I never learned much in the way of EVH solos mainly because they seem alien to me, but damn I love his rhythm playing. Seeing so many excellent YJM transcriptions here, I’m looking for verified transcripts like that so I don’t have to second-guess. Thanks for reading!
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None that I know of personally. Just wanted to second the notion though. I think if he weren’t such an amazing soloist he’d have gone down as one the most inventive rhythm guitarists in history. He still is of course…it’s just that most people forget that due to how awesome of a lead player he was and that’s just where our minds tend to go.
Summoning @garbeaj for recommendations on transcriptions since he’s probably more into the “this exactly how TF it happened” aspect of all things EVH that I’ve come across on our forums lol. I’ve read posts where he’s catalogued the tunings used down to the second decimal place, and detailed analysis on how to imitate even the mistakes EVH made on Spanish Fly. I’m sure he knows of a good transcription resource.
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Thanks Joe! I’ve always thought there’s a place for getting the notes close-enough and focussing on the feel, but I also think there’s a place for learning exactly how it was done, that gives insight into how your favourite players think.
BTW there’s a plugin you may wish to try, I honestly thought it was a joke at first: The Bogren Ampknob BDH 3. It literally has one knob for gain, and a switch for OD pedal, that’s it. All the demos use it for very heavy metal but turn the gain down and things get brown!
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Same! Mainly because my ear is only average, and I couldn’t work out the notes he was playing on the early records in particular back before we had the internet etc! LOL
In fact only recently did I lean about the EVH scale mentioned here with Ben Eller:
Ben really demonstrates it well early at the start of the clip.
The other thing that put me off trying to learn that stuff was the speed and the hand stretches!
EVH’s innovation went WAYY beyond the tapping stuff IMO. His compositional approach to music is astonishingly good.
And yes those rhythm parts! How about Mean Street during the solo? It is so intricate and nuanced I just sit back and admire it!
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EVH is one of my favorite rhythm players; I also love how he always serves the song.
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Wow, that’s some amazing content. Exactly what I was looking for, thank you!
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Hi @Moje, I’m Allen Garber or the “garbeaj” here and on other forums that @joebegly mentioned. I’m pretty passionate about learning as much about Van Halen’s music as possible…at least from 1974-1989.
I try to look at every available transcription, official and unofficial, every YouTube tutorial/demo (which usually shows me how Eddie DIDN’T play it) every bit of audio/video evidence and interview evidence to support every note and articulation in my transcriptions.
But most importantly (I think), I consult with the smartest people I can find like Troy and the team here, @JBakerman and other fresh eyes from people who also have logical and evidence based analysis of Edward’s playing.
I know you were asking about Edward’s rhythm playing, but his leads aren’t as difficult as it might appear…once you know his licks, they are as easy to understand and execute as Stevie Ray Vaughan licks or Chuck Berry licks. Also, like Pete Townshend, Ed’s leads are often intertwined with his rhythm playing. He crams so many lead fills into his rhythm parts that it is pretty much impossible to separate the two. Note-for-note study is really the key!
What specific parts did you have a question on? I’ll be happy to help in any way that I can and I’m sure the gang here will be able to chime in and offer help to you and even correct me if I’m off base. I live to be corrected and learn something new myself…Ed’s playing is so worthy of deep study…it more than stands up to scrutiny and it always reveals so many great ideas to learn from!
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While I am by no means an EVH aficianado, I have spent enough time listening and dissecting certain things to know one very important thing:
In general (and this shouldn’t be news to anyone), written transcriptions and other people playing EVH will get you in the ballpark on the fret board and rhythmically. Kinda, sorta…not really.
When I’ve found isolated tracks, (or been able to EQ something to make the guitar prominent), slowing things down revealed nuances you can’t hear at speed. At speed you feel it, though.
EVH never plays anything straight. He’s always got some kind of swing going. Eruption is a great example. At speed it’s difficult to discern, but from bar one he’s swinging his rhythm.
It makes total sense, too. Clapton was his muse (of a sort) - which means Blues, which means…swing.
At least that’s how I hear’d it.
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Hi @garbeaj It’s not that I’m that much of a stickler for accuracy, I just want to avoid mistakes that I’ve made in the past such as playing wrong inversions or serious positioning errors . . . things that saved me a few minutes’ work at the time, only to lead to a lifetime of playing the parts incorrectly. A classic example is “somebody get me a doctor,” decades ago my band wanted to learn it and I just didn’t notice the guitar melody shifts octaves on the G chord of the first riff, I played that wrong for many years lol.
I used to have the drive to transcribe on an ancient (even at the time) reel-to-reel, an octave down, but now I’m happy to take the word of someone with a keen eye for detail.
Many thanks for your reply, there’s no single riff that’s on my mind but eventually there will be, I’ll be sure to look you up for a consult!
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