Rick Nielsen Quotes

It excites me when a person puts their whole self in a song or rhyme, or instrument. It fills me.

I was touched by the magic of music. My way to communicate was through my guitar and music.

Music, I feel, must be emotional first and intellectual second.

I've always thought that the act of playing the guitar was the act of trying to make a point of playing the guitar.

I've always believed you should sing songs you can really put yourself into. I think the emotion you put into it is just as important as singing the notes.

As a singer, you have to bring the soul to the song.

When Lester plays, he almost seems to be singing; one can almost hear the words.

The conductor must breathe life into the score. It is you and you alone who must expose it to the understanding, reveal the hidden jewel to the sun at the most flattering angles.

Music should be able to invoke the natural emotions in all human beings. Music is not notes fixed on apiece of paper.

For me, how I feel about what I wrote down turns into a song.

The ballet embodies the notes of music. And sometimes you almost feel like you can see the notes dance up there on the stage.

Is it not the business of the conductor to convey to the public in its dramatic form the central idea of a composition; and how can he convey that idea successfully if he does not enter heart and soul into the life of the music and the tale it unfolds?

Music is an emotion, and I put it out there.

Music is essentially an emotional language, so you want to feel something from the relationships and build music based on those feelings.

What I couldn't say verbally I was able to express physically through the guitar.

With film, it's all about the actor being able to feel the things that the character's feeling. It must do some strange things to your mind. Music I find much easier because you're being honest about where you are as a person.

Obviously, a bass sounds like a bass and a guitar sounds like a guitar, but the way you play the guitar reflects your personality.

In music, you feel a connection to the voice and think about the person behind it. In art that's secondary.

I go for as much feeling as I can rather than show what I can do up and down the neck. I don't play to show people ability.

In chamber music, the audience can hear each instrument and understand (and feel) what the composer and the musicians have in mind as they play.

Singing isn't always about being on key; it's about emotionality.

I make my guitar scream with pain or pleasure or sensuality. It makes people move their feet and shake their bodies. That's what music does.

Words make you think a thought. Music makes you feel a feeling. A song makes you feel a thought.

I don't think I handle the notes much differently from other pianists. But the pauses between the notes - ah, there is where the artistry lies!!

I wanted to be able to play guitar. I wanted to be able to make music hurt.