Instrumental Creativity Quotes

I never stop being amazed by all the different ways of playing the guitar and making it deliver a message.

I changed my mindset and figured, Why not try to be really entertaining instrumentally?

I don't understand why some people will only accept a guitar if it has an instantly recognizable guitar sound. Finding ways to use the same guitar people have been using for 50 years to make sounds that no one has heard before is truly what gets me off.

I love to play guitar. I've never really been the type of guitar player that goes, 'I'll only play this style of music or that thing.'

I can play anything - piano, drums, guitar, harp - I can even play a trumpet through another trumpet.

And, so, when I picked up the guitar, suddenly, just playing a couple of notes really, really spoke to me. It was almost like I should have been doing it prior to that. You know, it was something that just felt really natural.

The drums were new to me; I was just playing what was in my head. I was a guitar player originally - so on the drums, I just played what was in my head rather than caring too much about what others were playing. And in that way, I came up with a simple but unique style.

Singing instrumental music is most important because, while you play an instrument, you are singing through the instrument... actually, you are singing inside.

I don't really do scales... I mean, I play parts of them, but then I bail and start playing parts of other things. The term 'scale' feels very scripted to me because I'm an improv player.

Peter was sick of being a pop star, the guitar god, and so he decided to teach himself other instruments. Among the instruments that he picked up was the mandolin.

One day, I was just fingering around on the keys of a Fender Rhodes piano, and I came up with this little riff, and all of a sudden, it morphed into a song. It had never been touched by a guitar, which was very weird for us. 'Under the Ground' is the first song I have ever written that had nothing to do with the guitar.

I have this really beautiful Martin guitar, and it just kind of writes songs for me.

People are like, 'Why are you playing that five-neck guitar?' I want to hurt. I want to play.

You go to a studio with a guitar, people are like, 'Oh this girl's going to write this song on a guitar.' Or wants to, or whatever. You go with a ukulele, people are just like 'Eh, well, whatever.' They don't really care. It's a very non-threatening kind of instrument.

Let me explain something about guitar playing. Everyone's got their own character, and that's the thing that's amazed me about guitar playing since the day I first picked it up. Everyone's approach to what can come out of six strings is different from another person, but it's all valid.

A lot of other bass players have told me I'm the only bass player who plays with a pick but sounds like he's playing with the thumb and fingers, which is a great compliment.

My dad didn't want me to play guitar. He played piano, so I chose that. And I ended up loving it.

Your hands are like dogs, going to the same places they've been. You have to be careful when playing is no longer in the mind but in the fingers, going to happy places. You have to break them of their habits or you don't explore; you only play what is confident and pleasing. I'm learning to break those habits by playing instruments I know absolutely nothing about, like a bassoon or a waterphone.

A guitar can be so human, so sorrowful, so angry, and I wanted to figure out how to achieve that vibe without having to actually use guitars, because 'Badlands' is a very futuristic record - and making it that in an era of futuristic music is a really hard thing to do!

To me, the guitar is a tool for songwriting, and it's fun, too. The day that it's not fun, that's when I'm not gonna play guitar anymore.

While listening, to things like western swing, for instance, I'd work something out in my head, then play it on my National; not the same song, but one that captured the feeling of the original tune.

I didn't decide to play guitar, but that was the instrument which I was offered. I've always been interested in horn-type instruments, such as a saxophone; but those instruments are very expensive, so my dad bought me a guitar instead. I didn't like the guitar at first, but after noodling on it for several months, I developed a feel for it.

I could hear and feel music going on in me, and I couldn't get it out. You can always depend on a guitar.

But I've come to the point in my evolution on the instrument where I realize that I can't play the same stuff that just a guitar player or organ player would play - and I need to embrace that in a big way.

To me, I don't see any difference between a synthesizer and an acoustic instrument. It's what's done on it that counts.