BEGINNER GUITAR TIPS Edward Van Halen Showed Me!
Imagine your first guitar lesson at 12 years old is with Edward Van Halen! Well… it happened to me.
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These are some of the things he showed me that I still use to this day. I’m happy to pass these beginner tips on to you. Stay Tuned for more guitar lessons and educational material & check out http://dweezilzappa.com for “My Mother Is A Space Cadet” featured in this video.
CHAPTERS
00:00 – My First Guitar Lesson
00:58 – Tuning with Harmonics
03:14 – A Simple Lick with Open Strings
04:07 – A Flanger without a Flanger
05:02 – My Mother is a Space Cadet
06:10 – Like & Subscribe
06:15 – Gear Used
06:41 – Official Website
~ All EVH inspired licks were played by Dweezil using the Carstens amp, cab, & mic setup, as well as the EVH brand Frankenstein Strat.
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Apr 10, 2025
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#BEGINNER #GUITAR #TIPS #Edward #Van #Halen #Showed
Originally posted by UCVkBBRhDVFXUdEqUJwtdZaQ at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsRzJzpoC48
Glad you're enjoying the channel everyone! If you'd like to see more like this comment below and also feel free to grab some ROXPOSTROPHY 2025 Tour tickets: https://www.dweezilzappa.com/pages/tour
2:02 it kinda sounds like a leslie speaker from a Hammond Organ
Edward
Wow-been playing over 30 years-just learned some super cool stuff in 2 min….now i can tune my guitar!!!!
My EVH guitar like that does not want to stay in tune at all. I need to figure it out. I think the bridge is not settling right after I use the bar.
Why not tell the folk about that guitarist from Pasadena named Terry Kilgore who showed Eddie how to finger tap. People should listen to Terry's recordings. Some of them used to be on youtube and were made a few years before Van Halen ever existed. You may notice Eddie sounds exactly like Terry. Not just the tapping, but pretty much every aspect of his playing.It's really a shame Terry Kilgore remains unkown to the world and his genius that Eddie appears to maybe have copied, got no credit whatsoever. Now before posting insults or saying not true. I suggest you find some of KIlgore's recordings online and listen. Remember they were made a few years before Van Halen got together, and then decide for yourself.
When I really learned to tune my guitar [level one] use the harmonics as pressing down on a string makes it go slightly sharp and then [level 2] – flatten that B string a little bit for all those Eddie style rhythm riffs. Once you do that you realize two things: 1) as unreal and other worldly as his lead playing was he was an even bigger bad-ass at rhythm (dude could swing) – and 2) a MAJOR part of his "tone" was sweetening those distorted thirds and lining up the harmonics. It's worth saying that the octave harmonic method is better than the method using fifths as equal tempered fifths are off by nearly 2 cents, which is an error that can accumulate as you work your way up to the high E string. Thus the octave method is an improvement (octaves in equal temperament are pure)
I really appreciate this lesson!
Nice to meet you Mr. Dweezil! I’ve heard some amazing things about you in evh docs ????????????
What a fantastic piece Dweezil.
Just checking, that riff starts on G with 7-h-9 5-p-0?
I'll work up to 'On the bus' later ????
Pat.
Eddie was a genius! Love this! The only thing I don’t love is the guitar riffing between the guitar teaching. Maybe just do it at the beginning and end? Obviously your channel, your choice. I love watching and learning! Thanks DZ!
the flanger thing got me put in ISS from Mr 7th n 9ths Jazz teacher, along with the Fairies Wear Boots octaves.
Dweezil is such a likeable guy and a great player. Good on you for teaching beginners stuff man!
The fourth fret G string and fifth fret B string is the 'missing harmonic'. I discovered it accidentally when I was using an 'octave span pinch harmonic' technique. It requires your picking hand to be in the right place over the string.
Try it, you will find it is there and it makes that iffy compromise unnecessary.
Saw you on Rick Beatto channel and just enjoyed your storytelling. Keep up the great work – subscribed
Cool tips thanks for sharing … btw, what was the effects used for this demo? I mean the reverb-ish kind of backdrop…its wicked.
finger flanger , that was my ex
You're a good egg, my man. ????????
Instant sub
Um, no; the harmonics for tuning are located at the 5th and 7th frets of the two strings with which you synchronize pitch.
I have no idea what YOU'RE doing, son.
2:38 ive been wondering why i couldn't get a good harmonic from g and b
If you need an excuse to drink, try using harmonics to tune a 12 string????????????????
Stock up on pleanty of booze and cigarettes. ????
I never took a lesson or studied music. I learned some basics from friends that got me started. My favorite thing to do was experiment and write my own music. I started learning a lot about harmonics by making mistakes. Then, I started experimenting to make a lot of different sounds and trying to emulate sounds. I learned how to play a mosquito buzzing, a car alarm, the sound my refrigerator makes when the compressor turns on, trying to copy all kinds of ambient sounds just with technique and an amp, no effect pedals. A note has very different tones or sounds depending on where and how it is picked, close to the bridge, near or on the fretboard, etc. I figured out how to make any fretted note sound like a very clean (no distortion) church bell and wrote a song around it. You can hear many techniques more clearly if you experiment with a clean sound, low gain. Some techniques will be muddled by distortion. Some techniques will sound great with the gain cranked up and using feedback.
How cool that must have been, thanks for sharing!
Looking forward to any other tips you’re willing to share.
Hey Dweezil, did Ed teach you how to smoke cigarettes, drink beer and snort cocaine (for beginners)?
With your dad’s sense of humor, I hope you appreciate mine. I heard Ed didn’t like people that smoked pot. What a hypocrite! He should’ve bit his tongue on that.????
My new favorite channel!
How does dweezil zappa only have 30k followers ?! Does not make sense! Does not seem fair! The earth is not aligned.
Really appreciate your first-hand insights into Eddie's playing. Your Beato interview was fantastic. I never would have guessed Eddie used a light pick for example, and while I knew he often held the pick with his middle finger, you really showed the difference it makes with Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love. Thanks, and keep up the great work.
I think that guitar got a shoutout on the last episode of Dexter lol.
The whispering voice at the end of the video made me think "this is something Frank would do". I laughed…..and then SUBSCRIBED instantly !!! ????????????
awesome VH esque licks
@3:46 It is rumored that if every guitar player in the world played this riff at the same time, EVH would come back and give us world peace through guitar riffs.
@3:39 Ed's warm up lick back then!!!
Ed tuning in harmonics = intro to Spanish Fly! j/k – Man, Dweezil, I miss Ed every time I hear riffs he inspired to make, or did make…you can always hear Ed come out. His timings that were off that just worked, his little "diddy's" (I call them) that made you do a double take at the cassette player (or your vinyl record player), or his off the wall spacy stuff using tape echo delay and the MXR phase 90….
Thanks for making these videos that keep Ed alive not just in your mind, but ours also.
Edit: This is the way I've always tuned by ear…it's a great lesson to learn the warbling and bring the tone together "to be in tune".
Cool channel & great video. Thanks for sharing. Constructive community note: when setting intonation on a Floyd, I've found a set of Hollow Points to be extremely helpful, particularly with the recessed trems.. When used according to the BLITZ method, intonation can be done in the playing position, if desired, at a fraction of the time it takes with other intonation devices. Hope this helps someone.. looking forward to Dweezil's next guitar clinic in the Raleigh, NC area! Thanks
Killer lesson, so vintage 80’s. These 3 tricks were common for young guitarist from the 80’s. It was the best time to be a guitarist ever!
I used to listen to your "My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama" album endlessly on my paper routes back in '88 as a young kid in jr high. I ended up becoming a musician myself and touring the world. Thank you!
I learned how to do the harmonic tuning myself just playing by ear. Took a lot of Eddie's influence learning how to play Myself. Little tricks u learn u cant learm from lessons, videos, or teachers ????
Gail was a space cadette? Who'd thunk it??? But coming from the horse's mouth, Dweezil should know, right? ????
Thank you so much D man I love to hear ABOUT your days with Eddie keep the knowledge and blessings coming ????????. One thing did Eddie have very low guitar action not to many people talk about that.your the man Dweezil
Cool. Thanks.
Thanks for sharing! That flanger without a flanger idea was quite innovative!
I thought you were playing "sabbath bloody sabbath" until that 3rd chord jumped in, it's got that feel to it.
This was an AWESOME lesson! Thanks, Dweezil!
Very cool video
Great sounds! Thank you for sharing with us the techniques Ed had showed you.