More Great Quotes from Eddie Van Halen

October 16, 2020 3 min read

More Great Quotes from Eddie Van Halen

Eddie Van Halen is no longer with us, and the void he’s left is immense. You’ve only got to look at the outpouring of tributes from all across the entertainment world to realize just how influential he was.

Last week, we paid tribute to Eddie Van Halen. This week, we thought we’d let the man himself do the talking. In a follow-up to an article we posted a while back, here are more great, inspirational quotes from Eddie Van Halen. 

On rock stardom:

“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.”

 “I'm not a rock star. Sure I am, to a certain extent because of the situation, but when kids ask me how it feels to be a rock star, I say leave me alone, I'm not a rock star. I'm not in it for the fame, I'm in it because I like to play.”

On the guitar:

“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.”

On building guitars:

“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.”

“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.”

On music:

“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.”

“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?”

“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.”

“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! The judges were like, 'Very interesting interpretation!' I thought I was playing it right.”

On the creative process:

“There are really three parts to the creative process. First there is inspiration, then there is the execution, and finally there is the release.”

What is your favourite Eddie Van Halen moment? Did you ever see Van Halen live? Share your stories in the comments.



Also in Fingerboard Stories

When Three Is Better Than One
When Three Is Better Than One

November 28, 2023 4 min read

Rather than the traditional bar used by lap and pedal steel players, he has three differing ball-ended slides on his fingers, one on his ring finger and two smaller ones on his index finger and thumb. He began working on a technique around 2014 when he was gifted a lap steel guitar.
The Life and Times of Willie
The Life and Times of Willie

November 17, 2023 5 min read

Austin’s Hippie scene was likely what Nelson needed to get his creativity going again. He went back to performing and writing, combining his songwriting style with elements of country, folk, jazz, and rock and roll into a new sound (creating the blueprint for what would be known as Outlaw Country).
There’s no bad music
There’s no bad music

November 03, 2023 5 min read

For one thing, it helps keep our ears and minds fresh. After listening to tons of guitar-based music, you do hit a saturation point where you do want to listen to something else. It can be possible to have too much of a good thing. Sometimes, a trip into another genre is all you need to clear your mind.