The Secret Sound of the 80's!
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Downloadable TABs, backing tracks, bonus lessons, and MUCH more available on my Patreon page! www.patreon.com/benellerguitars
This week, my Patrons get a download of the AXE FX III tone i used in this video for conjure up the sweet hairspray-laden tones of the Sunset Strip!!!
Follow my hair metal tribute band Skankbanger and treat yourself to some of our extremely classy merchandise: @skankbangerband
Hey guys, its Uncle Ben Eller!
Its not just the super shreddy solos, the big hair, or the tight pants that makes us love hair metal... there's a harmonic and melodic secret in almost every great big 80's tune, and its the power of the pedal tone riff!!!!
Chord triads being played above a shared bass note is a feature heard in songs by Van Halen, Def Leppard, White Lion, Steve Vai, Autograph, Journey, and SO many more; Its the secret sound of the 80's, and that's what we are here to talk about today!
In this deep dive video, we are going to walk through a TON of classic 80's riffs that we all know and love, and dissect the chordal magic thats going on behind them. Even though several of the examples we are going to talk about were recorded down a half step, i'll be doing this lesson in standard tuning to make it easier to follow along with.
Guitars used: Suhr Modern White Tiger, Ibanez RG550, Gibson Les Paul, all into the Fractal Audio Axe FX 3.
Thanks a lot for watching! Is there a style or decade of music you want to learn about next? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for learning the secret sound of the 80’s hair metal hits!!! What favorite riff of yours did I leave off?
Need a video on extreme!!
Fat Girl by Steel Panther
Oh, just to dogpile on ya, dr. feel good by motley crew was left out lol
Too young to fall in love was the first on where I really felt that pedal tone.
Ratt- Lay It Down
Great video Uncle Ben
Lay it Down is the best pedal tone riff of the post-Unchained '80s. Fight me!
Agreed for sure, glad to see you here Troy, you helped my playing alot!
No fight here, sir. I'm right beside you!
John Sykes. In the still of the night. Bridge riff before Solo. I'll fight you forever over that one.
@@bobbyosborne2375 FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT!
F yeah Lay it Down
There’s an iconic one missing: Round n’ Round - Ratt
Warren DiMartini.........one of the most awesome 'metronomed' players I've ever heard. So on time it's not funny.
I am so loving the new commercial for Geico with Ratt!!
The key to the "headbanging" quality of that riff is the bass doin' the scale and changes behind :) Listen the song and pay attention. It's one of the few hair metal band that used bass more than as a supporting instrument
@Natruzork I actually recently did a cover of that song. Give a listen if you wish.
ua-cam.com/video/UHqipZ6a8SI/v-deo.html
The best sound og the 80's is from ALDO NOVA his frist two albums are two masterpieces, his last covid live videos confirm he is an hell of an artist, he can sing ...play lots of instruments....produce...and write great songs. Then also the first 3 dokken albums....ratt's invasion of your privacy are great.
If I could go back in time to relive any age...I would go back to the '80's! Best times of my life!
The fact that you played Lay it Down right out of the gate sold me on the entire video
Me too, such a good riff
The best sound og the 80's is from ALDO NOVA his frist two albums are two masterpieces, his last covid live videos confirm he is an hell of an artist, he can sing ...play lots of instruments....produce...and write great songs. Then also the first 3 dokken albums....ratt's invasion of your privacy are great.
Not to mention...He knows tunings...All the early VH stuff was done 1/2 step down, E♭. Ratt and Mötley Crüe did a lot of Drop 'D' tuning. Damn...Glad I found your channel, Man.
@@randyerb6839 motley crue tunes to D standard
Playing in tune was cool in the 80's
Tell that to motley crue and van halen!
And Ratt
Queensryche does this a lot too, they're not really hair metal but they are incredibly awesome.
Dude, Queensryche rules!
I was scolling and thinking, "hey, but Queensryc..." then I saw you comment. I still listing to Operation Mindcrime regularly from start to finish.
Still jam to Queensryche, especially the first 3 albums! It’s basically ProgMetal. I hate that they went so pop with Empire and now that’s how most remember them. Fucking "Silent Lucidity"! Urrgh!
The early shit is DOPE still! “Eyes of a Stranger” fits this description.
Sadly, “Hair Metal” is thrown on almost everyone from that era just like “Nu Metal” gets thrown at the wrong bands.
WTF WE STOLE EACH OTHERS VIDEO ON THE SAME DAY!!! I'm linking to this vid in the description now lol, it's a perfect exploration of pedal tone riffing and I skimmed way past it in my vid. NICE WORK AND VERY WEIRD!
Say WHAAAAT?!?!
You’re both great at what you do slightly different. More teachers are better. Both of you keep up the good work. I watch Ben because I need ways to improve my chops (why I suck at guitar); I watch Jake for composing and theory. I find both of you among my favorite channels.
You lost me but then had me in the parking lot with "Skank Banger Band"!!! OMG!!! That may be the best band name ever!!!
Me too! And it certainly fit the hair metal bands! 😂😂😂
"Street Lethal" by Racer X. Paul Gilbert's guitar sounds like a futuristic car blazing down a neon lit skyway,with lightning bolted note changes accompanying fast and furious alternate picking. Like Van Halen on speed, only fasster! Racer X's first two albums are great supercharged sonic booms! Also from the Street Lethal album- "Blowing up the Radio" Another Van Halen hypercharged rocket of a song.
Well summed up. Racer X, in particular early Racer X, killed it!
Yes!!! Thanks for recognising Photograph by Def Leppard. The best part of that song is the chorus riff though 🤘🏽 genius stuff!
I would argue that Randy Rhoads along with Steve Vai actually knew exactly what he was doing in terms of theory.
Randy was classically trained, I think he had a pretty good idea how he did what he did
And Vai practically has his Doctorate in guitar. There’s nothing that he cannot deliver from that instrument.
I don't care for steve vai's composition, as it isn't bluesy or classical in nature, but more of a shred in nature. I like randy rhoads because he does what steve vai does, but heavier, more classical, and harder hitting. Steve vai will always be better than me though, so I have no right to say anything about his skill.
VITO!!!!! He was amazing. Those arpeggios in the chorus of "Wait" still give me chills.
No love for Reb Beach? Winger wrote some cheese, yeah, but at least he was great.
The best sound og the 80's is from ALDO NOVA his frist two albums are two masterpieces, his last covid live videos confirm he is an hell of an artist, he can sing ...play lots of instruments....produce...and write great songs. Then also the first 3 dokken albums....ratt's invasion of your privacy are great.
"Headed for a Heartbreak" is an epic Winger tune! Very powerful.
@@margix1172 I was lucky enough to score 2 months of lessons from his guitar player. Very cool guy!
Fantasy....great song!
Let's do the math: she was only 17 in 1988.... How old is that make her now? 🤣
@@JPTyler too old lol
'80s forever! Those triads are priceless. All you need now is just ultra compressed drums drenched in gated reverb and as much hairsrpay to get Greta 2 strokes a minute! ;) Rock on!
But 80's riffs cant d'jent :(
@@quickscopeoneeighty9158 thank god they don't
Bark at the moon is an awesome example
The pedal tone is what makes all metal songs metal
Delay arena reverb and chorus with big full step raking bends past the 12th fret = big 80s vibes
As a 45 year old who picked up his first guitar in '87, I really enjoyed this video, Ben!!! Well done 🤘🔥🤘🔥
Magnificent work, Ben. Your content is always top notch.
He cracks me up and he really knows his stuff. I'm sure he's maxed out on students. Every guitar teacher I've ever had took themselves entirely too seriously. Ben's dead pan humor probably creates a very dynamic and productive learning environment.
I really appreciate these kind of intermediate level lessons where you actually go into a decent amount of theory about the chords themselves rather than just showing us HOW to play it. Goes a long way for those of us guitar players that are starting to really step into the world of theory past playing minor pentatonic scales and cowboy chords
Great lesson Ben! “ Lay it down” is the riff says it all for me 🤘🏽🎸🔥
Crazy Train taught me so much. I learned it...oh, '83-'84 ish. The minor intro riff, the major ride through the verse, the chords in the solo...I just grew so much as a guitar player from that.
I abandoned my aspirations in '88 ish but I always jangled on the guitar a bit as time went by. I haven't kept up to the styles over the decades so even though I like a lot of the newer music I really still understand the guitar in the eighties Metal way...thanks again. Great content.
I keep stumbling over all this stuff in your lessons that I'd either forgotten or wondered about. It's like a 10 minute refresher course in music. Your videos are all spot on. Lots of fun stuff; all these great possibilities. Best of luck to you.
Ben is a great teacher, and has an excellent understanding of the fretboard and theory. Keep it up Skank Banger 🤘
I shall use all of them!
White Lion - Lady Of The Valley is an absolute fav. Vitos guitar riffs and solos on this song is so good.
roger andersson YES
BTW, it is great how you explain in your videos complicated things in such an easy way (not necessarily talking about this one in particular).
Been playing for +20 years and with a few (or may be more than just a few...) tweaks here and there on my playing I grabbed from your videos I took it up a notch.
Vito Bratta is one of the most odd outliers from the time. Yes his idol was Eddie, but Vito managed to absolutely create his own sound and space. At the time he was not given his due, but I believe of late when people try to play his stuff they see his genius. I think Pride is an amazing album. Vito's tapping, bending and harmonic overtone use is his magnum opus. Listen to every song and he is playing at his most intricate.
Vito Bratta is the illegitimate love child of Eddie Van Halen and Elton John. : )
Vito Bratta, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, & Warren De Martini...….all world Italian line up !
@@mastiel1 and their godfather DiMeola
@@mastiel1 you forgot michaelangelo batio, vinnie vincent, and tony iommi
@@penargyl3211 maybe you knew this, but Vito said in an interview back then that two cassettes he carried with him at all times were Van Halen and Elton John.
Even though I only retain about 1/100 of the information when I watch your videos, I still feel like I've learned a lot from you over time. I like that you don't complain about having to repeat yourself (the way some youtubers do), because it helps drill the message in.
If there is a common thread secret amongst excellent tone 80's rock, it's three letters and three numbers - JCM800
Yes and no. I have a 2203 and it's kind of underwhelming without a boost in front, especially at a lower volumes. Add a few db boost and the amp comes alive. I suspect a lot of the classic tracks using an old marshall master volume amp have a boost in front
The RAT by ProCo
@@andrewgarcia3136 tube screamers I suspect.
Been super thankful about the videos lately explaining triads and chord inversions, they've definitely been helping me get outside of the box as far as playing the typical chord shapes. They can give you some really cool hidden flavors and seem to connect up easier with some of the other triads found in the same area of the neck. Cheers!
Very nice! A simplified (but useful) way of looking at all these riffs is that they are like passing tones in a good guitar solo. If you hang out on any of the "off" chords it sounds weird, but using the "off" chords to get you to a root or inversion is gold.
Steel Panther has some cool riffs too.
Satchel is AWESOME!!!
Eatin' ain't cheatin'!
The best sound og the 80's is from ALDO NOVA his frist two albums are two masterpieces, his last covid live videos confirm he is an hell of an artist, he can sing ...play lots of instruments....produce...and write great songs. Then also the first 3 dokken albums....ratt's invasion of your privacy are great.
Glory Hole is unironically one of the best metal songs ever made
sh*t lyrics tho
Unchained is one of my favorite tunes! Thank you for the tubular demo!
Hey Ben Just want to thank you for your quality content and artistry.
Ty Tr and thank you for watching!
Literally just thumbs-upped this and I'm not even 5 seconds in... You rule, man!
Tesla, Def Leppard, Skid Row, Dangerous Toys (aka Skid Row II), Cinderella, Ozzy, The Cult, Queensryche, Whitesnake, Winger, a little Coverdale-Page, Ratt... shit man, I love them all! But I haven't see anyone mention any Great White yet! I'd love to see a Weekend Wankshop on House of Broken Love/Rock Me. What a great episode. What a great channel.
The best sound og the 80's is from ALDO NOVA his frist two albums are two masterpieces, his last covid live videos confirm he is an hell of an artist, he can sing ...play lots of instruments....produce...and write great songs. Then also the first 3 dokken albums....ratt's invasion of your privacy are great.
Cinderella - "Somebody Save Me"
Dokken - "Just Got Lucky"
Ratt - "Wanted Man"
Warrant - "So Damn Pretty"
Winger - "Hungry" (P.S. Uncle Ben, can we PLEASE get a lesson on the acoustic breakdown in the middle of this song?!? THANKS!!!)
@Thomas Jefferson That solo is wicked (as are most of Reb's solos), but I've been trying to figure out how to play that middle section of "Hungry" for YEARS!
Man, you know your theory. Eddie wrote a lot of VH's stuff on piano...He's "classically" trained, but with guitar, he never "overthought" things and just improvised...Hence all the things that he did to change how we all played guitar. Steve Vai on the other hand...Is a "Nerd" and knows exactly what he's doing at any given moment. Loved reading his columns in "Guitar: For the Practicing Musician". I never would've known about "circular vibrato" if it wasn't for him. Great video and channel. Thank you,
XYZ’s “Hungry” has the gnarliest, nastiest hair metal tone, it’s the holy grail of that tone
"...picture-perfect, pedal-point power."
Positively perspicuous! Great vid...
Steve Lynch from Autograph was my guitar instructor for many years. Awesome to hear their tune show up in this vid! 👍
David Michalek oh wow!!!! I bet he was awesome!
David Michalek also, have you seen my Turn Up the Radio solo lesson?
Ben Eller I have not but I’ll check it out! Would be cool to see you try a crack at Hammerhead ;)
Ben Eller he was an amazing teacher and specialized in tapping techniques incorporating all fingers. Steve wrote a few books on it as well. Also had a lot of 80’s touring drama stories with Van Halen lol
David Michalek ha! I bet, man. I heard that Eddie demanded that Steve not tap while they were touring together. Any truth there?
Great job, Ben!! Thanks! I'm not sure why, but one of the first songs to pop into my head was, Preist's Heading Out to the Highway. ✌❤🤘
Yes I freaking love Warren one of the most underrated guitarists of the 80s in my opinion.
I really like “it’s not love” by Dokken, sounds so good! Thanks for this great video :)
Need more Ads! Play some Ad riffs from mobile game advertising. We love it so much.
omgggg ben this was amazing. I grew up listening to this stuff, but in the pre-youtube era I was never able to figure out what gave those riffs that distinctive sound (especially theory-wise). I had some breakthroughs with triads recently and this video made a tonnnn of sense and connected so many dots. thank you so much!
also the D - Dm in Wait I'm hearing as a minor plagal cadence in A? super cool riff
Are you a girl bro because you text like one😂😂
Genre of the Gods!
I enjoyed this vid this afternoon. Tonight when I was walking my dog I had a vision of a "Monty Python - like" sketch called "Interviewing bass players". Interviewer is John Cleese in his most pretentious British accent form. When the candidate bass player (BP) comes in the interviewer (JC) says something like "Thank you for coming in today! We are looking for some bass players to support our client on an up and coming international tour. Tell me, what sort of bass player are you?" And BP says "Well, I play rock, blues, prog, and pretty much any genre you can name sir". And JC says "Yes, yes, yes ..... but what TYPE of bass player are you?" And BP says "Well, I'm not entirely sure what you mean sir". JC: " Oh I'm not sure you will be of the professional level we need. Surely you must know if you are an E bass player or an A bass player.". BP: "Oh I see. Well I can play both with equal facility, I assure you." JC:" Well that is unusual and very interesting ...Tell me just how fast you can switch guitars between E and A?". BP: "I don't have to switch sir - I play both on the same guitar.". JC: "Both on the same guitar? ". and I think you can easily imagine how things proceed from there to the punch line which is something like JC: "Well I can see you will be a perfect fit, and you have made my job much easier by being able to fill both A and E bass player roles. Welcome to the band! Please send in the next candidate for our D bass player".
Mr Ben, this is the 1st time have seen your instructional videos, thnx for the good content. The explanation on the cord triades really opened my eyes up to an area of playing that ive always had difficulty in learning or even researching for that matter. Also your delivery of the lesson is excellent. I'll be subscribing!
Black n Blue - Hold on to 18, Crüe - Looks that Kill, Ratt - Round and Round… I am in a hair metal cover band and we play a lot of those pedal tone masterpieces!
Ben, your knowledge of Music Theory ,and as applied to Guitar, is beyond impressive..
The bridge part (before first solo) to Def Leppard's "Too Late for Love" is also a great pedal point riff.
Came for some goofing off inspiration, subscribed for the “shred alone” comment and Skank Banger. Laughed out loud at both.
I laughed pretty good when you made your "educated guess" about Steve Vai vs the rest of the '80 shredders. I couldn't agree more! :)
This is exactly what makes a good track an unforgettable track.
Thanks Uncle Ben for shedding light on this beautiful aspect of classic rock and metal.
I even understood some of the theory. 🤣
Thanks for putting and then teaching all of these great 80s pedal point riffs in one place, Uncle Ben!
Another good'un! Keep up the great work Uncle Ben!
Honestly I left "winger" off my own 80s introduction of music and only started playing them about 3 years ago. "Seventeen" is an absolute banger of a solo.
Gawd, finally... As fantastic as 80s solos are, it's the rhythm guitar I like sinking my teeth into. 🤤
The 80's has the best metal guitar music ever created AND ILL GIVE YOU ONE REASON....Mr Crowley.
Definitely need more of these 80s videos
Ha... Now that you miss me, you upload 80s stuff again. You're filthy Ben, but I can't live without you.
Thank you uncle Ben, you totally nailed this one.
Hi uncle Ben Eller, I am a humble Patreon really amazed about the high-quality content you share. I started following you when looking for Marty Friedman solos. In this video, you started the explanations with one of my favourite riffs of Ratt - Lay it Down. I haven't checked if you shared the TABS for Patreons. I can listen to those 80s bands restlessly. I was born in 1982 but I love that kind of sound, a kind of the cassette inside the car stereo equipment... Anyway, hello from Spain ;-)
I have just found your guitar lesson on how to play Lay it Down correctly ;-) As said, AMAZING content!
“Man cannot live on shred alone”...what a legend
You know, your explanations are very well constructed, my dude it's like your in the room with me
I was always liked the opening chords in "Scared" by Dangerous Toys
Thanks for reminding me of those guys. I can smell the new cassette tape fumes now...
saw them with Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Motorhead, and Metal Church like 30 years ago as a little kid... so many legends there!
Thats a great song, love that album🤘
Very well articulated Dr. Uncle Ben!
I can never completely express my love for this channel.
Ben, I love your definitions. In college Theory (composition) class, when my professor asked for a chord analysis/justification, I would often reply, "Who knows?" That didn't go over well. LOL - One such composition project got me a C- grade, so I renamed the work from "Semester 3 Sonata Project" to "Sonata in C Minus". Today, it bears the name of my wife, "Louella's Theme".
Just realised why everybody says my riffs sound 80s. Cheers Ben. ;)
We should all be taking 80s guitar lessons. Let's make rock and metal great again 😮
Thank you for highlighting Randy. Despite his ubiquity, the scope of his influence is stills widely underestimated
Would love to see you do a breakdown on the solo from "Dream Warriors" from Dokken! That song definitely has one of my favorite pedal tone riffs ever.
Awsome song!
The best sound og the 80's is from ALDO NOVA his frist two albums are two masterpieces, his last covid live videos confirm he is an hell of an artist, he can sing ...play lots of instruments....produce...and write great songs. Then also the first 3 dokken albums....ratt's invasion of your privacy are great.
go check out Jay Parmar.
I loved Back for the Attack. Lynchs sound on that is crunchy as hell.Heaven Sent. Mr.Scary.
Great stuff came out of the 80's.
Some crap too but...
Oh man! I was going to say, use White Lion's Wait as an example. Really cool you did! One of my favs
I love when UA-cam channels advertise/beg for the first minute and a half of their videos
Fantastic songwriting tips. Thanks for explaining this concept so well!
Awesome explanation Ben.... fantastic video my friend
Can’t wait to download your patch but I have been on the fractal waiting list for months for the FM3
Awesome man. Do the same video but now for solos in the 80s, I think there are a lots of People Who would wanted that.
Having grown up in the 80s and originally being into Thrash/Speed Metal, I threw a lot of shade at Hair Metal bands, but now that I'm an old man that plays guitar as a hobby...I appreciate those bands much more. One of my favorite solos of all time is from "Here I go Again" from Whitesnake.
Vito Bratta was so smooth and lyrical with his guitar solos. I remember the songs and videos on MTv well. From what I understand, the guitar solo for "Wait" was 1 take, the first take. (feel free to fact check)
Randy Rhoades was the king in the early 80's for just a couple years being in the spot light after joining Ozzy he became a legend 30 year's after his death still a very well known by everyone R.I.P Randy
YES!!! I was so happy to see you include WAIT!
Skank Banger might be the best name for a band ever.
i love that youre rocking Fishmans...... the Will Adler (of Lamb Of God) signature Fishmans have completely blown my mind
Hi Uncle Ben. My mom's been insufferable since you stopped coming over. She carries this printed screenshot around of you all the time. It's weird. She saw me watching this video and ran upstairs to cram herself into some leopard skin tights and now she wants to know when you're coming over.
Mr argle bargle.... Mr kilowatt
Thank you so much for naming Randy along with Eddie as The Godfathers. He doesn’t get talked about enough.👍🏼
when you hear a D triad on an E pedal just write it off as a gang of passing notes. oh i love your videos btw uncle ben
Literally the sound of my youth. I was ten in 1980. All this stuff was blaring. Good times.
that guitar tone is so amazing
silverisss thank you! Love that Axe FX 3!!!
Excellent choice on the White Lion tunes. 👍
That was a nice tripp down memory lane. I was entertained
Not *quite* hair metal, but "I Don't Believe In Love" by Queensrÿche, with the D pedal and diads implying Dm, Gm, Dm, and Bb, doing the C-Csus4 cliché and resolving on that sweet sweet Bb9 with the augmented 4th on top (as Rick Beato would put it, a "Bb Lydian" chord since it's the root, #4th and 5th).
Always loved that augmented 4th of that chord, it’s so dark sounding
I'm a bassist....please speak English lol....
You’ve just unintentionally showed me how to play ever RATT song ever. The “Lay it Down” riff at the beginning was a bonus!! 🤗
And a killer riff it is too
TNT... Ronni LeTekro's tone and riffing are amazing. And fuhgetta 'bout his unreal solos!
ohhhh Sh!t this was a fun video to watch and play along to. Kudos my friend.
This is gold! Thank you!!