Music Quotes by Pat Metheny

Music is one big thing to me.

— Pat Metheny

Jazz is not something that can be defined through blunt instruments. It is much more poetic than that.

— Pat Metheny

Whatever my recorded output is, it's a reflection of a general love of music.

— Pat Metheny

Music is what you notice when it's no longer in your presence...

— Pat Metheny

The reality of music itself, which is the fabric of life for me, is where most of my attention is.

— Pat Metheny

Jazz is an idea that is more powerful than the details of its history.

— Pat Metheny

I think that the melodic piece of the puzzle in music is the most esoteric and difficult to quantify.

— Pat Metheny

Jazz demands that you bring to it things that are valuable to you, that are personal to you.

— Pat Metheny

The best musicians are not the best players, they're the best listeners.

— Pat Metheny

I'm triggering acoustic instruments. I'm literally beating, smacking, hitting, blowing, doing physical things. It's an incredibly exciting way to make music.

— Pat Metheny

I can't really say enough about Chris Potter. He is one of the greatest musicians I have ever known, and every second…

— Pat Metheny

There are some musicians who are talented and see themselves as some kind of natural geniuses or something because of a certain…

— Pat Metheny

I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of…

— Pat Metheny

There's more bad music in jazz than any other form. Maybe that's because the audience doesn't really know what's happening.

— Pat Metheny

I love playing and working on music. It is something that I feel really lucky to be able to spend my life…

— Pat Metheny

'The Unity Band' project has been life-changing for me. I have led many groups of talented musicians, but this is unlike anything…

— Pat Metheny

There are musicians who go through their lives sort of shedding their skins. For me, I've always felt backward-compatible to Version 1.0.

— Pat Metheny

For me, let's keep jazz as folk music. Let's not make jazz classical music. Let's keep it as street music, as people's…

— Pat Metheny

The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me.…

— Pat Metheny

I met Gary (Burton) at the Wichita Jazz Festival when I was 18 -- he was one of my favorite musicians and…

— Pat Metheny

The more I can learn about music, the more I learn about other things.

— Pat Metheny

My first relationship to any kind of musical situation is as a listener.

— Pat Metheny

I was able to work with the best musicians in Kansas City starting when I was really young

— Pat Metheny

I don't worry too much about the fundamentalist principles that are in almost any discussion about Jazz.

— Pat Metheny

It is Jazz's very nature to change, to develop & adapt to the circumstances of its environment.

— Pat Metheny

If jazz has to be termed as a wave, then music is a sea, but if the reflectors in the water is…

— Pat Metheny

People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a Jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.

— Pat Metheny

Jazz music will continue to thrive, possibly in unexpected ways.

— Pat Metheny

Listening is the key to everything good in music.

— Pat Metheny

What I look for in musicians is a sense of infinity.

— Pat Metheny

When talking about writing, I often use the analogy of archaeology. There are these great tunes all around. Your skill as a…

— Pat Metheny

The beauty of jazz is that it's malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities.

— Pat Metheny

Avant-garde, jazz, pop, classical, country and western, rock, free, straight-ahead, etc. are ultimately meaningless terms in the face of the music being…

— Pat Metheny