Jimmy Smith Quotes

I taught myself to play the piano, because I wanted to play it.

I'm basically a keyboard player, so if it's got a keyboard on it, I'll give it a shot. I played a lot of organ in the early days. I can make a few chords on guitar, but that's about it.

I started playing harp about fourteen years ago.

When we first started playing in the early days, none of us really had any idea about writing our own songs yet. We were struggling how to learn our instruments and play songs to be able to perform for people.

Soloing was pretty easy for me because it was probably the first thing I've ever done.

I'm an interpreter of music.

I used to play violin, but I wasn't very good!

I don't have a very disciplined approach to practicing or anything, but I do tend to have a guitar around most of the time, which I strum on most of the day.

I play a musical instrument a little, but only for my own amazement.

It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.

I do love using keyboards and I love writing keyboard parts, but I am not a player in the true sense of the word.

I like guitar. It just turned out that it's the instrument I learned to play. I have a lot of respect for it, and I'm learning more and more every day. For me, the classic band setup - guitars, drums, bass - will stay fresh forever. I don't know. I'm still into it.

Guitar playing is just something that came to me and is really second nature now.

I never really trained to be a musician, but I've been playing guitar since I was around, like, 13 years old. For me, the guitar has always been the instrument that I've played. I play a little piano. I taught myself everything by ear. I don't read music at all, which has not really been a hindrance.

I played piano, I learned a lot about music.

I've never known how to read music in my life.

I've never really been schooled in music theory. I'm a guitar player, and I attack the guitar in a certain way that it not fully unique to me, but it's more unique that some other people.

Scales played in the correct musical way are very exciting and rewarding.

I want to learn to sight-read music. And to play the bass pedals on the organ. Those are my only ambitions.

I grew up playing classical piano and percussion.

I didn't have to apply my mind to the aspects of scales and playing, and instead, I focused on creativity. I wrote music, but I didn't 'practice' it. So yeah, you can always get better and improve your technique, but hopefully, that comes through being a musician and composing and being a creative individual.

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

I'm a little musically inclined; I play the clarinet and the saxophone.

It's quite hard to have your mom as a teacher - it's like, she's not necessarily a 'real teacher' for me. But she'd always teach me to really hear the music, and develop my ear, and to try and hear the harmonics of the piano.

I can sit on a chair with a score and give myself a wonderful performance.