wellas in different fretboard positions. The fast triplets
T T TT T T TTT
in Ex. 12bare easier than they look Try phrasing the example in rhyth-
mic units of four, and experiment with rhythmic displacement. Ex.
12c is a typically inventive Van Halen ear-catcher: A simple fifth-po-
sition A pentatonic-minor scale gets the cross-picked/open-string
treatment. Try this one phrased in "fours" as well.
Ex. 11. E
8va , loco
J=87

P P
P P P

YON HHLEN 43
Ex. 12a. Ex. 12b.

8m A7
J= 118
,3"'" ,3"'"

L-3...J L-3...J L-3...J

p p p p p p p e p p p P P P ~B

Ex. 12d.
Ex. 12c. ,...3, ,...3..,

A5 Jffl = nn
J= 118 3 ,3-.
r-'--- r-- 3 -, r-- 3 -, - E5
3..,

P I
'-3-' '-3-'
P P P P P P P
- H
L-.3-.1
P H P P S

Withits Beck-styled"stringzips," Ex. 13is literallyallover the neck.Examples14athrough 14dshowcaseEdward'screativemelod-

ic and rhythmic use of natural harmonics. These licks suggest E minor, but they also work over other chords built from the harmo-
nized Eminorl Gmajor scale (i.e., FlIm~5, G,Am, Bm, C,and D).

E 1 Ex 14b.
X. 8va---
. Em
Ex.13. > >. , 8va ,
4a.
J=104 1:111
~- n- J= 120

J.",
E5
> > J
,S , S ~ let ring M ,"00.
'Om.

Ex. 14c. Ex. 14d.

Em Ex. 15a. Asus2
Em8va----- , 8va ,
r 3"'"

harm. * harm. I
T
let ring let ring T T T
T

.
Finger parenthesized notes and tap directly over fret 12 frets higher.

Ex. ISais a [Link] the harmonics,fingertheAsus2chord and use short, sharp tap attacks (think
"finger mallet") directly on the fret wire, 12 frets above each open or fretted note. The melody in Ex. ISb is built from chord shapes;
finger each one and tap out the melody 12 frets higher. The tapped chordal harmonics in Ex. ISc are a fleshed-out variation of ISb.
For tapped-harmonic chords, switch from tapping with your fingertips to the underside of your index finger. Angle your finger to ap-
proximate the diagonal shape of the A and B chords. Sympathetic notes held with the fretting hand will bleed through randomly. .
44 m HOLEN
Ex. iSh.
E B A E
~

harm.
let ring
T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T T S

Ex. iSc. E B E A

let ring
T T T T T T T T T T T