Dweezil Zappa

Since Dweezil began the EVH podcast, I have obsessively been working on VH solos. Here is some insight into my favorite VH solo!

If "Unchained" is the greatest Van Halen song ever, then hands down the best guitar solos are found on "I'm the One." If you're looking to expand your guitar vocabulary and want to add some Eddie Van Halen licks into your vocabulary this is it. In the solo, you see tapping ideas, symmetrical scale runs, and pinch harmonics.

Throughout the solo, Eddie navigates through four different key centers. The coolest part of this is that Eddie mixes major and minor ideas over each key since Michael Anthony's bassline is only emphasizing the root of each chord. The tapping lick found over the key of B starts in minor but descends chromatically to put him into the B major pentatonic. Likewise, when the key center switches to D, he starts by sliding his lick (which is a lick you see in "You Really Got Me" and "Ice Cream Man") by landing on the major third. I think that if there was ever a blues lick you could pinpoint that showcases his love for Eric Clapton, this would be it. He then quickly shifts to D minor for the rest of that phrase.

This was recorded with my Line 6 Helix LT straight into my Focusrite. Helix presets designed by The Helix Hour, EVH Gear TV and Kramer Korner. I am using a Peavey Patent Pending Wolfgang.

Strings: Stringjoy

Picks: Gravity Guitar Picks

Enjoy the guitar faces.