Pat Metheny Quotes

The first thing I learned was the theme from Peter Gunn.

Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that.

The main thing in my life…is that I really need to go home and practice.

More and more as time has gone on, I realize that playing is really more about listening than it is about playing.

The reality of music itself, which is the fabric of life for me, is where most of my attention is.

My first relationship to any kind of musical situation is as a listener.

One of the things jazz has always excelled at is translating the reality of the times through its musical prism.

What I look for in musicians is a sense of infinity.

I can’t really say enough about Chris Potter. He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever known, and every second I have been on the band stand with him has been an absolute pleasure.

I saw A Hard Day’s Night 12 or 13 times.

I don’t worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about jazz.

When talking about writing, I often use the analogy of archaeology. There are these great tunes all around. Your skill as a musician allows you to pick them out without breaking them.

For me, let’s keep jazz as folk music. Let’s not make jazz classical music. Let’s keep it as street music, as people’s everyday-life music. Let’s see jazz musicians continue to use the materials, the tools, the spirit of the actual time that they’re living in, as what they build their lives as musicians around.

A lot of jazz artists think people should like what they’re doing just because it’s jazz. I don’t buy that.

What I look for in musicians is a sense of infinity

My older brother Mike is an excellent trumpet player. By the time he was 12, he was playing around Kansas City in classical situations. He was already an amazing talent.

Smokin’ at the Half Note is the absolute greatest jazz-guitar album ever made. It is also the record that taught me how to play.

I was able to work with the best musicians in Kansas City starting when I was really young.

There are musicians who go through their lives sort of shedding their skins. For me, I’ve always felt backward-compatible to Version 1.0.

People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a Jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.

Learning to play is mostly about learning to hear, and learning to really listen deeply to sound in a musical way is a lifetime’s worth of work.

I’m always trying to find ‘connections’ between things. That art is the juxtaposition of a lot of things that seem unrelated but add up to something recognizable.

Im always trying to find connections between things. That art is the juxtaposition of a lot of things that seem unrelated but add up to something recognizable.

I’m triggering acoustic instruments. I’m literally beating, smacking, hitting, blowing, doing physical things. It’s an incredibly exciting way to make music.

I would always contend that talent is an element, but over the long run, ultimately, a minor part of it all; it is mostly hard work.

Sometimes I try to lose my identity, and I can’t get rid of it!

The beauty of jazz is that it’s malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities.

I’m always inspired when there’s a robustness to the material in front of me.

I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is.

From 1962 to 1965, the guitar became this icon of youth culture, thanks mostly to the Beatles.

I think I have a basic sound aesthetic that is in most of what I do.

I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly.