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Jeff's Lesson Notes

"The Cradle will drop"
(Website version)

 

This is a fairly complex lesson.  I'm always in shock when people say some VH tunes are easy.  The reason is that there are so many techniques involved with doing them and sometimes each song has many layers to it.  It's one thing to play a song like that and it's all together another thing to actually record and put one together.

I've taken one of my favorites off the Women and Children CD and turned it into "And the cradle will drop".  There are 48 tracks to this song.  Each track is a layer all to itself.  To the un informed listener it may sound like a simple 4 track song.  Truth is, its far more complex than that.  There are many things going on at a time and each one of those things plays a roll in how the track sounds to the listener.

I'll do my best with this lesson to explain the breakdown and arrangement I went for.  I will also go into the techniques used to perform each section of the song.  Including the solo, which is where we will get into an advanced look at tap and release sections and adding a little VH vibe to your soloing. 

It's not as much a quirky solo as it is one that flows like a river through a canyon. 

Enjoy the lesson and please don't glaze over it.  There is some great learning here for those who are interested in listening.

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Lesson

There is a lot more going on with this track than just scales.  However most of it doesn't translate well to tab so it's best that I explain it on the video and demonstrate certain things on the video.  Below are the scales that make this track what it is.  They are simply the notes.  It's the techniques and approach to the fret board a.k.a. how these notes are used that give it a slight VH feel. 

I say slight VH feel because these are Vin Heuton tracks, not Van Halen tracks.  Granted they are inspired by Van Halen song, but they're not trying to be Van Halen either. 

Always remember that ONLY Van Halen is Van Halen.  By the same token, only Vin Heuton is Vin Heuton.  Taking it step further.  When you perform this stuff "Only you will be you".  It's best to not try to be another guitarist, rather it's better to try to understand how they play so that you may take some of that into your own style and song writing and hopefully innovate off what they did and evolve it into something new and uniquely you.

The point that some people are missing with these Vin Heuton lessons is that Van Halen's guitar sounds the way it does because of Eddie.  There's that old story we all know about when Ted Nugent plugged into Ed's setup and he didn't sound like Van Halen.  He still sounded like Ted. 

It's not the equipment folks, and it's not the specific notes being hit.  Ted Nugent is playing the same darn notes that Ed is.  Ed doesn't have a special fret board with special notes on it. 

Vin Heuton sounds the way it does because of ME.  I'm not Eddie, nor would I like to be,  BUT, if you apply the proper feel and techniques to a given set of notes, you can give things a Van Halen feel or vibe.  That doesn't mean you'll become Van Halen, that's not possible.  It does mean that you'll be able to play in the vein and theme of how they play, but hopefully you won't lose your own identity in the process.

Those that fully understand what these Vin Heuton lessons are all about take these lessons with them when they perform actual Van Halen songs.  These lessons will only help you with the actual VH stuff. 

Please remember that there's a big difference between playing a Van Halen song, and understanding how Van Halen plays.  Remember that the songs themselves are simply the by-product of the style.  That means that you can create music within the style by simply using the style.  You don't have to use the actual riffs or licks. 

That's a very abstract thought and it doesn't play with some people, but like I always say there is a lot of deduction involved with playing Guitar or any musical instrument.  If you a learn a VH song or a Vin Heuton song or what ever, try to analyze it.  Try to see what makes it tick.  Figure it out for yourself so that you understand it in a way that makes sense to you. 

I give one explanation of how I put a track together, you may see it another way.  What ever works for you, makes no difference to me what so ever how you look at something, all that's important for your sake is that you understand it. 

For example, I don't analyze these Vin Heuton tracks the way Ed would.  I don't actually care how Ed would analyze something because I'm not him.  I need to see things the way they work for me in my own head, and how they might be easily explained to a general audience of site visitors.  You should do the same with any lesson I give or any song you analyze yourself.  Again, it's about you understanding it, not about how someone else sees it. 

Scales in play with this track

A minor (Aeolian):  A, B, C, D, E, F, G

E_______________________________________10_12_13_15_17__
B____________________________8_10_12_13_________________
G___________________5_7_9_10____________________________
D_____________5_7_9_____________________________________
A_______5_7_8___________________________________________
E_5_7_8_________________________________________________

A Locrian:  A, Bb, C, D, Eb, F, G

minor scale with a flattened 2nd and a flattened 5th.

E_______________________________________10_11_13_15_17__
B____________________________8_10_11_13_________________
G___________________5_7_8_10____________________________
D_____________5_7_8_____________________________________
A_______5_6_8___________________________________________
E_5_6_8_________________________________________________

This is VH style though, so what usually is the case and is the case with this lesson example track is that these two modes get blended together into one big 9 tone scale.  The chromatic intervals that are created by doing this is part of where the personality comes from in this style. 

A, Bb, B, C, D, Eb, E, F, G

E___________________________________________________10_11_12_13_15_17__
B_____________________________________8_10_11_12_13____________________
G__________________________5_7_8_9_10__________________________________
D__________________5_7_8_9_____________________________________________
A__________5_6_7_8_____________________________________________________
E__5_6_7_8_____________________________________________________________

The scales themselves are only part of this style of course.  The notes are a secondary which of course is what I've been teaching from day one around here. 

It's a good idea though to understand the scales in play and understand what Ed means when he says you have 12 notes to work with, use them all. 

It's about blending modes into large scales but to capture the vh vibe you can't really apply that much theory to it.  It's more about just selecting notes that sound good.  Ed just happens to have a good ear and lands on actual scales and modes most of the time.  These large 9 tone scales are often broken up into patterns.

I will expand on this topic on the video lesson and of course I will talk about the techniques involved with performing the various portions of the track. 

The main thing to understand here is that this is a style where what "sounds good" out weighs the theory.  It's more about how you attack the notes.  There are subtle things involved with this.  However like I said, it's a good idea to analyze this stuff so at the very least in your own head you have some sort of idea what's going on note wise.

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