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Special Mail Bag Lesson - July, 2009
The JFRocks way back machine & a Van Halen Classic

 

Van Halen's
"Big Trouble"
JFRocks Guitar Lesson - circa 2004
By special request.
Copyright © 2004-2009 JFRocks All rights reserved




 

Intro

 

Intro section.  With fingers.  Mild over drive. 

   

                                                                                         

E_2-3-2-0____3-2-0_______3_________________
B______________________3_________________
G________________________________________
D_2________ 0____________________________
A____________________  _
3_________________
E________________________________________



E_2-3-2-0_____________________________
B__________3-0_______________________
G_________________0__________________
D_2________0___________4__
4---sl up--_____
A______________________2__
2---sl up--_____
E_____________________________________




Main riff also doubles as the chorus riff.



E________________________________________
B_8_8___7________________________________
G_7_7___7_____5-4-0__2~___________________
D_9_9_x_7_x_x____________5_5-4____________
A_____________________________5___2-3-2___
E________________________________________

 

 

Main Riff ending into verse.
 

E________________________________________
B_8_8___7________________________________
G_7_7___7_____5-4-0__2~___________________
D_9_9_x_7_x_x____________5_5-4____________
A_____________________________5___2_______
E_________________________________0_______

 

Verse sections

Very straight forward.  V.H. goes back into the main riff between sections here. 


E_______________________________________
B_8___7_____7____7_______________________
G_9___7_____7____7_______________________
D_0___0__0____0____0____repeat etc.________
A________________________________________
E________________________________________


 

Bridge section. 

Similar to verse with different feel toward the end.

Vocals:  So dry your eyes. 

 

E_______________________________________
B_8___7_____7____7_______________________
G_9___7_____7____7_______________________
D_0___0__0____0____0____repeat etc.________
A________________________________________
E________________________________________


 

E_______________________________________
B_8___7_____7____7_______________________
G_9___7_____7____7_______________________
D_0___0__0____0____0____repeat etc.________
A________________________________________
E________________________________________


 

E_2_2_______________________________________________4h_4h_4h___
B_3___3______________5a.h________________________________________
G_4_________4___4_________5__________________4__________________
D_4_________4___4_________5___0______________4__________________
A_
2______2____2___2_____________3--5_3~_2_3__  2__________________
E_______________________________________________________________
 

Back into main riff for a chorus then verse then chorus etc etc. etc.  Back around for a bridge etc etc.  Except end the 2nd bridge on an F# chord not a B like the 1st one. 

 

Break and solo sections.

Some serious V.H. jamming here.  Very cool stuff including some sections similar to Eruption in places.  Well worth learning. 

This part was hard to hear on the recording but this is a good 98% approximation of what is going on.  Be very loose and liberal with your hand slides.  There are a lot of hand slides which made it sound mushy when slowed on the mp3.  But what is tabbed below matched nicely.  So embellish at will.  But again what is written will flow beautifully. 
 

E_______________________________________
B_______________________________________
G_______________________________________
D_______________________________________
A__________________7~~________7_________
E_////>>slide ___0_0_0______0_0_0___________

 

E______________________________________________
B______________________________________________
G______________________________________________
D______________________________________________
A__________________7~~__7_-----9__5~~____________
E_////>>slide ___0_0_0__________________//>>slide____

 

E_______________________________________
B_______________________________________
G_______________________________________
D_______________________________________
A__________________7~~________7_________
E_////>>slide ___0_0_0______0_0_0___________

 

E_______________________________________
B_______________________________________
G_______________________________________
D_______________________________________
A__________________7~~______5-7-5~________
E_////>>slide ___0_0_0______0_0_______///>>slide___

 

Slight change up and lead into solo.
 

E_________________________________________________
B_________________________________________________
G_____________________________5-7-5-7-5-7-5__________
D_________________________________________________
A__________________7~~____________________________
E_////>>slide ___0_0_0______0_0_______________________

 

E_____________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________
D__________________5~~______2a.h^^gradual bend up^1~___________
A_____________________________________________________
E_////>>slide ___3_3_3____3_3______________________________

 

E_________________________________________________
B_________________________________________________
G_____________________________5-7-5~_______________
D_________________________________________________
A__________________7~~____________________________
E_////>>slide ___0_0_0______0_0_______________________

 

E_____________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________
G______________________________4_______________________
D__________________5~~__________________________________
A___________________________2___________________________
E_////>>slide ___3_3_3____3_3_______________////>>slide________



 

Solo

MRX phase 90 throughout.  This is Phaser central. 

This solo moves super fast on the CD.  It has a definite feel to it that you need to keep.  Its very easy to keep the groove when the rhythm is playing however.  Also the ~~ vibratos are super heavy vibratos.  Made even heavier by the Phaser.  LOL.  This solo rocks.  Have fun with it.  It was not easy to decipher but we did our best to pick out each little note from our slowed audio.  And if you play along with mp3 after you get it down it works really well.

I strongly believe V.H. improved this whole solo.  Its so trademark V.H. and uses all the scale forms and things he loves that if he did work it out rather than just improv it then it only took him 3 minutes to figure it out.  LOL. 

Either way, its a mind blowing solo I think and well worth your time to learn. 

 

E______________________________________________________________
B______________________________________________________________
G_9~__12_9~---sl dwn---_______4_5~~~^1/4~~^^1/2 and carry over to next line_________
D____________________5_5_______________________________________
A______________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________

 

This is done very fast.

 

E__________3__________3________________________________________
B________3_3________3_3________3_____4~________________________
G__
5^1/2~______5^1/2~_______5^1/2~___3_4____3---------sl up---___________
D______________________________________________________________
A______________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________


 

E_12______12_____12_____________________________________________________
B____15^1____15^1_____12___________________13-12________13-12_____________
G________________________15_14_12~~-sl dwn---_______14_12~_______14_12~~~~~__
D________________________________________________________________________
A________________________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________________________

 

To get these to sound right you want to do something similar to what goes on in Spanish Fly.  You want to hammer on the first set on the 2nd string and pick the next set on the 1st string.  If you have to you can hammer on all of them.  No biggie but it might lose some of that V.H. flair doing it that way.  Do what's best for you. 

 

E________________________15_17_19_________15_17_19_______
B________________15-17-19__________15-17-19________________
G_
2--------sl up-----____________________________________________
D________________________________________________________
A________________________________________________________
E________________________________________________________


 

E__________15_17_17____15____________________
B_15-17-19___________19____19_17_15~__________
G____________________________________________
D____________________________________________
A____________________________________________
E____________________________________________

 

This little section is what I call close enough.  Its very subtle so I tabbed it as best I could.  Watch the bent notes.  Only half steps or so.
 

E______________________________________________________________
B_15^1a.h shreak__15________________________15_17___________________
G________________14~~~^1/2>release_
14~_14^1_______14^1/2_~14~~~~~~___
D______________________________________________________________
A______________________________________________________________
E______________________________________________________________

 

You want to bend these as indicated and release the bend slowly both with the whammy bar and by actually releasing the bend.  Sort of a whining dive bomb effect.

If you do not have a whammy bar or believe that there is no whammy in this solo period then simply bend and release incrementally.  Bend up 1.5 steps then release to 1 step then release fully.  I'm simply using the whammy bar to do the 1st release.  Which is a common V.H. trick anyway used in countless tunes from the DLR era. 
 

E____________________________________________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________________________________________
G_9^
1.5>>release>w.b_
9^1>rel bend_9___9^1.5>>release>>w.b_9^1>rel bend_9___9^1.5>release_9_7-9-7_7w.b-9w.b~~_
D____________________________________________________________________________________________
A____________________________________________________________________________________________
E____________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Flick the bar to cause it to vibrate and create a fluttering sound.  Its optional of course but it is there.  Again if you don't have a whammy bar you can't do the flutter so just skip it all together and give the note a little bit of vibrato. 
 

E________________________________________
B________________________________________
G_7______________________________________
D___9_8_7>w.b flutter__________________________
A________________________________________
E____________________0>>w.b dive__________


 

Back into riffing section from the pre solo section.  Very similar stuff. 

At the end do what is below starting with the chord hit.

The chords below go E to D.  The trill is over the D chord.
 

E___________________________________
B___________________________________
G__9______7-9-7-9-7-9-7-9-7~~~_________
D__9________________________________
A__7_________________________________
E__0_________________________________


 

Final scale down of the solo break section.

A little tricky watch the tab closely.  This was a bear to figure out.  We had to slow the thing down to like 1/3 speed.  This is a good representation of it.  Notice some notes are picked, some are slid into and some are hammer ons or pull offs.  It needs to flow together. 

I give you two versions here.  The first version is the harder of the two and is more true to how Ed plays these types of patterns.  This is a scale that V.H. loves and uses it often, you've seen this scale before in scale down endings and sections of solos etc. 

Version 1:  More true to V.H. form.  Note the 14th fret 4th string that is in ITALIC is hammered onto from nowhere really but it gives a pull off effect doing this.  You can also end on the 9th fret 4th string in this version also if you want to. 

Be sure to note that some of these are picked and some are hammered on or pulled off which is indicated by dashes.  This is ESSENTIAL to getting the feel of this correct.

The final note in this should be slightly bent and released with super heavy vibrato.

 

E____14_10-12____10___________________________________________________
B_10_________14____14-12-10_____10_____________________________________
G___________________________14____14_12-11_____11_____________________
D__________________________________________14_____
14__12_10___________
A___________________________________________________________14~~o~_*__
E_____________________________________________________________________

 

Or as an secondary option way to do version 1 above. 
 

E____14_10-12____10___________________________________________________
B_10_________14____14-12-10_____10_____________________________________
G___________________________14____14_12-11_____11_____________________
D__________________________________________14_____14__12_10__9~~o~_*__
A_____________________________________________________________________
E_____________________________________________________________________

 

Version 2:  The same thing really but just an easier way to pull it off.  Still true to V.H. but the slide down from the 11th fret to 9th fret on the 3rd string is probably not how Ed would do it.  But you can if you want to and it will still sound just fine.

Be sure to note that some of these are picked and some are hammered on or pulled off which is indicated by dashes.  This is ESSENTIAL to getting the feel of this correct.

The final note in this should be slightly bent and released with super heavy vibrato.

 

E____14_10-12____10___________________________________________________
B_10_________14____14-12-10_____10_____________________________________
G___________________________14____14_12-11_____11---9___________________
D__________________________________________14________12_10__9~~o~_*____
A_____________________________________________________________________
E_____________________________________________________________________

 

The song goes on and on with the main riff etc.  It ends with the part I call the bridge.  But it ends like the 2nd Bridge of the song which means the song ends with an F# chord, not a B chord like the 1st bridge we did. 



 

 

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All tabs for the lessons are either based on the structure of actual songs or are totally made up by Jeff Fiorentino. 

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