Subject: TAB: 5150 by Van Halen
Okay, here's the tab for "5150". This song is a pain in the ass for two
reasons: 1)it's tuned to "dropped-D" 1/2 step down; and 2)there are more
doublestops than mere humans (like me) can handle. The little string names
on the side of the tab lines SHOULD have a flat next to each of them 'cause
of the 1/2 step down deal, but it's easier just to tune to dropped-D unless
you plan to jam to the CD or something.
Here's the signature riff of the song (play it FAST!):
E-|-----------------|-----------------|-4---------------|---------4---------|
B-|-7---5---5-7-----|-7-----5---7-----|-5-5-------------|---------5---------|
G-|-7---7---7-7-----|-7-----7---7-----|---4-4-------4---|-4-4-4-----4-------|
D-|-7-7---7-----7-7-|---7-7---7---7-6-|-----6-6-----4---|-4-4-6-------6-----|
A-|-----------------|-----------------|-------7-7-7---7-|-------7-------75-|
D-|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------------------|
E-|-2---------------|-----------------|-----------------|---------------2-2/|
B-|-3---------------|---------3-------|-3p2-----------3-|-3-2-2-----2-2-3-3/|
G-|---2---------2---|-2-2-------2-----|----------2----2-|-2-2-2-----2-2-2-2/|
D-|-----4-4-----2---|-2-4---------4---|------2-----2--4-|-4-2-2-2-2-2-2-0-0-|
A-|-------5-5-5---5-|------5--------5-|-----------------|---0-0-2-2-0-0-0-0-|
D-|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-------2-2-----0-0-|
Repeat 3x; then...
E-|-10--10--9--9--7--7--9--9--10--10||
B-|-10--10-10-10--9--9-10-10--10--10||
G-|----------------------------------||
D-|----------------------------------||
A-|----------------------------------||
D-|----------------------------------||
Okay, this next part you repeat twice. One time with the first ending
that I've tabbed out (marked between the 1>>>> and <<<<1), and again but
replacing the first ending with the second (2>>>> to <<<<2). This is also
the part played behind the chorus ("Always one more; you're never
satisfied..."):
E-|-2------|-------2-2-----4-|-4-----------|-------4-4-----2-|-2--------------|
B-|-3------|-------3-3-----5-|-5-----------|-------5-5-----3-|-3--------------|
G-|-2------|-------2-2-----4-|-4-----------|-------4-4-----2-|-2--------------|
D-|-0------|-------0-0-------|-------------|-------6-6-----4-|-4--------------|
A-|-0--0-0-|-0-0-0-----0-0---|----0--0-0-0-|-0-0-0-----0-0---|-----0--0-0-0---|
D-|-0------|-----------------|-------------|-----------------|----------------|
E-|-(2)---------------||
B-|-(3)-------3-------||
G-|-(2)---------4-----||
D-|-(4)----/5-----5---||
A-|--0-0-0--0-------5-||
D-|-------------------||
1>>>> <<<<1
E-||------------10-10--9--9--7--7--9--9-10-10||
B-||3p2------2/-10-10-10-10--9--9-10-10-10-10||
G-||----2----2/------------------------------||
D-||------2----------------------------------||
A-||-----------------------------------------||
D-||-----------------------------------------||
2>>>> <<<<2
E-|-------------2|2-0-0-0-0--2-2--------|---------------|----|-----------||
B-|-3p2---------3|3-2-2-0-0--3-3------10|10-9-10-10-2-2|----|-----------||
G-|-----2-2--2--2|2-2-2-1-1--2-2------11|11-9-11-11-2-2|---2|-----------||
D-|-------2--2--4|4-2-2-2-2--0-0------12|12-9-12-12-2-2|---2|-----------||
A-|-------0--0---|--0-0-2-2--0-0--0-0---|------------0-0|---0|-----5---3-||
D-|--------------|------0-0--0-0--0-0---|---------------|----|--/7---7---||
This next bit is played behind the verses. It's basically just crunching
out a D power chord with the low D thrown in. Eddie does a little bit of
extra stuff (which I tabbed out here) but you really don't need it unless
you're really anal and want to be exact...
E-|--------------|-----------------|-------------|---------------||
B-|--------------|-----------------|-------------|---------------||
G-|--------7-----|-7---------------|-----------0-|-0-------------||
D-|--------7-----|-7---------------|--0--------5-|---------------||
A-|--------5-----|-5------5p3p0----|-----0-5p3---|---0-5~~-0-3~~-||
D-|-0--0-0---0-0-|----0-0-------4b-|-------------|---------------||
E-|-----------||
B-|-----------||
G-|-----------||
D-|-----------||(repeat throughout verses)
A-|----5----3-||
D-|-/7----7---||
Here's what I guess you'd call the "pre-chorus" ("Still we try; win or lose;
take the highs; with the blues..."). Play it twice through, only the second
time, leave out the first measure (A-2-3-2-3-2-3/5). Then rake your pick
down the low strings before you go into the next riff.
E-|---------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------0--------|
B-|---------------|-------------2---|-3-------2-5-----|-5p3---3---2--3--------|
G-|---------------|-------2-4-2---2-|-------2-----2-0-|-2-----2---2--2--------|
D-|---------------|-----2-----------|-----2-------0-0-|-0---0---0----0--------|
A-|-2-3-2-3-2-3/5-|-0-0-------------|---0-------------|-----------------------|
D-|---------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------------|
E-|-0--------------||
B-|-3------3-3-----||
G-|-2------2-2-----||
D-|-0------0-0-----||
A-|----------------||
D-|----5-5-----5-5-||
This next part is (in my opinion) the coolest riff in the song. This is
just a fill-in between the pre-chorus (above) and the chorus (WAY above).
Play this one time through then go to the chorus riff (tabbed above).
E-|----------------|------------------|------------|-----------------|
B-|----------------|------------------|------------|-----------------|
G-|----------------|------------------|------------|-----6---------7-|
D-|-------2-5~~----|---5-4~~------76-|-----3-7----|---7-----5---7---|
A-|-2-2-2----------|-5--------5-5-----|---3--------|-7-----3---5-----|
D-|-2-2-2--------5-|------------------|-3--------7-|-----------------|
E-|0~~~~---|--9--9--7--7--9--9--10--10||
B-|--10~~--|-10-10--9--9-10-10--10--10||
G-|-----11~|---------------------------||
D-|--------|---------------------------||
A-|--------|---------------------------||
D-|--------|---------------------------||
Enjoy!
