My Top 5 Van Halen Riffs

I apologise for the poor lighting. In winter it is always dark and I have to depend on artificial light which is a shame. But oh well, here are my favourite Van Halen riffs to play. There is no number one song to play, this is just a selection of favourites.
I am using a Yamaha THR10X amp and EVH Dunlop Phase 90.

[@CameronCooper]

100,000 views! You guys are the best thanks so much! :)

[@jacobn02]

Hey Cameron. You inspiring fellow. :) love your playing! I watched a video where you were playing loss of control, but can't seem to find it on your channel? Maybe I'm missing it? Is it still on ? Jacob

[@patrickmcquillan3039]

You earned it you have put in a tremendous amount of work , and obviously dedicated to your craft , l started late and am struggling so much , but its people like you , that keep us reaching for that next step

[@martintorrebiarte5063]

300K now!

[@alagogo]

Your tone is absolutely perfect . It was an honor to hear you play .

[@ClearAdventure]

Gotta love the Yamaha THR10X amp he was using! I got one, unbelievable!! Under $300 at Guitar Center now!! While they have them. 🤷

[@junkysnack486]

Fuckin totally

[@JesseLeeKing]

Cam and his 100 dollar words archetypal lol

[@JesseLeeKing]

I like that run around

[@CameronH97]

Love to see the lesser known Van Halen riffs! My favorite is Drop Dead Legs. The riff is just killer

[@CameronCooper]

Cameron Hi there! Thank you for your comment. I always try to refrain from playing the hits. As much fun as they may be to play they're not as fun as a lot of the others aha

[@jwccsnm]

@@CameronCooper But Drop Dead Legs wasn't a hit. Play it sometime please and Top Jimmy.

[@the_swoletariat1621]

J.W. JDUB +1 for Top Jimmy

[@txdrmr]

Balance ended up being one of my favorite albums, Amsterdam is ridiculous! That song, for me, shows me the tightness of and the incredible playing by everyone. Sammy's vocals are killer.

[@warrenelyk2593]

I love the Balance CD Lots of piano and great songs. Thanks for the awesome playing, !!

[@bpace2509]

I was surprised to see you included 'The Seventh Seal'. It's one of my favorite VH songs but doesn't get the love it deserves. After seeing VH w/ Roth in concert, 'Little Dreamer' moved way up on my favorite VH riffs. Eddie was going to town and jamming - it was so fun just to watch. I've seen VH w/ all 3 lead singers live, and I've come the conclusion that Sammy is the man!

[@redrocker1055]

Eddies tone from '5150' to 'Balance' keeps me awake at night. Picking just 5 riffs would be impossible as I would have to find room for 'Best of Both Worlds', 'Summer Nights", 'Judgement Day,' 'Dream is Over,' 'Don't Tell Me What Love Can Do,' 'Human's being'', 'Cabo Wabo' and so on. See it's impossible as I clearly can't count. Hell, I'm even the rare VH fan that loves 'VHIII.' To me Eddie hit his musical Zenith with 'VHIII.' There was soo much experimentation going on with that album so much so that the general public just didn't get it. Musicians tend to understand and like it more. It's a shame it didn't work commercially because on a musical level it was phenomenal. 'A Year To The Day' is a fucking masterpiece. I think 'VHIII's' commercial failure is why Eddie pretty much packed it in 20 years ago. He really hasn't released new material since 'VHIII.' Yes, I know there was 'ADKOT' but come on, that's just an album of rejected songs from 'VH' and 'VHII.' There was nothing new there. Eddie is a genius who's creativity needs experimentation. Every album from 'Women and Children First' until 'ADKOT' was fresh and innovative and an evolution of what they had done before. I think when 'VHIII' was rejected it effected Eddie's confidence to release new material. Just a guess.

[@tweettweetjones1262]

Eddie was great. I appreciate your insights. Just letting you know I read what you typed and I wholly agree with you. Eddie was my hero. I miss him. I wish he were still walkin' amongst us mere mortals making new albums.

[@edwardvanleppard2774]

Seventh Seal!!! In my top 5 as well! Always reminded me of the Fair Warning era feel.

[@zackmessick]

Great call on Balance. It may not be my favorite of the VH albums, but it’s definitely up there. Incredibly underrated. Glad to see it get some love

[@AutoAvenues]

So glad to find another VH fan out there that love the BALANCE album. The guitar work on this album is amazing. Great job covering it. Loving your videos.

[@CameronCooper]

AutoAvenues Balance is my favourite album by them. :)

[@scottfulps2065]

Fantastic! You have the riffs and EVH’s tone perfectly! Great video.

[@guilhermefontana6499]

What a killer tone! Great video, man!

[@edwardmonsariste4050]

Thank you for your video! Got my Kramer back out and dug back into some VH songs. Thanks for the inspiration!

[@MrPittsbrother]

Dude, best Van Halen video I've ever seen, straight up to the point for us that can play already, thanks!

[@tkdunn]

Late to the party on this one, but you hit two of my favorite VH songs - “Runaround” and “Seventh Seal”. I love Ed’s tone on these two albums and love how he stretches out into some new harmonic territory. Roth-era / Hagar-era, I love it all. And this was a true joy to watch - I was 15 when VH I came out and it’s cool to see someone your age get as excited as I did about this amazing musician. You touched on something that a lot of people miss about Ed’s playing - the swing. He’s got a rhythmic feel that nobody else really had and it made his playing stand out that much more... Awesome playing my friend - so fun to watch 😎🤘

[@fre4409]

Wow outstanding songs bro! Superb playing. I love the Balance album.

[@thesalienttruth]

So glad there's someone else out there that appreciates Van Hagar era riffs!!!

[@hbond23]

Every song off Balance is so underrated. So happy to see Feelin’ as one of your favorite riffs. It’s a really good song

[@musicheadt]

Balance album gets mad love from me as well. Some of Eddy's best playing. His keyboards on the album were great as well.

[@briandietrich1373]

Balance era riffs rule. Thank you Cameron!

[@alexkid7759]

Got goosebumps when you played feelin'... keep rocking bro

[@miniwheats94]

Big fan of the Balance album...glad to see Feelin' get some love! Played very well too, great job!

[@CameronCooper]

Richard Hoover Thank you Richard! I love Feelin and more or less the whole Balance album.

[@captainflamson]

Richard Hoover I came to make the same comment! Too many VH fans ignore this amazing album, Balance is honestly the Halen album I listen to most often..

[@MgoUmk]

Best track of Balance: Don't Tell Me (What Love Can Do)

[@jamesgreen7618]

Balance is great album and I literally was listening to Feelin' yesterday - just a tasty song

[@miniwheats94]

Yeah man the tune is so tight! So much power

[@andyconda32]

Great Video Mr. Cooper. Not just an enjoyable video to listen to but you will no doubt inspire many new guitarists to want to practise and get better playing their axes. Great Job!

[@CameronCooper]

Andrew Cadigan Thanks so much Andrew I really appreciate that. Really heartwarming comment. :)

[@WallyRamirezREACH]

Duuuuude!!! That tone is sick!!!! Great job!!!! I can watch this all day!!!

[@rodneyurbaniak8243]

Agreed, Balance is one of my favorites as well. And how can you not love Feelin' that intro to killer solo, is just amazing. You do a great job playing it as well. You make it look easy, you just inspired me to get that Feelin' intro down!

[@jimmyz2098]

Wow. A really interesting group of songs and riffs to lit as your Top 5. Totally different list than most People would have, and I think that is so cool. You made Seventh Seal sound nasty, Bro! Anyway, great playing, killer tone, and you nailed down a really cool list.

[@CameronCooper]

Cheers Jimmy! More often when I listen to bands, my favourite songs are not the hits.

[@mineralt]

Eddie’s rhythm playing is so underrated. I am glad you focused some on the more rhythm things he does. He has this boogie woogie rhythm style that is so much better than the other guys from that era.

[@danieleducci5064]

Great sound,and fantastic feeling man!!

[@alansitkiewicz3934]

This was great , lots of cool choices! Love the "Feelin'" solo!

[@NZLatic]

I’ve been a HUGE Van Halen fan since the early 80’s when I played in a metal band as a teenager and we did a few VH covers. I have to say that this guy not only has the riffs down pat, but also has that Van Halen ‘Brown Sound’ sorted as well. Great to see a younger guy appreciate EVH’s genius.

[@CameronCooper]

Stephen Parkinson Thanks so much Stephen I really appreciate it. In this video I was really going for the more modern Van Halen tone, the yamaha thr10x just nails it. I feel warm inside when I read comments like yours, thanks so much. :)

[@Corey_G]

I love the stuff on your walls!!! Cool retro 😎

[@killerdude35]

glad to see you show love for Balance. It's by far my favorite Hagar era Van Halen album.

[@scottbabb4485]

Great tone, articulation and execution. Nice work Cameron, I really enjoyed that.

[@CameronCooper]

Scott Babb Thank you Scott :)

[@F3502000]

Your playing is fantastic! I like your choices here. They are not my favorites, but it's clear your knowledge of this band is quite good...you went obscure on all but two. Well done video!!

[@CameronCooper]

The Great Gazoo Hi there. Thank you for your comment. As popular as this video has been in comparison to others, a lot of people I don't think saw the point in the video. These were my Top 5 Van Halen riffs to play instead of what I think are the best Van Halen songs overall. I can play a lot of the hits but I don't always enjoy playing them aha. Thank you again and take care. :)

[@Oldpimp66]

Great selection of riffs my man !

[@Jay-sy5yf]

Admire your passion! Much respect.

[@JJF10101957]

Well played, as usual! I love that Charvel!

[@Aidenmaiden75]

Hi Cameron great video, Awesome channel you inspired me to make new 80s metal guitar covers again thanks so much my friend plus I’m now playing a Dave Murray strat through a Yamaha thr10x and love the sounds I’m getting from it thanks to your videos 🤘🙂🎸

[@CameronCooper]

That's amazing Aiden thanks so much! Really appreciate it! Keep doing what you're doing. :)

[@Jeff-Vader_head_of_catering]

I love all of these tributes coming out for Eddie. I will miss him.

[@musicgearnetwork]

Love it! They all sound great! Talk soon!

[@phil8249]

I bought a thr10x based on your videos. Love this amp!! Sounds better than my blackstar HT5 metal tube amp.

[@mikexxx11]

so stop trying to sound like Cam or Eddie or anyone Find your own sound your own tone. Who wants to be another clone anyway

[@maxnormand4581]

I used to love my HT5 metal, that thing was great, I'd be very interested in trying the Yamaha for sure though

[@sygyl]

damn i’m really glad i found this in my recommended you’re really good and i really like your guitar

[@CameronCooper]

Zach Hi Zach. Thanks for getting in touch I'm really glad you found the channel. There's plenty more where this came from. If you liked this video, you should check out my tribute to Eddie Van Halen :)

[@karic1294]

Ain't talking about Love it's one of my fav riffs from them. So good!

[@CameronCooper]

Kari C It is a great riff. I will be uploading a Top 5 Van Halen Riffs w/ David Lee Roth video in the near future :)

[@MagicRoosterBluesBand]

I dare you to lean "Beautiful Girls" and not smile while playing it :-)

[@Dcully]

I could listen the the panama riff all day long, great stuff Cameron.

[@BlackWolfgang70]

that's way cool ... more then all i liked so much the brown sond you can bring out from the amp ! you rock as always ...

[@vid89]

Brown sound was Alex's snare not guitar

[@emptychair3932]

chris vidovic Sure but nobody except you cares.

[@punishr36]

LOL nope. It's the guitar sound.

[@BlackWolfgang70]

it's not only the guitar sound ... if you do not have the amp rightly set up with the right effects even you can't get the brown sound ... for teh guitar what is important is to get a seymour duncan 79 or a sh custom custom and this is the real important thing on guitar ... then as effect you have to use some ecoplex and 80s phaser for the early sound trough a plexy marshall . the amp setup then has been fast changed by eddie in the early 80s with some soldano amps behind the stage , from where the 5150 amps came out similar in sound . in my imo you have to get the right hambucker as i told and most important amp ( 5150 or soldanos ) and effects ( phaser and echoplex delay ... but these are few effects ) .if i plug my evh on a fender twin for example i can't get out any brown sound ... humb and right amp get the brown sound

[@gk6993]

Awesome. Love both For Unlawful and Balance. Nice song picks. Subbed.

[@johnrauls]

Excellent job nailing the songs. They were done justice!!

[@CameronCooper]

JD Rauls Thank you very much.

[@lesgibson969]

van halen rules. nice job dude, i really enjoy that kind of stuff. keep up the good work.

[@CameronCooper]

Thank you so much! :)

[@johnnyboy1232]

It's stuff 🙂.

[@CameronCooper]

John Mace it's okay, I know what he meant

[@lesgibson969]

thanks.

[@srincident]

Your choices are impressive, as is your playing. I heard something in Runaround I'd never heard before. Thank you. Also, Feelin' is just beautiful.

[@ralfhuber-denzel3370]

Excellent job, congratulations!

[@nathanharding5597]

You sound amazing dude! Killer tone!

[@oldgit4260]

I love the Balance album, good to hear it covered

[@beefcake0354]

I just love the fact that many songs from Hagar era were picked, FUCK and Balance are great albums. Cheers :)

[@AchillesWrath1]

Great choice of songs. Those are some of my favorites as well.

[@sbiegs3885]

7th Seal is sooooo bad ass. How about I just say every riff is killer! Don't want to comment on every song!! Great job!

[@FunkymetalBL]

Awesome playing, Eddie is the king 👑. Love the Charvel-great guitars. Rock on and keep the videos coming 🤘

[@jonathancant2031]

Balance is my favourite Van Halen album period and I love all the tracks especially “Seventh Seal”, “Aftershock”, “Don’t Tell Me”, “Not Enough” etc.

[@fredfredburger5150]

Aww man you played Runaround. Love that song and haven't heard the guitar line by itself til now. Thanks for that :)

[@christianhauner4712]

Helo Cameron! I'm Christian From Brazil... I'm following your posts here every day... They're fantastic. very cool! Congratulations! Rock on!

[@darthhull85]

Everyone trashes Hagar era but Ed’s playing got so good then. Balance is criminally underrated. Plus Ed’s tone on balance was imo his best.

[@CameronCooper]

Devin Hull Hi Devin. I absolutely agree with you. :)

[@joerobinson2538]

Devin Hull I totally agree too!

[@dilo777]

Cameron Cooper agreed

[@sw1tched]

I agree his playing was awesome and sounded amazing. I'm glad you said OPINION. There is so many people that just yell there thoughts as fact. Cause i think his VH 1 tone is the greatest tone ever recorded. I fricken love his Hagar era playing also.

[@johnnyjackson7897]

Devin Hull total agreement my brethren

[@rogerphilabaum4563]

Damn dude! You kick ass! Love that Charvel! Blue.. My favorite color.

[@deluxairhead]

Yo dude your sound is really good and spot on I think....... Thanks muchly

[@johnpick8336]

You Nail Eddie Dude !!! Thanks for posting !!!

[@CameronCooper]

John Pick Thank you John! :)

[@perfectnumber7783]

I think KZbin needs to install the Multiple like button. If so I would have liked this 50 times by know & Your not the only one Cam... I think Balance was almost by far the best album the boys put out. I have three top VH songs the first being Drop Dead Leg's .. Never gonna convince me otherwise. 2nd would be Josephina... Just such an emotional solo and the third is tied but Feelings & Human Beings are tied for 3rd. That Feelings song is just the freakin best song Ed has made. So much feeling in it and Sammy's vocals oh man and by the way Cam You nailed the riff's as always... If you could only see me watch your videos. A grown man with Jaw open and eyes tearing up... You are the man Cam... Thank You!!!

[@CameronCooper]

Perfect Number 7 Hi there! Thank you so much for your comment. I really appreciate this, it makes feel so warm inside to know that I'm inspiring others. Thank you so much again. I'll let you in on this, I am working on a Top 5 Van Halen Riffs w/ David Lee Roth riffs :)

[@scottjamieson273]

Coming from a drummers perspective, its GREAT to hear another guitarist interpretation of Eddie`s work. I absolutely love Eds guitar playing and enjoy seeing it taken apart to hear the simplicity along with the intricate parts that make it all come together. Cheers!

[@device9]

I'm 53 I seriously got to eddies playing when I was about 25. It's great to see new generations of players getting into eddies stuff.

[@CameronCooper]

device9 Thank you very much! I am really pleased you enjoyed the video.

[@tjdowning4263]

You’ve nailed the tone on Feelin’! Perfect.

[@CameronCooper]

Thank you!

[@leecast]

Cameron, what kind of pickups in the Charvel, what strings/gauage, and really nothing other than the stock Yamaha amp and the phaser to get this tone?? You running direct out of it to record or mic?? You nailed the tone and fingering on this. Just wondering how much of the tone is the gear, and keep thinking there has to be more to the complex tone and effects than a $300 Yamaha amp... Let me know please, and thanks for posting this. Well done!

[@CameronCooper]

Lee Silverman Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm only using the Yamaha and the Phaser pedal. I'm recording this guitar direct out to my DAW which is Cubase 6. The pickups are Seymour Duncan JB and 59 and my strings are Ernie Ball 9-42.

[@leecast]

Amazing, dude! Thanks very much for the detailed response. What settings are you using on the Yamaha?

[@CameronCooper]

Lee Silverman Hi Lee. I am using a custom patch I made using the THR Editor - the software you can download from Yamahas official website as a free add on to your Yamaha THR10 amp. I don't recall the exact settings but I am using the Brown 2 model with quite a lot of chorus which I modified so that it has a wide stereo spread.

[@evanmtcka]

You’re awesome especially the second one!!

[@CameronCooper]

Evan Dyess Thank you Evan! :)

[@mannylebron2880]

you always have such a great tone . you make all your guitars sound great.

[@ianm139]

1st song sounds like I'm the one van Halen. Cool guitar playing by the way

[@guitarstruggles3140]

Glad to see you back man! I've re-watched tons of your old vids while you took a break.

[@CameronCooper]

That's amazing! A truly loyal subscriber thanks so much! Which videos were you watching? :)

[@guitarstruggles3140]

Cameron Cooper Hahaha, most of them. I needed some inspiration. I was also looking for a tapping line you do. I think you did it in this video. It descends on one string. Very melodic. I think I time stamped it in a comment a while back. If I come across it again I'll leave a comment.

[@Jam1457]

Great playin', great sound.. great job!!!!

[@ClassofEighty2]

Thanks for letting us know your amp/fx set up. The Van Hagar EVH sound was arguably Eddie at his peak. His creativity waned from that point on. You played that stuff pretty clean and concise.

[@VascoRockPatricio]

Congrats on the video, it's great! And it's rare to see so many compliments on a EVH tutorial (trust me, I've watched them all, several times!). Usually, people get stuck on the DLR/Hagar discussion and don't get pass that. Balance is my favourite album ("Feelings" being my fav song of the album) and it's rare to see it getting any credit, so... double thanks! :)

[@mulderncc]

Nice job. The Van Hagar albums always get the short but they are phenomenal. You have the brown sound nailed!

[@LegionDe75]

really, really enjoy your playing!!

[@jamesstewart8054]

Cameron excellent playing. You are a great guitarist. Cheers James.

[@aroostookbarbell5549]

Inspiring to watch. Would love to see a video of your complete rig. Thanks.

[@CameronCooper]

It is just a Yamaha THR10X in this video

[@ronjames6128]

NICE JOB!!!!...YOU SOUND FANTASTIC AND YOU NAILED THOSE RIFFS!!!!!!!!!

[@CameronCooper]

Thanks so much Ron! :)

[@Chord_The_Seeker]

Monster playing. Liked and subscribed.

[@jaredflanagan5951]

In with u on the Balance album...great mix of music....and the song kicks it!!

[@tripledstickers]

Very good, Eddy would be proud, enjoyed watching however easy for the average I think not, your above average my friend.

[@justinrobbins7026]

Great picks!

[@isaacoliveira2152]

Really happy to see someone showing some love for Van Hagar! For me it wasn't so flashy as the dlr era, but it had some of the greatest vh tunes

[@CameronCooper]

You're right Isaac. I actually love the Van Hagar era, they were a better band which still sounds cool. Van Halen with Roth is cool but I think it was of its time. But I still love it all the same.

[@Bstonz85]

Van Halen with Sammy Hagar was not Van Halen.

[@CameronCooper]

Aaron Blackstone Well whatever but they were still brilliant. Van Halen actually achieved a no1 with Hagar and never did with Roth. I do love both periods either way. I will be doing a Top 5 Van Halen w/ David Lee Roth riffs too

[@danpalmer4820]

It may not have gone to #1, but "1984" outsold every album that came after. By a sizable margin. And scored a #1 single, which they never did with Hagar.

[@axslayer71]

I just bought this amp because of you dude (well and Satchel too lol)and i am sure i am not the only one. Yamaha should be paying you!! Keep rocking!!!

[@CameronCooper]

Jimmy Callaghan Thanks so much Jimmy. I have approached the guys at Yamaha and I am hoping to that I can land something there in the future.

[@eliabruni8660]

Great playing and sound !!

[@RTmusicLtd2020]

You are a superb guitarist, thanks for this video

[@toddtucker523]

My God. Perfect. Balance is incredible.

[@onlyfromadistance7326]

Great sound!!!

[@keithross7942]

dude you are sick!!! I think my your my fave guitarist now! Hotter than Nita right now!

[@dannainan]

LOVE THIS VIDEO, thank you!

[@SophiaAphrodite]

Nice to see some not so common VH songs. Fire in the Hole is one of my favorite hidden gems.

[@CameronCooper]

Sophia Bogard Thank you! It's really nice to see a girl comment too. I checked my analytics, 2% of my viewership is my female. I am going to be releasing more Van Halen videos soon. People liked this video but were annoyed by the lack of David Lee Roth riffs and that I prefer the Van Hagar period. :)

[@HumbertoMoura]

Amazing! Tks for sharing.

[@AXEL77hrm]

WOW! It's a pleasure to hear young man plays 30 years ago riffs, because that sounds really cool nowadays like the '80/''90ties! Good very good... Compliments

[@SupermanJH68]

Fantastic work

[@jaycull]

Wow, great job dude!

[@ericoreilly8368]

Great selection

[@LD-qj2te]

Great job Nice tone Great technique

[@18megohm]

Great work. You nailed the tone and style perfectly. I'm a huge Van Halen fan, especially the Hagar years. Eddies playing and Hagar vocals were the perfect combination back then.

[@benholt6103]

This is the first time I’ve felt compelled to comment on any video. I appreciate the show casing of some different riffs than expected from EVH. Some of Ed’s best playing was on those last two Hagar era albums. Nice job!

[@CameronCooper]

Ben Holt Hello Ben! Thank you very much for getting in touch I am deeply flattered. It makes me feel warm inside. There's plenty more where this came from so like and subscribe if you haven't already. Thanks so much again Ben!