316 Live
Van Halen
Letra

For thoes who haven t been to fretplay here is the entire song.

KEY
= Artificial harmonic - if preceded by a number, that
number is fretted and the number inside the brackets
is tapped with the pick hand, otherwise it is an
artificial hrmonic played by picking the note and almost
simultaneously hitting it with some part of your thumb
(most people use the tip of their thumb, I use the
knuckle).
(#) = Number inside is tapped with pick hand
^^^ = Vibrato
/ = Slide
___ = underscore after a bend indicates approximate length
of time to hold the bend
bq = bend up a quarter step
bh = bend up a half step
bf = bend up a full step
bt = bend up two steps
bT = bend up one and a half steps - Three half steps
rb = release bend
pb = pre bend - the bend has been applied prior to
striking the note
pm = palm mute
p = pull-off
h = hammer-on
p.h.= pick hand
f.h.=fret hand

General Notes
You can figure out much of the tapping stuff by listening
to the record if you know what tapping sounds like to begin
with. You can also watch the video to find out where his
hands are (beware the solo is slightly different in the
video as compared to the record [this is because the
recording for the concert was made on two separate nights
and the video and record are edited differently} but not
enough to make a huge difference).

Sometimes the stretch for the tapping parts is pretty big.
You can get around this by transposing the notes to a lower
string, and, thus, frets that are closer together.

He holds the pick two different ways (watch to see when).
The first is the classical index finger-thumb. The other
is the middle finger-thumb leaving his index finger
sticking out to tap.

He seems to switch from tapping to picking and back very
quickly. Yes, it s because he s good, but what he does
quite often is move the pick into his hand, wedging it
between the second knuckle of the middle finger and the
place on the palm where the finger joins it. This way, he
doesn t have to waste time going up to his mouth or even to
a mic stand if he doesn t want to.

One other thing before we start. This is just a rough
approximation. He plays some parts so damned fast it s
hard to distinguish between notes sometimes. I hope
nothing in here is too inconsistent. Also, you must listen
to the actual recording to hear what I ve written down.

x3
|||||
||233/52|232000||
||222/42|222111||
||244/62|242222||
||0|000||
|||||
x2
|||||
||2|233/5||
||12202|222/4||
||20002|244/6||
||0|0||
|E|----2---2------2-2/3------2p3---|--------------------|E|

||||
||22320002||
||2222121122||
||2242212200||
||000||
||22||

||||
||233/522||
||02222/422||
||02244/622||
||000||
|E|-2--2/3------2p0-------------------------------------|E|

||||
|B|-3---2h3p2h3p2--0--------0--0-----2------------------|B|
||22111122||
|D|-4---2h4p2h4p2--2----2------2-----2--0------0--------|D|
||000||
||222||
x2
||||||
|||^^^^^^^^^^^^|||
||02|5555|||
||02|4433|||
||0|000|||
|E|-2/3------2p0---|-------------------------------|----|E|

Repeat the main riff again then go on to the tapped
harmonics
|||0||
|||0||
|||22||
||2|2------------------------||
|A|-0-3bq----3--0|-0--------------------------------|A|
|||--------------------------------------||

For this part, you tap the two upper strings w/your pick
hand index finger and the lower string w/your pick hand
thumb, kind of like a bass guitar. The muting is
accomplished with your fret hand. Practice to the album
and you ll get the feel of it.
x6
||1212|1212||
||1212|1212||
|||||
|D|----x----x----x------|----x----x----x----------------|D|
|A|----x----x----x------|----x----x----x----------------|A|
|E|----x-12-x----x-12-12|----x-12-x----x-12p0-----------|E|

For the tapping part here, I think he frets the lowest fret
(ex 9) w/his index finger of fret hand, taps the highest
note (ex 18) w/his index finger of pick hand, and hammers
on middle note (ex 12) w/middle finger of fret hand.
X3 x3
|||1212||||
|||1212||||
|G|---------|----------------------|------|-18p9--------|G|
|D|---------|----x----x----x-------|------|-------------|D|
|A|------^^^|----x----x----x-------|------|-----h12-----|A|
|E|-/103---|----x-12-x----x-12-12-|-h3-3/|-------------|E|
x3 x3 x2 x6
||||||1212||
|||||0|1212||
|G|-20p11---|-21p12---|-23p14---|-|-------------------|G|
|D|---------|---------|---------|-|----x----x----x----|D|
|A|------h14|------h15|------h17|-|----x----x----x----|A|
|E|---------|---------|---------|-|----x-12-x----x1212|E|

||1212--------------------------||
||1212--------------------------||
||---------------------------------------||
|D|----x----x----x------------------------|D|
|A|----x----x----x------------------------|A|
|E|----x-12-x----x-0-0--------------------|E|

For the following section, all tapped harmonics, , are
tapped on the indicated frets with the p.h. while the
previous note is fretted by the f.h. Ex: after this riff
below, your f.h. is on the seventh frets of the E and A and
all tapped harmonics are relative to this seventh fret,
until the pull of to 0 and hammer on to 5, then all tapped
harmonics are relative to the fifth fret, and so on. The
not in parenthesis symbolizes that the note is already
fretted and sounding. (To save room, I ve only included
the necessary strings.)

||----------------------||
||----------------------||
||----------------------||
||----------------------||
|A|-------h7-------------|A|
|E|-157p0h7-------------|E|

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|---(7)-p-0-h-5----(5)-p-0-7----------|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||--------------------------------------^^^^^^^^||
|A|-(7)p0-h-5--(5)p0-h-7------p-0-h--|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|-7----(7)p-0-h-5----(5)-p-0-h-3------|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||^^^^^^^^^-----------------------------||
|A|---------------h-3---0--7---(7)-p--|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|-0-5----(5)-p-0---------------------^^^^^^^^-|A|
|E|--------------------------h7-------------|E|

||||
||||
||||
||||
||----------------------------------^^^^^^^||
|E|-(7)-p-0-h-5-------------(5)-p-0--|E|

||||
||||
||||
||||
||||
|E|--h-3------bf____rb-(3)/5-------|E|

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|---------------------------h-3--------bh|A|
|E|-bf____rb---(5)-p-0---------------------------|E|

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|----(3)/5------bf--(5)3---|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|-----bf-----(3)/5---------|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|-bh------bh------bh-----|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||(5)/7||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|bh-bf--bf--bf--bf--bf--bh|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||----------------------------------------------^^^^^^^||
|A|-bf--bf--bT--bf--bt__rb-(7)------|A|
||||

||---------------------------------||
||---------------------------------||
||---------------------------------||
||^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^||
||-------------------------/10 ||
||-------------------------/8 3||

For the next part, this is all two handed tapping with some
slides and continues until more tapped harmonics that will
be noted.
||||
||||
||------------------------------------------125912||
||------------------------12591259||
||35912591259||
||||

||||
||||
||59125912591259125912591259||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||12491249124912491249124912||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||49114911491149114911491149||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||114911481148114811481148114||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||811481148-----------------------------------||
||------------------------------------11371137||
||10371037||
||||

||||
||||
||113711371137113710371037103||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||7103793710371237103710/1237||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||133712371037927927927927||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||92792792792692692692692||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||692692692||
||----------------------6/7||
||1259125||
||--------------------------12591259||

||||
||||
||||
||1259125912591259511591259||
||9---------------------------------------------------||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||1459125912/1459155912/14591259||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||125911491149114911491149114||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||9114911491148114811481148||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||11481148--------------------------------------||
||-----------------1259125912591259125||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||9125912491249124912491249||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||124810371037103710371037103||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||7102710271027102710271027||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||92792792792792792792792||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||7927927927927926926926||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||92692692692692692692692||
||||

You play the first little riff below 26 times gradually
speeding up at first, then slowing down until the second
riff and then the tapped harmonics mentioned before.
||||
||||
||||
||||||
|||9620269|9620-----------------------------||
|E|-|-------------|---------h-3-p-2----p-0--------------|E|

||-----------------------------------------------0||
||------------------------------------00||
||------------------------22||
||22-----------------------------||
||22||
||||

Now break out the delay pedal and fool around with it until
you get the effect he has on the record (it s about half a
second). You need a good trem system for this part, too.
||00000||
||01000||
||02054||
||23234(4)||
||33332(2)||
||3----------------------3||
Now, dive down with the bar somewhere in the neighborhood
of three-three and a half steps, and while down there, grab
the bottom strings with your thumb and pull and release
them while muting with your p.h. palm.

Now, while sliding up (see below) release the bar and when
you strike the c note on the G string, dive down again
about three steps go back to normal and up one step, then
down a lot more than three steps (I have no idea how many),
and back up. Then play the chords following that C on the
G string.

|||000||
|||010||
||5|0205||
|||2325||
|||3333||
||5/8|3-----------------------3||

||||
||||
||(5)/9(9)/54/54||
||(5)/9(9)/54/54||
||(3)/7(7)/32/32||
||||
Now, the next part is some crazy shit with harmonics and
dives and general whackiness. I wouldn t even bother to
learn it let alone try to tab it out. Do something really
weird, run around and jump up and down and play with your
nose hairs or whatever.

We ve skipped over the craziness. This is from Cathedral.
Your delay pedal should be already set up. This part is
all hammer-ons and pull-offs with your f.h. Use volume
swells continuously until this entire part is over. Spin
the vol. Knob back and forth pretty fast. Play to the
record and you ll get it.
||||
||48||
||44----------------------88||
||4488||
||2----------------------246||
||||

||||
||------------------------12---------------------------||
||1212----------------------||
||1212-----------------||
||8810101214||
||||

||||
||16--------------------------------------12||
||161612||
||161612||
||--------------------------141210||
||||

||||
||-----------------------7-------------------------10||
||127710||
||127710||
||5-----------------------8-----------------||
||||

||||
||-----------------------5-----------------------8||
||105588||
||10558||
||3-----------------------6-----------------||
||||

||||
||-----------------3-----------------------6||
||3366||
||83366||
||1-----------------------4-----------------------||
||||

||||
||8---------------------------12||
||881212||
||881212||
||6------------------------10-------------------------||
||||

||||
||121215||
||12121515||
||121215||
||13||
||||

||||
||1812||
||181812||
||15181812||
||1610||
||||

||||
||--------------------------15-------------------------||
||1215159||
||1215159||
||137||
||||

||||
||9--------------------------12-----------------------||
||9-----------------12126||
||912126||
||104||
||||

||||
||666-----------------------8||
||6668||
||6668||
||6||
||||

||||
||88-------------------------10||
||88810||
||88810||
||---------------------------------8||
||||

||||
||--------------------------12-------------------------||
||10121214||
||10121214||
||1012||
||||

||||
||1415||
||141515||
||14151517||
||1315||
||||

||||
||171717||
||17171717||
||171717||
||---------------------------------------------------17||

||||
||191919||
||19191919||
||19191919||
||||
||||

||||
||19191919||
||191919||
||19191919||
||||
||||

||||
||19191919||
||191919||
||19191919||
||||
||||

||||
||1921||
||19192121||
||19192121||
||--------------------------19-------------------------||
||||

||||
||21212121||
||21212121||
||212121||
||||
||||

||||
||21---------------------------------------------||
||212121-------------------------||
||212121||
||------------------------------------19211719||
||||

||||
||1517141517141512141012||
||||

||||
||1410129107957352||
||||

||||
||||
||-----------------------------7-----------------------||
||---------------------------------7||
||37510975||
||3200-----------------------------------||

||||
||||
||7||
||---------------------------------------------7||
||75757510||
||-----------------3200-----------------------||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||97579109757575||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||7575757575757||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||5757575757575||
||||
After the (7) below turn the delay pedal off!
||-------------------------||
||-------------------------||
||-------------------------||
||-------------------------||
||757(7)||
||-------------------------||

There s more nutty note dives and harmonics and stuff
after you turn the delay pedal off.

Pm--------|
||||
||||
|G|--------2----------------------5--7--bh-p-5---5bf-|G|
||2^^^^^577||
||0/7-----------------------------------||
||133------------------------------------------------||

||||
||||
||||
|D|-7--p5--5--p5-------------------------------|D|
|A|-------------------------53-5bf-p-3---------bq---|A|
||---------------------------------------5||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|-bq-------bq--bq------3--(3)bh--------------|A|
|E|--------5p3----------------5p3----------------5------|E|

||||
|B|----------------17bT__rb-p14--------^^^^----------2/4|B|
|G|-------------14-17bf-----------17-17pbh-bf-(17)-----|G|
||/105/16------------------------------------------||
||||
||||

This next is two-handed tapping until noted.
||105810581058||
|B|------8-8bh--------10-5-8--------10-5-8--------10-5-8|B|
||105------------------------------------------------||
||||
||||
||||

||1058105810581058||
||105810581058105||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
|B|-8--10-5-8--10-5--10-8bh--10-5-10-8bh--10-8-5--------|B|
||||
||||
||||
||||

|Hold this bend until here|
||||
||||
|G|-7bf----10-7-12-7-10-7-(7)-(7)-p-5-h-7bf_rb-p-5-p-0--|G|
||||
||||
||||
End tapping after the vib.
||||
||||
||||
||------------------------------------------^^^^^^||
|A|-12-7-12-6-12-5-12-3-12-5-12-3bf---12-5--3-------0---|A|
||||

||-------------------------------------------------5||
||55||
||44444/6||
|D|----------7--4-h-5--------7--------------------------|D|
||3/55----------------------------------------------||
||||

|E|-5-h-7--8--8--------10-7-8-10------12p8---8h10h12-|E|
||-----------------55/7810||
||||
||||
||||
||||

|E|------14--10-12-15---12--12h13h15p12----------12---13|E|
||1012----------------------------------1212||
||--------------------------------------120||
||||
||||
||||

|E|-15p13p12h15------------------5----------------------|E|
|B|-------------135--6-6-8p6h8----5--------------------|B|
|G|----------------------------------8p7p5---7-7-5h7-4-4|G|
||----------------------------------------7||
||||
||||

||-----------------------------15150171720||
||-----------------------------15151717||
|G|-4p5h4---4-5-5-4-4h5h7p5-4-4/------------------------|G|
||7---------------------------------------------||
||||
||||

|E|-----------------------------20-(20)p17p14h20p17p14h-|E|
|B|-20-------8/-----14h17h19-19-------------------------|B|
||19----------------------------------------------||
||||
||||
||||

On the first three 20 s here, bend down a half step using
the trem bar.
|E|20p17p14h20p17h20p17p14----20------------------------|E|
|B|------------------------10----17p14-18h20p17p14-18h20|B|
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
|B|-14-20-16h17p16p14-14-14-14--------------------------|B|
|G|----------------------------17-17-17bT-(17)------14-|G|
||---------------------------------------------8/16||
||||
||||

||||
|B|----17bf-(17)bt___rb-(17)p14-14-----------------17bf-|B|
|G|----------------------------------17bh-(17)p14-------|G|
||||

||---------------------------------------------17||
|B|-(17)bt____rb-(17)p14---------------------------17---|B|
|G|-----------------------14-14-17-p-148h10/19---------|G|
||||
||||
||||

||20^^^^^^^^^^||
|B|-20bt--------------20bf__________rb-p-17---20bf-20p17|B|
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
|B|----20bT-(20)p17----20bf____rb--17-------------------|B|
|G|-19--------------19----------------19h21-19--5h7-7p5|G|
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||||
|D|-5h7-7p5-------------------------^^^-----------------|D|
|A|----------7-p-64-5-3-5-5bf-5-3-5------------^^^^^^--|A|
||55/105||

||||
||||
|G|-7bh-(7)-p-5-|G|
||||
||||
||||
Two-handed tapping returns here and continues until the A
chord is struck.
Below, hold full bend of the 7 while tapping and releasing
the notes that follow with index finger of the p.h. until
noted (|---|).
|------------------------------------------|
||||
|G|-7bf--12--14--12--14--15--13/14--15--(7)-p-5-h-7-----|G|
||||
||||
||||
||||

||1058--------------------------------------||
||105810581086-----------------------||
||117507||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||||
||12750712750-----------------------------||
||--------------------------12750||
||---------------------------------------127126||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
||1251231251253/7126125123125||
||||

||||
||||
||||
||||
|A|--12-6---5--12-3/7--12-6--12-5--12---3bf---12-6------|A|
||||

||||
||||
||||
||^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^||
|A|-12-3bf__rb-p-0--h--3------12------------------------|A|
||||
Tapping ends here with the A chord.
||322233333||
||333333333||
||2022222222||
||2000000000||
|A|-3bh-0-----------------------------------------------|A|
||3||

||32------------------------------------------------||
||33------------------------------------------------||
||22------------------------------------------------||
||00-----------------------^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^5||
|A|------------0-3p0h4p0h5--(5)-------------------------|A|
||||
Feedback starts with that last artificial harmonic and
continues for about 20 seconds.
||-----------------||
||-----------------||
||-----------------||
||||
||||
||-----------------||
Depress the bar on this A note on the A string and try to
get it like the record. At the D note on the B string
(fret 15), two-handed tapping begins once again.
||-----------------------^^^^^^^171215||
||151712151712||
||||
||||
||0---------------------------------------------------||
||||

||17121517121517/181215||
||15171215171215||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||19121517121517/181215||
||171215171215-----------------||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||17/19121512151712191215||
||-----------------------------------151712||
||161514||
||||
||||
||||

||-------------------------151013151013||
||15171113151010151013||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||17101510131510131710||
||151013151013-----------------||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||13--------------------------15171215||
|B|-----15--10---15/17p12-17/18---17/18-12-15-----------|B|
||||
||||
||||
||||

||181215171215171215191215||
||171215171215||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||--------------------------1510131514||
||1712151510131513151013||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||151415141210141514151412101514||
||||
For the next few parts, like some others prior, you are
tapping the 12 s w/your p.h. index finger while fretting
the lower numbers w/your f.h.
||1514121014------------------------------------||
|B|-----------------------1212-p-8---121110----12-7--|B|
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||1281210128121012875124125/6127||
||||

||||
||128128/10127128121012812712512712||
||||
||^^^^^^||
||4125(5)/1278128101210124/810127||
||||

||--------------------------------------------^^^^^^||
||8128121012812707127124125||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||1251278128128/101271281210128127||
||||
||||

||125127124125127127127/10127812810||
||||

||12108128127125127124125/70||
||-------------------------------------------101278||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||128128/1012781281210812108781012||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||10878101210878101210878101210876||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||^^^^^^^^^1278128||
||126127124125123||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||128/107121087810121087810121087||
||9----------------------------------------||

||81012101210871012101210878101210||
||||

||1210871012108712812812712512412||
||||
^^^^^^^
||5---------------------------------------------------||
||1257127/8127128/1012712812||
||||
||||
||||
||||

||||
||10128127125127124125||
||----------------------------------9495929||
||||

After that final pull off to zero on the A string, the two
handed tapping ends and there is yet more crazy diving,
allowing him time to grab another pick. Hang out around
the first four frets on the G string; use lots of
artificial harmonic stuff and vibrato with the bar as you
dive and climb.
||----------------------------------------||
||----------------------------------------||
||4--------------------------------------||
||9294---------------------------||
|A|---------------9--2--9p3/6/75/107-p-0-|A|
||----------------------------------------||
The classic trem. picking from Eruption begins below. Just
pick the notes as fast as you can. If you watch him, he is
holding the pick lightly and flicking his wrist, as if he
were ringing a bell, with his pinky partially extended. I
think I once heard him refer to this style as "Humingbird
Picking" because it s so damn fast.

5x
||1216191716171416||
||||

Hold the 22 full bend and pick it like mad, add some
vibrato if you like, for about six seconds.

|E|-12--14--16--17--19--21--22--22bf--|E|
||||

This part below is all hammer-ons and pull-offs. The
number in brackets is the original number picked. If the
number following is higher than that preceding, it is a
hammer on and if it is lower, it is a pull off. Tapping
is not used and will not resume until noted.

||||
||{3}53053053053{8}7{8}730{8}73||
||||

||||
||07{8}73{8}730||
||||
Hold this bend and tap the notes that follow while
indicated.
||
||||
||{3}530530||
|G|-2bf--------7p2-5---2--p-0-h-2/4-p-2-----------------|G|
|D|--------5p2------------------------------------------|D|
||||
||||

||--------------------------------------------33||
||--------------------------------------------33||
|G|-bf-p-0----------------------------------0-------0|G|
||2||
||---------------------------------^^^^2||
|E|-----------------------3p0-3bf-(3)bt-----0--------|E|

||||
||||
||--------------------------555799090||
|D|--------------5h7-7-7-7-7---7-7-7-7------------------|D|
||7/124/7------------------------------------------||
||||
|trill|
||||
||-----------------^^^^^^^-----------------------------||
||119(11)9------------------------------------||
||--------------------------------------------------5||
|A|---------------------------7/12------5h7-7-7-7-7----|A|
||----------------------------------3/7||
|trill|
||||
||^^^^^^^^||
|G|-----------5-5p0h4-------7---4-(8)------4------------|G|
|D|---------5---------7p4-4-----------------------------|D|
||7777---------------------------------------------||
||||

||------------------------------------------||
||------------------------------------667||
|G|----------------------5---------5p0-------|G|
|D|----------5h7-7-7-7-7---7-7-7-7-----------|D|
||114/7---------------------------------||
||------------------------------------------||

For this part, you can see him throw his pick into the
crowd which tells us that he is now using just hammer-ons
and pull-offs in a trill-like style and continues until
noted.

||||
||57575757535353531313131310||
||||

||||
||202020202||
||||
||||
||||
||||

This is where the finale begins. This is the final few
seconds of Eruption. It is all two-handed tapping.

18x | 8x | 6x | 2x | 3x | 7x |
||||||||||
||925|1025|1047|1247|1259|15710|||
||||||||||
2x | 16x |
||||-----------------------------------||
||17710|17912|1712151712151711141711||
||||-----------------------------------||

||||
||14171013171013171012179121510131510||
||-----------------