55+ Miles Davis Quotes From The Trumpeter And Jazz Icon
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Miles Davis's full name is Miles Dewey Davis.
Miles Davis was a music composer and the foreman of a band. He was also an iconic trumpeter.
These best Miles Davis quotes include Miles Davis jazz quotes, Miles Davis quotes 'play what you know', some of which may be an improvisation quote. Here you will also find Miles Davis funny quotes and Miles Davis quotes about love.
If you like these Miles Davis quotes then you might also like Louis Armstrong quotes and Duke Ellington quotes.
Miles Davis Motivational Quotes
The phenomenal American jazz musician, Miles Davis, made his mark in the music world in the jazz genre. These Miles Davis quotes will make you believe that the sky is the limit. Keep reading this list of inspiring Miles Davis quotes.
1. "If you understood everything I say, you'd be me!"
– Miles Davis.
2. “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.
3. "A legend is an old man with a cane known for what he used to do. I'm still doing it."
– Miles Davis.
4. "Don't worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one."
– Miles Davis.
5. "Knowledge is freedom and ignorance is slavery."
– Miles Davis.
6. "First you imitate, then you innovate."
– Miles Davis.
7. “If you’re not making a mistake, it’s a mistake.”
– Miles Davis.
8. "It's not the note you play that's the wrong note - it's the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong."
– Miles Davis.
9. "My ego only needs a good rhythm section."
– Miles Davis.
10. "In improvisation, there are no mistakes."
– Miles Davis.
11. “It took me twenty years study and practice to work up to what I wanted to play in this performance. How can she expect to listen five minutes and understand it?”
– Miles Davis.
12. "Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing."
– Miles Davis.
13. "I learned so much from my cousin, Alexander. I think he did things the right way. That's how he made it to the NFL... But the biggest thing I got from him was working hard and doing whatever you can to help the team."
– Miles Davis.
14. "All my inspiration comes from Ahmad Jamal."
– Miles Davis.
15. "You can dominate a game if you dominate on the line...We're just going to have to go out there and work hard and blow people off the ball, and let our runners do what they do best."
– Miles Davis.
16. "Always look ahead, but never look back."
– Miles Davis.
17. "I was minding my own business when something says to me, 'You ought to blow trumpet'. I have just been trying ever since."
– Miles Davis.
18. "If you love 'em in the morning with their eyes full of crust; if you love 'em at night with their hair full of rollers, chances are, you're in love."
– Miles Davis.
Miles Davis Quotes On Music
Miles Davis quotes are revolutionary when it comes to American jazz. Here is a list of Miles Davis quotes which are all about music in the American jazz industry. These Miles Davis quotes will make your interest peak in jazz.
19. "I'll play it first and tell you what it is later."
– Miles Davis.
20. “A lot of people ask me where music is going today. I think it's going in short phrases. If you listen, anybody with an ear can hear that. Music is always changing. It changes because of the times and the technology that's available, the material that things are made of, like plastic cars instead of steel.”
– Miles Davis.
21. "Jazz music has got to have that thing. You have to be born with it. You can't even buy it. If you could buy it, they'd have it at the next Newport festival."
– Miles Davis.
22. “I always listen to what I can leave out.”
– Miles Davis.
23. "For me, music and life are all about style."
– Miles Davis.
24. "The only thing I'm interested in is the music and the musicians. I don't acknowledge applause 'cause I'm giving them something. They're not giving me anything with their applause."
– Miles Davis.
25. "So when you hear an accident today it sounds different, not all the metal colliding like it was in the forties and fifties. Musicians pick up sounds and incorporate that into their playing, so the music that they make will be different."
– Miles Davis.
26. "You can't play anything on a horn that Louis hasn't played."
– Miles Davis.
27. “I never thought jazz was meant to be a museum piece like other dead things once considered artistic.”
– Miles Davis.
28. "I love Pops, I love the way he sings, the way he plays - everything he does, except when he says something against modern-jazz music."
– Miles Davis.
29. "Music is a funny thing when you really come to think about it."
– Miles Davis.
30. "The music has gotten thick.
Guys give me tunes and they're full of chords. I can't play them...I think a movement in jazz is beginning away from the conventional string of chords, and a return to the emphasis on melodic rather than a harmonic variation. There will be fewer chords but infinite possibilities as to what to do with them."
– Miles Davis.
31. "You'd be surprised. Drummers ape each other. The way every rock n' roll record sounds like something else but not all together. Everything other drummers play, if you're playing drums, they all hear."
– Miles Davis.
32. “You know why I quit playing ballads? Cause I love playing ballads.”
– Miles Davis.
33. "Prince is from the school of James Brown, and I love James Brown because of all the great rhythms he plays."
– Miles Davis.
34. “See, if you put a musician in a place where he has to do something different from what he does all the time, then he can do that - but he's got to think differently in order to do it.”
– Miles Davis.
35. "I know what I've done for music, but don't call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis."
– Miles Davis.
36. "When you work with great musicians, they are always a part of you... their spirits are walking around in me, so they're still here and passing it on to others."
– Miles Davis.
37. "When I'm playing, I'm never through. It's unfinished. I like to find a place to leave for someone else to finish it."
– Miles Davis.
38. "Jazz is the big brother of Revolution. Revolution follows it around."
– Miles Davis.
Miles Davis Quotes On Career
Miles Davis quotes can be instrumental in helping you focus on your career. Although most of these Miles Davis quotes are in reference to American jazz, they can be easily applied to any career. Read on to know what Miles Davis had to say about career building.
39. "I can tell whether a person can play just by the way he stands."
– Miles Davis.
40. "Do not fear mistakes. There are none."
– Miles Davis.
41. "If you don’t know what to play, play nothing."
– Miles Davis.
42. “Look, man, all I am is a trumpet player.”
– Miles Davis.
43. “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.
44. "We don’t play to be seen. I’m addicted to music, not audiences."
– Miles Davis.
45. “If it sounds clean and slick, I’ve been doing it too long.”
– Miles Davis.
46. "Someday I'm gonna call me up on the phone, so when I answer, I can tell myself to shut up."
– Miles Davis.
47. “When you get in front of an audience, you should try to give ’em something. After all, they’re there looking at you like this. You can’t go out and give ’em nothing.”
– Miles Davis.
48. "Anybody can play. The note is only 20 percent. The attitude of who plays it is 80 percent."
– Miles Davis.
49. “You should never be comfortable, man. Being comfortable fouled up a lot of musicians.”
– Miles Davis.
50. "When you’re creating...even the sky ain’t the limit."
– Miles Davis.
51. “You have to know 400 notes that you can play, then pick the right four.”
– Miles Davis.
52. “Play what you know, and then play above that.”
– Miles Davis.
53. "In music, silence is more important than sound."
– Miles Davis.
54. “Bebop was about change, about evolution. It wasn’t about standing still and becoming safe. If anybody wants to keep creating they have to be about change.”
– Miles Davis.
55. "A painting is music you can see and music is a painting you can hear."
– Miles Davis.
56. "When you do anything too long, you either wear it out or lose interest."
– Miles Davis.
Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Miles Davis quotes then why not take a look at Thelonious Monk quotes, and jazz quotes.
Second image credit: spatuletail / Shutterstock.com
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Bachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
Rajnandini RoychoudhuryBachelor of Arts specializing in English, Master of Arts specializing in English
With a Master of Arts in English, Rajnandini has pursued her passion for the arts and has become an experienced content writer. She has worked with companies such as Writer's Zone and has had her writing skills recognized by publications such as The Telegraph. Rajnandini is also trilingual and enjoys various hobbies such as music, movies, travel, philanthropy, writing her blog, and reading classic British literature.
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