109 Quotes by Pat Metheny

Players get to that intermediate level where they can already play pretty good, and that's kind of a dangerous period because they tend to start playing only the things that they can play, rather than the things they can't.

I try to be prepared for the moment, through understanding, and being warmed up, knowing all about chords and scales, so I don't even have to think and I can get right to what it is I want to say.

I met Gary (Burton) at the Wichita Jazz Festival when I was 18 -- he was one of my favorite musicians and I got to play a few tunes with him there. Shortly after that, I joined his band, which was the equivalent of joining the Beatles for me! He was, and still is, one of the greatest musicians I have ever been lucky enough to be around.

It's a shame that jazz is now being turned into dried fruit. It's becoming quantized, diced and defined. It's becoming an idiom. To me if it's anything, jazz is a verb ? it's more like a process than it is a thing.

...to me if it's anything, jazz is a verb-it's more like a process than it is a thing.

I just have never seen anyone build anything significant in any field without having a deep and detailed sense of what they are building on.

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

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

Sometimes I try to lose my identity, and I can't get rid of it!