Eddie Van Halen Quotes

Major third complications can be overcome by lots of alcohol. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Holdsworth is so damned good that I can't cop anything. I can't understand what he's doing. I've got to do this [does two-hand tapping], whereas he'll do it with one hand. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I took classical piano lessons from the age of five. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I applied to Uncyclopedia Bassists, and was accepted!! ~ Eddie Van Halen

Jimmy Page is an excellent producer. Led Zeppelin I and II are classics. As a player he's very good in the studio, but I've never seen him play well live. He's sloppy. He plays like he's got a broken hand and he's two years old. If you put out a good album and play like a two year old, what's the purpose? ~ Eddie Van Halen

I'm writing, and just doing the same thing I always do. ~ Eddie Van Halen

There's a plaque on our wall that says we've sold over 65 million albums, and I don't feel I've accomplished anything. I feel like I'm just getting started. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I grew up on a lot of early Beatles, DC5, Cream, Clapton, Page, Beck and Hendrix. ~ Eddie Van Halen

There is, of course, a chicken-and-egg element here: does someone gravitate to the role of Eddie van Halen because he shares similar personality traits or did portraying Eddie Van Halen give rise to those qualities? ~ Steven Kurutz

More and more, I enjoy hearing people who are good at their instruments and who've found a distinctive voice. In death metal, a lot of guys are Eddie Van Halen disciples, but they take his style to really expressionistic places. It's a real pleasure for me to hear people pushing their craft. ~ John Darnielle

It's all about sound. It's that simple. ~ Eddie Van Halen

David Lee Roth had the idea that if you covered a successful song, you were half way home. C'mon - Van Halen doing 'Dancing in the Streets'? It was stupid. I started feeling like I would rather bomb playing my own songs than be successful playing someone else's music. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I wanted a Gibson type sound, but with a Strat vibrato ... I bought a body from Charvel for $50.00 and a neck for $80.00 - I slapped it together, put an old Gibson PAF in it and painted it up with the stripes ~ Eddie Van Halen

It's all about sound. It's that simple. Wireless is wireless, and it's digital. Hopefully somewhere along the line somebody will add more ones to the zeros. When digital first started, I swear I could hear the gap between the ones and the zeros. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I'll be making music 'til the day I die. I've done all kinds of stuff, and more is coming. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Actually, if I could deliberately sit down and write a pop hit, all my songs would be pop hits! Let's put it this way. I play what I like to hear. And sometimes I like to hear something poppy, and sometimes I don't. ~ Eddie Van Halen

What draws people to the instrument is the love for guitar players that play a certain way. I mean, even though it wasn't intentional, it was hard to avoid copying Eddie Van Halen. He was basically the *bleep* back then. ~ Tom Morello

We're musicians. We make music for a living. It's that simple. Nothing else matters. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Rock & Roll is feeling, and after you know most of the basics ... chords, rhythm, scales and bends ... getting that feeling is just about the most important aspect of playing guitar ~ Eddie Van Halen

I'm the one in the band that said I'm not going on tour unless we do a record. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I love players like Thurston Moore. I mean, you can put notes down on a sheet of paper, and if you practice and get your chops up, you can play like an Eddie Van Halen or a Steve Vai. But nobody can do what Thurston Moore does; he's his own guy. He talks through his instrument in a language that's all his own. ~ Frank Iero

The stainless-steel frets were a major breakthrough, because of the amount of playing and bending that I do. I have to get my guitars refretted every couple of months. ~ Eddie Van Halen

My heroes were Eddie Van Halen - especially after Van Halen I, II, III, and IV - Randy Rhoads, Ace Frehley and dudes like that. My brother played drums and we jammed in the garage and started writing our own stuff. ~ Dimebag Darrell

It makes me feel kind of weird, but obviously the Man Upstairs gave me something and it touches people, and I'm just so blessed. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I have pictures of me sitting in the racquetball court in my pajamas with an acoustic guitar, and Wolfgang is probably just two-and-a-half-feet tall. I'll never forget the day I saw his foot tapping along in beat! I knew then, I couldn't wait for the day I'd be able to make music with my son. I don't know what more I could ask for. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Most beginners want to learn lead because they think it's cool .. consequently, they never really develop good rhythm skills .. since most of a rock guitarists time is spent playing rhythm, it's important to learn to do it well .. learning lead should come after you can play solid backup and have the sound of the chords in your head ~ Eddie Van Halen

I don't really know what inspires me to write the music I do, but usually, the music will set the tone for the lyrics. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I'm just a normal schmo like anyone else. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I was so used to doing old blues licks with the first three fingers. When I started using my pinky and finding more spread things, that's when I started getting my own style. ~ Eddie Van Halen

It's always about the music, never about anything else. ~ Eddie Van Halen

There are really three parts to the creative process. First there is inspiration, then there is the execution, and finally there is the release. ~ Eddie Van Halen

It's the most natural progression for me to becoming a singing sensation next. And so many people have offered to be on it. Eddie Van Halen ... and Prince, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper will probably be a backup trio. ~ Paul Reubens

Obviously you have to have rhythm. If you have rhythm, then you can play anything you need. If you have rhythm and you love music, then play and play and play until you get to where you want to get. If you can pay the rent, great. If you can't, then you'd better be having fun. ~ Eddie Van Halen

It comes back to the same old question people are always asking me: 'When are you going to do a solo record?' Well, if I did, it would probably be similar to 'Baluchitherium,' meaning it would be Van Halen music - which I write anyway - but without singing. ~ Eddie Van Halen

The name Van Halen, the family legacy, is going to go on long after I'm gone. ~ Eddie Van Halen

There's no great guitarist that doesn't sit down and listen to Chet Atkins and Eddie Van Halen, and all these other great players. ~ Lee Ann Womack

Every once in awhile I'll call up Eddie (Van Halen) and ask, Found that fourth chord yet? ~ Billy Gibbons

The only band I was really over-into was Cream. And the only thing I really liked about them was their live stuff 'cause they played two verses, then go off and jam for 20 minutes, come back and do a chorus and end. And I love the live jam stuff, the improvisation. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I was trying to take the band in a direction that I thought was appropriate, and Roth was trying to take the band in more of a Las Vegas direction. And there he is. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Greg Ginn was certainly a huge influence on my guitar playing. I put him up there with people like Eddie Van Halen. Eddie Van Halen changed everything; I don't necessarily like everything he did, but he definitely changed everything. ~ Buzz Osborne

Sometimes I just want to lick David Lee Roth in the nuts ~ Eddie Van Halen

Eventually you'll take the phrases and rhythm patterns you've copped and begin to put your own mark on them ~ Eddie Van Halen

I can't read music. Instead, I'd do stuff inside the piano, do harmonics and all kinds of crazy things. They used to put me in these annual piano contests down at Long Beach City College, and two years in a row, I won first prize - out of like 5,000 kids! ~ Eddie Van Halen

When I'm home on a break, I lock myself in my room and play guitar. After two or three hours, I start getting into this total meditation. It's a feeling few people experience, and that's usually when I come up with weird stuff. It just flows. I can't force myself. I don't sit down and say I've got to practice. ~ Eddie Van Halen

My son, Wolfgang, plays drums, guitars and bass. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen was probably the most influential. ~ Tony Iommi

Practice. I used to sit on the edge of my bed with a six-pack of Tuborg. My brother would go out to party and get laid, come home at 3am., and I would still be playing with myself. ~ Eddie Van Halen

If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that's a wonderful thing. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I'm always thinking music. ~ Eddie Van Halen

It's always a Catch-22 situation. They hate you if you're the same, and they hate you if you're different. ~ Eddie Van Halen

A good producer brings out the best in the artist he's working with. You shouldn't be able to listen to something and say, 'So-and-so produced this album.' ~ Eddie Van Halen

You only have 12 notes. Do what you want with them. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Everything I did is because I wanted to do it. If I weren't playing this arena, if I were playing a club, I'd still be doing it because that's what I want to do. I love playing the guitar. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I do like Eddie Van Halen as a player. He gets it right quite often. ~ Paul McCartney

I'm not a drunk anymore, but since they cut out my tongue, I sound drunk. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Best believe that needle hurt you Best to see these true colors Than follow one of your false virtues A little secret to make you think: Why is the crazy stuff we never say, poetry in ink? ~ Eddie Van Halen

I destroyed a lot of guitars trying to get them to do what I wanted, but I learned something from every guitar I tore apart, and discovered even more things. Things like if the string is not straight from the bridge saddle to the nut, you're going to have friction. ~ Eddie Van Halen

The piano is a universal instrument. If you start there, learn your theory and how to read, you can go on to any other instrument. ~ Eddie Van Halen

If your going to learn to play lead guitar, get an electric guitar .. it doesn't have to be an expensive one .. acoustic guitars aren't good for learning lead, because you can't play up very high on the neck and they take heavier-gauge strings which makes it hard to bend notes ~ Eddie Van Halen

It's funny, when bands or younger musicians ask me: 'So, what does it take to make it?' Well, first explain to me what you mean by 'making it': Do you want to be a rock star or do you want music to be your livelihood? ~ Eddie Van Halen

Imagine if Beethoven had a tape recorder. Then you'd know exactly what he meant. Maybe he meant 'Da da da da' instead of 'Boom boom boom boom!' Who knows? ~ Eddie Van Halen

Music is for people. The word 'pop' is simply short for popular. It means that people like it. I'm just a normal jerk who happens to make music. As long as my brain and fingers work, I'm cool. ~ Eddie Van Halen

You know, most people, they want to go to Hollywood. They want to be a star. They want to be a rock star. That thought never entered any of our minds, the Van Halen family. ~ Eddie Van Halen

A guitar is a very personal extension of the person playing it. You have to be emotionally and spiritually connected to your instrument. I'm very brutal on my instruments, but not all the time. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I mean it's funny, playing music, how of course you want it to do well, you want them to like it, but it's not competitive like an election, it's the Olympics, it's not a Formula 1 race. The Billboard charts are just to show you what people like. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I was more influenced by players like Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen than by the guys in southern rock bands. ~ Dimebag Darrell

When I was 13, I was just figuring out how to play 'Eruption,' poorly, by Eddie Van Halen. ~ Dierks Bentley

The hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is. ~ Eddie Van Halen

It's hard to say this about a guy like Eddie Van Halen, one of the greatest guitar players who ever lived, but he's really limited to a style and they're locked into it. ~ Sammy Hagar

I think Clapton is brilliant. He's the only one who moved me. The only one who made me want to play the guitar. ~ Eddie Van Halen

If you want to be a rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you'll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you'll get to where you want to be. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I have selective hearing. ~ Eddie Van Halen

Before the operation on my left hand I wasn't able to stretch my fingers open all the way. I've never had very big hands, but I could do the splits with them. Eventually I couldn't any more. I had a twisted tendon in my little finger that prevented me from being able to stretch. ~ Eddie Van Halen

A guitar is just theoretically built wrong. Each string is an interval of fourths, and then the B string is off. Theoretically, that's not right, all the strings should be off. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I went to the zoo one day and saw a chimp playing with a beat-up acoustic guitar in a way I had never seen before. Instead of using the pick the chimp was banging the neck and tapping it with its fingers. I knew the chimp was on to something so I practiced this new technique in my room for hours until I'd perfected it. ~ Eddie Van Halen

I think a lot of modern day guitarists start off playing like Eddie van Halen, and they don't take the time to learn the basics. ~ Alvin Lee

I've had a hip replacement, I've beaten cancer, I had my hand operation, and I stopped drinking. Something inside of me just went, 'I'm done.' ~ Eddie Van Halen

You don't leave behind box office scores or how many dollars changed hands. ~ Alex Van Halen

I was a huge 'Pyromania' fan. You would never expect it, but I was in love with Iron Maiden; I was such a huge fan. I went to a lot of rock stuff like Van Halen, too. ~ Tiesto

The single-biggest proof that the Dixie Chicks are Van Halen is their audience; they are singing to the same teenage boys, except those boys are now teenage girls. ~ Chuck Klosterman

I've never really heard anybody imitating anything of mine the way they do with Edward Van Halen's stuff. ~ Steve Vai

It was fun while it lasted, but it never seemed real to me. I could not believe I was in Van Halen. ~ Gary Cherone

It's unfortunate nine years were in between - you can't take that time back; you can't undo it. ~ Alex Van Halen

Whatever our personal differences are, there are no bigger fans of this band than the people who are in this band. ~ Alex Van Halen

People keep asking "Jacob or Edward?" when the really important question is "Diamond Dave or Sammy? ~ Ysabeau S. Wilce

I look at Van Halen as social workers. What we're really doing is creating jobs for rock critics. ~ Alex Van Halen

There's nothing worse than having everybody thinking alike, talking alike and having the same direction in mind. It gets stale that way. ~ Alex Van Halen

When I left Van Halen, I went in the studio and made a CD called Marching to Mars with all studio musicians. I did it immediately. With the disappointment riding on my shoulders of the breakup of the band. ~ Sammy Hagar

I believe that the art market is in a place similar to the music industry in 2005. Big changes are coming and the art market will most likely be very different in ten years. However, if you are the art equivalent of Van Halen, you don't really have to change anything. But if you are not Van Halen, then it is time to figure how to adapt to all the changes. ~ Mark Edward

There's very little greatness in this world, but in the crucible of quality there's a special corner reserved for Van Halen. ~ Bob Lefsetz

Dave was great in Van Halen. No question about it. He was one of the best at being Mr. Rock Star. But it's sickening to see a guy still trying to be that with a wig on 20 years later. ~ Sammy Hagar

Few bands in hard rock history have been so adept at balancing the awesome and trivial as Van Halen in their prime. ~ Chuck Eddy

If I had had a chance to tour with Van Halen before the record, I think it would have been a different record. ~ Gary Cherone

Van Halen is a work in progress. ~ Alex Van Halen

Yeah, we have our differences, but we put those aside, and now we're making music. It's great. ~ Alex Van Halen

On a personal level, we all get along fine. ~ Alex Van Halen

We're having a blast. Just four friends getting together. ~ Alex Van Halen

You come to the planet with nothing and you leave with nothing, so you'd better do some good while you are here. ~ Alex Van Halen

Nobody sets out to make a bad record. ~ Alex Van Halen

I had a solo career before Van Halen. My fan base filtered through Van Halen with me and came right on out the other side with me. ~ Sammy Hagar