Louis Armstrong Quotes

I consider myself a part-time worker when it comes to the piano, but you need to play regularly to stay sharp.

I thought it was too 'glam rock' to practice. The problem is that now I'm a pretty bad guitar player.

When I have the time at home, I'll practice three or four hours a day. I have to. And I'm a late starter; I started at age 17 and at age 51 I'm still learning.

I wake up in the morning, I do a little stretching exercises, pick up the horn and play.

Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.

I've been playing squash almost daily for 38 years.

It's like a runner or a swimmer training all the time. I sing every day.

When I have a chunk of time that I can really dedicate to music, I really want to get into it. I want to do some really hard stuff and push myself.

I can say that out of 365 days, I manage to do yoga on at least 300 days.

Before you start a practicing regimen, you have to be aware that the study of music is a lifelong process-it's a discipline. And the key to mastering any discipline is consistency.

I have a Baldwin in my L.A. apartment, a Steinway in my New York apartment, and a Kawai plexiglass grand piano in storage for shows. I still play for two or three hours every day.

I made music a priority every single day.

When I was first getting into the guitar, I played it incessantly. I lived it, breathed it, ate it, and slept it. I was also extremely self-critical, so from early on, I made sure to develop good playing habits - I constantly strove to sound in tune and have a great tone, and to play cleanly and in time.

It's much better to play the guitar a half hour a day, every day, than not practice for a week and then jam for five hours one day.

You can't take it for granted. Even if we have two, three days off I still have to blow that horn a few hours to keep up the chops. I mean I've been playing 50 years, and that's what I've been doing in order to keep in that groove there.

If I wanted to play the violin, I had to work. Because anything that one wants to do really, and one loves doing, one must do everyday. It should be as easy to the artist and as natural as flying is to a bird. And you can’t imagine a bird saying well, I’m tired today, I’m not going to fly!

I've never stopped working on songs and practising singing and guitar.

For the past eighty years I have started each day in the same manner... I go to the piano, and I play preludes and fugues of Bach... It is a sort of benediction on the house.

I thought that if I practiced doing melodies for a year or so at home, I would learn to think melodically, and when I went to work it would come out, and it did, on this album. What else was important to me...? I spend a lot of time in the grocery store, shopping.

Having heard Clifford Brown play all those fast runs, I used to really practice Clarke trumpet exercises all day long so that I could play fast. That's all I wanted to do. I was like a child with a toy.

Great battles are really won before they are actually fought. To control our passions we must govern our habits, and keep watch over ourselves in the small details of everyday life.

I try all night to play a pretty note.

Instead of working out three times a week, I do something physical, like a one-hour walk everyday.

I always have a guitar with me. Actually, I've got several, I play every day. And I enjoy it. I'm never very far away from them. I swear I only ever get a couple days when I'm away from a guitar, and I never like it! There's always one close by, and I play every day. Or I'll be working on something in the studio and play around a bit. It's an extension of me, really.

Now, here is my definition of success: A few simple Disciplines practiced every day. Do you see the distinction? A few disciplines... Here's a little phrase we've all heard, An apple a day keeps the doctor away. And my question to you is, What if that's true? How simple and easy is that plan?