Thanks a ton for watching!!! What other Van Halen mysteries do you want to see solved?

My humble request is every song on the first 6 albums. Thank you.

Your graphics are getting off the hook! In all seriousness folks... Ben has the best guitar instructional videos on the net! It's unbelievable how much time he puts in for these awesome videos for free! He has a smooth way of teaching music theory while teaching you the song. Thanks for all the hard work Ben 👏👏👏

I have played this wrong for millennia, thank god for Uncle Ben

Real Van Halen nerds needed this

You've got a knack for picking up on nuance and hearing uncommon intervals. Something I struggle with on Van Halen songs. So thanks for fleshing this stuff out Uncle Ben.

No one on the entire internets breaks anything down like you do Unky Ben. This is some solid work!

First white Lion and Now Van Halen? God damn man, i guess i gotta go buy some spandex 🤘🏼 Thanks for the great lessons man, been following for years, you never disappoint =)

Cool about the flattened B string trick, had never heard that before

As guitar players sometimes we focus too often on speed or some other shreddy stuff, but all the great guitar players had a very solid rhythm, the flashy solos is just the icing on the cake. But an steady rhythm is key to get people moving, Jamie's crying is one the grooviest songs VH ever made. Also Alex Van Halen's drums in this song deserve some praise, they made a great combo back in their day

holy shit , Uncle Ben i've been playing guitar since 1979 and i've never been able to figure out that chord from jamie's cryin! you nailed it! thank you for sharing how to play it correctly! the mystery of that chord has been solved thanks to you!

Really nice! Ed was a master of making cool chords with the simplest of means. It was always so colorful, yet easy once you figured it out...but always a bit unorthodox. And clever! Well done, Uncle Ben.

I’m trying to think of clearer, more articulate, well-reasoned instruction for this song, but my head exploded. This is fantastic.

This is amazing - awesome job. This is definitely one of the trickier chords bits in a VH song to get right - really shows another side of Eddie’s genius! I wish my ear was half this good...

I've been doing that B string trick for 15 years or more. It just sounds better.

Your details and explanations here are making me love this song even more! I can't wait to try it out. Thanks Uncle Ben. You Rock!

Dudes!!! The "mystery chord" has baffled me for 40 years!!....simply the nastiest chord i EVER heard...always wondered... thank you for the guidance~

Oh man Ben, I'm so glad you did this one. It's one of my favorite VH songs. It's nice to get it as accurate as possible. Thanks!

Top Jimmy by Van Halen is very tricky with the arpeggiated chords mixed with harmonics, please do that. Long time viewer, love your content Ben!

How about breaking down the super sweet intro to Women in Love? Back in the day long before there was a thing as the internet several of us tried to figure it and couldn't get the tapping right, so we ended up playing it with a pick. Didn't quite sound the same but was still cool nevertheless.😁😁😁

The only song I’ve ever heard where a guitar snarled at me, absolutely amazing!

Another home run, Ben. Thank you!

Hey Ben, the Mystery Chord has be a debated topic for YEARS, but i think the secret to it has always been in the video for the song. Now i know that most of the times they fake their way through a video but Ed definitely plays along to the tracks as intended, and when it gets to that part it looks like he does a power chord shape, pause the official video at the 43 second mark, it catches the tail end of him sustaining the chord, you can see his ring and pinky fingers fretting the D and G stings, at least that's how it looks to me, but cant really tell at what position on the neck, might be 6 and 7 or 7,7. And he has his index finger barred across what might be the 5th fret?, but his thumb might be muting the E string, so when he hits the chord he's racking the E on his way down. So it's possible it might be something like this, which like your first version of the mystery chord: E=X A=? (5) D=? (6 OR 7) G=? (7) B=0 E=0

Hey, it's Cody from Facebook. I messaged you like in July or August about this! Glad to see it became a WW.

Ed said(in old Guitar Mag interview) that in the early days when they recorded, he often just tuned the guitar to itself(no tuner) then had Michael tune to him. As fast as they recorded songs back then, that's not hard to believe. After all, Templeman was big on them not changing what they did live. Btw, My two older brothers and I had a 3 piece for many years(80s & 90s) and we NEVER used a tuner. I could approximate half step down tuning pretty close by ear and my brother just tuned his bass to me. With a tuner, you often have to adjust a bit afterwards anyway(esp Ed with his flat B string) and when you punch in on a recording, which VH rarely did back then, you just tune to the recording. When you have good ears, it's almost easier than using a tuner. And surely Eddy wasn't thinking about the thousands of kids who would be trying to tune to his albums years later. I wanted to add,: When Ed said that he just tuned the guitar to itself, he also said, "Who decided that an A string HAS to vibrate at 440 anyway?!". Ed used Fender 9 tru 40 back then so his strings were already floppy at roughly a half step down. Besides, I always felt when you tune between conventional tunings, the listener's ear picks it up as different/ special on a subconscious level. I believe that's why Pantara did it as well. Frequency wise, It subtlely sets your band apart from all the thousands of B.S. bands on the radio who always follow the rules. Rock On#

About the guitar tuning, another factor I read Eddie in an interview years ago that he would just pick up a guitar and tune it to itself, then Michael Anthony would tune to him. That could also have played a part in it.

So glad you explained about the B and G warbling issue. I wondered why that was always an issue for me, so it's good to hear it is always an issue

Solid stuff per usual - Great content and appreciate the breakdowns 👍

Great job, those small details make a big difference! Thanks for making the effort to do it right

Ben , you made my day ! ...Since half an year or so i paused with my guitarplaying ..but now i go to your channel and thought tomyself "Hmm Jamie´s crying ? that would be a nice song to start over Thx! Your Lessons are great as always !

Thanks Ben. I think you're right the first shape sounds spot on.

Love you Uncle Ben. Thanks

awesome attention to detail. great job Ben.

The lick at 2:41 in I’m The One has always kept me from playing the whole tune confidently. Something about the distribution of notes and timing even slowed down has me scratching my head

AWESOME lesson----really, really well done, thanks Ben!!

Thanks Ben! This is such a gem on the debut - the guitar tone is just off the hook and one of the few tunes on VH I with overdubs. Thanks for unraveling this masterpiece...

thank you for this. i love the original

Great lesson, I dig your style of teaching.

Quality, as usual, Uncle Ben.

Thanx for this, Uncle Ben!

Great lesson Ben and you really nailed it!

Who would thumbs down this? This is awesome

That was fantastic!!! Thank you Uncle Ben!!!

Great description on the detuned B string weirdness. The Feiten tuning was introduced (by Buzz Feiten) to address this intonation issue by moving the nut a tiny bit closer and supposedly fixes that. You're a genius, dude, love your lessons!

It's amazing when you don't over think things putting a song together .

Finally! Thank you soooooo much

Way back in the day , my first guitar was an rg 550 . The only difference between then and the reissue... The cut away around 12 th fret . Mine sucked ! And had no way to reach upper frets . But I didn't know any better as a first time buyer . Glad they brought it back .updated of course.

Always outstanding videos man, I'm actually a bass player but still love your work. As Mr Roth once said, "genius is attention to detail"

Another great EVH lesson Uncle Ben!!!!

Love you man. Great freaking work.

Exceptionally done Ben!

Awesome vid Ben! It's definitely a phaser in this one. Easiest way to tell the difference is the lack of regeneration.

Youre the man Ben.

Nothing like a Weekend Wank!! Thanks UB!!

This (and listening to the isolated guitar track) was super helpful.

Great analysis Ben. I love how you use your ear, music theory and knowledge of EVH's playing style to determine how the song is played. You would think that after 40 years this would have been common knowledge. I also appreciate that you don't trash talk the incorrect info, that shows a lot of class and confidence in your own abilities. Lastly, I'm so glad that while you want to be sure the song is played correctly, you aren't dead set on it being played EXACTLY like the original. Eddie didn't care if he played it the same exact way each time so why should we.

@beneller I tuned in only to see if you were doing it right! I’ve seen so many lessons on this song and most are way off. You however nailed it. I came up with a similar way of play Those parts some years ago but with a little variation. Edward always played variations of chords and so when you approach learning a VH song always keep that in mind. Keep up the awesome lessons.

guitar Illuminati 3rd eye - niiiiice! Great lesson thanks!

"The third eye"...fakin killed me. 1rst chord sounds great to my ears. Nuther great insight broski

Niiiiice. Youre so gifted.

Nice analysis/tutorial.

Uncle Ben doing EVH is where it's at.

Uncle Ben is my real stepdad. Still waiting on the stuff opeth does. Much love.

Great video!

Eddie has said in several interviews he tuned about a quarter step down because of Dave's voice

What good luck, I've been figuring this out myself today! I think for the mystery chord at 6.26 you've got that's definitely right, but listening to the isolated guitar track I can definitely hear the high B note on the 7th fret of the high E too. What a chord wiz EVH was.

neat, I've always done that 'hendrix tuning' and never even knew it was a thing.

I've always had a soft spot for Beautiful Girls. Wouldn't mind seeing those riffs covered.

Give us a demo of the whole song... You know, for context. 😀

Great video!!!!! Thanks!!!

OMG! All these years I just thought that my guitar was crap (well, in all actuality it is) because I could never get the B-string to tune properly. I did this exact same thing that Ed/Hendrix did to compensate for the inability to get the B-string to sound good with the G-string. I feel much better learning this from you Uncle Ben. Si Hi to Aunt Jemima for me dude!

You deserve to have millions of subs, dude.

Great lesson! One Foot Out The Door solo!

Hey pretty cool Ben! I have not heard the iso trk for Jamie’s crying but that ‘mystery’ chord def has a d in it. For those that want to know it is an E7 chord, obv not traditional but it’s the tonality of the entire song. I finally did a deep dive into VHI thru IV in the last few yrs using ‘modern’ tools after wearing out a few original VH albums

The other day I was curious about a certain part of another VH song. I watched 6 videos that all showed the wrong way to play it, all done by some of the most popular KZfaq teachers. If you want to learn it right, the first time, then trust uncle Ben.

yup all of what you showed is spot on, as you mentioned can hear it in the isolated track, as for flanger or phaser i tried both and for some reason i got better results with the phase script in my FM9, maybe i could not dial in the flanger correctly 🤷‍♂ This was a great video 👍

I fucking love these videos...you are a really great teacher

Dear Ben, Please do more of these vids.!!! ...w/ more songs you think are missing crucial pieces. Thx! RIP EVH.

You’re Awesome!

Your lessons rule!

Thank you!

top jimmy i cant figure the way he plays that cool arpeggiated sounding chord sequence

FINISH WHAT YOU STARTED...Solo would be awesome Step son! oh and thank you so much for that D chord

hahahah....man u're the best...just dropping that kinda african-kalimba-ambient track by the end of the video....very creative , professor.....keep on that amazing uplifting mood....greetings& R*E*S*P*E*C*T*S from Brazil !!!!

THANK YOU !!!!!!!!

You are a very cool Uncle👍

I suggest the intro to fools from the women and children first album. The meanest and heaviest riff of all.

The Major 3rd (G-B string) dissonance is just part of our Equal Temperament system. Eddie loved "happy" major chords and flattening the B string was the best way to correct that problem. I've always wondered how effects (like a flanger or phase 90) can help cover-up those dissonances. IMHO, they do help to blur those dissonances via modulation.

Worth it just for that hint for women in love. Great lesson as usual!

Nice job Ben...flange makes it tough but better job describing open ringing notes.

Loving the dirty fretboard. Gets me in the mood for Eddie. Lol

3:20 warbling. Ever since I started playing I had issues with he warbling sound and always slightly changed my timing to smooth it out often...I had no idea Hendrix or Edward did this or what people called it. I just liked it better and did it. 100% you can never get rid of warble when tuning normally. I'm glad I haven't been alone all these decades!!!

Good tutorial bro! Eddie was the originator of the LA sound ! Those cool little chords he did along with palm muting was the style ! Satriani, Warren D , Lynch ect ect took it from there ! VH a true original !

I figured that G string thing out back in the '80s while using a tuner for the first time. I found out recently on youtube that there's a WHOLE thing on this issue across ALL strings. Check out James Taylor's video on tuning. Then, check out the clip on tuner by Peterson that has built in 'Sweeteners'. Those sweeteners will automatically make adjustments to all strings. Plus, I say sweetener(S), plural, because there's a LIST of instruments that have individual sweeteners specifically for them. Bass Guitar Banjo Accordion Piano Brass Woodwinds etc........

"third eye" got me LOL

Thank you.

Great breakdown. Would love to see u do "Hang Em High" by VH

Less clicking more pickin........love that. Informative as always.

One of my favourite VH songs

Thanks uncle Ben. How about house of pain? The first 30 or so seconds of the intro please🤘🏻