Pat Metheny Quotes

"Listening is the key to everything good in music."

"I have three young kids and a great family. I love hanging out with them more than anything."

"The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me. For me, jazz is a vehicle that takes you to the true destination - a musical one that describes all kinds of stuff about the human condition and the way music works."

"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."

"The pianist Cecil Taylor is extremely melodic; the guitarist Derek Bailey is extremely melodic, and Ornette Coleman."

"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."

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

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

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

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

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

"I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music world and have been able to play exactly what I have wanted the way I have wanted."

"I hate the way chorus boxes sound."

"I realized that equipment really had little to do with why I sound like the way I sound."

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

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

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

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

"I was deep in the zone of practicing almost constantly."

"It's more about conception and touch and spirit and soul than whether my hardware was in place."

"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."

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

"Whatever my recorded output is, it's a reflection of a general love of music."

"If you come to my house, you won't see a wall of trophies or things like that. I'm sort of 'on to the next thing' all the time."

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

"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."

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

"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."

"No two notes are ever the same volume. With the guitar, you really have to model in your mind this wider thing; you're trying to create the illusion of a bigger dynamic range."