How to Play Van Halen Eruption on guitar

here I show you how to play Eruption on guitar, plus some added extras..

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Extra Help! Pete Thorn's Eruption: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q5bVnaSZdr6AidE&t Allen Garber Eruption: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKSVdpKqhc52nJY Samuel Ramos Eruption TAB: kzbin.info/www/bejne/emaYqGR4hMqajpo&t

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

Except Pete is doing it wrong! And this Samuel Ramos guy doesn’t know how to do the opening repeated lick. I’m also fairly certain that he copied my TAB for the rest of what he posted.

[@Ogrelord5150]

@@AllenGarberGuitarFun ​ Don't forget Satsuma3042. Doug and Satsuma were the OG VH maestros, IMHO. ​Unfortunately, language barrier with Satsuma makes him less known, but he is awesome. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaPFemxqgcuAn5I

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@Ogrelord5150 Nope. He’s way off most of the time. Believe me, I’m familiar with just about every “Eruption” lesson on KZbin and just about everyone that tries to teach Van Halen lessons.

[@MercutioUK2006]

Doug, help! Looking for the most accurate VH transcriptions for some study - and i knew you were the man to ask. Where do I go?

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@MercutioUK2006 Look for my transcription which appears in the February 2021 issue of Guitar World or download and print a pdf of the transcription here: www.vhlinks.com/Eruption.pdf You can also follow this link for a Soundslice file that has this transcription following the original recording. You can slow down the recording by selecting the “%” button at the control panel at the bottom: www.soundslice.com/slices/YvtMc/ You can also see my video walk-through of the transcription in these videos: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rKSVdpKqhc52nJY kzbin.info/www/bejne/haTXaHSNr7Njq7s kzbin.info/www/bejne/r6TWkKF8nKmLoqc I made these videos teach Doug how to play the piece correctly…he posted a link to my first video in this video along with links to Pete Thorn’s nice, but inaccurate lesson and an incorrect TAB from another KZbin user who copied my original TAB with one very prominent mistake at the beginning. Avoid Pete’s videos and the other KZbinr as they are not accurate and not complete…mine is.

[@MG-cd7wi]

I always prefer Doug's method of teaching. He assumes you have some basic ability and doesn't waste time on the basics that you should already know if you're attempting to play VH. Well done as usual, Doug. That swing part is where I always get hung up!!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Cheers man..I'm more for the dude who's been playing a bit and can just watch and apply it later. I'm thinking of doing a bunch of Ed's solos at about 70% the speed on here. No explanation, just boom...

[@MG-cd7wi]

@@dougsteeleguitar Yes! Do it!

[@MontourR]

New vocabulary by doug: blues fuckin thing bro

[@dougsteeleguitar]

it gets exhausting after awhile.

[@mikebeechey8592]

Once again, another great lesson & deep dive. Your lessons are the best because you provide as many prospectives & options to play the song as possible. It's great to have someone show or provide these because we all learn & play differently. With that said, I do respect, applaud & appreciate Allen for his note for note dissection & sharing that with everyone (and proves most of us can't play it exactly like the king, but he provides us the tools to try & continue to work on it). Finally, most importantly to me is that your lessons always include awesome humor & if we can't laugh while playing guitar, then what fun is that. Thank you so much!!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Anytime, rock god!

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

Thanks Mike! And I love Doug too…he’s a born entertainer!

[@edwardskol1812]

Love your attitude and comments! You are a great teacher!!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Cheers brah!!

[@joncargile4566]

Hi Doug, you can find the original Eruption recording without the effects added at the board on “Van Halen never before heard outtakes/alternate endings & the room mics for “Eruption” Sunset Sound. As the engineer will point out, the actual sound is coming from Eddie, his guitar and amp. No bullshit effect trickery involved!!! Check it out. Any Van Halen fan will appreciate.

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Heard it, love it.

[@joncargile4566]

Absolutely. How did he know so much at 20, 21 years old? Blows my mind. Alien?

[@bigguns1965]

Lol I love how you teach! So right about the audience not knowing the difference. I've decided to try and learn this classic piece. Thanks bro no nonsense just do it, if it sounds good it is good! Thanks for the lesson Doug! 👍🏻👌🏻 🍻

[@philfrank5601]

Doug...but ya gotta know about Jacob Deraps. Not for instructional vudeos, but his Eruption cover is 99.9% both in tone and feel. Check it out.

[@SuperMozzman]

Yes! Finally someone who teaches that first repeating lick the RIGHT way. Great job Doug.

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Cheers rock god!!

[@JohnsFrusciante]

Thanks Doug, always great lessons m8

[@MercutioUK2006]

With all the extra links, this is pretty much now Eruption central :) I actually do have a single humbucker strat-type guitar tuned to Eb but man, I can't get the stock tremolo to behave so until such time as I replace it, I ain't even going to attempt to learn Eruption again!

[@brianmccollum86]

You know brother that's why I like you can't nobody swing like the king and you don't use too many technical words your ears your greatest teacher it is what it is hey if you can get close I'm happy with that that's why I like what you do thanks I mean we have our own twang but I love it man keep it coming it's great

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Cheers bra!!

[@5150show]

Dude you rock !

[@LicksoftheLegend]

Doug this is killer! I’m sorry a few people in the comments section have sort of hijacked this into who’s more accurate to Eddie van halen. That on its own is an asinine argument to begin with lol.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

Ask Doug who is teaching him how to actually play this piece. It’s me. And Doug doesn’t think it is asinine to learn from me.

[@EVEROSFP1]

Props for having a very positive teaching approach ...

[@1992YR]

No better combination than Van Halen & KISS!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

True!!

[@christiantaylor4027]

Nice lesson.thanks.rock on!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Thank you too! I appreciate it!!

[@wileesadventures2354]

Awesome. It premiers on my birthday!

[@vaiisgod8]

It’s my birthday on the 15th. Happy Birthday buddy

[@mynameisdave613]

Happy birthday

[@6stringsbrainfingers]

Fuckin excellent Doug! I haven't even thought about this solo since I made my vid many years ago. This has some stuff that has cleaned up my playing of it. Playing it again better now thanks man!

[@Twobarpsi]

Allen 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘!!

[@briandsanchez99]

Thanks man. You made this monster very approachable. Great lesson!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Cheers sir!!

[@donaldyoung9838]

Man You Killing Me You Definitely Got It Down Pat An Your Right Pete Thorn Is Freeking Amazing On That But Unfortunately I Drive A Semi An You Every Tried To Play On A Acoustic But Definitely Be Home In A Few Days An Open The Case On My EVH Frankie Thanks

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Hell yes!!!

[@briandsanchez99]

Also, I just bought a Frankie a few weeks ago. I’m giving myself one year to play Eruption. Kind of my personal requirement for owning one.

[@dougsteeleguitar]

More folks should do that. And congrats. Those guitars are built really well. Can't wait til my Frankie 7 is finished.

[@Andrew-pk9vz]

Excellent refresher Sir thank you 🤘🤩👊

[@johnnywinford7789]

I just found my problem, thanks brother!

[@harleymeister1]

Awesome dude!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Cheers bruv!!!

[@buisyman]

Yeah, I don't do tabs. Belive it or not, I just can't read them. I can read music just fine, though. How fucked up is that?

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Everybody's got something.

[@lanceross3633]

Thanks for the breakdown

[@lesbellon6497]

Thanxxxxx doug👍🎸🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

[@gsmithstudio1]

at beginning is the 25k Frankenstein?

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Lol noooooooooo

[@christiantaylor4027]

Edward said there was a mistake in there that he heard every time he listened to it. Do ya think he had to play that mistake on purpose after that to play it note for note. I doubt it. That would bore him I think. I think he was always making new. He was one creative dude. Yup.

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Vibe over perfection, period. It is thee human element.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

A pdf of my complete and actually accurate TAB is in the ‘Description’ of my video that Doug has linked…here is that link: www.vhlinks.com/Eruption.pdf

[@knightfall9394]

Nothing new there, no different than what dale turner did for guitar one and what jeff fiorentino had on jfrocks back in the day

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@knightfall9394 You are totally incorrect and clearly haven’t actually compared the transcription to the people you mentioned. Neither one of those people had the correct opening repeated lick, neither had really anything note-for-note correct, neither included any of the correct pitches for slides, neither had the correct left hand fingering notated, neither notated right hand picking directions. I can make a comparison TAB and show you EXACTLY what they got wrong and what they left out completely.

[@stratrat57]

Who really cares? Never understood "note for note" requiremen, unless for some kind of museum. Eddy didn't even know eruption note for note.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@stratrat57 It’s called learning. You can choose to learn as little or as much as you want.

[@stratrat57]

@@AllenGarberGuitarFun this is playing guitar, not algebra. Learn to express yourself....not emote EVH. Be you, not someone else, through your playing. Guitar playing nowadays is too much a sport, at least rock and metal.

[@MetalMan2525]

Awesome lesson! Can you teach Frenzy? Lol

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Some of it, but I can't do that tapping stuff.

[@robloxgladiator6917]

I always get fucked up on the bit before the tapping need to practice that hard

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Yeah that's rough..Slightly easier if you do that chicken pickin' shit.

[@Bricklinsv1970]

I like AlexSkolnicks take on this man Eddie was flashy AF!

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

I’m that single person in the audience that will say “that was wrong, that was shit”.

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Lol, then you'd be ripping on ole Ed himself as well. As if he could replicate it again.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@dougsteeleguitar Not really, because I know he played almost all the licks in the recording the same way every time. He clearly got “lost and lucky” with the spread sixes pattern and that A blues thing where he bumps into the open G string, but everything else was pretty much played the same way all the time. I don’t expect anyone to be able to play the mistakes, not even Eddie!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

@@AllenGarberGuitarFun send me a clip where he plays at exactly like the album. For science's sake.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@dougsteeleguitar Listen to him play the individual licks when he plays his guitar solo segment. He plays the sections in a different order, but he played all the individual licks exactly the same way every time unless he made a mistake in execution. The only licks he doesn’t play the same as the recording are the ones I mentioned…the sixes on the B and high E strings and the A blues section at the 17th position. This is why there is a point to learning how Eddie played the piece on the album because he played the licks in it exactly the same way every time, again unless he made a mistake. He’s no different than Stevie Ray Vaughan…same licks the exact same way every time.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

No slides in the tremolo picked melody…spread your fingers…STRETCH DAT LEFT HAND!

[@dougsteeleguitar]

Johnny busy.

[@MG-cd7wi]

Or just play things in a way that works for you, like Eddie did.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@MG-cd7wi Eddie never actually said that, but the fact is that Eddie studied many guitar players in note-for-note detail, especially Clapton in Cream, The Who’s ‘Live at Leeds’ album, “Going Home” from the ‘Woodstock’ soundtrack by Alvin Lee and Ten Years After and others. These are facts confirmed by the Eddie, the band and many others who witnessed him playing these things note-for-note exact to the recordings he studied. Eddie learned how to play and developed his style by CLOSELY studying these artists note-for-note, not “close enough, whatever works for you”. Eddie played exact Clapton licks from Cream in nearly every one of his greatest solos. You can do whatever you want, you can choose to learn how Eddie DIDN’T play it and never learn how he actually played it. You can learn as much or as little as you want. But that is not how Eddie learned…he learned the things he studied note-for-note correct and those note-for-note licks stayed in his playing until his dying day. kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpjan5ufnZtljLc

[@MG-cd7wi]

@@AllenGarberGuitarFun "The hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is."

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

@@MG-cd7wi That was to do with creating his own music. If you actually study Eddie’s playing, you’ll realize that he taught himself by learning many note-for-note covers which he religiously played note-for-note live in the early days and carried those licks into his own playing and there they stayed. Watch and study the video I linked and you should easily comprehend the truth of what I’m saying.

[@AllenGarberGuitarFun]

Soundslice with correct TAB: www.soundslice.com/slices/YvtMc/ Avoid Pete’s lesson and the Samuel Ramos TAB…they are just wrong and incomplete.