Jake Shears Quotes

I write in all keys. I've always written in all keys. I've probably written a lot of songs in A.

I use some pretty radical harmonics at the beginning of 'Heresy.'

I'm into scales right now.

When you make music, you're forming these invisible vibrations in the air into different shapes and consistencies and speeds in order to create music, and understanding how the math of that works just gives you more colors to paint with, and allows you to get to what you want quicker.

I can read a chord chart, but I couldn't read a note chart.

I cannot say that I know a lot about scales, but I can write songs.

Historically, the notes of scale systems anywhere have been based on these pure harmonics.

The concept is basically; that the pieces we know and love are made up of scales, arpeggios, and the like.

In improvising, you've got your scale; you've got the notes that are going to sound good with other notes, the intervals that are going to sound good. But you've also got all the chromatic possibilities, the possibilities of sounding dissident, of being unexpected.

You never learn everything on that guitar neck.

Music assists him in the use of harmonic and mathematical proportion.

To me it's no accident that all the symphony orchestras around the world tune up to the note A. And A is 440 cycles, except in Germany where it's 444. But the universe is 450 cycles. So what I'm trying to say is, I think it's God's voice, melody especially. Counterpoint, retrograde inversion, harmony... that's the science and the craft.

Harmonies are nice.

Our musical alphabet is poor and illogical.

I cannot learn creation from other people; I've got to do it myself. Now, honestly, I regret not studying - I don't know about harmonies, or anything, so if I'm composing a song, it's really hard.

I'm usually writing in English, and then I'll get the hankering to change channels. And usually I'll do that when I want to try a whole new set of keys, like musical keys.

I bought one of those Learn How to Play Guitar Chords By Yourself and it shows you the diagram where to put your hands and I took that in my room, sat with my singles and learned how to play guitar.

There's something mathematically satisfying about music: notes fit together and harmony and all that. And mathematics has to do with abstractions and making connections.

For me, theory has always opened things up to where I can walk into a room and just by hearing something I know exactly where to go on the guitar. I have a better time playing because I have a variety of colors to bring to the table.

A lot of music is mathematics. It's balance.

Harmony is an obscure and difficult musical science, but most difficult to those who are not acquainted with the Greek language; because it is necessary to use many Greek words to which there are none corresponding in Latin.

I play guitar and I love the Beatles and melodic music.

Music is the arithmetic of sounds as optics is the geometry of light.

There are notes between notes, you know.

I love to play in the different keys like B or F sharp, or keys that most people don't play in, because they have a better resonance or something. I'm really not fond of F and C. I just stay away from those if I can.