I read an interview with EVH years ago. He was asked why he "jumped around" between different modes when he played. He said "there are 12 notes in an octave, I don't need anyone to tell me how to arrange them". At first, I thought that was kind of arrogant. Later I realized he was exactly right. The chromatic scale is part of music theory. Especially if you're the writing a song, you can use any note you want...
I never accepted the idea of scales all this time I was trying to learn guitar and it turns out I was right and have Eddie Van Halen to back me up. If only the world listened to us naive people more.
Using the chromatic scale is one thing, but making it sound good is another. You have to know how to use those notes in a musical way and that is not so easy.
His secret was his fathers jazz playing. The essence of these scales were allowing him to do what jazz musicians refer to as "slurring"...it can be found in Charlie Parker fast runs and Miles Davis's slower approach. So that is why the beginning and ending notes are spot on, with the others having a passing or "slurring" quality. IMO
That's a pretty good interpretation of his riff philosophy. There was always this segmentation to his style from the beginning. He explains a lot of this in the Smithsonian interview.
As much as I hate Jazz, that is more or less correct - it was the one thing I learned from a Jazz player that stuck with me back in the mid-80's - how tossing in notes that didn't actually "belong", was a way to smear a melody-line in ways that were unique musically.
EVH said himself he didn't know any music theory, And completely failed at piano lessons (actually faked it ) ..I also think he was over rated...good at what he did ,but stole a lot of what he did from other players
Sorry far from over-rated...He is as great of a riff maker as any 6 stringers on the planet. Every guitarist takes from others and makes their own, he was no different but somehow came out Completely Different Compared to anyone else out there...I am not a super fan, but I know what his value was...He was so good, that other people who couldn't copy what he did, invented other things just to compete against his technique and ended creating their own styles...people like Peter Buck, Johnny Marr, Andy Summers. That is how important he was. @@richcarroll7510
@@richcarroll7510LOLOL. You need help, bro. A lot. EVH was nothing short of a musical genius. He couldn’t READ music. That doesn’t mean he didn’t know theory. You’ve outed yourself as someone who knows nothing about music and EVH. Pro tip: NEVER say or write something as foolish as “EVH is over-rated…he stole a bunch from others….” Good lord man
This is one the best lessons ever! I am still trying to figure out some theory after over 30 years of playing. The first 3 shapes that you showed are what I always went to. Secretly I thought I was just playing sloppy. Like Eddie said, “theory is just a idea, it doesn’t mean it’s right”. Like George Lynch said, “it might not be right according to theory, but if it sounds good it is good!”
Krist Novoselich (Nirvana bass player) told me the same thing when I asked him about how to create a great progression while we were waiting to push back from the gate.... he said, "If it sounds good, its good". That's it. I can't remember if he said "Don't overthink it" or not. A super cool nice humble guy, like so many of these players who are really good.
Tommy Tedesco has/had the same approach to a speed run...a shape, that creates noise, ending on the point of resolution. I sat in a MI class in 87 where Tommy mentions Ed doing the same thing. It's almost as if they're fooling your ear. Always appreciated.
I've watched several similar videos. This is by far the most constructive. It has really opened my eyes on a topic (Eddie Style) that I've studied for 36 years. Thanks Robert!
It's amazing how much time and effort I put into scales and modes back in the day only to realize that later on it all gets condensed into one big thing. I don't even think about music that way anymore and have never played more chromatically than I do currently. It's all about landing at home base at the right times. In a given solo or just messing around I'll be playing major, minor, blues, Dorian, mixolydian etc. at the same time all with chromatics in between.
I think of them (when forced to explain them) as one string scales. “Pattern 2” : E - Minor Nat. A - Minor Nat. D - Phrygian G - Blues B - Dorian e - Minor/Dorian
I explored this approach years ago where the only rule was to start and end on a root note and the rest was totally shape driven... I shelved it because I allowed the theory snobs to convince me I was a total sinner! Man I'm back on board - Thanks so much!!!
I am just as impressed with Robert Baker as I am with EVH, you decode it all so well ! And, your originals are also good to the ear, and my ears. Sometimes some music isn't, but you have a good ear, Robert.
The interviews I've read with Eddie over the years - one in particular back in the 80s - he unknowingly was using the minor pentatonic scale he picked up on by listening to records; like Cream.....and with all of Eddie's beautiful simplicity - he simply wondered: "what would happen if I started dropping in my pinky?" So he did, and liked the sound. In musical terms, he was adding semi-tone steps to the minor pentatonic scale; creating a symmetrical shape that ended up being one of his go-to patterns. How he made it work was thru the speed....and landing on a root or chord tone at the end of the run or lick. He would call it: "falling down the stairs and landing on your feet." It's all very brilliant, instinctive stuff; all very EVH :)
so i saved this lesson bc i truly wanted to know what Eddie was doing, so Epic , so sad now that he just passed, along with Dime now 2 of the Best Ever, rest easy Eddie, thank you for all the wonderful music and moments, i am Devastated, my heart is Crushed, thx for these lessons Bro, i luv this stuff, keep em coming, we all need to carry the flame Eddie gave us
Probably biased here as a huge EVH fan but this is already one of my fave of your tutorial videos, Robert. This gets to the heart of Eddie's playing that most guys don't capture. I'm taking my notes down. :) Well done, thanks.
I happened upon this after Edward’s passing. I’ve always been influenced by Ed but the last 3 weeks I’ve really gone into an EVH deep dive. Thank you for this video, Robert. God speed, Ed. Thank you for everything you gave us.
Same for me on the deep dive. I've been listening to the roth era music more closely and hearing things in his playing that I don't remember hearing. Been working on about 4 of those songs since his passing. Ive also been so inspired that I bought and modded to make a 5150 tribute guitar. I used the kramer baretta special and modded it with a 1984 special edition original floyd rose and a Jalen Pinnacle pickup. If you don't know jalen pups they are freaking awesome for evh tone. Super clear with bell like harmonics. And dont let the price of the kramer fool you. That guitarbplays and sounds as well as my $1000+ guitars. I think it may just have become my favorite and possibly main guitar and I've played for 30yrs.
I think you have put together some of the best insights ever for budding guitar heroes with these EVH videos. While obviously no one is going to watch these things and be shredding like Eddie in 15 minutes (let alone 15 years), you so clearly break down the concepts and demystify them that it gives people something to shoot for and focus on. It's no small feat to put across ideas like this that at once can be a starting point for basic technique and muscle memory practice while also laying the foundation for more generative playing. Pat yourself on the back dude.
The fact that EVH playing relies so much on chromatisms and shapes just evidences how much of a musical genius he is. I've been noodling with those shapes forever and they just sound soooo cheap, it's hard to get unique licks out of them if you're not really a good guitar player (which obviously is my case 😅)
Sometime in the early 90s, I saw an interview where Eddies was asked about his note choices, and his reply (quasi-paraphrased, close to verbatim): "Any note will do as long as the effect isn't unpleasant."
Robert I’ve been stuck in the pentatonic box for decades now. And anytime I tried to get out of it, it just hurt my head 😂. This lesson and the tabs you made for it have taken my playing to a whole other level. I see the fretboard better if that makes sense. I’m not afraid to play a “wrong” note. If it sounds good it is good. Thank you sir.
EVH passed away I hit his guitar licks hard solid ...what a gift I got outta working his stuff hard I gained speeeeeeeed and melody and work my way outta situation to resolve...EVH is the the guitar like lahey is the liquor...
Well gee, thanks.. I am no EVH.. not even close.. But i have been using all 3 of those patterns as finger exercises, ascend with 1one descend with 2 but if i had 10 minutes of actual music training i could have made it musical.. This just expanded my knowledge 10 fold as to what i can do..
2:34 I've read oodles of VH interviews and am sure that he doesn't think in terms of scales or modes. He has said that people approach him and say "in that lick, you added the 10th" (I distinctly remember the "10th" because that doesn't really make sense) and he just replies with the usual "if it sounds good, it is good". His major influences were Clapton on guitar and Debussy on keys, and I think this scale/symmetric pattern reflects that (esp. after a million hours of playing).
I think Eddies more influenced by Jeff Beck than Eric Clapton... Eddies says Clapton cause he heard Beck wasn’t too impressed with his playing in Van Halen.. I personally think everything Eddie does is almost all Beck... doesn’t matter though I like all three of them dudes though... but yeah all them dudes point back to Beck. Lol
Nicholas Bernal - I hear a lot of Beck in the fire and snarl of Ed's phrasing. It's the attitude and the spine that makes it Beck. Without that you sound like any other boring carbon-copy UA-cam shredder playing diddly widdly arpeggios to a lame backing track. A technician not a musician.
Hi Robert! you're an excellent musician and a incredible didactic teacher as well !! thanks for all your content ! After more of 20 years playing around with the guitar I keep learning! Greatings from Argentina! Cheers!
I've been watching a lot of Guthrie Govan lately, and joke about how his guitars have no bad notes. But upon further reflection and experimentation, I think the key is targeting important notes (like start of phrase, end of phrase). Which seems to be what all these "EVH scales" are about. Not in the same why GG does a lot of chromatic runs, but in the sense that "pretty much anything goes between the first and last notes - especially if it goes by fast". It is an interesting way to break out of old patterns and add a bit of spice to your playing. BTW - another classic Eddie-ism is doing the same rife twice but an octave apart. Gotta have some of that going on to sound like EVH.
I’m working through Guthrie’s books right now and he has mentioned that targeting key notes or chord tones during certain parts of the bar/solo, but everything in between is fair game.
This is what a lot of Jazz players do , there call passing tones . That don’t necessarily have to be in the key . It creates the tension then put the root or the 3 or 5 of the cord that’s being played at the moment and it works.
Eddie also had 7 masters in music. Not many know this fact. The funny thing about all these patterns I have been using them for years. The one key you are missing is that he is switching back and forth of the pattern run he goes to the scale or pentatonic version. He also borrows from classical exercises as well.
Eddie Van Halen has a style in him that can't be beat. He knows how to use the fret board and keep his fingers moving. I play lead guitar myself,but I'm no competition to Eddie Van Halen at all. But that doesn't stop me from playing guitar at all.Practice makes perfect.
If you can hear the next note that you want in your head and you know where it is, you play it. It's like 'playing free' you don't need scales, scales are rules and art has no rules.
There's a difference between breaking rules because you don't know they exist and breaking them with intent. The fear is that if you study the rules of western music that you become enslaved by them. You certainly might. I would submit that everybody who drills pentatonic minor into their head has a helluva time getting out of "the box". So much so that there are entire series of lessons on the topic. I would submit that EVH himself spent his time in the box in the 70's before having some "a ha!" moments. But, the time it took him to get out of the box was probably a helluva lot shorter than most. What is interesting is seeing these spatial patterns. I feel like those sort of patterns are probably things that make a ton of natural sense to somebody who is inclined to tinker with and modify their gear. Probably works for people who are inclined towards mechanical things too. I'm just speculating here. But I mention that to make observation about how his genius manifests on the fretboard, and hopefully to consider how that could happen for others of us. Some of it is about being fearless. Some of it is about being disciplined. Some of it is about understanding something of how a human being comes to create a wheel on one side of the planet one day, while on another part of Earth the wheel is old news, and on yet another it's never discovered until someone else shows up with it. It could be pure dumb luck. It could be genius. But it's almost assuredly a product of somebody examining the world around them and asking questions. That being said, it feels like folly to eschew knowledge because that knowledge took time and effort.
@@brockmiller574 your analysis is spot on. Ed would add, so called, wrong notes even in his pentatonic era. Thinking outside the boxes is the key to originality 👍
I’ve had the fret decoder for 6 days now and my leads have gotten so much more advanced sounding. I was missing 2 notes in the past (playing by ear) and now that I know that whole scale I’m killing lead solos. Can’t believe 6 days of Roberts help moved me further than I’ve came by myself in the last 6 years. Wish I knew that years ago. But never to late I guess.
I see the notification I get all ready like I’m about to watch a movie. I got to have drink and a snack. Put my headphones in. Get My axe handy Incase I need to pick up right quick. Lol 😂
Hey rob I appreciate all your videos, I’m 50 and my rock star dreams are Over but I love coming home and shredding after work, I throw you a super thanks every once in a while I hope it helps support your channel just don’t wanna join anyone’s class Thanks again for all the videos
Yes, I got this from Eddie. Hammer ins and pull offs. It might have something with his keyboard playing and straight up to play what sounds good to him. Stepping out of the box a la Holdsworth.
I remember Eddie quoted saying " it's like falling in the stairs, and land back on your feet"! Target the note, and no matters what happend in between 😀
Check this out. Over a Dominant 7th chord, here’s how you could think of all 12 notes. 1-3-5-b7 are the safest. As chord tones, you could stay on them all day, 2-4-6 aka 9-11-13 are both notes from the Mixolydian scale and upper extensions. 4/11 is only a half-step away from 3, so it’s the least “sustainable” of those 3 scale tones. Now we are left with these 5 notes: b2-b3-b5-b6-7 (aka: b9-#9-#11-both #5 and b13-7) All of these can be used as chromatic passing tones. b3/b5/b7 are known as Blues notes IF they are played “between the notes” (they are not represented accurately in our 12-tone system). b2 and b6 are probably the least usable but can be used as chromatic passing tones. - Now record say an E7 chord and play in all 5 CAGED positions of E7 using every single note as part of your phrases.
Love this! Please do more! Really helped open my eyes to some theory and how it relates to patterns I thought were kinda useless but now they make a little more sense thanks to you and EVH!!🤘🏼
Awesome video! Great analysis of Eddie's thought process and approach to his playing. BTW - the "Ice Cream Man" lick you talk about around 14:40 is a very similar pattern to the "Beat It" solo. Hadn't made that connection before, thanks for showing it!
Thanks man very interesting. Yeah I can see how it's almost a pentatonic blues but almost a major scale as well. He was definitely playing by ear instead of music theory. But it works and works well as long as you resolve on that route note everything in between is just different flavors. Super cool!
I realized this is a two-year-old video so hopefully you will read this most of the shredders back in the day didn't have a lot of music theory it was just comradery with the other guitarist. It's good to see you're doing the same thing just on a different format🤘😎
Checking out UA-cam and caught you on here brother never seen you before but I love it already subscribed much love from Huntington West Virginia rock on brother
Love your show mate I have learned so much from watching you play in fact your a legend in your on right the way you play man. You got me hooked. Thanks mate. Colin. London. Take care.
Came for the title, but now I want that guitar. 😂 EVH just did so many weird ass things, but they always worked so well. Doesn’t get the recognition he used to.
It's really about the notes that are resolved to, rather than the in-between notes, especially when the note is like a 1/64th note. Also, I recently came across a video of Eddie improvising outside his comfort zone and it wasn't really all that good. I think he needed to be in his pocket to be truly effective and is then essentially unstoppable.
To end the solo to jump he does your first pattern but starting on the root note. In other words 15th fret C then C sharp to D#. Same pattern All the way down. He ends that by trilling G G# G.....Awsome!
Great lesson, I would have also perhaps mentioned that he is the only guitarist in his band and so had less to clash with, and that the speed is what makes it work, I mean, they don't work like slower bluesy stuff if you slow them down, as you say, interesting though, I have been studying this same non scale thing recently too, devising exercises and trying to bring it in to my playing in various ways, whilst trying to retain the catchyness and melodic elements... Btw Your video just inspired a nice little practice session too, thanks for that.
8:15 you mean like the outro of 'Drop Dead Legs...' maybe also Good Girl Gone Bad, (House of Pain? - I will have to re-listen to this album!) Also that's a mean Plexi style tone there and I like it. You need a strong right hand and as you've shown it's not all about the legato tapped arpeggios, Eddie was an absolute beast on rhythm and picking generally.
In1978 Eddie made everybody go practice.
And those songs still are! 🤘
Sure did!! I was 15 and been playing since 8 and giggjng since I was 13. Blew my guitar playing apart...in a good way...
I was lazy I picked up bits and pieces from Eddie. But pretty much after I learned Johnny B Goode I was set for life.😎
Indeed he did!! Indeed he did!!!!🤟🤟RIP EVH 🙏🙏🙏🙏😭
Or...made everybody stop practicing their scales.....
I read an interview with EVH years ago. He was asked why he "jumped around" between different modes when he played. He said "there are 12 notes in an octave, I don't need anyone to tell me how to arrange them". At first, I thought that was kind of arrogant. Later I realized he was exactly right. The chromatic scale is part of music theory. Especially if you're the writing a song, you can use any note you want...
He said it's only music theory, not fact.
I never accepted the idea of scales all this time I was trying to learn guitar and it turns out I was right and have Eddie Van Halen to back me up. If only the world listened to us naive people more.
If it sounds good, it IS good.
Using the chromatic scale is one thing, but making it sound good is another. You have to know how to use those notes in a musical way and that is not so easy.
@@orion681 That’s brilliant! Love it!
Eddie is apparently struggling with cancer again. Eddie, if you're reading this by any chance get well soon! You inspired us all so much!
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😢😢😢
😭
💔
😣😭
Damn this didn’t age well
His secret was his fathers jazz playing. The essence of these scales were allowing him to do what jazz musicians refer to as "slurring"...it can be found in Charlie Parker fast runs and Miles Davis's slower approach. So that is why the beginning and ending notes are spot on, with the others having a passing or "slurring" quality. IMO
That's a pretty good interpretation of his riff philosophy. There was always this segmentation to his style from the beginning. He explains a lot of this in the Smithsonian interview.
As much as I hate Jazz, that is more or less correct - it was the one thing I learned from a Jazz player that stuck with me back in the mid-80's - how tossing in notes that didn't actually "belong", was a way to smear a melody-line in ways that were unique musically.
EVH said himself he didn't know any music theory, And completely failed at piano lessons (actually faked it ) ..I also think he was over rated...good at what he did ,but stole a lot of what he did from other players
Sorry far from over-rated...He is as great of a riff maker as any 6 stringers on the planet. Every guitarist takes from others and makes their own, he was no different but somehow came out Completely Different Compared to anyone else out there...I am not a super fan, but I know what his value was...He was so good, that other people who couldn't copy what he did, invented other things just to compete against his technique and ended creating their own styles...people like Peter Buck, Johnny Marr, Andy Summers. That is how important he was. @@richcarroll7510
@@richcarroll7510LOLOL. You need help, bro. A lot. EVH was nothing short of a musical genius. He couldn’t READ music. That doesn’t mean he didn’t know theory. You’ve outed yourself as someone who knows nothing about music and EVH. Pro tip: NEVER say or write something as foolish as “EVH is over-rated…he stole a bunch from others….”
Good lord man
Dude, this has to be the best EVH lesson broke down to its simplest form. Wow! Thnx so much... Just awesome
...that was good..
This is one the best lessons ever! I am still trying to figure out some theory after over 30 years of playing. The first 3 shapes that you showed are what I always went to. Secretly I thought I was just playing sloppy.
Like Eddie said, “theory is just a idea, it doesn’t mean it’s right”. Like George Lynch said, “it might not be right according to theory, but if it sounds good it is good!”
Krist Novoselich (Nirvana bass player) told me the same thing when I asked him about how to create a great progression while we were waiting to push back from the gate.... he said, "If it sounds good, its good". That's it. I can't remember if he said "Don't overthink it" or not.
A super cool nice humble guy, like so many of these players who are really good.
That was one of Eddie’s favorite sayings when he was a kid, too. Got him in hot water with his classical music teacher.
Wow thanks for this lesson! I’m 49, I’ve played since I was 15 and I’m still learning!
I admire how you teach because for me you're leading more to self expression than copying!!!🙏🙏🙏
I like how he teaches because it leads to self-expression more than just copying!
I enjoy how he teaches because of how it leads to self expression as opposed to copying!
Tommy Tedesco has/had the same approach to a speed run...a shape, that creates noise, ending on the point of resolution. I sat in a MI class in 87 where Tommy mentions Ed doing the same thing. It's almost as if they're fooling your ear. Always appreciated.
I've watched several similar videos. This is by far the most constructive. It has really opened my eyes on a topic (Eddie Style) that I've studied for 36 years. Thanks Robert!
20 lines of coke and 2 bottles of whisky, Dorian mode would be the last thing on his mind.
Rest in peace Eddie
It's amazing how much time and effort I put into scales and modes back in the day only to realize that later on it all gets condensed into one big thing. I don't even think about music that way anymore and have never played more chromatically than I do currently. It's all about landing at home base at the right times. In a given solo or just messing around I'll be playing major, minor, blues, Dorian, mixolydian etc. at the same time all with chromatics in between.
Thats a treasure revealed!!! Thank you so much!! Ed changed Everything in music FOREVER, No one like You!!Virtuoso!!!
I think of them (when forced to explain them) as one string scales.
“Pattern 2” :
E - Minor Nat.
A - Minor Nat.
D - Phrygian
G - Blues
B - Dorian
e - Minor/Dorian
I explored this approach years ago where the only rule was to start and end on a root note and the rest was totally shape driven... I shelved it because I allowed the theory snobs to convince me I was a total sinner! Man I'm back on board - Thanks so much!!!
I once heard Eddie say in an interview that it's music theory not music fact...
Just sharing... 👍
I like how you phrased that. Welcome to the heretic society 😆
I am just as impressed with Robert Baker as I am with EVH, you decode it all so well ! And, your originals are also good to the ear, and my ears. Sometimes some music isn't, but you have a good ear, Robert.
The interviews I've read with Eddie over the years - one in particular back in the 80s - he unknowingly was using the minor pentatonic scale he picked up on by listening to records; like Cream.....and with all of Eddie's beautiful simplicity - he simply wondered: "what would happen if I started dropping in my pinky?" So he did, and liked the sound. In musical terms, he was adding semi-tone steps to the minor pentatonic scale; creating a symmetrical shape that ended up being one of his go-to patterns. How he made it work was thru the speed....and landing on a root or chord tone at the end of the run or lick. He would call it: "falling down the stairs and landing on your feet." It's all very brilliant, instinctive stuff; all very EVH :)
I think it was Eddie that said a guitar solo is like falling down the stairs and landing on your feet.
He said it in an interview. Maybe mid to late 80s? ...but didn’t he say it in relation to Hendrix?
so i saved this lesson bc i truly wanted to know what Eddie was doing, so Epic , so sad now that he just passed, along with Dime now 2 of the Best Ever, rest easy Eddie, thank you for all the wonderful music and moments, i am Devastated, my heart is Crushed, thx for these lessons Bro, i luv this stuff, keep em coming, we all need to carry the flame Eddie gave us
The best thing he left behind for us was that he proved there were really no wrong notes.
Probably biased here as a huge EVH fan but this is already one of my fave of your tutorial videos, Robert. This gets to the heart of Eddie's playing that most guys don't capture. I'm taking my notes down. :) Well done, thanks.
I happened upon this after Edward’s passing. I’ve always been influenced by Ed but the last 3 weeks I’ve really gone into an EVH deep dive. Thank you for this video, Robert.
God speed, Ed. Thank you for everything you gave us.
Same for me on the deep dive. I've been listening to the roth era music more closely and hearing things in his playing that I don't remember hearing. Been working on about 4 of those songs since his passing. Ive also been so inspired that I bought and modded to make a 5150 tribute guitar. I used the kramer baretta special and modded it with a 1984 special edition original floyd rose and a Jalen Pinnacle pickup. If you don't know jalen pups they are freaking awesome for evh tone. Super clear with bell like harmonics.
And dont let the price of the kramer fool you. That guitarbplays and sounds as well as my $1000+ guitars. I think it may just have become my favorite and possibly main guitar and I've played for 30yrs.
I think you have put together some of the best insights ever for budding guitar heroes with these EVH videos. While obviously no one is going to watch these things and be shredding like Eddie in 15 minutes (let alone 15 years), you so clearly break down the concepts and demystify them that it gives people something to shoot for and focus on. It's no small feat to put across ideas like this that at once can be a starting point for basic technique and muscle memory practice while also laying the foundation for more generative playing. Pat yourself on the back dude.
Thanks now I have more understanding just started playing 3 days ago literally at the age 52 you just made it so simple thank you
The fact that EVH playing relies so much on chromatisms and shapes just evidences how much of a musical genius he is. I've been noodling with those shapes forever and they just sound soooo cheap, it's hard to get unique licks out of them if you're not really a good guitar player (which obviously is my case 😅)
...I know what you mean..
It's evh.... It's bad ass you're playing his stuff, pick it up and try again
Sometime in the early 90s, I saw an interview where Eddies was asked about his note choices, and his reply (quasi-paraphrased, close to verbatim): "Any note will do as long as the effect isn't unpleasant."
Robert I’ve been stuck in the pentatonic box for decades now. And anytime I tried to get out of it, it just hurt my head 😂. This lesson and the tabs you made for it have taken my playing to a whole other level. I see the fretboard better if that makes sense. I’m not afraid to play a “wrong” note. If it sounds good it is good. Thank you sir.
EVH passed away I hit his guitar licks hard solid ...what a gift I got outta working his stuff hard I gained speeeeeeeed and melody and work my way outta situation to resolve...EVH is the the guitar like lahey is the liquor...
Getting to see Van Halen back around 2011-12 (can’t remember) and seeing him play was amazing. The 20 minute Eruption solo was sick. 🙌🏻🤘🏻
Well gee, thanks.. I am no EVH.. not even close.. But i have been using all 3 of those patterns as finger exercises, ascend with 1one descend with 2 but if i had 10 minutes of actual music training i could have made it musical.. This just expanded my knowledge 10 fold as to what i can do..
2:34 I've read oodles of VH interviews and am sure that he doesn't think in terms of scales or modes. He has said that people approach him and say "in that lick, you added the 10th" (I distinctly remember the "10th" because that doesn't really make sense) and he just replies with the usual "if it sounds good, it is good". His major influences were Clapton on guitar and Debussy on keys, and I think this scale/symmetric pattern reflects that (esp. after a million hours of playing).
I think Eddies more influenced by Jeff Beck than Eric Clapton... Eddies says Clapton cause he heard Beck wasn’t too impressed with his playing in Van Halen.. I personally think everything Eddie does is almost all Beck... doesn’t matter though I like all three of them dudes though... but yeah all them dudes point back to Beck. Lol
His phrase was there are no rules if it sounds good it is good
Nicholas Bernal - I hear a lot of Beck in the fire and snarl of Ed's phrasing. It's the attitude and the spine that makes it Beck. Without that you sound like any other boring carbon-copy UA-cam shredder playing diddly widdly arpeggios to a lame backing track. A technician not a musician.
@@j_freed well put bro
Hi Robert! you're an excellent musician and a incredible didactic teacher as well !! thanks for all your content ! After more of 20 years playing around with the guitar I keep learning! Greatings from Argentina! Cheers!
I've been watching a lot of Guthrie Govan lately, and joke about how his guitars have no bad notes. But upon further reflection and experimentation, I think the key is targeting important notes (like start of phrase, end of phrase). Which seems to be what all these "EVH scales" are about. Not in the same why GG does a lot of chromatic runs, but in the sense that "pretty much anything goes between the first and last notes - especially if it goes by fast". It is an interesting way to break out of old patterns and add a bit of spice to your playing. BTW - another classic Eddie-ism is doing the same rife twice but an octave apart. Gotta have some of that going on to sound like EVH.
Wow, I've always had this theory as well, but you're the first person that I've seen put it into words. Thank you!
Exactly what I do, but they do it faster. Much faster.
I’m working through Guthrie’s books right now and he has mentioned that targeting key notes or chord tones during certain parts of the bar/solo, but everything in between is fair game.
Vernon Reed kind of failed at that philosophy.
This is what a lot of Jazz players do , there call passing tones . That don’t necessarily have to be in the key . It creates the tension then put the root or the 3 or 5 of the cord that’s being played at the moment and it works.
Amazing lesson...
I really was waiting for this tutorial...
Thank you soooo much...Sir!
Eddie also had 7 masters in music. Not many know this fact. The funny thing about all these patterns I have been using them for years. The one key you are missing is that he is switching back and forth of the pattern run he goes to the scale or pentatonic version. He also borrows from classical exercises as well.
Eddie Van Halen has a style in him that can't be beat. He knows how to use the fret board and keep his fingers moving. I play lead guitar myself,but I'm no competition to Eddie Van Halen at all. But that doesn't stop me from playing guitar at all.Practice makes perfect.
Yes! In regards to the Esquire comparison video!!
Wasn't expecting that for another 2 weeks!
this was so helpful. Thanks for taking the time to break it down for us
If you can hear the next note that you want in your head and you know where it is, you play it. It's like 'playing free' you don't need scales, scales are rules and art has no rules.
Sure, but a lot of people may read that and think that learning scales and modes are a waste of time, which they aren’t.
There's a difference between breaking rules because you don't know they exist and breaking them with intent. The fear is that if you study the rules of western music that you become enslaved by them. You certainly might. I would submit that everybody who drills pentatonic minor into their head has a helluva time getting out of "the box". So much so that there are entire series of lessons on the topic. I would submit that EVH himself spent his time in the box in the 70's before having some "a ha!" moments. But, the time it took him to get out of the box was probably a helluva lot shorter than most. What is interesting is seeing these spatial patterns. I feel like those sort of patterns are probably things that make a ton of natural sense to somebody who is inclined to tinker with and modify their gear. Probably works for people who are inclined towards mechanical things too. I'm just speculating here. But I mention that to make observation about how his genius manifests on the fretboard, and hopefully to consider how that could happen for others of us. Some of it is about being fearless. Some of it is about being disciplined. Some of it is about understanding something of how a human being comes to create a wheel on one side of the planet one day, while on another part of Earth the wheel is old news, and on yet another it's never discovered until someone else shows up with it. It could be pure dumb luck. It could be genius. But it's almost assuredly a product of somebody examining the world around them and asking questions. That being said, it feels like folly to eschew knowledge because that knowledge took time and effort.
@@brockmiller574 your analysis is spot on.
Ed would add, so called, wrong notes even in his pentatonic era.
Thinking outside the boxes is the key to originality 👍
When u did that voice "that's not how Eddie plays it" 🤣😂🤣
I’ve had the fret decoder for 6 days now and my leads have gotten so much more advanced sounding. I was missing 2 notes in the past (playing by ear) and now that I know that whole scale I’m killing lead solos. Can’t believe 6 days of Roberts help moved me further than I’ve came by myself in the last 6 years. Wish I knew that years ago. But never to late I guess.
Superb. Been waiting for this. Thanks Robert!
The licks and solos are one part but how all the killer riffs even better!
I see the notification I get all ready like I’m about to watch a movie. I got to have drink and a snack. Put my headphones in. Get My axe handy Incase I need to pick up right quick. Lol 😂
Love it!
Where's the snake come in? 🤔
Roberto snack
@@fishnmaster421 well that makes much more sense lmao
Hey rob I appreciate all your videos, I’m 50 and my rock star dreams are
Over but I love coming home and shredding after work, I throw you a super thanks every once in a while I hope it helps support your channel just don’t wanna join anyone’s class Thanks again for all the videos
I really appreciate that thank you
SOOOOOOOO inspired today now! Thx!
That pick/hammer on sequence around 7:45 twists my brain every time I try it. I can do one or the other but attempting both is a struggle.
Nice!
Brett Papa
Bring back the Stache
👍🇦🇺
Amazing breakdown..
The main idea behind his playing,
Thanks a lot..
Yes, I got this from Eddie. Hammer ins and pull offs. It might have something with his keyboard playing and straight up to play what sounds good to him. Stepping out of the box a la Holdsworth.
Why would you thumbs down on this guy? Baker is the maker of awesomeness!!!
Great stuff...When you look at on a keyboard, as EVH composed most of his songs....It becomes "clear".
Amazing lesson! Thank you so much for this deep dive into EVH’s scale patterns! Cheers from Manila and VAN HALEN FOREVER!!!
Thanks you, great lesson. I was kinda figuring it out but you nailed it down for me😊
These videos are awesome! What a great way to keep Eddie relevant. Thank you Mr Baker!
Really enjoyed this video!!! Brightened my day. Love the Eddie videos! Hes the greatest.
Ed was a bundle of energy. Great vid Robert!
Thanks for this!! EVH is the reason I started playing!!
The first example is something Dimebag Darrell did and it made his solos sound even more unique. It's inspired by EVH for sure.
Love your sound for this. Spot on EVH tone.
I remember Eddie quoted saying " it's like falling in the stairs, and land back on your feet"!
Target the note, and no matters what happend in between 😀
Great lesson video, thanks for posting this video!
Rest In Peace Eddie Van Halen
Check this out.
Over a Dominant 7th chord, here’s how you could think of all 12 notes.
1-3-5-b7 are the safest. As chord tones, you could stay on them all day,
2-4-6 aka 9-11-13 are both notes from the Mixolydian scale and upper extensions. 4/11 is only a half-step away from 3, so it’s the least “sustainable” of those 3 scale tones.
Now we are left with these 5 notes:
b2-b3-b5-b6-7 (aka: b9-#9-#11-both #5 and b13-7)
All of these can be used as chromatic passing tones. b3/b5/b7 are known as Blues notes IF they are played “between the notes” (they are not represented accurately in our 12-tone system). b2 and b6 are probably the least usable but can be used as chromatic passing tones.
- Now record say an E7 chord and play in all 5 CAGED positions of E7 using every single note as part of your phrases.
Love this! Please do more! Really helped open my eyes to some theory and how it relates to patterns I thought were kinda useless but now they make a little more sense thanks to you and EVH!!🤘🏼
I always want to study bout his playing but too lazy. Thanks for sharing this man 😎👍🏼
As Eddie was a total gearhead, I'm curious what gear was used in the making of this video (I totally love the sound!)
Great lesson! You should definitely do a video like this on George Lynch!
Awesome video! Great analysis of Eddie's thought process and approach to his playing. BTW - the "Ice Cream Man" lick you talk about around 14:40 is a very similar pattern to the "Beat It" solo. Hadn't made that connection before, thanks for showing it!
I always forget how chromatic evh’s solos are. Great video and is really eye opening for those of us who are super model.
Thanks man very interesting. Yeah I can see how it's almost a pentatonic blues but almost a major scale as well. He was definitely playing by ear instead of music theory. But it works and works well as long as you resolve on that route note everything in between is just different flavors. Super cool!
I realized this is a two-year-old video so hopefully you will read this most of the shredders back in the day didn't have a lot of music theory it was just comradery with the other guitarist. It's good to see you're doing the same thing just on a different format🤘😎
Nice....you should listen/watch to Cameron Cooper and his latest demos of the Frankie road worn for EVH ...awesome
The riff you do from B to A at 8.08 works great, i,ll try to use it.
Checking out UA-cam and caught you on here brother never seen you before but I love it already subscribed much love from Huntington West Virginia rock on brother
love the Dimebag reference and your haters impressions are spot on.
Way cool stuff - great for practice / exercise and having great VH-sounding fun...thanks for sharing !!
Another great insight paired with technically surgical playing
Love your show mate I have learned so much from watching you play in fact your a legend in your on right the way you play man. You got me hooked. Thanks mate. Colin. London. Take care.
Came for the title, but now I want that guitar. 😂
EVH just did so many weird ass things, but they always worked so well. Doesn’t get the recognition he used to.
He broke the rules and then wrote his own rules.
Thank you this is a brilliant video..it's so hard to hear these licks at real time speed. Great job of breaking it down.
Thanks Robert for the technique on lick 2 u rock man
It's really about the notes that are resolved to, rather than the in-between notes, especially when the note is like a 1/64th note. Also, I recently came across a video of Eddie improvising outside his comfort zone and it wasn't really all that good. I think he needed to be in his pocket to be truly effective and is then essentially unstoppable.
To end the solo to jump he does your first pattern but starting on the root note. In other words 15th fret C then C sharp to D#. Same pattern All the way down. He ends that by trilling G G# G.....Awsome!
RIP Eddie :(
Awesome Video Robert!!! Super informative.... Happy New Year!!
All i can hear is the "Girl gone bad" licks from 1984 album. neat lesson!
Yes Robert, lots of Holdsworth sounding lines on the outro solos of the 1984 album.
This by far a great demo of Eddies technique missing him!!
Don't know if you read these but your videos are always informative and enjoyable.
Thanks Ron
Great lesson, I would have also perhaps mentioned that he is the only guitarist in his band and so had less to clash with, and that the speed is what makes it work, I mean, they don't work like slower bluesy stuff if you slow them down, as you say, interesting though, I have been studying this same non scale thing recently too, devising exercises and trying to bring it in to my playing in various ways, whilst trying to retain the catchyness and melodic elements... Btw Your video just inspired a nice little practice session too, thanks for that.
Thank you, Robert! Very informative and just down right cool, bro!
Fascinating... well broken down!!! Appreciate ya!!!
The secret sauce that binds all of these runs together seems to be the legato/staccato technique. Amazing.
Rob, your best sound is on that Friedman Cali!
Loved it. Great tutorial and explanation. Off to practice while WFH. ;)
Thank you!
First pattern is more major pentatonic than minor. Most good players, yourself included, bounce between both.
Great video! The 7, 5, 4 - right around 9:30, is in so many songs. 🤘🏻
"I have heard the whispered tales of immortality...Xanaduuu..."
Thanks so much, I always learn something from you, your a rockstar
8:15 you mean like the outro of 'Drop Dead Legs...' maybe also Good Girl Gone Bad, (House of Pain? - I will have to re-listen to this album!)
Also that's a mean Plexi style tone there and I like it. You need a strong right hand and as you've shown it's not all about the legato tapped arpeggios, Eddie was an absolute beast on rhythm and picking generally.