Allen G.

Oh man…I LOVE how you described what’s going on in Van Halen music writ large…mainly the Ed and Al THING that people have so much difficulty comprehending and executing, including of course myself! It is tempo and FEEL intertwined, pushing and pulling…but isn’t that part and parcel of great music? From Led Zeppelin to Dave Brubeck and just beautiful music in general?! It isn’t locked to a grid as you say as virtually all modern music is. 

I’m currently working on creating tempo maps for “I’m the One” going bar-by-bar to try to quantify the exact changes in bpm as Al and Ed engage in their push and pull…while Mike is keeping up as best as he can! What I’m finding is what I guessed and sort’ve “felt” about this “swing” to use an overused and often misunderstood word to describe it. This isn’t necessarily about the varying tempo, though that is a part of it…it is the FEEL that is going on with this push and pull of tempo between Ed and Al. And what I see most often is that it is Ed that is pushing the tempo and Al is “pulling” him back…reining him in so to speak. I find this going on a lot…but it is this telepathy that the great rhythm sections have that makes things so full of feeling and so difficult to capture. 

As Van Halen fans often recognize, the band is about how the guitar and drums lock in…whereas with most other rock, blues and soul bands it is about the bass and drums locking together and driving the rest of the band. It seems so obvious to say this stuff, but a lot of people miss this point. People who study Edward’s playing so often give up on unlocking this part of Van Halen music because it is so damned difficult to play along with these “swinging” tempos as you learn the material. That’s a Rubicon that people can’t or won’t cross…I see a lot of people, including myself at times, just get frustrated and say “No one swings like Edward! I can’t do it…I give up and I’ll just play some nonsense that kind’ve seems close enough!”.

But if you persevere and really get into the true magic of instrumental Van Halen music which is really about Al and Ed’s synergistic push and pull of tempo, dynamics and feeling, there’s so much beauty in that one aspect to behold apart from the other great pieces of the musical Russian nesting doll of Van Halen music like Dave and Sammy’s great singing and vocal melodies and Mike’s killer backing vocals and truly perfect for the music bass parts. This music is so intricate and I think you’ve really hit on some perfect words to describe what is almost indescribable! 

I love how you and Pete actually touch on the “meta” part of the music going beyond the technique and the technical and the gear…that higher thing is what it’s all about!

I think you also totally nailed the Van Halen process of writing, recording and playing the music live. They eventually settle on what gets committed to the recording and then when they play live, they essentially settle on a live arrangement and then play it pretty much the same way every time barring any unforeseen circumstances. This isn’t free jazz…it is Van Halen! 

And for the record, I think Ed is doing alternate picking on the “Light Up the Sky” main riff! I’ve found that Ed did do Downstroke metal style chugging on rare occasions for a few notes here and there, but more often than not, I really hear and see in live videos that he’s just straight alternate picking. In fact, you can clearly see him using alternate picking right here in 2015 and from what I can see in the Fresno 1979 footage he’s doing the same there: 

JT

Best $51.50 I ever spent. This gift keeps on giving! Super fun two episodes getting into the nuts n bolts of EVH style and genius. Thanks for diving into this Dweezil and Pete. I felt I was right there in the studio with y'all sharing licks and geeking out. Hope the series continues.

Stephen Z.

Love the new episodes with Pete! Still the best podcast ever!

Noodles

Thank you for Pete Thorn + Allen Garber, Dweezil.  Just superb.  Very enlightening + entertaining, both. 
Happiest Holidays to everybody!!   XO  

GMoney

Duuuude, Hey MAN..just sayin hi ..hope things r good ..hi 2 Megan & rollo...sincerly..did I spell that right ? ha ha Patti & greg