This Van Halen Riff is IMPOSSIBLE

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Whats the HARDEST Van Halen riff?!?! Let's talk about it! I've tried my hand at the legendary swing of I'm the One, the wild greasy bends of Drop Dead Legs, the slapped madness of Mean Street, and many other classic Eddie riffs, but the intro to Hang 'Em High from Diver Down remains untouchable to me. The picking, the groove, the SPEED.... its all too much! But i refuse to let a good riff get me down, so in today's video, i'm gonna bring you all along for my quest to conquer this intro! We're gonna talk technique, muting, picking, and end with a revelation about this riff that certifies that NONE of us are ever going to play it right. Trust me, you wanna see this... its INSANE. Eddie was inhuman.
I'm using my Ibanez RG550 with Fishman Fluence pickups into my Kemper Profiler, which is using the Top Jimi Brown Sound Profiles. They sound amazing!!!
What Van Halen song should we break down next? Let me know!

[ClifHaley]

"The right hand is the wrecking ball, the left hand is the damage control crew, " is easily one of the best guitar analogies I've ever heard. Damn well done.

[Ronsonic]

Alex and Eddie grew up with their swing-band dad. This is so much distinguished them from other bands of the era. One more reason they were great. That band could swing like a beast.

[hippychipsguitars]

I turned 13 in 1978, and bought their first Album with my Birthday money. I had been playing Guitar for a couple of years, and got my first electric for Christmas 1977. I spent many hours in my bedroom playing along to Van Halen Albums. I still have Van Halen, Van Halen II, Women and Children First, Fair Warning, and Diver Down on Original pressing Vinyl. I also have a fully functional 1978 Technics Turntable to play them on. Eddie will always be my favorite Guitar player, and the biggest influence in my playing.

[shane]

My favorite part of this video is seeing the genuine admiration for Eddie when you slow the riff down. Love your channel.

[diceyending]

Eddie was one of those otherworldly, supernatural talents. He was basically a kid when VH recorded their debut album but he was light years ahead of lifetime career guitarists. We are all fortunate to have had him in our lifetimes.

[me-bfre]

I just tried it and it's a lot easier to get the swing feel at speed if you use economy picking.
First two notes stretch from 7th to 12th and go: up down down up down down up down down up down down up down down up
Then just do the rest all on the A string straight alternate picking. Very doable at speed to add the swing feel if you do this.

[BR-lprf]

As a VH nerd of almost 40 years, this song tops my all time list for fav Eddie song. There is an isolated track her on YT that is mind blowing. Literally 1 take, with solo included. Crazy

[Ruefus]

EVH's sense of rhythm is the most underrated and under-discussed aspect of his playing. Yeah - people do recognize his rhythm playing. Rarely do any of us realize that he swings constantly.

Dude was always grooving.

[chopperdeath]

Ed was blessed by having a father who was a jazz musician. Growing up listening to his music made his groove and swing fantastic. Jazz influenced rock.

[michaelrichardson]

To me it’s the intro to “Mean Street” with all the funk slapping…often imitated but never duplicated!

[tonycrabtree]

The crazy part is not that Eddie could play it as well as he did, but that he imagined it and put it out there for us to enjoy.

[rockingguitarlessons]

Great stuff Ben.I like your attention to detail...great playing man

[eded]

THIS VIDEO deserves 8 million views !!! Being a drummer, and then keyboards, this is a BREAKTHROUGH on Eddie I had no idea about. How many people know this Spending my whole life working on rhythm and understanding drums and grooves, and shuffles....This is impossible. Simply put it will never happen again. I would also like to Eddie did the impossible by stopping his addictions getting back on track and being a great dad !! That took HUGE amounts of courage, and dedication to accomplish that. Basically he bench pressed 12 semis !

[mickeymessstudios]

Awsome ! I was a student at GIT in Hollywood 1983/1984 and Eddie came to do a seminar. The "stage" room of GIT of that time, rather small, was packed. Eddie seemed "nervous" or "annoyed", hard to say. Why ? Well, he was in front of over a hundred guitar geeks who asked questions about scales, modes and plenty other technical bullshit... and even if Eddie knew about modes and stuff, there were WORLDS seperating him and most of the students. You see, Eddie was a player, full of soul, full of emotion floating through the heavens of "ART" and imagination - how could he explain anything to these guys ? He tried... "I am not much of modes guy.." and other similar words of wisdom... he was there and yet he was not in the same room with these guys. There was maybe a handful out of the hundreds there, who understood immediately. What a relief, what a joy.. what a revelation ! Eddie was Eddie and nobody would EVER be able to replicate him - and he tried to tell us.. "I am just playing what I feel..I am not thinkin of...." he told us, "I am just doin.." and " you should try to just do.." he said... I never forget it. So him who has ears let him hear.

[richrinehart]

I am playing again after stopping 25+ years ago. I watched this video in awe. You can fly brother. Loved it
I played for about 7 years with my dad. Old 50's-60's tunes mainly. Played at least 5 nights a week the last 3 years before we lost him.
Learned on an acoustic 12 stringer while following my dad on the neck sitting across from him. I kick myself for quitting all those years ago
I am currently trying to toughen up my fingers and just playing basic chords. I cannot get my fingers to move independently on my left hand yet so barre chords are out. No dexterity. I feel stupid. LOL I play chords until my fingers can't take it anymore.
Keep rocking brother. I don't even want to know how much time and effort you have spent over the I realize I will never be much more than a shitty player at best. I have an electric but no amp. I had a mini cube amp that hummed so I pitched it. The electric guitar is a wild animal compared to an acoustic. I am buying a Orange amp next month for my b-day. 56 yrs old and starting crazy!!
I would love to have half your speed. Maybe if I practice every waking moment from now until 2030 I can possibly get a 1/4 of your speed.
Peace

[gstlynx]

Your discovery of the underlying swing in the riff and subsequent explanation is pure gold.

[lw]

"The right hand is the wrecking ball and the left hand is the damage control" was a great description to get the point across. Once again proving why he is the best guitar teacher I've ever come across - bar none. Thanks uncle Ben!

[budreichard]

No one after all these years have never been able to get close to do what Eddie did.. unbelievable...to this day!

[nu]

Eddie had the speed, the precision, and most importantly the FEEL. That's what made him the best.

[billyvarga]

EVH guitar nerd here, and in a VH tribute band. Before you revealed that intro, I already knew the song you were going to talk about. I’m glad I’m not the only capable guitar player that struggled with that intro. Always enjoy your videos uncle Ben. Please keep it up.