Jake Shimabukuro Quotes

I've never been much of a guitarist. I mean, I've played forever, but I was always more of a rhythm kind of guy. I don't read music.

It's actually not that hard to play guitar in a rock band.

That's what it is that you rehearse - the making of music, not the playing of notes as abstractions.

If you play more than two chords, you're showing off.

I'm an intuitive musician. I have no real technical skills. I can only play six chords on the guitar.

I play a couple basic folks songs and break them down. I did that on a six string. I can't recall all the songs on it. There's some finger picking on it.

I've never known how to read music in my life.

I will never master this craft. Orchestras are very, very forthcoming with me.

I've never really been schooled in music theory. I'm a guitar player, and I attack the guitar in a certain way that it not fully unique to me, but it's more unique that some other people.

I have no guitar technique.

I mean, I can sit down with a guitar, and in fact, we do two, three songs with just guitar and percussion.

I can't play piano well enough without making mistakes.

When I was 12 or 13, my dad taught me a couple of different chords, and once I learned chords, I never learned to read music, but I learned tablature, like a lot of kids do, and I learned songs that had the chords I knew. It took me a long time to understand the upstroke of picking and strumming, but once I did, it all fell into place.

We would play, then they would play a set, then we would jam on the last song.

I can sit on a chair with a score and give myself a wonderful performance.

I was a drummer and I played the guitar.

I'm an interpreter of music.

I suppose because I have a good ear, I could pick out harmonies and learn by ear. I still think that you have to have an ear for music to really be able to feel and understand what you're playing. You can learn by watching and listening to other people.

I play really bad punk rock guitar.

Experimenting with different sounds is great, but when it comes down to it, you're still playing a guitar.

What I try to impart to a musician is to really try to practice the instrument in a really sincere way. Learn as much about music as you possibly can. Learn composition. Study to try to create compositions of your own and put your own personal touch on your music.

I think I'm a songwriter. I grab an instrument to make my body a song, but I'm not a player as such, maybe a little more on guitar, but certainly not piano.

It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.

I never really trained to be a musician, but I've been playing guitar since I was around, like, 13 years old. For me, the guitar has always been the instrument that I've played. I play a little piano. I taught myself everything by ear. I don't read music at all, which has not really been a hindrance.

I played piano, I learned a lot about music.