Rate for accuracy
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Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love off of the album Van Halen(1978)by Van Halen.
Originally recorded by Edward Van Halen, Alex Van Halen, David Lee Roth and Michael Anthony.
Tuning: E,A,G,D,B,E
Intro:
e|-------------0-1----------3-------------------|
B|--------1---------1----------3----------------|
G|----------2----------2------------------------|
D|----2-----------------------------------------|
A|--0-------------------------------0--3~--3~-2~|
E|----------------------------------------------|
Flanger on.
Palm-mute every note except the 0--3~--3~-2~.
Play that 4 times then the main riff is this:
e|----------------------------------|
B|--1-----1-------------------------|
G|--2-----2-------------------------|
D|--2-----2-------------------------|
A|-----0----0--2~--------3~--3~-2~--|
E|-------------3~-----3-------------|
mute the open a's. That's the main riff for the chorus and this part. But every 2nd time you play that riff there is a fill.
Fill 1:
e|--------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------|
D|--6WBD-7WP-8WP-9WP-10WP-11WP-12WP-13WP-14WP-|
A|--------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------|
WP means whammy bar push. Listen to the song for the amount of pressure.
Fill 2:
e|--5b7--7p5p4--------------------------|
B|--------------7p5p4-------------------|
G|---------------------7p5p4------------|
D|----------------------------7p5p4-----|
A|-----------------------------------7--|
E|--------------------------------------|
Verse Riff:
e|--------------0-1--3~-----------------|
B|-------1-----------3~-----------------|
G|----------2---------------------------|
D|----2---------------------------------|
A|--0----------------------0-3~--3~-2~--|
E|--------------------------------------|
That's of course during the vocals.
Palm-mute the first 6 notes. Play that over and over again until the chorus.
During the chorus play the main riff with these 3 new fills.
Fill 3:
e|-----------------------------|
B|-----------------------------|
G|---------*7*~~~-*7*--*7*~~~~~|
D|---------------------*5*~~~~~|
A|-0-2-3-----------------------|
E|-----------------------------|
Fill 4:
e|---------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------|
G|-3h7----------------------------5h7h8--|
D|-----5h9-------------------5h7---------|
A|---------3h7-------5h6h7---------------|
E|--------------5h8----------------------|
Fill 5:
e|--------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------|
G|----------------------5T13p5p0--|
D|--------------5-9-11------------|
A|-------5-7-8--------------------|
E|--5-7---------------------------|
Ok, the Guitar solo is this:
e|----------0--0---0--0--0-0------|
B|----------10-10-10-12-13-12SWV--|
G|-------10-----------------------|
D|--9-12--------------------------|
A|--------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------|
e|------------0--0--0-----------------------|
B|-----------10-10-10-12TP-13TP-12~-12-12-5|
G|-------10---------------------------------|
D|--9-12------------------------------------|
A|------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------|
e|-----------0--0--0---------------------------|
B|-----------10-10-10-12-13/-15-14-13-12-16/17-|
G|-------10------------------------------------|
D|--9-12---------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------|
e|--17P4T-20P4T-17P4T-20P4T--------------------|
B|---------------------------17P4T-20P4T-17P4T-|
G|---------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------------------|
B|-20P4T----------------------------------------|
G|--------17P4T-20P4T--20p17p15-----------------|
D|------------------------------20p17p15--------|
A|--------------------------------------20p17p15|
E|----------------------------------------------|
e|--------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------|
G|--------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------|
E|-20p17p15-20p17p15-20p17p15-20p17p15--15WD--|
Ok then the chorus comes back in, no new fills.
During the bridge, switch to clean tone and push the volume pedal down to low volume and play this:
e|------------1p0-----------------|
B|-------1--------0---------------|
G|---------2----------------------|
D|----2---------------------------|
A|--0-----------------0-3p0-3~-2~-|
E|--------------------------------|
play 4 times.
at the BE FOR BABY!!
play this with flanger on:
e|-----------------<3>--------------------|
B|------------<3>-------------------------|
G|--------<3>-------------3p2p0-----------|
D|--5-5------------------------3p2p0------|
A|--5-5-----------------------------3p2p0-|
E|--3-3-----------------------------------|
e|--------<5>------------------------------|
B|------------<3>--------------------------|
G|----------------<5>----------------3p2p0-|
D|--5-5------------------------3p2p0-------|
A|--5-5------------------3p2p0-------------|
E|--3-3------------------------------------|
play that routine twice with volume pedal up with light distortion.
then play the chorus a final time with 3 new fills.
Fill 6:
e|-------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|---7-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|
Fill 7:
e|-----------------------|
B|-----------------------|
G|--5WBP-6WBP-7WBP-8WBP--|
D|-----------------------|
A|-----------------------|
E|-----------------------|
Fill 8:
e|----------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------|
A|----0\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\|
E|----------------------------------------------|
The ///'s mean strong whammy bar dive.
After that repeat the above guitar solo.
Then the outro:
e|----------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------------------|
D|-4--6--8-------------4--6-------------4--6--9-|
A|-4--6--8--------1p0--4--6-------------4--6--9-|
E|-2--4--6---2h3-------2--4--0\\\\--2--4--7-|
e|----------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------|
G|--3p2p0-------------------------5--7----------|
D|-------3p2p0--------------------5--7----------|
A|------------3p2p0--------7p5p4--3--5----------|
E|------------------7p5p4-----------------------|
that space is holding out the final D barre chord while the drums go mad and then the last chord is:
e|-----------------------|
B|-----------------------|
G|-----------------------|
D|--6~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
A|--6~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
E|--4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
There you go!!! Listen to the song for rhythm.
I feel the tricky part of this song is progressing through these parts.
Hope this tab is helpful. It covers all the fills which I noticed is something rarely done on ATBL tabs.
LEGEND:
*7*= Pinch Harmonic
P4T= Play note 4 times
WD= Whammy Bar dive
/= just 1 means slide down and just 1 / means slide up.
There you go.
Video/Audio
Other versions of this song
- Ain T Talkin Bout Love (Intro)
Song History
Last Updated: February 4, 2026