Pat Metheny Quotes

Ultimately, I'm a fan of music. I describe writing music sometimes as hieroglyphics, like, you know, excavating, gently brushing off these artifacts and discovering the song underneath it all. It seems as if it is already written in it.

There's a lot of craft that goes into achieving a hit song - at the beginning of your career, you're usually more inspiration than craft, and you get great when those intersect. A skilled songwriter can get you to that intersection.

But then you have to write a song, so at that point, I picked up the reins and started to write lyrics.

When I was a kid, I wrote music - from the age of 11 until the age of 18.

Sometimes I will click on a random sequence of notes- not to actually use it in a song, but to see if I can find maybe a simple pattern that I can build off of.

We start a lot with melodies and instrumentation and trying to figure out good melodies for verses and choruses. We get to lyrics sometimes second, so we'll start humming a melody, finding something, and see where the music takes you as far as lyrics are and what you want to say and go from there.

You're just playing, playing, playing, and then an image or something will come into your mind, and basically you're just narrating it with music, letting it move along.

The first time I tried to write was when I was 14, after I got an electric guitar. I put a song together, and it wasn't that bad! The writing came natural to me.

I pick up my guitar and play. Something might come, and then the pen comes out. Then an edit, until something comes out that you're actually satisfied with.

I wrote my first song at 6. I spent every day with the guitar, and I just made up songs.

I just play, and I'm always trying to write songs.

I write music visually.

I usually have an idea of how I want a song to sound, but I don't always know how to get there.

We worked very hard to make the lyrics suit the music. I can't, like Elton John, for example, compose by lyrics. Elton has a great talent for that. Whatever you give him, including your questions, he composes in half an hour and makes a great song out of it.

Music comes to me more readily than words.

Songs do write themselves through you; I know people find it hard to believe, but it's true.

Well, I have to have some type of visual in my head to finish a song. I can't finish a song if I can't see anything.

Sometimes, I sit with my guitar and start playing... something or the other pops into my head... Basically, I write whatever that comes to my mind. I've written a lot of songs, but they are lying in my cupboard... I mean to do something about them someday.

I usually start with a lyric and see where that takes me.

I really feel like I've written my most effective music in the instrumental realms.

I like to tinkle at my piano when I'm working out a new song - I just put my fingers down and see what comes out.

I can't force myself to make up a song. Music comes to me naturally.

When I'm writing instrumental music, I try to find musical and non-musical inspirations.

I write all my own music, everything.

Making music is mostly spontaneously following sounds you find compelling that you chase and see where they're leading you.