Keith Jarrett Quotes

I think it's like music for the sake of music, and a lot of the words stem from liking music a lot, wanting to be a good band and having a good sense of humour, and living in a situation where we're free to pretty much do what we want.

Hip hop is doing the new rock thing; there are no rules. They can do anything, really. And that's inspiring.

Any talk of 'craft' makes me laugh. My music looks outward; it does not gaze upon itself in admiration. Artisanal is for cheesemakers. I don't know anything about music theory. Every time I approach my guitar, it's like the first time. There's no craft in that.

Many times in music, if you are given limitations, it expands the creativity.

The rule is to try and never play the same thing twice when you have the freedom to do that in the song.

Improvising is writing, too - there was no music and now there's music. So that's composition. And any time you take any sort of a performance liberty, you're making a compositional choice. I don't know a serious performer who hasn't made compositional decisions, who hasn't engaged in the art of composition.

In hip-hop, what you have is you have a lot of formulaic-type bands or rappers that come up. They saw something on the radio, and they want to mimic that formula. And that's just boring. I don't wanna record something just to make money; I want to record something to enjoy it and have fun because I'm a music lover.

A lot of people from my generation of music are so focused on playing things correctly or to perfection that they're stuck in that safe place.

I don't always have to be on what is the newest in music is. I'm slowly educating myself in music. For me, I feel more free in not knowing everything in what I'm doing. You can start making up too many rules for yourself. It should just be love and fun and feeling good.

What I always try to do is to respond to the song; I've always rebelled against theory.

See, there were certain rules I'd always used, and people like Trane, they would break those rules.

Jazz stands for freedom. It's supposed to be the voice of freedom: Get out there and improvise, and take chances, and don't be a perfectionist - leave that to the classical musicians.

I have a curiosity that compels me to find ways to make music that are fresh and new.

I learned that music should be fun and should be a way to express yourself - that there aren't really any rules.

Music is the only thing I've ever known that doesn't have any rules at all.

With human beings it could be argued that all music-making is, in essence, grounded in improvisation.

I think you have to keep a childlike quality to play music or make a record.

I had spent many years pursuing excellence, because that is what classical music is all about... Now it was dedicated to freedom, and that was far more important.

In Atlanta, there's no limitation to where you can take your music. You can be as creative as you want to be.

Singing is a limitless form of expression, and I love to experiment with my work.

Just the type of music that was around at the same time as I was writing. Some of it was wicked, definitely. But there was just one direction which I thought could be pushed that no one was pushing.

You have got to make new music, that is the way that I look at it anyway.

I think the best riffs and the best songs come when you're jamming and having a good time.

Any good music must be an innovation.

If you force yourself to write away from the piano, you come up with more inventive things. If you're too good a piano player, as some composers are, the music may become flavorless and glib. And if you're not a very good pianist, you're limited to the same patterns.