Damn the rules, it’s the feeling that counts.
JOHN COLTRANEI think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music.
More John Coltrane Quotes
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The first time I heard Bird play, it hit me right between the eyes.
JOHN COLTRANE -
I think I was first awakened to musical exploration by Dizzy Gillespie and Bird. It was through their work that I began to learn about musical structures and the more theoretical aspects of music.
JOHN COLTRANE -
All a musician can do is to get closer to the source.
JOHN COLTRANE -
I never even thought about whether or not they understand what I’m doing, the emotional reaction is all that matters as long as there’s some feeling of communication, it isn’t necessary that it be understood.
JOHN COLTRANE -
I’ve always felt that even though a man was not a Christian, he still has to know the truth some way or another. Or if he was a Christian, he could know the truth. The truth itself doesn’t have any name on it to me. And each man has to find this for himself, I think.
JOHN COLTRANE -
You can play a shoestring if you’re sincere.
JOHN COLTRANE -
I’m into scales right now.
JOHN COLTRANE -
I think the majority of musicians are interested in truth.
JOHN COLTRANE -
Whatever I’d say would be an understatement. I can only say my life was made much better by knowing him. He was one of the greatest people I’ve ever known, as a man, a friend, and a musician.
JOHN COLTRANE -
Sometimes I think I was making music through the wrong end of a magnifying glass.
JOHN COLTRANE -
All a musician can do is to get closer to the sources of nature, and so feel that he is in communion with the natural laws.
JOHN COLTRANE -
I want to be a force for real good. In other words, I know there are bad forces. You know, I know that there are forces out here that bring suffering to others and misery to the world, but I want to be the opposite force. I want to be the force which is truly for good.
JOHN COLTRANE -
My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being…When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups…I want to speak to their souls.
JOHN COLTRANE -
All of the technique doesn’t matter only if the feeling is right.
JOHN COLTRANE -
Sometimes I wish I could walk up to my music as if for the first time, as if I had never heard it before. Being so inescapably a part of it, I’ll never know what the listener gets, what the listener feels, and that’s too bad.
JOHN COLTRANE