#ow

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. ↗

— Eddie Van Halen

#beach #city #college #contests #crazy

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 do #inspires #know #lyrics #me

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

#acoustic #acoustic guitar #along #ask #beat

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. ↗

— Eddie Van Halen

#blessed #ears #fingers #fooled #good

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. ↗

— Eddie Van Halen

#feel #good #guitar #how #instrument

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

#boom #exactly #had #imagine #instead

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

#go #how #instrument #learn #other

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. ↗

— Eddie Van Halen

#clark #dave #five #funky #going

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

#entered #family #go #halen #hollywood

All of my policy is not based on a label. It's based on what I lived and what I know. ↗

— Nikki Haley

#i #know #label #lived #policy