Is Eddie not one of the best all time guitarists?? He made me completely rethink about what you can do with a guitar. I started learning how to play a couple Van Halen songs like Running with the Devil and Ain't Talkin Bout Love and I noticed all the different stuff that Eddie does with the guitar (one thing that really stood out was the harmonies in ATBL) and how he does all this so fast.

That brings me to my question. How do you learn to play harmonies? I know a little bit from what I've been taught, but it probably isn't enough. It's a hair confusing for me.

The other question I have is how do you learn to play something complicated really fast? Is it just practice that I need to do..or is it something else??

Eddie is one of my all time "guitar heroes." I'd like to learn how to play just like him. Anyone with any sort of advice is definitely welcome to post something!

As far as playing something fast, practice it slow. Over and over and over...

EVH is about as good as many other famous guitarists with his fretboard fingering and whatnot but where he really shines is his right hand technique. That's where he got those sounds that were hitherto unexplored.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Is Eddie not one of the best all time guitarists??
yes
How do you learn to play harmonies?
talk to your guitar teacher or find one is the fastest way otherwise get to work, it is your guitar after all
The other question I have is how do you learn to play something complicated really fast? Is it just practice that I need to do..or is it something else??
it is practice practice practice
Eddie is one of my all time "guitar heroes." I'd like to learn how to play just like him.
I like EVH, but, I like me too, if you ask EVH what he would like to hear come out of your guitar I'll bet he says "let me hear what you can do", in other words learn the songs of his that you like then use those new chops on your stuff.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

Get a Jam With book by Warner Bros. Publications. It has some of the old stuff and a play along CD. Once you get that down you can figure out what he did afterwards. Also get on YouTube there are a lot of how to videos.

You seem to be more advanced than starting if you can figure out songs by yourself. But you have to study music like any other subject and that involves reading theory and lessons whenever possible. They will teach you where these guys are playing and what scales they build on.

Good luck and hope this helps,

Well if you listen to Eddie he would grab a six pack and sit on the edge of his bed playing guitar and when his brother Alex would go out and get home at about 4:am he would be in the same spot still playing.

Also he only really had one idol who's solos he studied and learned note for note which was Eric Clapton during his days in Cream, yet he does not sound anything like Clapton.

The way Vanhalen plays guitar is very physical and very hard on the hands so you have to practice hour upon hour to build up the stamina and strength to be able to pull that style of playing off. You also have to start off playing slowly, because if you cant play it slow and clean there is no way you will be able to play it fast.

As you progress and learn the fretboard things become much clearer. Here is some advice if you want to cop some Vanhalen. Learn all your scales in E and A which are two very friendly guitar keys besides two keys Eddie writes in a lot. Learn the Minor Pentatonic and Blues scales and then the Dorian and Aeolion(natural minor) and the last two in three note per scale positions to until you can read the fret board in those two keys up and down the neck. Of course you have to learn other keys to but those are great to start with.

Then learn all the Arpeggios in those scales. So you should start a practice routine of warm up exercises,scale patterns, Arpeggios and licks. The stronger your hands get and the better you learn the fretboard the faster you will be able to play and also think about what you want to do, but it is a very long road that does not happen overnight.

There is one more thing that I call the 1% bracket. That is the percentage of players that are just born with more God given talent than the rest of us millions of players. The cream of the crop that just play, and music just pours out of them effortlessly and Vanhalen is in that bracket along with SRV, Hendrix, Vai, Gatton, Beck, and others. But that still does not mean you cant get to wear you want to go as long as you put the work in. What seems like it is impossible and never going to come is like trying to remember trying to learn to read or ride a bike at first it is very frustrating and seems like you are never going to do it and then one day it just happens. Good Luck.

Personally, I can not understand why everyone wants to play like EVH, or Buckethead, or John Mayer, Jimi, or SRV. Then you are just a clone.
I would rather look at the technique of as many players as possible and then develop my own playing style.

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I didn't Lose my mind, I traded it for this guitar.

While this is true most people start off or quickly find a player who the connect with and they usually start learning their songs and it becomes their influence. Some people obsess and do become clones with gear of all sorts to try and capture that artists sound as well as learning their technique. I started out wanting to be a Hendrix clone but then I realized a few things. #1 As much as I love Jimi there are many amazing artists out there who I found on my guitar journey so far and I hope there are many more to come and I want to embrace them all. #2 Sometimes the best way to pay homage to your favorite is to either use them to enhance your own personal style or to have your own version of your favorite song instead of copying them note for note and bend for bend.

As for EVH as mentioned already he was a practice nut who shut himself in his room on the edge of his bed and that discipline is what made him as great as he is. Becoming EVH isn't a fast process. Whatever you do do not let that stop you. EVH is a great guitar hero to enjoy and strive to play like so enjoy the journey.

eddie van halen is with out any doubt the greatest guitarist of ALLTIME!
jimi hendrix #2 eddie van halen an jimi hendrix are conciderd by millions of fans other guitarst/musicians/ Guitar player international/Guitar World TO BE THE TWO MOST INFLUENTAL GUITARIST OF ALLTIME! and i do agree.

It is not a good idea to assign numbers to these guys. Because you will miss someone like the random guy pictured below who prototyped the whole "guitar hero" thing and inspired legions of guitar players for decades ...

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Laughing out loud with fear and hope, I have a desperate plan ...

+1 I've been listening to Jimmy Page (along with Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page) on the "Ronnie Lane's Appeal for ARMS" disc - so many ways to play a finite number of notes on a guitar neck. The number 1 spot seems to be shared by dozens (hundreds?) of musicians.

At the time, and I was a huge fan, EVH was important because he was doing stuff we truely had never heard before, and could not understand exactly how he was doing it. It was amazing and inspiring.

Now, many players can play his stuff, and so it's not so amazing anymore. But what you can't take away from the guy was the fact that he was there doing the right things at the right time, and blew everyone away.

And we all wanted that guitar.

EVH will always be important to me for those reasons.

Hi Caster 360,a good way to increase your speed is to invest in a metronome and adjust it to a speed you're comfortable with playing a certain riff then gradually increase it by a few beats per minute and over a period of afew days you'll find that your speed has increased considerably. This method will also greatly improve your sense of rythym.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

C3PO, I'm not double posting (although I probably do that way too much) but this guy has a guitar dojo and could prob help you fly like EVH pretty quick, sometimes it does help your psyche if you can get past what seems like an obstacle
http://georgelynch.ning.com/

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I think everyone had some great things to say. I agree that we all start out trying to be like an idol but you have to then listen to who your idols listened to and it is a big cycle. Also dont stay in one style of music as that is the main reason no one can be called the greatest guitarist ever. Eddie would not be able to play Country like Albert Lee who could not play the Blues with the fire of SRV who could not play jazz like Joe Pass who could not shred like Vai. It is all about styles and there are so many great players in different ones. So check out the greats and find some licks you like and mix it all together with yourself and that is how you get your own style.