Chris Rea Quotes

I didn't touch a guitar until I was 20.

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.

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.

When I first began to learn to sing, it took me from three to four months to learn two simple hymns.

It wasn't all spent on practicing, I did do other things! but the classical guitar means a lot to me so I spend many hours building good chops and getting a good program together.

My first instrument was the piano; I played in the church, and before that I sang in church. I didn't learn the guitar until I was 24 years old.

I've always looked for ways to inspire people, especially young people, to play guitar. When I first saw Fretlight, I immediately connected with the vision. Today's kids expect technology to help them on their journey, and that's exactly what Fretlight does.

My background in music is classical - I did graduate school in music. At that time, I was studying composition, but I was studying classical guitar very seriously.

I never took a lesson until I was 20, and I'm glad I had those years living the life of a normal person. I don't consider that time wasted.

I was born and raised in Germany, so I was classically trained. Classical has been deep in me from a totally early age. Then, as a teenager, I picked up the guitar and was really into rock music.

I started playing mandolin when I was three or four years old because I was too small to be playing guitar. As I got older and more responsible with holding instruments, I was allowed to play my mom's guitar that she had.

I started playing guitar when I was, like, 5, and I picked up playing drums when I was 6 years old.

I've talked to a bunch of big men who told me they didn't really start playing basketball until seventh or eighth grade. That wasn't the situation with me.

As a guitar player, you never stop learning, never stop honing your skills.

When I first started playing guitar, I would sit in my room for hours and learn scales.

I didn't realise that I was so accomplished on the guitar until someone said to me, 'How do you do that?' That someone was John Lennon. He asked me to teach him my technique.

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 started as a writer. I didn't play music until late in life.

I started quite late. I only discovered that I could write a song when I was, like, 17... some musicians, they're starting out, writing songs when they're, like, 12, 13. I never thought I would go into songwriting when I was that young.

I started to music when I was about 19 years old. Most people that do music, they get training, or they develop themselves before they let their music out. For myself, I was actually developing myself and putting my music out at the same time.

I don't seek out knowledge when it comes to guitar playing; I like to let it happen naturally.

I started playing music when I was about six and didn't discover Indian classical music until I was fifteen. So, essentially, I had a lot of catching up to do.

There's no musician who just wakes up one day and decides, 'This is what I want to do.' It takes some development.

Most kids in Africa don't start playing basketball until they are 13 or 14 years old. This puts them at a disadvantage because they lack the instincts and must work harder to develop the skills and habits formed at an early age.

I started playing on my grandmother's organ at a really young age. I learned 'Chopsticks' and that kind of thing, but I didn't really start picking it up and start taking it super seriously until I was probably about 13, 14.