How NOT to Play Unchained - Old Habits Die Hard
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- Опубликовано: 19 мар 2019
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R.I.P EVH. Long live the king.
Showed this lesson to a student tonight and we both learned a tonne from it! RIP King VH...
Changed the way we look at the guitar forever, like no one else.
Been almost too weeks and it is still hard to get over. Glad I got the opportunity to hang out with him at 5150 for a couple of days. One of the nicest, humble person on the planet.
My lifelong guitar hero and the reason I switched from drums to guitar in 1978
just plain SH&T NEWS
My greatest talent is butchering Van Halen riffs.
It's my Super Power. It's why I need a secret identity.
@@tinman5322 I like to think of it as my trademark. Kinda like Nigel Tufnel.
@@matthewschiavi7353 Then you are in fine company indeed!
I used to play a version of "Eruption" that I called "Abortion"...nuff said!
@@trsgringo Oh, I'm dying!!! Lol!
Learning to play riffs both the "right way" and the wrong way (i.e. the right notes in the wrong position on the neck) is a great way to learn the fretboard
My guitar teacher was all about this.... Transposition....
Also, apparently a great way to learn awkward, seriously challenging fingerings. I have an old instruction DVD by an MIT guy that played Bark at the Moon (I think it's BATM, I'll have to look) all funky, mid fretboard with spider fingers that looked like they were playing a hand version of Twister. Then, I looked on RUclips at Jake playing the same riff and found... Ta-Da! Jake's version was easier and made a lot more sense.
binface9 “Error” is a great teacher.
My two cents, is that either way is great! If you really insist on pushing yourself to learn to play a specific way, and conquer that, more power to you! If you have to do it your own way, but can play in a more unconscious musical level by butchering it a little, then more power to you! After all, isn’t playing music what it’s all about?
Yes I'd agree and so would other guitar players. I like some of the chords john frusciante uses.
"Way back in early 2000 when I first started...... I'd never heard of Van Halen...."
Lolz. I'm old
I don't remember a time in my life when I DIDN'T know VH! They've been there since the beginning of my consciousness.
@@ssolo8 what he said
yeah when said that i felt really old.
Same! 😂
@@ssolo8 I must've been around 11 years old when I saw their first album in the store. It was late 1970s... it probably had just recently been released.
Unchained was also the first VH tune I heard too. I will never forget. I found the cassette laying in the street in 82’. Popped it in and was changed forever. I still have the tape.
That is wicked! :D
Fkin cool
cool story.
@@vladimirerfan7721 wrong.
4 years later.
Obviously you have no business jumping on the band wagon.
@@Gma7788 What band wagon?
Eddie is such an underrated rhythm guitar player. He’s always known for his solos but a lot of his rhythms are pretty tough to play and unique
You're delusional.
Get help.
There isn't a corner in the industry where he was ever underrated in any aspect
He's not underrated as a rhythm player. People have been talking about his percussive sound and funky rhythm since the day the first album dropped.
spot on
Listen to "Dirty Movies". You got everything in that song. Pay attention to the rhythm. Its a fucking banger
The important part of the flanger strumming for me is definitely getting that descending sound on each of the four chunks. It's amazing how important such a minor detail really is to capturing the riff.
Some people think they punched in the flanger at the board, since it consistently gets the sweep in alternating directions. However, it's masterful. And an example of how Ed played effects as well as he played amps and his guitars... masterfully.
@@ranger5281yeah definitely production/after effects.
Fair Warning is the best VH album and Hear About it Later is the jewel of that album.
1984.
Fuck yes!!!! Most underrated VH song ever!
Great song! The breakdown solo is badass.
Dirty Movies is another stunning hidden jem
My favorite off FW is Push Comes to Shove. You can almost hear where Vai got many of his ideas in that single song.
Fair Warning is probably the best VH album other than the first one. I have heard (and I agree) that Fair Warning is a guitarist album and not so much a commercial album. It was dark, extremely raw and the playing and tones was real and emotional.
And it made Diver Down look bad.
I love Fair Warning. Dirty movies riff is so sick. So much of the 80's scene that I love comes from that riff.
Leon...you nailed it....Fair Warning is the Van Halen fans Van Halen Album...super crunchy and meaty...The first Van Halen song I ever heard was Unchained and it blew me away...the riff is my ringtone on my phone and has been for years.
You know you're getting old when the music you listen to is now played on the classic rock channel.
Just wait until it starts showing up in commercials for paper towels
One thing Eddie had over alot of guitarists was not his soloing but his timing,maybe being a drummer first gave him that?
He admittedly stated he wasn't a good drummer but he was studying piano before guitar and yeas his rhythm playing was every bit as good as his lead.
As a lifelong Eddie Van Halen fan since 1982 when I was in 3rd grade, that may be the most profound statement regarding his playing ever. I've listened to everything and everyone analyzing his technique all my years and never heard that. That's pretty damn awesome.
It was a mime act from 1978 to 1984.
Every TV show performance was FAKE.
THEY PRETENDED TO PLAY for the cameras.
Every TV show in the early years was a fake performance.
@@MikeInClwtr dumb.
Every live TV show they did for years was PRETEND PLAYING OF INSTRUMENTS.
They faked every performance for TV for years.
VH was still faking their performance in 1984.
Unchained was kind of a turbo charged Stones riff.
I've always thought that Unchained sounds like the riff at the beginning of Brown Sugar.
@@Larry-ks8bo Yes, exactly! It's that same idea/pattern, but through a blazing marshall.
Yes, there is some similarity.
Not really, stones use 1-4 chords
Start Me Up’s dirtier cousin...
😏
You gotta detune the B string just a hair to make Unchained sound like the album. It makes for a perfect third on those suspended chords.
You are indeed correct about the B string being just a hair detuned! A lot of people miss out on that fact. However, "a perfect third on those suspended chords" is inaccurate regarding terminology. A suspended chord (a sus chord) can only be suspended when the third is replaced by either the fourth (sus4) or the second (sus2). In this riff, Eddie switches between major and sus chords, but it's only the major chords that have the major 3rd in them - the suspended chords do not.
Does he turn flanger on only on the linebass part or in all riff?
Accept! Balls to the wall mannnnnn! Must know riff!
Yessssss
A&D strings played together, chug the low E.
2nd fret twice, open A&D once, 2-0-0 2-2-0 0-0-0
All on A&D strings played together. Then 5- hold...
6-7-5 fret, back to 2nd fret (if you understand that, it's a start) 😀 it's easy if you know how the song goes 👍 I'll do more later
I can play that wrong on the drums, as well!!😆🤣
Up To The Limit!
SUPER simple
Ed is a master at making really simple riffs really hard to play I think it's all about timing with him. I saw an interview once and he said he plays in 3s and 5s instead of 2s and 4s. Either way that dude has made some of the most memorable music ever!
I have watched this vid and your other "how not to play" vids about a million times. No matter what way you play it you always make it sound killer. As always love your playing. Keep "playing it wrong"!!
You just popped up in my feed and I've got a big grin on my face. Love the video. Thank you!
Glad you enjoyed it!
If it sounds right, that's what matters. Unlike the piano, or the saxophone, the guitar gives you options to play the same thing in different ways. Making those note choices is part of what makes the guitar such a special instrument.
This was actually quite fun to watch. Cant help but to be entertained. Once i start watching it, i cant look away. Great job!
Dude, I love your vids now. Ran into the Lay It Down one the other night and now this. You're hilarious and play pretty well too. Keep 'em coming. -Nashville, TN
another great video. I love these stories surrounding how guys and gals learn songs and riffs.
Actually, both Lay it Down and Unchained are awesome low-end riffs from the 80's. Whenever people ask "Why are you such an 80's riff guy?" I play Lay it Down. Jaw drops on cue. Play Unchained, jaw smashes through floor. Play solo from either, and its instant conversion to listening to either on their playlists.
“Goes out to his cahhh...”
🙂❤️
Music isn't about right or wrong, it's about feeling and everyone has a different feeling when playing...
Correct! If you are going to play something wrong, be sure it has feeling!
Just excellent Leon, I continue to enjoy and look forward to your videos!
great insights.... cheers to you for letting me re-hear with fresh ears again.
There it is! Glad you posted this. Will be practicing tonight!
Dude I love this “sounds like” thing you’ve done again. Lay it down was one I never bothered with until you dropped the cheat. Thanks man.
Brother, you haven't done anything but give the deserved praise for a genius. I can't stop crying everytime I see anything about EVH. It is killing me me!!
Bravo - enjoyed the whole presentation!
1st time I heard this riff was a demo of an amp. It was true jaw dropping moment for me. Thanks for the video!
Nice analysis of the song, and good playing. Fair Warning is my favorite VH album. Love Sinners Swing.
I love the sound your getting out of your rig!
AWESOME LEON! I really enjoyed this video!
Awesome thank you!
Love the googly eyes on the headstock 😂 Awesome playing as usual
My favorite VH song is Mean Street. This album is just the best they ever recorded.
With you !!!! Mean Street makes Hendrix sound like a chump!!
Gerry Kay - Hey now! I don't know this person and nor do I agree with or condone the statements that he is making. I just happened to be standing here but I am going to leave now.
Holy fuck . I like the way you roll with this channel.. Nice video . Nice to see something that shows were all still human
If you happen to have a good uncle, there's really nothing better as a kid.
Yes!
We all would be Proud to have an Uncle Tony! Thanks, Be Well Leon!
Love your channel!! And bye the way; love your sounds on the AXE III! Specially the Dumble - WOW!!!
Thanks so much - the Dumble is a while lot of fun!
I really enjoyed this presentation, Thank you
First vid of yours I’ve seen. Brilliant! I love the honesty. We all butcher our heroes’ tunes. I also think playing parts with different fingerings or positions is fine. Good work mate. 👍🏻🤘🏻
Killer crunch tone dude !!! 🎸😳
1:10 "MAN ! That's really cool" :o
You made my day Leon hahaha sick
Man that tone is to die for..
Great video!
Thanks so much
My intro to VH: 1978, I was a Sophomore in High School, and played bass guitar in the jazz band. Our new guitar player was from California, and during a break we made a McDonald's run in his Dad's restored Model T Ford. It had a cassette deck in it, and he told me "Check out this new band in California, they really rock..." Next thing you know I'm hearing Eruption...and was stunned. About 2 month's later it was on the radio...crazy...changed EVERYTHING. Great vid series, How NOT to play it...LOL...good stuff here.
That's such a cool story! Those were the days hey?
@@LeonTodd Absolutely...I picked up guitar around 1976, and my early favorites were KISS (easy to jam along with) and Rush (challenged to get better). Triumph, Bad Company, Styx, etc...the list was endless. Oh, and Queen! Wow. Great content, love your vids!
Dude, that Tone is SICK !!! Very nice! :)
Great video, Fair Warning was one of my favorites and got me interested in playing which was a struggle hanging out in music shops and pulling tab out of guitar magazine and with the birth of the internet came multiple versions of tab, ugh!! Lay It Down actually brought me to your site, thx for making the video!
The golden era of olympic guitar playing!
the best part of your videos is the guitar tone. liked and subbed.
Agreed man! That album has some true grit, for lack if a better term. New sub!
Killer tone you have there 👍🏼!
im diggin' your honesty, cheers!
I like the way your mind works. Thanks Leon
woa you got some crunch going, nice tone love it
Great channel man! Really great.
Killer tone man. You’re actually pleasant to listen to
Your sound / tone is amazing.
Lay it down, Mutha don’t wanna go to school today, Eatin ain’t cheatin. All the Unchained riff.
Eating for sure....
Cool vid. Nothing wrong with playing it differently. Definitely easier to find the right tabs for songs now then they were decades ago.
I like these how not to vids. Keep up the awesome work!
Going to have to make them a series I think
Back in 92 when I figured this out, I ended up getting it down the way Ed played it. Cool.
Really enjoyed your video! Thanks!
what an entertaining video... loved it.. especially the captions..
Great post, Leon. Breakin' it down!
Your video is very great ! I already seen the one about Lay it down of Ratt and I love to learn different ways to play some wonderfull riffs in easiest way (depending of your own play of course). Thanks for that and cheers from France !
Great videos as always. Love the peavey wolfgang guitar
They are great axes
I love the honest admissions of not nailing everything just right. Refreshing!
My intro to Van Halen was seeing Unchained on MTV like from Oakland in a friends basement! I guess around ‘81….I was hooked with whole the thing. EVH chops, DLRs screams and antics, Alex’s heavy artillery and Mikes background vocals and cannon base!
This fascinating! I have been a "Keef Richards" in a Stones tribute band from age 15-22 and I really obsessed getting things completely right. Up to the point that I can still do it from muscle memory.
But my mum once said when I was rehearsing: "Why not give it your own spin? What is the use of carbon copying someone else?"
And it planted a seed in my 17 year old brain, that by the time I was 22, I was DONE with exactly copying people. But just hearing what they play and make you own interpretations from it, learn that technique but not necessarily the lick or riff note fo note.
And that's when I actually discovered, that I could write my own music -- never thought before I could or was good enough. But then it actually becomes you and is you! And your own thing and style. Like Eddie took inspiration and ideas that he put into his own style from rock 'n roll legends.
it is always best to play it exactly as it is recorded in the version of the song that youre emulating. The person who wrote it always has figured out the best way to play it, Ive never encountered an exception. I hate when people play things wrong/differently whether on purpose or not.
@@joejones9520 I’m sorry but I don’t agree. Most artists aren’t perfectionists and only play what and how is in their ability, there’s no conscious “let’s do it like this”. Music (especially in bands) logically flow like language.
And let’s look at all these artists performing live, they can’t come close to their own recordings. So they don’t even bother and also evolve. As they get older more proficient and more knowledgeable.
And if you got to watch a cover band last thing I want is an exact copy of that band they play. Otherwise I can get a DJ and I loathe parties with DJs over live music.
Oh and I maybe your first exception many of my own songs I never intended to come out the way it was. And if I’d redo them they’ll sound and feel different.
Thanks for sharing this, I like your "I suck but I'm good at butchering VH riffs" approach. Bonus points for playing a Peavey.
You actually figured out part of the Unchained verse while recording this video, and you left in the mistakes! That takes quite a bit of humility, and that's a refreshing thing nowadays. Hats off to you!
Agree Leon. For me 'Fair Warning' is the best rock album of all time. So much going on in the guitar area, also the vocals of David Lee Roth are at his finest. Still sounds great after so many years and his soloing is like no other.
It's the sound of pure charisma
Thanks for bringing back some great memories. As a drummer and guitarist, VH has been one of my favorite bands. I have a little history with this band. I heard OF Van Halen long before I ever heard Van Halen.
Here is my timeline as it intersected with the band.
1975
VH plays at my girlfriends high school (La Canada) /At 15 I am too preoccupied with actually having a girlfriend to be worried about a band.
1978
I start to learn to play guitar and decide to leave the rat race of Southern California. I join a contingent of the U.S. Forest Service. Now at 18, I got to join up with a fire crew that got sent to Washington state to help fight a fire. On a quiet night in a fire camp somewhere in Washington state, I somehow got a cassette of Van Halen 1. I would never be the same. What I heard on that album (and I am not even talking about the hits) was life changing for someone who had just bought his first Stratocaster.
1979-1980
I now held Eddie in such high regard, that I never really wanted to learn to play like him. I felt that anything I tried to do would be an insult to what he had done. I had now settled just outside of Mammoth Lakes, Ca. Very much in the middle of the high sierra. As Van Halen were releasing VH II and Women and Children First, I was now totally detached from most of the world and was just enjoying living in such a beautiful place. I really never discovered the second and third albums until 1981 when I moved to Las Vegas to be close to family. Then Fair Warning was released.
1981-1985
I was again blown away by Fair Warning, specifically Unchained. Once again, Eddie was able to take me to a place I had never been before. This prompted a bit of fanaticism that ultimately ended with 5th row seats for the stop in Las Vegas ( and a special trip back stage because I thought sneaking in a camera with a zoom lens into the show was a good idea). Good times....
After that experience I decided to just enjoy the show after that. It was not until OU812 that I got fired up again. Getting to see them for the last time at that show but at a different venue. The sound was not as good because of the venue but the quality of the music was still there. After that time VH was never quite the same. I can totally understand why this is. Things change, we all do. We can't stop it so I understood that it would never be the same again. That fact can't change what happened. Van Halen reached the pinnacle of rock, and it was awesome to watch.
RIP Eddie, You may never know how many lives you touched.
Great video, Leon! 👍🏽 Here's something: the trick Eddie did with the Flanger had the effect swoosh upwards on one flick of the switch and then downwards on the next. It takes a certain setting on the pedal-and I believe a Bucket Brigade chip in the circuit-to achieve the exact effect Eddie made. MXR was the key, I know the basic Boss Flange won't do that exact effect…in case any of your subs are interested and are getting stuck on that point *:)*
Van Halen are worse mimes than Brittany spears was.
Still faking TV shows in 1984!
@@Gma7788 That was likely a requirement of the TV studios, not the band. The only show I can think of on TV that let people play live in the '80s was the Letterman show. I'm guessing it had everything to do with the sound set up and power details. Van Halen specifically wouldn't have been able to get anything close to their studio or stage sound on most day-in, day-out TV sets.
That bar chord version would make sense when used in conjunction with his patented D Tuner , Cool video mate
Hey Leon, I’m always inspired by your series...one suggestion that has worked well for me on my Axe patch for Unchained is I use a “momentary” switch on the flanger...just smash down for the effect on the chug, then let off for the chords. Thanks for your efforts!
just want to say thanks for the video kinda way two guys with some beers would talk about music keep em coming very kool
Great sound as always. awfully tempted to buy that Axe Fx 3 and added to my Kemper rack. cheers.
Far out, that would be the rig to end all rigs!
Good to know! Thank you!!
Marty Friedman said it best. Learn the right way to do something. Then break it.
Such a great riff and song! It was one of the first riffs I learned once I got an electric. This was around the time Dirt came out so I was learning all of these drop D riffs at the time. Sound Garden too. Oh and No more tears as well! Another great drop D song.
No more tears was the heaviest thing I'd ever heard in my life!
Set up to the chorus is awesome
That was great! Hey... you are human!!! 8:05 : ) Really love your stuff man!
I learned it the second way you played it, When ever I learn something by ear ,I always try to think the easiest ,or most common sense way .I love these video how not to play.I've run into this so much from tunes I learned years ago. 40 years ago and I still don't have it right, well sometimes :-)
You're the first dude I've seen who's plays unchanged the way I do
Jake E Lee was actually IN RATT. Mickey Ratt that is. George Lynch always used to steal their amps and Warren and Jake had to steal em back 😂
Killer tone there boss 🤘🤟👌
Thankyou!
Very Humble! Very good!
You just came up in my youtube feed so I'm a first time viewer. I'm a guitar fanatic. But I never play metal. Just not my thing. But you are such a cool, righteous dude that I am now a subscriber. You have a really great attitude about playing guitar. And you are incredibly humble, talented and really enjoyable to listen to. Thanks.
Much appreciated! If there's any content you'd like to see, let me know.
I love your videos. Thanks very much!
Right on bro, GREAT album!!! R.I.P. Eddie... Man your tone is perfect, great phase 90 (brown) sound! I love the next part (after the main verse) in unchained, so many people get it wrong! Lol... (Uncle) Ben Eller does a perfect lesson on unchained and focuses on that crazy ass 7/8 riff... Man, Eddie and Alex were so tight!! And yup, I think the way you played them bones sounds right to me! As always, Thanks for the video my friend 🎸🎸👍
that pre chorus riff is CRAZY!
@@LeonTodd Lol!! Sure the hell is my brotha! Ben does a great lesson on the time count it's a 3/4/ to 4/4/ thing resulting in 7/8. but the hardest part for me is relearning it the right way! I've been playing it wrong for over 30 yrs.!! 😂. And now that I know it the right way, when I get to that part of the song I have to think... I hate thinking when I'm playing! Lol, I like to just jam and let my mind enjoy the music I thought my guitar thinking days were over after 20 yrs of playing and practicing... Nope! Not if you play it wrong! LOL!! Happy jamming bro ....Mike(Ipswich River Guitars).
I think at least half of the early EVH "brown" tone is due to 9's tuned down to drop C#. And Fair Warning had the brownest tone ever! So thick you could chew it!
Since VH tuned exclusively in Eflat, then they were playing in drop C, not C#, even though it's at the 4th fret.
@@jamesgreenberg4786 no, drop c#. the lowest string is dropped down to c#
Just compared it to a piano and you're right Raul, thanks. I guess that explains why tutorials show playing it at the 5th fret instead of the 4th ... because the guitar is tuned to Eflat with drop C#.
Awesome thanks bro!!!
thanks for being imperfect, it is nice to know that we are all human, awesome video.
An Aussie on youtube that's not doing burnouts? Im impressed.
Ford Driver that’s hilarious
Let me guess you're probably North American. I'm not 100% on that, but definitely not Antipodean? Or are you an Aussie with our self-deprecating sense of humour?
“Hit the ground running!”
Very cool man. Catching up. You have loads of cool vids . Going to jam all day. Off work and have the whole day to just jam by myself with my 50 watt Katana and guitar plugged straight in. Just bought a used Ibanez Japanese Fugi Gen RG 520qs. Two hums instead of HSH. Love it. Love that Edge trem which is as good almost as the Schaller or OFR. Low pro Ibanez Edge is killer too. Have one on my fav guitars. The Ibanez S series.. Small, light weight, killer components, etc.
Thanks for all the value, and giving me hope for mankind. Haha. Good to see a young man playing good music. The best. The 80s..
Awesome video !!! It's like you can actually hear that All these 80s riffs inspired by EVH ! RIP