Chris Thile Quotes

I learn my songs by ear.

I didn't take lessons, and I don't know my scales.

I don't read music. I don't write or read music.

It's easy to get next to music theory, especially between your peers and music classes and so forth. You just pay attention. I had a good ear, so I realized that printed music was just about reminding you what to play.

Reading music has opened up me up so much. I've been experimenting for so long and trying to make sense of things just from my ears. It takes forever. Now I can get where I want much quicker.

A lot of times I wish I would have learned to read music, but I'm very impatient.

I never had any lessons. When I first started playing I used to read music. I was very interested in music. But when I started playing in groups I did a silly thing and dropped it. It's great if you can write things down.

I'm going to have classical piano lessons next.

Everyone who plays the flute should learn singing.

The piano is a universal instrument. If you start there, learn your theory and how to read, you can go on to any other instrument.

I still don't know how to read music.

I was pretty lucky to get into Berklee at all. I never really had any theory or music-reading capabilities; I was completely by ear.

To teach a child an instrument without first giving him preparatory training and without developing singing, reading and dictating to the highest level along with the playing is to build upon sand.

I could never overstate the importance of a musician's need to develop his or her ear. Actually, I believe that developing a good 'inner ear' - the art of being able to decipher musical components solely through listening - is the most important element in becoming a good musician.

I don't read music, which is a shame, actually, and I shouldn't even speak of it because it's embarrassing, but it's true.

You can sightread better if you know your scales and arpeggios.

Yeah, I can read music and I know the names of chords.

I can't read sheet music, I have to just listen to it, and then just go for it.

I love singing. I have spent as much of my life trying to improve my singing as I have practising guitar.

I learned to read music before I learned to read script.

I learned to read music when I was 10 and did piano and took lessons.

When I was in college and reading music and doing ear training, I was a little more advanced than the other people in my choir classes. So to entertain myself and kind of annoy the friends around me, I would sing just under the pitch or just above the pitch.

I could read music before I could read words.

I'm a self-taught musician so how I read music is kind of very weak and I kind of read my own version of tablature, I write my own crappy reminders on what I'm playing.

When I was first aware that I couldn't read music I didn't know I couldn't read because I could play the music that was in front of me.