Just the other day, I was thinking, “Diver Down gets no respect.” (You have to imagine Rodney saying it.)This lesson is a lighthearted look at one of the David Lee Roth era’s most maligned albums. Does it have too many covers? Probably. Does it seem kinda just thrown together? Sort of. Do I love it? Well, no. Do I like it a whole lot? Yes. Yes, I do. And, as with every VH record, there are some inspired Eddie Van Halen moments. The following is a look at just a few of them, and, if you don’t walk away at the end with at least a couple of fun ideas, well, we won’t ever mention this again.Not Those Kinds of PedalsHere’s the scintillating EVH riff that begins “Hang ’em High”: This unique riff finds Eddie using an inverted pedal point—a re-articulated or sustained note above an accompanying melodic figure. Ex. 1 is inspired by this barnburner; it ends with a Van Halen-style flourish of natural harmonics.Ex. 1The opening two beats’ picking pattern incorporates string skipping, which can open up a new world of ideas involving wider intervals. Here that interval is a minor seventh, so, to spark some new ideas, let’s take the B Dorian scale (B–C#–D–E–F#–G#–A) and play it in sevenths, as in Ex. 2. B Dorian is simply A major, but with B as the root or “home base.” Try experimenting with these and other wide intervals in your own playing.Ex. 2Just a few bars later, Eddie hints at another pedal (below, this time) to kick-start his nimble fill at 0:10; Ex. 3 expands on his idea. Begin with a mini-barre on the top two strings, allowing the F# on the second string to ring over the pull-offs. The lick ends with a bluesy flourish, as Eddie’s does. So often, he would ground phrases that are a bit off the beaten path by balancing them with something bluesy and down to earth.Ex. 3“Secrets” finds Eddie applying a pedal in yet another way, allowing a slightly palm-muted open D-string drone to gently linger below shimmering, melodic chords. Check him out here as he plays the song’s intro on the 12-string neck of his rarely-seen Kramer doubleneck guitar:Ex. 4 is along the same lines. If you have an ’80s-style chorus pedal, now’s the time to add it back to your pedalboard.Ex. 4The Pick’s the Thing (Or Is It?)My favorite of Diver Down’s covers is VH’s bouncy version of the Motown classic “Dancing in the Streets” by Martha and the Vandellas. The lick that always catches my ear is the wicked descending line Eddie plays at the 2:57 mark of his solo.The song is in the key of D, and that lick (Ex. 5) is played over an F#m chord. Eddie uses the basic 14th position F#m pentatonic box (F#–A–B–C#–E), but cunningly adds most of the chromatic notes in between those pitches. But he summons even more magic from how he uses his pick. Starting on beat 2, Eddie is using upstrokes only, scratching the edge of his pick along the string to create a grinding squeal. Be sure to play these notes short (as indicated by the staccato dots) by quickly resting your pick back on the string right after the scratching motion. Great stuff.Ex. 5More of Eddie’s pick-based antics—likely inspired by ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons—are found in “The Full Bug.” Over a nasty two-note boogie riff, Eddie conjures a subtle high-pitched countermelody using pinch harmonics.Pinch harmonics are sounded by lightly touching the string with the flesh of your picking-hand thumb immediately after striking it. In the same way an open string offers harmonics of varying pitches, depending on where you touch it with a fretting-hand finger along its length, the same holds true for your picking-hand thumb, as illustrated in Ex. 6. To match the pitches in the example, begin with your pick about an inch from the bridge pickup—about halfway between the middle and bridge pickups if you’re using a standard Strat. This produces a pitch three octaves and a fifth above the fretted notes. On beat 3 of the third bar, slowly begin moving your picking hand towards the headstock to produce the remaining pitches. But this is rock ’n’ roll, so better to just go for it and find the harmonics that sound good to you.Ex. 6Okay, but how about not using your picking hand at all? “Cathedral” has Eddie doing just that, hammering notes with his fretting hand while creatively employing a dotted-eighth-note delay setting. Since a dotted-eighth is equal to three 16-notes, every time a note is played, it repeats itself three 16-notes later. (Eddie sets his delay at approximately 380 ms with just one repeat and Mix set at 100%.) If you swell the volume at a straight eighth-note pace, the repeats will create the bouncy 16th-note pattern of the tune.Ex. 7 is inspired by “Cathedral” and illustrates how Eddie uses both triads and scales to create classical-sounding melodies.Ex. 7Happy Trails…Let’s close with a look at “Little Guitars,” a Diver Down highlight that Eddie was inspired to write after picking up a pint-sized Les Paul. In the song’s verses, Eddie employs hybrid picking—simultaneously plucking three strings by using the pick, index, and middle fingers. Eddie again creates drama by playing staccato, quickly resting his pick and fingers back onto the strings after plucking each chord. Ex. 8 is inspired by his approach. (Note you can also play it fingerstyle, if you prefer.) Eddie’s mini Les Paul is tuned up one and a half steps from standard; the example approximates this by using a capo, but feel free to omit it if you prefer. Lastly, try turning down your guitar’s volume knob a bit to reduce the amount of distortion, and note that the final three chords are strummed with the pick.Ex. 8In the end, Diver Down may not arguably be Van Halen’s greatest album, but even after all of these years, it still holds its own, bolstered by Eddie’s cleverness and creativity.
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