Buddy Rich Quotes

I don't even think whether I play the blues or not, I just play whatever feels right at the moment.

Whenever I start to really think about what I'm playing, I may play it better musically, but the feeling isn't there.

I play as I feel.

I play purely from the heart, y'know, and so if it doesn't work the first couple of hours, forget it.

There's never anything planned. I just do what I feel is best for the song at that time.

I never work out my leads. Everything I do is usually totally spontaneous. If someone says, 'That was good; play that again,' I'm not able to do it.

What I always try to do is to respond to the song; I've always rebelled against theory.

Life is like music; it must be composed by ear, feeling, and instinct, not by rule.

I really like to experiment. That's the only way I can work. It's instinctive.

Words are the children of reason and, therefore, can't explain it. They really can't translate feeling because they're not part of it. That's why it bugs me when people try to analyze jazz as an intellectual theorem. It's not. It's feeling.

I don't stick to special techniques, conscious techniques.

When I play guitar, it's automatic. I don't try to do something; I just do it. And it's already so ingrained in what I do, I don't think about it. I don't try to do something - I just do it. And the more I do it that way, the more I surprise myself. And if I surprise myself, that's the best thing.

I've found in the past that if we planned the show a night before, once we slept and woke up, we weren't in that mood anymore. Because I really think doing a live show means you should be exploring your live feelings, and planning is not good.

I'm very specific about scripts that I like. I don't have a master plan or, like, a game plan. I don't have a chart that I'm following or anything like that. I'm very much playing it by ear. Certain things just happen and it's undeniable, you just go that way. But I don't have a specific path I'm following, I'm just playing it by ear.

Don't use your brain to play it, let your feelings guide your fingers.

I've never had a method of working. I change according to circumstances; I don't employ any particular technique or style. I make films instinctively, more with my belly than with my brain.

I like to let each thing happen - direct it a little consciously, maybe - but just kind of follow the vibrations I get in each particular circumstance. We don't plan theatrics. We hardly ever know which set we'll play.

Many people forget that Jazz, no matter what form it takes, must come from the heart as well as the mind.

I don't plan. I don't think, 'I have to do this kind of part 'cause I've done that kind of part.' I'm not a very good planner.

I think back story can help guide your choices, but when you're playing a scene, you're not making choices; you're just intuitive.

I never plan my novels because if I know what is going to happen, it bores me rigid. I let the story tell itself.

Some people wish above all to conform to the rules, I wish only to render what I can hear. There is no theory. You have only to listen. Pleasure is the law.

I think there are actors who are like, 'Okay, what am I doing, how am I doing it, what's the appeal? Tell me what to do, what are the exact lines from the script? Okay, I got it.' I am not that way. I would be a terrible bus driver. I'd want to be like, 'Oh, let's take this side road! Let's see what happens when we go down this back alley.'

I just throw it out and see what happens. If it sounds and feels right, then I continue.

I don't rely on catchphrases or really like sing-along. I just do whatever I feel. Whatever the beat makes me say, I do that and I run with that. It's been working for me, so I'd be cool with that.