Lesson - Tabs

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Tabs & Lesson

Lesson Notes from Jeff

We took a subtle Van Halen directional approach to this one... It doesn't take much to make things Van Halen'y but it's very easy to go overboard and lose the song in Van Halen techniques.. The Whole Lotta Love main theme riff needs no improving, it's an awesome hook.. All I did was add a little VH flair to it, nothing more... Like I always tell you guys when it comes to applying the VH guitar style to anything it's about how the riffing is approached, the sound, and also as I've covered a number of times what the rhythm section is up to... The Van Halen sound is as much about what Mike Anthony and Alex are doing as it is what VH is doing.. If Mike Anthony played bass like John Paul Jones and followed the guitar riffs or did blues lines everywhere, Van Halen would have a different sound from what we know despite Edward not changing a thing about how he plays...

Now despite what I said in the previous paragraph the truth is the main riff to Whole lotta love has been altered for our VH'izing track quite a bit although it may not sound altered to the un-trained ear. Notice I said altered and not improved.. My riff has a bend in it and some Phase 90 spin to it.. This subtle difference adds a little something to it that's all together VH'y for lack of a better way to put it... VH often altered the hook riffs to the songs they covered.. They always put a stamp on stuff that was all their own.. Adding open string hits to Pretty Woman, changing the key and position of the riff in You really got me and the list goes on.. My guess is Whole lotta love would have been no different..

Much like what I did with "How many more times" last year for Van Zeppelin 2009, I used an early VH sound. I'm an early VH Brown sound freak, so whenever I get a chance to use it I do.. In fact it's a You really got me sound and you can hear that in the fills done in the Bridges... For the interlude I did a classic VH live type exercise with Mean Street style slap taps and a big Fools style chord lead in to the solo break.. All of this to add some variety to the guitar lesson aspect. Which is why we do these in the first place.. The solo break itself is actually based on Page's break from Whole lotta love, I just twisted the scale shapes into ones VH might have used and obviously added in some VH techniques and some Phase 90 to those shapes.. Despite the drum hits I stayed away from an Ice cream man type thing.. I wanted to keep the loose structure that Page applied to his lead break so I opted for more of a what VH might do live kind of thing...

Overall this song is a lot of fun to mess around with.. It's great practice for all skill levels.. There are muting lessons in here, bend lessons, and of course lots of Van Halen techniques to play around with... Every line of tab below is a lesson.. The main riff is actually trickier to play than you might think.. Getting it to sound right will be a challenge for beginner levels, but if you practice it slow at first and get all the slide ins and bends just right you'll be all set.. Take special note that the main riff has a muted bend off of the 5th fret 6th string, and that bend is not quite 1 whole step.. It's technically a 3/4 step or as we say here at JFRocks a VH sick close enough for rock and roll bend.. But I intentionally didn't bend 1 whole step up to the "B" because I don't think VH would... And again this is a VH style lesson so I wanted the riff to sound authentic to the style...

PLEASE listen to the track a few times before you load the video lesson to get the most out of it. I'll also address some questions that some of you have been writing in or asking me through my Facebook page about this Vh'izing stuff...

Enjoy the lesson....

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Song Intro

**Transcribed for 1 guitar in a live setting...

**For reference below is the original Zeppelin Main Riff..

E___________________________________________________
B____________________ 9_____________________________
G____________________ 9_______9_____________________
D____________________ 9_______9_____________________
A_______5~_____5~____7_______7_____________________
E__3---7______7_________0_0_0____0_0_0__etc.._________

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JFRocks.com - Vh'ized version transcription begins here

E5

E_________________________________________________________________________________________
B_________________________________________________________________________________________
G_________________________9_________9_________9_________9_________9_________9_____________
D_________________________9_________9_________9_________9_________9_________9______9_9____
A_______5~________5~---7__ 7_________7_________7_________9_________9_________9______9_9____
E__5---7______5^3/4_________0__0_0_0__0__0_0_0__0__0_0_0__7__0_0_0__7__0_0_0__7__0_0_7_7_0x_

*Bass enters here

E_________________________________________________________________________________________
B_________________________________________________________________________________________
G_________________________9_________9_________9_________9_________9_________9_____________
D_________________________9_________9_________9_________9_________9_________9______9_9____
A_______5~________5~---7__ 7_________7_________7_________9_________9_________9______9_9____
E__5---7______5^3/4_________0__0_0_0__0__0_0_0__0__0_0_0__7__0_0_0__7__0_0_0__7__0_0_7_7_0x_

E_____________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________
G_________________________9_________9_________9_______
D_________________________9_________9_________9_______
A_______5~________5~---7__ 7_________7_________7_______
E__5---7______5^3/4_________0__0_0_0__0__0_0_0__0_0_____

*Band enters here

E_____________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________
G_________________________9_________9_________9_______
D_________________________9_________9_____ 9__9_______
A_______5~________5~---7__ 7_________7______7__7_______
E__5---7______5^3/4_________0__0_0_0__0__0_0_0__0_0_____

Bridge #1

The bridge to the original song was altered and done in a more straight laced VH style chord hit way to allow for some fills... Keeping it the same simply sound Zep with Halen fills to us...

E____________________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________________
G_____________________7_7___2^1 a.h__2^1/2 a.h_0a.h________________________
D_____________________7_7_____________________2^1/2 a.h_0a.h_____________
A_______5~_______5~__ 5_5________________________________2~a.h_2~a.h___
E__5---7_____5^3/4_____________________________________________________

E__________________________________________
B__________________________________________
G__9_9___7^1 h(12)>release_7-0w.b down>>>___________
D__9_9_____________________________________
A__7_7_____________________________________
E__________________________________________

( ) notes in parenthesis are tapped.

D5

E________(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_________________________________________
B______________________________________________(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(8)^1/2-5^1/4~~~___
G__7_7_________________________________________________________________________________
D__7_7_________________________________________________________________________________
A__5_5_________________________________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________________________________

E________________________
B________________________
G__9_9___________________
D__9_9___________________
A__7_7___________________
E_______0>w.b dive>>__________

More Main Theme Riffing then into the Bridge #2 below...

Bridge #2

This bridge besides having different fills also leads us into the interlude and solo break sections..

E________________________________________________________________________
B________________________________________________________________________
G__9_9___7^1 h(12)>release bend letting harmonic ring out_7_^bend harmonic pitch back up_7^1_-0w.b dive>>_____________
D__9_9___________________________________________________________________
A__7_7___________________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________________________

E________(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8___________________________________
B______________________________________________(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8____________
G__7_7________________________________________________________________(9)^1-7~~__
D__7_7__________________________________________________________________________
A__5_5__________________________________________________________________________
E_______________________________________________________________________________

**Lead in to the Interlude

E5 G/D A/E

E___________________________________________________________
B___________12_12_12___--__14_14_14__________________________
G__9_9______12_12_12___--__14_14_14__________________________
D__9_9______12_12_12___--__14_14_14__________________________
A__7_7______________________________________________________
E______________________________________3-0w.b slow long dive>>>>>>_____

Interlude

For the interlude, rather than make noises I decided to go a VH style live improv intro to Mean Street with slap tap groove route... This is tricky and timing is everything... See video for help with this... Or better yet see our VH style instructional product called "Fair Game" which is based on the Fair Warning album for even greater help...

**Settings are the same BUT the reverb was lightened to about half for this part... It's best not to have too much reverb with this technique...

*Right hand does pitches on the 12th fret, left or fretting hand does pitches in the 3rd fret area... Index finger of fretting hand is barred across the 5 through 1st strings at the 1st fret... The pattern below is what I did and is not the pattern to the intro to Mean Street, though it sounds like it in spots...

E *implied chord

E__12x___________12x____________________12x_____________________
B__12x___________12x____________________12x_____________________
G_______________________________________________________________
D_______________________________________________________________
A_______________________________________________________________
E______3x_12x_3x_____3x_12x_3x_12x_3x_______3x_12x_3x_12x_3x____

E__12x___________12x_______3h__________________
B__12x___________12x___________________________
G__________________________3h__________________
D______________________________________________
A______________________________________________
E______3x_12x_3x______3x_______________________

**Funky slap tap section below changes things up on the main technique just a bit... Remember notes in parenthesis are tapped..

E________________________________________________
B__12x____________12x____________(12)--(14)--(12)____
G__12x____________12x____________(12)--(14)--(12)____
D________________________________________________
A________________________________________________
E______3x_12x_3x______3x_12x_3x__________________

E_________________________________________________________________
B_________________________________________________________________
G__2---7~_(10)-5-7_(10)^1-7~^gradual bend<7^1_h(14)>release bend with harmonic sounding>>7___
D_________________________________________________________________
A_________________________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________

E________(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8_(10)-5-8__(10)-5____________________________________
B______________________________________(10)^1-8^1/4~~_____________________
G__2---7__________________________________________________________________
D________________________________________________________________________
A________________________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________--random hand slide--____

E____________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________
G__0_________________________________________________________
D____________________________________________________________
A____3--7_(10)-7__(10)-6__(10)-5___(10)-3~~*let ring_h(8)_h(6)_(7)~~___
E____________________________________________________________

*Solo lead in

A C/G D/A E/B F/C G/D A/E

E______________________________________________________________________________
B__________2_____5~______7~___9~____10_12___14_14_14__14_14_14~~_____________
G__________2_____5~______7~___9~____10_12___14_14_14__14_14_14~~_____________
D__________2_____5~______7~___9~____10_12___14_14_14__14_14_14~~_____________
A__________0___________________________________________________________________
E__17----2____________________________________________________________0>w.b dive>>>__

Solo Break

Not much I can say about this part except that it's filled with VH techniques and scales.. Take note of the timing and also how everything kind of flows together without sounding rushed or meshed together... See video for demo and lesson tips..

**Rhythm chord hits are an "E" Power chord in the 7th position...

Solo is divided into it's individual phrasing sections.. This makes it easy to read in tab and easy to follow along with the song MP3 playing in the background..

E5 Power chord hits throughout

E_______________12_12_____12_15-12_12_________________
B__________________15^1~__________15^1~______________
G__<w.b into<14^1~________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________
A_____________________________________________________
E_____________________________________________________

*The whammy bar stays slightly depressed at all times for the tab section below.. Where it says w.b it is pressed a little extra...

E_____________________________________________________________________________
B__0___________________________w.b3-5-3-0__w.b3-5-3-0__w.b3-5-3-0__w.b3-5-3-0_0w.b 2 hits______
G____w.b2^1/2>w.b down keep in limbo___________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________________________
A_____________________________________________________________________________
E_____________________________________________________________________________

*Only notes in bold are picked... all others are hammered onto..

E____________________________________________________________12__15^1.5___
B____________________________________________________12-14-16_____________
G_________________7-9-11_______7-9-11__________12-14-16_____________________
D___________7-9-11_______7-9-11________12-14-16_____________________________
A__2---7-9-11______________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________________________

E__17^2.5__17_16_15_14_12______12________________________________________________________
B________________________15^1____15~~w.b wiggle laugh~~~_pull off-0w.b dive>>__________________________
G______________________________________________________________hammer on-12^1_ pull off-0>w.b dive____
D_______________________________________________________________________________________
A_______________________________________________________________________________________
E_______________________________________________________________________________________

E__12w.b______________16-12______12_________________________________________________________
B__15^1~w.b~____15^1_______15^1____15^1.5~__15_12_11-12-11___11-12-11___11____________________
G_______________________________________________________14________14___14_11~~w.b down>>>>____
D_________________________________________________________________________________________
A_________________________________________________________________________________________
E_________________________________________________________________________________________

Post solo verse main theme riffing

Added harmonics in with the main riffing as a VH fill timing lesson for all of you to practice with...

E___________________________________________7h_____
B______________________________________7h__________
G_________________________9_________5h_________5h__
D_________________________9________________________
A_______5~________5~---7__ 7________________________
E__5---7______5^3/4_________0__0_0___________________

E_______________________________________________________
B_______________________________________________________
G_________________________9_____________12h_____7h______
D_________________________9_________12h______7h_________
A_______5~________5~---7__ 7_____________________________
E__5---7______5^3/4_________0__0_0________________________

Bridge #3

This is the final bridge which leads us to the Outro..

E____________________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________________
G_____________________7_7___4^1 a.h__2^1/2 a.h_0a.h________________________
D_____________________7_7_____________________2^1/2 a.h_0a.h_____________
A_______5~_______5~__ 5_5________________________________2~a.h_2~a.h___
E__5---7_____5^3/4_____________________________________________________

E_____________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________
G__9_9_____7^1a.h>release_7_9______________________________
D__9_9___xrake___________7a.h_9a.h_______________________
A__7_7__________________________7a.h_9a.h__5a.h_7a.h________
E_____________________________________________________

D5 E5/B F5/C

E__________________________________
B__________________________________
G__7_7_____________________________
D__7_7____2____3_____>into outro_______
A__5_5____2____3____________________
E___________________________________

Outro

There are 2 guitar parts in the outro... Guitar 1 does the intro riff... Guitar 2 does what's tabbed below, but the opening harmonic is technically over the "F5/C" power chord that leads us into the outro...

*See note above... Guitar 2's part is tabbed below... Guitar 1 plays intro riff..

//////// = Trem or speed picking...

E5 Riffing

E________________________________________________________________ 12///////////////////____
B_________________5__________ 7___________8__________10___________15^1//////////////////___
G_________________7^1~w.b~____9^1~w.b~____10^1~w.b~___12^1~w.b~____________________________
D__5h>w.b down slowly>__________________________________________________________________________
A________________________________________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________________________________________

End

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"Whole Lotta Halen" (Zep's "Whole Lotta Love" Halen'ized for Van Zeppelin 2010)
Arrangement & re-writes by:	Jeff Fiorentino
Performed by:	Jeff Fiorentino (Guitar), Mick the Mixer (Bass)
Transcribed by:	Erica Reese with lesson notes by Jeff Fiorentino
Song Engineered by:	Mick the Mixer



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