Everyone talks about Ed and Dave, but how about some love for the rhythm section? Alex Van Halen and Michael Anthony are so tight, they squeak when they walk... 🤘

When you're saying there are two guitars parts in the first half of the song, there's actually only one. He's playing it all in one take. And thanks for mentioning that he's such a terrific rhythm player. There's always so much focus on his lead playing when it's his songwriting and rhythm skills that shine brightest.

It’s all Eddie fellas. Eddie is one of best rythm players also

Tremendous shout-out to whoever recommended this...had this vinyl in high school 40+ years ago, and had kinda forgotten about it. 🎶🙂

Little Guitars is such an underrated song - the way it's constructed from Alex's magnificent drum intro into the pre-cursor section, which is so complex and melodic, to the incredible syncopated melody of the rhythm guitar when the vocals come in. The entire song is just so catchy and well-arranged - and all played on a short scaled guitar, which is part of the sound he gets especially during the ending where it's just EVH playing the main riff with nothing else. This song never gets the props of the bigger, better-known songs (Running with Devil, Ain't Talking Bout Love, Unchained, Mean Streets, Hot for Teacher) but it should. This song, along with "In a Simple Rhyme" from Women and Children First are some of their best compositions.

Eddie's soloing gets all the attention, but he really is the greatest rhythm player in rock history. All Eddie. Overdubs

Such a sweet deep cut. You guys will also love the Full Bug and Hang ‘em High.

E. Van Halen produces unexpected sounds with his guitar. He makes it sing, and talk, or whatever he wants. Plus all the other members of the band are rock solid. They're "à part" (unique).

Eddie's rhythm playing alone always knocked me out. Incredible sense of groove and timing, plus those gorgeous guitar tones. My favorite tune off this (Diver Down) album is Hang Em High. A an excellent example of Eddie's rhythm chops.

One of my favorite VH songs, so glad you guys listened

I've always loved this song. So unique!

Everybody talks about Eddie's lead playing, but it's his rhythm playing that sets him apart for me.

Little Guitars is usually played with a 40 second acoustic solo followed by the song you guys heard but...............That 40 seconds is out of this World....take a quick listen ...Eddies worth it & you won't be disappointed.

There's an incredible acoustic opening to this song that makes it even more special, you guys should check it out! It really highlights the drum parts, too, because the acoustic guitar part is alone, then the drums come in & the song opens up. Really special.

20 years old laying on the beach with a bunch of friends, some hippie lettuce and a keg of Coors Light hearing this on KTYD Santa Barbara 😎good times!

Man I Love that intro. Only EVH can sound like that.

Best song off the album!

Eddie played this by himself. This was accomplished by using his right hand to pick a single-note trill on the high E string. He then used his left hand to play the melody on the low E, A, and D strings using hammer-ons and pull-offs.

Everyone is wrong. King Edward had 10 hands and 100 fingers (don't go "there" regarding other body parts--- which can also play guitar in a pinch). I know I speak for many, especially those of us who grew up with the mighty Van Halen as they invaded the world... but Edward Van Halen and everything he brought to the "wtf-is-that?!!" music scene is sorely missed. Thank you for making my ears bleed with volume and joy, Mr. Edward Van Halen. May he shred in peace.

My favorite Van Halen song

He’s playing both !!!and tapping the entire rhythm

my first Van Halen album!!! When I was 12 yrs old...bought it when I heard "Pretty Woman" on the radio...never turned back

You have to listen to the Intro and follow it into the song. He does play both live and when recording.

my favorite VH album. 1 and 2 are legendary, but this one is my favorite. 'Secrets' off this album is worth a spin.

Eddie was one of several guys back in the day who were great at playing both lead and rhythm by themselves in concert. Others I can think of off the top of my head include Randy Rhoads and Pete Townshend.

It’s called “Little Guitars” because he played the parts with a miniature guitar. No keyboards all guitar. Saw them perform this is song live. At the end where it was just Eddie he was sitting on the edge of the stage just jamming out that last bit. Soooo gooood

When a one guitar band like Van Halen plays live, they won't play the backing rhythm guitar during the lead parts obviously, he'll just play the dominant part, and sometimes the bass player will do something extra to fill in for the rhythm guitar.

I'm so old my first copy of this I owned on 8 track!

There's video of van halen playing little guitars live. Eddie is playing everything just like the album.

I ❤ that you guys ❤ Van Halen.

There IS a live vid of this when they played the US festival in '83 on the last day which was Metal day.

The soundtrack to my senior year of high school was the Diver Down album! On cassette in our cars and on the band bus (on our big trip to Florida) and on our turntables at the house and later in our dorm room. The “catch as catch can” lyric cracks me up still … had friends thought it sounded like “etch-a-sketch” so we called this the EtchASketch song 🤔🤣🤦‍♀️ Such memories ❤

I saw them play this song 2 nights in a row at the LA Forum in 1982. He was the greatest rock guitarist of all time and could do it all! He’s the reason I started playing and I’m still deeply saddened by his passing. By the way, the overdubs start at 4:57 No keyboards here but he plucks the strings to make it sound that way

Heck yeah! I love this song. Thanks.

You guys are the best.

Please review the acoustic intro to Little Guitars!

Love this 🖤❤🎵🎶💯 VH ROCKIN IT... finger tapping with Rhythm guitar 🎸that's on Eddie's little guitar ☑️💯

I knew it would be you too to find this gem

I feel like i’m back in the 80’s, the “Howd he play it” with these guys lol.

Love this song.

Eddie had a Foot pedal where he activated the backing track. He was very intimate with his equipment and Music. He knew what he wanted to hear, and he had it all laid out. BTW I saw it live several Times. He did this on many songs. Hell, there was only one guitarist in the band at the time guys LOL. CMON MAN!!

This song shows off the versatility of the GOAT Eddie Van Halen ….i knew you guys would love this !!, this song is so underrated and that outro is a jam !! Keep those Van Halen reactions coming….try. “There is only one way to Rock” live from Tokyo. This jam is with Sammy Hagar as the lead singer and it was a hit for Sammy when he was solo but Eddie takes it to a whole new level !!

That's all one guitar playing that rhythm. The change up of sounds he throws in are incredible...it adds so much colour. Hendrix, Beck, Page & Eddie....we'll be studying these cats til the end of time.

Despite Diver Down being a short record with too many covers they still had that heavy Fair Warning guitar sound. Intruder, the intro to Pretty Woman, could have been another great song on Fair Warning had they fleshed it out.

"BIG BAD BILL" IS UP NEXT!!!!

What a great Rush impersonation!!! Diamond Dave always sounds like himself 😂

Eddie is playing both parts and it sounded amazing in concert

I've been to many Van Halen concerts and it's Eddie Van Halen VH for life ✌️☮️🎸👑 Edward VH diamond Dave 🔥

Eddie's rhythm work really does shine here! R.I.P. EVH or cranked to 11 in guitar heaven ✌️💛🤘

Excellent choice imo ✌️👍👍

I don't think i ever heard them play this song live. I was fortunate enough to have seen them live 6 times , 4 with Dave , once with Sammy and once with Gary Cherone.

Unexpected choice, but worthy nonetheless. Ed actually uses a “little guitar” to get the particular sound for this song. Viewing a live version will show you that. Much of what the group recorded, would be live in studio. But, Ed would lay down rhythm and lead tracks in studio. There’s still so much to explore gents, keep it coming!!

You've got to see this video: "Van Halen - Won't Get Fooled Again ( LIVE inside the 5150 studio )". Ed uses the same guitar picking technique when doing the keyboard part of that song. It's great!

Eddoe plays this song straight thru except for the slide guitar solo in the niddle. He gets the different sounds by switching from bridge to neck pickups. But it's all one guitar. The guitar is a special small half scale les paul. Three were built at the time. The first for eddie to use for this song. And the other two went to billy gibbons(ZZ TOP).

Regarding Eddie's tone: Back in the old days, he would run a 100w Marshall Plexi off of a Variac transformer in order to get that "brown sound" as he called it... Later on, he used his own 5150 amps.

"Etch-a-Sketch, Etch-a-Sketch, can anybody in their right mind see? " I swear... I thought those were the lyrics.

Alex and Michael are on fire on this song. And gentlemen Big Bad Bill is sweet William now. Great reaction guys…

Great reaction!

Hell yeah 👍🏾 0:46 they give you a little of the WHO and some Prog elements

There are a few overdubs-standard in recording sessions, but the ending was all guitar AND on an actual LITTLE guitar

Van Halen - Dirty Movies is a must listen. Nasty bass driven song with all facets killing it!

Great, thanks for this one. Think you guys will like "So this is love" from the Fair Warning release.

If you viewed Eddie's live Erution solo, you would understand how Eddie and his mastery of his instrument could play both rhythms. Eddie was so innovative and developed patents and innovations for guitar like one of his major guitar heroes, Les Paul. He had skills and techniques with his finger tapping and playing techniques to do what seemed impossible.

I saw them in concert in Dayton, OH on this tour (1983) and it’s all Eddie, all the time! And on this song, he played…as you might have guessed…a little guitar, about the size of a ukulele. And no keyboards appeared until the ‘1984’ album-Dave’s last with the band.

Go Laa! Go Chee! Sing to me Little Guitars!!

Couple suggestions for future Van Halen. This could be magic , big bad bill is sweet William now, these are off the beaten path of what you might expect from them but are hidden gems

Deep track from their goofball album Diver Down. The album sounds like they were having fun with stuff like this and a lot of cover songs.

The Mighty Van Halen! Another example of Eddie's imaginative and compelling song writing...the picking technique and the bridge chords just flooow! The Guitar is overdubbed during the lead with finger-picked chords accompanying. Eddie started experimenting more with overdubbing in the Fair Warning album. More VH! Great reaction fellas!

This record was the beginning of the end when it came out...I remember me and my friends huddling around the radio as they ran through the entire album on the Radio. We were all kinda sad...First album and Fair Warning are the Rockers.

when they did this live back in the day eddie played a mini half size guitar . lol. god he was great. keep up the journey🤘🏼

There is live KZfaq footage of this song from an 81 tour and again in their final reunion tour in 2015 of them performing this song live. It’s all Eddie ❤

He never dubbed his guitars so he could play everything live . thats him only one guitar

Watch the US Festival from 1983. He handles “both” guitars like a genius

Great track. Glad you liked it. I recommend Dirty Movies by Van Halen next.

Thanks!

Rush-y intro with Townshend nods throughout.

That's one guitar one take fellas check it out live

I think this is one of the best van halen albums . Its lively, different sound of songs, not too hard not too soft. The riffs and beats and the lyrics. Great hot summer life is great and soaking it all up album.

Yeah I'm the first.....keep doin what ya guy do

First off - great video. Eddie does both guitars in the studio. You should look up live version videos of this song. It is a little more hallow at points but Eddie pulls it off and it sounds great. Great channel thank you for paying Van Halen all this respect because they were definitely the best rock band of all time.

This was a great tour, I was lucky enough to be right up front in the pit.

EDDIE VAN HALEN = GOAT🙏🏻🎸

Just realized it's been too long since I heard this one

This is possibly my favourite EVH track. That intro is a total masterclass of chord choices, swagger and tone. Magnificent.

Definitely one of my favorite VH Songs on a very underrated album of mostly covers. BTW Eddie never used pedals…… it’s all him!

Eddie played this track on a custom mini-Les Paul. The intro is an acoustic flamenco-style solo by Eddie. He did it by using his right hand to pick a single-note trill on the high E string. He then used his left hand to play the melody on the low E, A, and D strings using hammer-ons and pull-offs. Said Eddie during an interview: "Everyone thinks I overdubbed on that. Then I show them how I did it. Classical guitarists can do that, but they finger-pick. I can't finger-pick. No, I definitely cheated. I'm good at that. If there's a sound in my head and I want it, I'll find a way to do it. I bought a couple Montoya records. I actually tried to finger-pick, and I'm going, 'Screw this, it's too hard.“

They are both Eddy on 2 tracks. ZZTop did a lot of dubbing too with just Billy Gibbons. Both bands left me wanting a little bit when I saw them live, because some parts would be missing.

It's all him, all guitar! You need to see it live, there's a reason he changed the rules on guitar.

You guys need to watch Stu Hamm, who is a bass player. He plays the Peanut’s theme; rhythm and the lead at the same time. It’s quite amazing.

A lot of VH fans are/were thumbs down on this album. I love it. Their original songs on here are really good ex; Full Bug. Their version of Dancing in the street is what got me hooked on Van Halen

yes he does it all himself at once in concert.. check him live...

There is a prelude to this song, too.😊

One of my favorites from Van Halen!! My only complaint is you didn’t do the intro!! The guitar was played on a miniature Les Paul! Thank you so much!! Next song should be 5150 live from Live Without a Net. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/hq54dNyA1N-3dJ8.htmlsi=Ql-ZVbobD is the live version of Little Guitars!! All on one guitar. I believe he’s doing arpeggios on the guitar. The only overdub may be the slide??

Don’t forget in concert Ed played this song on a real tiny guitar!

ALL EDDIE!!!!!!

& does this song live just as good believe me

Guys that's one guitar and it's a mini guitar very small scale that's why it's called a little guitars and that's one guitar line guys welcome to Mr Eddie Van Halen

Eddie will always be my Guitar 🎸 Hero period Freak call it what you want , if there was a Guitar World War Eddie Van Halen would be the General..❤

He does a very similar thing in the song “finish what ya started” with their second singer Sammy Hagar.

Don't forget about Michael Anthony on bass. That might be the rhythm guitar you think you hear.