You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four.
MILES DAVISSome musicians play with their heart, you know what I mean? I don’t know what to tell a person that can’t – if you can’t tell a person what you’re talkin’ about when they’re rushin’ or droppin’ the tempo, you get somebody else.
More Miles Davis Quotes
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There are no wrong notes in jazz: only notes in the wrong places.
MILES DAVIS -
Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.
MILES DAVIS -
You can’t eat a winner’s plaque.
MILES DAVIS -
It takes a long time to sound like yourself.
MILES DAVIS -
Drummers – sometimes they play and they listen. And that little listen takes a speck away from the right tempo.
MILES DAVIS -
Look, man, all I am is a trumpet player.
MILES DAVIS -
You can’t compete with Sweets’ sound and time feel. It’s impossible.
MILES DAVIS -
If you don’t know what to play, play nothing.
MILES DAVIS -
Bebop didn’t have the humanity of Duke Ellington. It didn’t even have that recognizable thing. Bird and Diz were great, fantastic, challenging – but they weren’t sweet.
MILES DAVIS -
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 -
If you’re going to drop behind, you have to keep it there.
MILES DAVIS -
If you love them in the morning with their eyes full of crust; if you love them at night with their hair full of rollers, chances are, you’re in love.
MILES DAVIS -
If you sacrifice your art because of some woman, or some man, or for some color, or for some wealth, you can’t be trusted.
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 happen, and that’s where great art and music happens.
MILES DAVIS -
First you imitate, then you innovate.
MILES DAVIS