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

Miles Davis

In other words, an instrument should be an extension of you; it’s supposed to sound like you – the way you walk, the way you dress, you know.
MILES DAVIS

Instrument Sound Walk Way Yourself
Music is an addiction.
MILES DAVIS

Addiction Music One Liner
The way you change and help music is by tryin’ to invent new ways to play.
MILES DAVIS

Change Help Music Play Way
Always listen for what you can leave out.
MILES DAVIS

Leave Listening Yourself
There are no wrong notes in jazz: only notes in the wrong places.
MILES DAVIS

Note Place Wrong
I don’t like to hear someone put down dixieland. Those people who say there’s no music but bop are just stupid; it shows how much they don’t know.
MILES DAVIS

Known Music Myself People Stupidity
Look, man, all I am is a trumpet player.
MILES DAVIS

Instrument Man Myself Player
If you’re not nervous then you’re not paying attention.
MILES DAVIS

Attention Nervous Pay Yourself
In music, silence is more important than sound.
MILES DAVIS

Important Music Silence Sound
You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.
MILES DAVIS

Comfortable Musician Ruin Yourself
When kids don’t learn about their own heritage in school, they just don’t care about school… But you won’t see it in the history books unless we get the power to write our own history and tell our story ourselves.
MILES DAVIS

Children Heritage History Learning Ourselves Story
The only reason to write a new song is because you’re tired of the old ones.
MILES DAVIS

Old Reason Tired Writing Yourself
I think every Negro over fifty should get a medal for putting up with all that crap.
MILES DAVIS

Thinking Tolerance
Play what you know and then play above that
MILES DAVIS

Instrument Known Music Play Yourself
I can’t write anything for myself. I can write when I hear like [John] Coltrane play something; I used to write chords and stuff for him to play in one bar. I can write for other people, but I don’t never write for myself.
MILES DAVIS

Lyrics Music Myself People Play Writing
It takes a long time to sound like yourself.
MILES DAVIS

Sound Time Yourself
You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four.
MILES DAVIS

Instrument Music Play Right Yourself
In high school I was best in music class on the trumpet, but the prizes went to the boys with blue eyes. I made up my mind to outdo anybody white on my horn.
MILES DAVIS

Best Discrimination Musician Myself White
Drummers – sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo.
MILES DAVIS

Away Listening Music Time
If you don’t know what to play, play nothing.
MILES DAVIS

Known Play Yourself
You can’t compete with Sweets’ sound and time feel. It’s impossible.
MILES DAVIS

Feeling Impossible Sound Time Yourself
You can tell whether a person plays well or not by the way he carries the instrument, whether it means something to him or not.
MILES DAVIS

Instrument Person Play Yourself
You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads.
MILES DAVIS

Love Music Myself Play Quit
I think the greatest sound in the world is the human voice.
MILES DAVIS

Greatness Human Sound Voice World
I never thought that the music called “jazz” was ever meant to reach just a small group of people, or become a museum thing locked under glass like all the other dead things that were once considered artistic.
MILES DAVIS

Artistic Music People Reach Thinking
We’re not going to play the blues anymore. Let the white folks play the blues. They got ’em, so they can keep ’em.
MILES DAVIS

Music Play Sadness White
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

Father Myself Play Suffering

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

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

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Popular Authors

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