Rory Gallagher Quotes

I can't read music. That's not where I come from musically. I come strictly from feeling, and that feeling comes from rock & roll.

Blues is easy to play, but hard to feel.

In the past, I have not been able to hear myself. I play with feeling so I need to hear what is coming out of the amplifier to inspire me; I don't just play mechanically.

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

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

If you can say something special on the guitar, then you're going to perk my ears up. But if you're just gonna run through all the scales, then I can always find something else to listen to.

I fingerpick a lot because I can get more of a range of feeling from the guitar than I can when I bash away with a pick.

A conductor can do wild things which can feel forced, but if you're directing from within the orchestra, you can't do that, things have to feel natural.

You don't have to live the blues to play the blues.

I don't remember a time that I didn't know how to play the guitar.

I'd much rather talk about guitar playing. I hate it when people ask me about my lyrics. I always feel like telling them to just go and read them.

I played recorder in assembly, then I became passionate about the guitar, I don't know why. I started on electric then moved to acoustic - my brother was playing bass in the next room.

You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.

I never think about rhythm versus melody; I've always just played to what's in my head.

I started doing up-and-down strumming, basically to keep time and to play fast. As time went on, I started realizing other guitar players couldn't do it. I always went against the grain.

I never learned to verbalize an abstract musical concept. No thank you. The whole point of being a serious musician is to avoid verbalization whenever you can.

I don't read music. I don't write it. So I wander around on the guitar until something starts to present itself.

I cannot say what I think is right about music. I only know the rightness of it.

If I try to write a song, I will completely fail to write a song. But if I'm just holding my guitar and I just start humming, then I'll have a song in an hour.

Unless the guitar works as a color, then I don't use it, so I haven't been playing guitar too much lately.

I've got my own style on the guitar, sure, and I play rhythm in a certain way, and I use certain inflections. People have said that to me, and I understand it.

Whatever I hear in my head is what I play.

I do read music, but I prefer playing from the heart.

I'm not that knowledgeable with the guitar - I just find ways that are pretty creative, but it's all within the framework and the limitations of what I can do.

I can't even read music. All I know is whether I think it sounds good and if I like what I'm doing.