I have selective hearing.

I boil the strings so they stretch.

It's all about sound. It's that simple.

Bass is for people who can't play guitar

I'm just a normal schmo like anyone else.

My son, Wolfgang, plays drums, guitars and bass.

Nirvana was huge, but it didn't appeal to everyone.

You only have 12 notes. Do what you want with them.

I took classical piano lessons from the age of five.

Everything comes to me while I'm sitting on the pot.

I applied to Uncyclopedia Bassists, and was accepted!!

Rock stars come and go. Musicians play until they die.

I'm writing, and just doing the same thing I always do.

To hell with the rules. If it sounds right, then it is.

It's always about the music, never about anything else.

Sometimes I just want to lick David Lee Roth in the nuts

Major third complications can be overcome by lots of alcohol.

You've only got 12 notes and however you mix them up is your thing.

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

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

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

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

I'm just a guitarist in a kick-ass rock and roll band. What more could I ask for?

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

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

I never took guitar lessons. I took classical piano lessons from the age of six when we lived in Holland.

Some people think a song without words isn't a real song. Tell that to Beethoven and he'll kick your ass!

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

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

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

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

If I can help a kid discover a liking, or even a passion for music in their life, then that’s a wonderful thing.

I just consider myself slightly left-of-center. I'm not your average bear. I - what's the word? I'm not - normal.

Every song is like a kid. How can you have that many kids and have a favorite? Which one do I like to hang most with?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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

When Van Halen started out, there was no path to fame. We just played what we liked. Even today it always comes down to the simplicity of rock and roll.

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.

When I was growing up and listening to bands like the Dave Clark Five, the groove was what initially got me going. I really like that funky, heavy groove.

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?

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.'

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm blessed with a good pair of ears. That's how I fooled my piano teacher. I'd watch his fingers and I'd listen to it, and I just kind of basically learned it by myself.

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