James Hetfield Quotes

I actually write my own music whenever I have a chance. I play guitar and sing.

I started playing guitar when I was 13. I'd written a few songs on the guitar over some time. I'd written a book of poetry, and I got a book of lyrics that I had when I was a kid.

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.

When you have great songs that are going to live longer than the composers, everything you can do to bring those different elements and nuances out, serve the song.

I can take any series of numbers and turn it into music, from Bach to bebop, Herbie Hancock to hip-hop.

My thinking musically has always been more advanced - it is difficult to get it down onto paper sometimes, even now.

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

I think I'm a songwriter. I grab an instrument to make my body a song, but I'm not a player as such, maybe a little more on guitar, but certainly not piano.

I picked up the guitar at 11, but even before then, I was writing songs on the organ.

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.

It's very demanding to make up your own music.

I'm definitely not a super great guitarist. Ultimately, I just write a lot of love songs.

When I became more involved in music, I had to give up some of my writing in the literary sense. However, on occasion, I would write something for my own pleasure or I would write notes and introductory remarks in the songbooks I put together.

I actually write more on guitar than I do on piano.

Acting is awesome, but I'm really, really able to express myself creatively in music.

For me, songwriting is really where it's at. I turn to use the guitar just to help me write the songs. That's it. As a result, my guitar playing suffers pretty horribly.

The thing about me is that I'm very fortunate to have had the opportunities with Avenged Sevenfold in songwriting. I really think it's helped to bolster my guitar playing as well.

And I only really like to play the acoustic guitar.

I just play music by listening and responding, so I don't know anything about writing songs or arranging and all of this stuff. You know, it's in my head, but I don't know how to get it out.

I compose melodies in my head and then interpret them musically with my guitar and keep them recorded. The guitar helps me to build unique chord structures on simple melodies.

I consider myself a lyrics guy.

I've been writing and composing songs since I was 5 years old.

I started playing guitar before I can really remember, and I started writing really early, too.

To me, the guitar is a tool for songwriting, and it's fun, too. The day that it's not fun, that's when I'm not gonna play guitar anymore.

'My Life' is not an autobiography. It's just music.