Play Quotes by Miles Davis

You ever hear Buddy Miles play the drums? You know, he doesn't vary the tempo at all.

— Miles Davis

You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four.

— Miles Davis

I'll play it first and tell you what it is later.

— Miles Davis

If you don't know what to play, play nothing.

— Miles Davis

When we edit the music, I always remember, "It's my band. Save me a place to play."

— Miles Davis

Play what you know and then play above that

— Miles Davis

“Don't play what s there play what's not there.”

— Miles Davis

I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands.

— Miles Davis

My father's rich, my momma's good looking. Right? And I can play the Blues. I've never suffered and don't intend to suffer.

— Miles Davis

I don't pay no attention to what critics say about me, the good or the bad. The toughest critic I got is…

— Miles Davis

If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad.

— Miles Davis

It took me twenty years study and practice to work up to what I wanted to play in this performance. How can…

— Miles Davis

It's not the note you play that's the wrong note - it's the note you play afterwards that makes it right or…

— Miles Davis

Drummers - sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo.

— Miles Davis

Catch Harry Belafonte. He's got a helluva rhythm section.And so have the Pointer Sisters. And that little guy with Sammy Clayton. He…

— Miles Davis

I've always told the musicians in my band to play what they know and then play above that. Because then anything can…

— Miles Davis

That was my gift . . . having the ability to put certain guys together that would create a chemistry and then…

— Miles Davis

Somebody, my daughter or my wife, gave me a music box for Christmas. It plays "My Funny Valentine" on celeste, you know?…

— Miles Davis

Dave [Holland] plays the way he wants to play. And it's usually what's needed. You know, Dave is such a deep thinker.…

— Miles Davis

You'd be surprised. Drummers ape each other. The way every rock n' roll record sounds like something else but not all together.…

— Miles Davis

If you got up on the bandstand at Minton's and couldn't play, you were not only going to be embarrassed by the…

— Miles Davis

I can't write anything for myself. I can write when I hear like [John] Coltrane play something; I used to write chords…

— Miles Davis

Maybe you play a melody twice. You play it once like you like it, and some parts that you don't like you…

— Miles Davis

I like Stan [Getz], because he has so much patience, the way he plays those melodies - other people can't get nothing…

— Miles Davis

See, if you put a musician in a place where he has to do something different from what he does all the…

— Miles Davis

I don't hold it against Dizzy [Gillespie], you know, but if a guy wants to play a certain way, you work towards…

— Miles Davis

It's not the notes you play, it's the notes you don't play.

— Miles Davis

We don't play to be seen. I'm addicted to music, not audiences.

— Miles Davis

“Don t play what's there, play what's not there.”

— Miles Davis

The way you change and help music is by tryin' to invent new ways to play

— Miles Davis

Coltrane, you cant play everything at once!

— Miles Davis

When the band plays fast, you play slow; when the band plays slow, you play fast.

— Miles Davis

Sometimes you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.

— Miles Davis

I'll play it and tell you what it is later.

— Miles Davis

It takes you years to learn how to play like yourself.

— Miles Davis

I'll play it first and figure out what it's called later.

— Miles Davis

“you have to play a long time to be able to play like yourself.”

— miles davis

“Sometimes you have to play a long time to play like yourself.”

— Miles Davis

Certain drummers drop time, and I like to play on top of the beat.

— Miles Davis

You can't play anything on a horn that Louis Armstrong hasn't played

— Miles Davis