10 Quotes About Guitars All Players Can Relate To

Since we’re talking about quotes, it seems appropriate to quote Issac Newton. Although he may not have been a guitar player, he said something we could all learn from as musicians.

“If I have seen further than others, it is by standing upon the shoulder of giants.”

This attribution to greater people than him comes from a genius. No matter how incredible you are at your art, there are always people who came before you. And many of those people were both greater than you and gave you a boost so that you could achieve more.

Let’s take a few moments to listen to a few of the great guitar players and what they have to say about guitars.

1. Quotes About Guitars: Joe Pass Talks About Not Thinking

“You can’t think and play. If you think about what you’re playing, the playing becomes stilted. You have to just focus on the music I feel, concentrate on the music, focus on what you’re playing, and let the playing come out. Once you start thinking about doing this or doing that, it’s not good. What you are doing is like a language.

You have a whole collection of musical ideas and thoughts that you’ve accumulated through your musical history plus all the musical history of the whole world and it’s all in your subconscious and you draw upon it when you play” ~ Joe Pass

Joe Pass was a master guitarist who did some near-impossible stuff. This man played up-tempo versions of bop tunes and used a conventional technique in unusual ways.

His career lasted from the early 1940s until his death in 1994.

2. Eric Clapton Talks About Finding The Oldest Thing

“When I look for what I’m going to listen to, I go backwards. I’m always going the other way you see. Most people are trying to figure out ‘how do I get in the fast lane going that way?’. I’m going in the other direction. I wanna find the oldest thing to do.” ~ Eric Clapton

If you’re a guitarist and quotes about guitars like this don’t resonate with you, then maybe you need to start listening to the past a little more.

Eric Clapton is one of the most well-known rock and blues guitarists of all time. Rolling Stone magazine ranked him second in their list of “100 Greatest Guitarists Of All Time.” If you don’t know Clapton’s music, we suggest you give him a chance.

3. John Petrucci Talks About Getting Back To The Basics

“I do a lot of the stuff that I started out doing that I think any guitar player that’s concerned about the craft needs to do. It’s basic practicing of the basic elements.

I try to practice like a well-rounded regiment of things where I can kind of do whatever I wanna do and I also have to practice the actual songs to keep that under my fingers as well.” ~ John Petrucci

Part of the progressive metal band from the 80′s, Dream Theater, John Petrucci was named one of the “Top 10 Greatest Guitar Shedders of All Time” by GuitarOne magazine.

And he’s still rocking out on stage and on tour now.

4. Paco De Lucia Talks About Taking A Rest From The Guitar

“Every July, August, and part of September I escape of the guitar, I escape of Paco de Lucia and I go to Mexico to the Carribean. I have a little house there where I spend two months listening to music, no playing because I don’t bring the guitar with me, fishing and cooking my fish and charging the batteries for new concerts.” ~ Paco De Lucia

Resting one day a week at least is more than a religious principle. It’s rare to find quotes about guitars that involve not playing the guitar.

But Paco is right. Your brain sometimes needs rest to assimilate what you learned.

5. John Williams Talks About Community

“I find that musically, looking back, I have learned much more from those relationships, people I have bumped into that I have admired, that’s the way I feel musically I have learned most in life.” ~ John Williams

John Williams is well known for his work as a composer and conductor of music for major films like Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Harry Potter.

He won five Academy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, and 22 Grammy Awards.

6. John Mayer Talks About Wasting Time

“I came from the last couple of years in a generation where we didn’t have a computer around so we didn’t waste as much time on the internet as we do now so I had large chunks of time which to devote to doing something.” ~ John Mayer

Today we have less time. Not because we literally have less time, but we give ourselves less time. If you want to be one of the greats. Take quotes about guitars like this one to heart. Give yourself the time to do something great.

7. Slash Talks About Taking At Least Half An Hour With Your Guitar Every Day

“I just play, just you know? If I just sit down with the guitar and just do whatever for, you know, a half an hour or an hour, whatever. That’s pretty much, that should do it for me.” ~ Slash

Nirvana came out of the west at a time when grunge music was in its infancy.

Slash is right. Give your guitar a little love each day, and you’ll end up rising to the top.

8. Larry Carlton Talks About Simplification

“I want to figure out how I can make the most important statement with the least amount of information, so I don’t run out of ideas by the time I get to my second or third chorus.” ~ Larry Carlton

If you’re a songwriter, quotes about guitars like this one will strike straight through to your marrow.

9. Paul Gilbert Talks About The Struggle

“I had struggled with alternate picking for a very long time. I never thought I could do it.” ~ Paul Gilbert

Even when you are a genius guitarist, you will struggle. Don’t give up. Always keep picking away.

10. Keith Richards Talks About Always Learning

“You’re always learning about this thing every time you pick it up” ~ Keith Richards

You said it, Keith.

Conclusion:

Quotes about guitars should inspire you to do better and practice harder.

What are you favorite guitar quotes? Let us know in the comments below. And, as always, keep rockin’ those tunes.