Simon Rattle Quotes

It accumulates over the years and I've led so many bands of my own now and forced myself into new situations... You would hope that you play better and better - until you just get too feeble to do it anymore.

In blues, classical and jazz, you get more revered with age.

I practice on the acoustic guitar a little bit, but I think I have reached the peak of my talent.

I played with the best conductors of the world.

We'll see some simplistic players for a while, who'll then get into more complicated things and evolve with their instruments. This is a cycle that happens over and over again in music.

Every record, you've got more experiences to draw on as a writer and a musician.

Music is, of course, a universal emotional experience, cutting across cultures and languages. I studied piano for ten years as a child and consider that experience one of the most valuable in my life.

Music became my focus. At 13, I was jamming with my mates. At 15, I was playing clubs.

Music is all about wanting to be better at it.

I've paid my dues in the classical trenches.

I guess to just keep playing music; to just keep outdoing the last record.

When I joined the band, being that I was going to take this up as a profession, I realized that there were no two finer guitar players in the world that I'd rather play with.

One of the things that's influenced me musically was my experience at Brown University. I was surrounded by musicians that I really admired, and felt challenged to come up with music, lyrics, and recordings that stood up to the expectations of those musicians and myself.

My harmony is passable but is usually made more eloquent at the hands of Steve Hamilton.

I was for a minor amount of time but I was probably a better pianist at 15 than I am now.

There's not an orchestra in the world that doesn't have weaknesses. None of us can play everything well. The repertoire is just too big.

I feel that my playing on the first album was probably some of my best.

This kind of prelude was succeeded by the concerto itself which he executed with a degree of spirit and firmness that no one has ever pretended to equal.

From time to time, the Vienna Philharmonic could play without a conductor because they are so good.

Throughout the years I have tried to hone my skills to gain mastery over the music in my head.

I have to continue to make the older musicians proud and brush up on my skills.

The more you play music, the better you'll get.

I worked extremely hard at my craft and at being a good songwriter, being a good guitar player, being a good organist, because I didn't think people would take me seriously.

It was such a wake-up call going to music school and being one among so many that are really good at singing.

Nick is an amazing musician. He's really focused.