“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.” IfsWantPlayRunningStarsStreetsRocksFameNewsNakedRock StarLivelihood Author: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.” IfsDifferentHateSituationHate You Author: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.” IfsI CanHelpingKidsPassionWonderfulWonderful ThingsPassion For Music Author: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.” IfsTheoryGoes OnUniversalInstrumentsPiano Author: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.” IfsWayIdeasFeelingsHomeSongMy OwnHalfSuccessfulStreetsStupidDancingBombsBeing SuccessfulCoveredVansWay HomeHalf WayVan HalenPlaying Someone Author: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.” IfsTryingWantedGuitarDestroyedBridgesStringsNutsFrictionSaddles Author: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?” IfsKnowsImagineTapeRecorders Author:Eddie Van Halen
“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.” IfsWantNeedsPlayFunPayRhythmHaving FunMusic Love Author: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?” IfsYearsWellsTwoPlayHandsPurposePlayerBrokenPagesVery GoodAlbumsStudiosProducersExcellentTwo YearsJimmySloppyZeppelinsTwo Year Olds Author: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” IfsHardPlayMusicNotesGuitarExpensiveNecksStringsElectricAcousticsGaugesAcoustic GuitarElectric Guitar Author:Eddie Van Halen
“Music kept me off the streets and out of trouble and gave me something that was mine that no one could take away from me. Music education and families are dealing with the economic times, and I wanted to help them. If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that's a wonderful thing.” IfsI CanHelpingKidsWantedPassionWonderfulTroubleEconomicStreetsMinesWonderful ThingsMusic EducationPassion For Music Author:Eddie Van Halen
“And if I would have taken lessons I probably wouldn't have done it, and what forced me to do all this weird stuff on the guitar was I couldn't afford effects pedals, I didn't have all this stuff when I was a kid so I just tried to squeeze all the weird noises I could out of the guitar, which brings me to building guitars.” IfsDoneKidsStuffTakenEffectsBuildingLessonsGuitarNoisePedalsWeird Stuff Author:Eddie Van Halen
“We make music for a living. Like I've always said, if you like what you're doing, you're halfway there; if someone else likes it, that's even better. If they don't like it, at least you like it. Not to be selfish, but you kind of have to be.” IfsKindSaidSelfishLikesHalfwayYou Like ItDoing YouBeing SelfishHalfway There Author: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.” IfsWayWritingSometimesPlayWould BeSongDown AndPopsIf I CouldPoppies Author:Eddie Van Halen
“I'll always leave the same set of strings on my guitars when I'm recording. If I break one I'll just replace it instead of putting on a whole new set of strings.” IfsWholeBreakGuitarStrings Author:Eddie Van Halen
“If you have a great-sounding guitar that's a quality instrument and a good amp, and you know how to make the guitar talk, that's the key. It starts with the guitar and knowing what it should sound and feel like.” IfsKnowsFeelsShouldSoundQualityKnow HowKnowingKeysInstrumentsGuitar Author: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.” PeopleIfsWritingWellsWould BeRecordsSingingAskingSoloVansVan Halen Author:Eddie Van Halen
