Aποφθέγματα για έμπνευση προς μουσικούς

Για εμένα ένα ρητό δεν είναι ανάγκη να προέρχεται ή να απευθύνεται αποκλειστικά από μουσικούς πρός μουσικούς. Όπως θα δείτε παρακάτω, πολλές φορές βρίσκω αξία αλλά και προεκτάσεις στα λόγια διασήμων μαθηματικών, λογοτεχνών ή καλλιτεχνών, που “κουμπώνουν” μια χαρά στη μουσική.

Αν και αυτό το άρθρο γραφτήκε από drummer, αρχικά προς drummer, θεωρώ ότι θα ταυτιστούν όσοι φίλοι του site προσπαθούν να μάθουν ένα όργανο.

Ελπίζω να σας εμπνεύσουν και εσάς όσο εμένα.

Καλή ανάγνωση!

“Ιn order to be a good drummer you have to learn the “Foundation”. I break it down into 4 categories.

1.Τhe technical foundation

2.Τhe reading foundation

3. Τhe independence foundation and finally the listening foundation. Dave Weckl  interview on Ronnie Scotts 2017

“A good teacher can never be fixed in a routine. Each moment requires a sensitive mind that is constanly changing and adapting.The teacher must never impose this student to fit his favourite pattern. A good teacher protect his pupils from his influence. A good teacher is never a giver of truth. He is a guide... a pointer to the truth that each student must find for himself. I am not teaching you anything. I am just helping you to explore yourself.” Bruce Lee. 1940-1973

“Κeep it simple and just groove” Εmmanuelle Caplette.

” Simplicity isn’t stupidity ” – Steve Jordan

“Aν την ώρα που ηχογραφείς, δεν ακούς τον μετρονόμο… είσαι ακριβώς πάνω του” Poogie Bell.

“Don’t expect from a guitarist to keep the...time. ” Jared Falk

“Eν καιρό πολέμου{Live}, όλοι οι κανόνες καταργούνται..”Η. Δουμάνης

«Αν κάτι ακούγεται ηλίθιο αργά – τρέξτο… αν κάτι ακούγεται πολύπλοκο - αργά... είναι για μείνει αργά “Η. Δουμάνης”

“I love the technique that Buddy had..but to this day i am still amazed by the way he “drove” the band. That is unique. Only he could do it. It wasn’t about chops – it was about musicality and art”  Dave Weckl 

“Playing with a metronome and playing with people is a whole different bowl game” Steve Gadd

” I grew up listening to Steve Gadd, Jeff Porcaro, John Robinson… These guys knew how to make the music feel nice. It wasn’t necessary about making it feel complicated. Gavin Harrison

“I am very inspired by architecture and design. I see a lot of similarites with composing and drums. All of them have to be first functional but they don’t need to be ugly.”  Gavin Harrison

“Βαγγέλη μην παίζεις ποτέ για τους πιθανούς ντράμμερ που ενδεχομένως να είναι απο κάτω σε ένα μαγαζί… παίξε για τον απλό κόσμο που δεν έχει ιδέα από τύμπανα. “Η.Δουμανης.”

” Δεν ανταγωνίζομαι κανέναν. Δεν έχω καμιά επιθυμία να παίξω το παιχνίδι του να γίνω καλύτερος από κάποιον άλλο. Θέλω μόνο, να γίνω σήμερα λίγο καλύτερος από αυτό που ήμουν χτές. ” Unknown

“If you are not prepared to make a mistake, you ‘ll never make anything original” sir Ken Robinson

“Surve the music – support the music and the musicians. You are not there to play by yourself.” Dave Weckl

“All children are born artists” Pablo Picasso 

“If it doesn’t challenge you... it won’t change you” Unknown

“Almost everything I’ve done, I’ve done through my own creativity. I don’t think I ever had to listen to anyone else to learn how to play drums. I wish I could say that for about ten thousand other drummers.”  Buddy Rich

“Practice like you ‘ve never won, perform like you ‘ve never lost.” Unknown.

“Music washes away from the Soul the dust of everyday life.” Berthold Auerbach

“Without music, life would be a mistake.” Friedrich Nietzsche

“If you want to be a Rock star or just be famous, then run down the street naked, you’ll make the news or something. But if you want music to be your livelihood, then play, play, play and play! And eventually you’ll get to where you want to be” Eddie Van Halen

“Jazz is smooth and cool. Jazz is rage. Jazz flows like water. Jazz never seems to begin or end. Jazz isn’t methodical, but Jazz isn’t messy either. Jazz is a conversation, a give and take. Jazz is the connection and communication between musicians. Jazz is abandon.”  Nat Wolff

“Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.” Frank Zappa

“The wise musicians are those who play what they can master”. Duke Ellington

“People who don’t take care of their drums really annoy me.”  John Bonham

“I’ve never been able to sit round on my own and play drums, practice in the back room. I’ve always played with other musicians. It’s how I play, there’s no joy for me in playing on my own, bashing away. I need a bass, a piano, guitar, Whatever, and then I can play”  Ringo Starr

“The drums tell me everything. Everything else registers a millisecond later. “Adam Clayton

“Καλύτερα να το έχεις και να μην το χρειαστείς παρά να το χρειαστείς και να μην το έχεις!!!”  Unknown περί των πάντων

” The chief cause of unhappiness is trading what you want most for what you want right now”. Zig Ziglar

“The greatest advice i can give to anyone trying out a new coordination exercise is: Keep you eyes at your hands and feel while practicing. Don’t look at the sky, the moon or the ceiling. Only your hands and feet” Mike Mangini

“But primarily the drummer is supposed to sit back there and Swing the band” Buddy Rich

“To keep creating you have to be about change” Miles Davis 

“It’s not the notes you play it’s the notes you don’t play” Miles Davis

“Yπομονή – επιμονή και αγάπη” Unknown {περί των πάντων..} 

“ Mελέτα αργά–αργά–αργά–αργά και στο τέλος γρήγορα.” Η. Δουμάνης

¨It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge” Albert Einstein

” Don’t try this {technique…}at a top 20 Pop hit”  D. Weckl

“Anybody can play a note. The note is only 20%. The rest 80% is the attitude of the motherfucker who plays it” Miles Davis 

“I think at one time every drummer wanted to play like Krupa or wanted to win a Gene Krupa drum contest. This is the big inspiration for drummers and naturally it has to be the same way for me.” Buddy Rich

“Parts of music are like a game—the rules being, the rhythm and form of a tune. The game is to not get lost and maybe even to push the music to the edge of losing others. It offers a certain excitement but not depth to the music. Nonetheless it’s fun, and keeps you on your toes thus earning the word GAME (Ari Hoenig, Burd).”

” Creativity is contagious- pass it on.”  Albert Einstein

“ Tο γρήγορα πρέπει να έρθει μέσα από το αργά..Το γρήγορα μέσα από το γρήγορα οδηγεί μαθηματικά σε βρώμικο παίξιμο..και κανείς δεν εκτιμάει ένα βρωμιάρη μουσικό” H. Δουμάνης.

” I hate shuffles” Jeff Porcaro 1986 Seminar M.I

“Zappa called me a few times for a session..and i turned him down.. He propably thought i was busy..Truth is i couldn’t play all these charts.. I’ ve seen what he gives to Vinnie or Bozzio.. Zappa would tear me to pieces in a second” .  Jeff Porcaro 1986 Seminar M.I

¨Μην χάσεις τον ρυθμό προσπαθώντας να βρείς μια νότα¨V. Wooten
” H μουσική είναι μια γλώσσα.Όπως τα μωρά μαθαίνουν να μιλάνε γιατί επικοινωνούν με “επαγγελματίες” ομιλητές,  έτσι και οι μουσικοί πρέπει να παίζουν μαζί με μουσικούς  καλύτερους απο αυτούς αν θέλουν να εξελιχθούν” V. Wooten
” Αν παίζεις τζαζ και παίξεις μια λάθος νότα ..παίξτην ξανά για να νομίζει το κοινό πως την εννοούσες” V. Wooten

I never studied anything, really. I didn’t study the drums. I joined bands and made all the mistakes onstage. Ringo Starr

“I don’t have perfect time. My drums sound like a drummer, not a drum machine”. Taylor Hawkins

” One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Bob Marley

“Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom. If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. They teach you there’s a boundary line to music. But, man, there’s no boundary line to art.”  Charlie Parker

“Patience is not the ability to wait but the ability to keep a positive attitude while waiting” Unknown

” Εάν δεν υπήρχε η σιωπή δεν θα υπήρχε η μουσική”V. Wooten

“To be a good musician you need to be a good listener” V .Wooten

” A good drummer sounds good on anything..a bad drummer sounds bad on everything” Unknown

“Never give up a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplice it. The time will pass anyway.”Unknown.

¨Μην ξεχνάς..οτι η πάυση είναι κομμάτι της μουσικής.”  Η. Δουμάνης.

” Fashion fades, only style remains the same” . – Coco Chanel

“I don’t do fashion. I am fashion.” —Coco Chanel

“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.”  Coco Chanel

“Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” Coco Chanel

“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old but on building the new.” Socrates

“It took me 20 years of study and practice to work up to what i wanted to play in this performance.” Miles Davis

¨Metric modulation signifies a change in tempo with the new tempo somehow having some mathematical relation to the original ¨  Ari Hoenig

“Some devices create a sense of urgency and acceleration. Other devices make the pace of the music feel like its slowing down or relaxing, but the key is that the pulse doesn’t change (John Riley interview on Polyrhythms 2008)

“Aν έχει έρθει η ώρα του Live και αισθάνεστε ότι δεν έχετε μελετήσει αρκετά ..η ότι χρειάζεστε περισσότερη δουλεία σαν ντράμερ….είναι πολύ αργά.  Try to Relax… and enjoy the ride!”  Simon Philips.

¨Παίζε οπως είσαι σήμερα…όχι όπως θα ήθελες να είσαι¨Η. Δουμάνης

“Όταν παίζω Jazz μου λένε ότι είμαι ένας ‘Rock drummer‘, και όταν παίζω ροκ οι κριτικοί γράφουν για έναν Jazz drummer πoυ λέγετε Manu Katche..Εγώ είμαι απλά..εγώ , και προσπαθώ να είμαι καινοτόμος πάνω στην μουσική που παίζω. Φαντάζομαι αυτό είναι περισσότερο μια Jazz αντιμετώπιση.”  Μanu Katche

” The only thing to add is that whenever people learn new techniques or new devices, there is an anxiousness to try them out and the temptation often makes people play the things in inappropriate places, so it’s really critical that a level of maturity and patience is used so that you are not simply inflicting these mathematical formulas on the music because you can, but because it’s the best choice for the music in that moment”  John Riley on Time manipulation and polyrhythms.

“I can’t play anywhere near like I used to, and I was a hot drummer. It doesn’t bother me, because frankly, if you get to that point where you can’t hold a drumstick properly, there are many other things in life which are far more important, like cutting a loaf of bread or a piece of cheese”  Phil Collins

The people who know nothing about music are the ones always talking about it.  Nat King Cole

“Music happens to be an art form that transcends language”. Herbie Hancock

“I’m not a singer who plays a bit of drums. I’m a drummer that sings a bit.”  Phil Collins

“A bass player has to think and play like a bass player. A drummer has to play and think like a drummer, and stay out of the way of the vocalist. The guitar player has to respect everybody else.”   Hunter Hayes

“I like to be one of those drummers who actually add to the music, not one of those guys who sit in a room 24/7 trying to outwit or outplay another drummer.”  Dave Lombardo

” First and Foremost I am a drummer. After that, I’m other things… But I didn’t play drums to make money”.  Ringo Starr

“But I think that any young drummer starting out today should get himself a great teacher and learn all there is to know about the instrument that he wants to play”. Buddy Rich

“The one thing I do know is that I’m the best Taylor Hawkins drummer there is and that is all I can hope to be. And when it comes to music, musicianship and skill, there is no such thing as better or worse because so much is personal opinion, and I can see that now”. Taylor Hawkins

“Anytime you strike the drums, you have to be aware that you’re creating a musical event.” Vinnie Colaiuta

“I’ll never play a drum solo you can’t Dance to.”  Gene Krupa

“ Ήρθα σε επαφή με τον πρώτο ΕCM album, όταν ήμουν ακόμα 15 ετών και θυμάμαι ότι έμεινα άφωνος από τον ήχο και από τον τρόπο που παιζόταν η μουσική. Μουσική γεμάτη μεγαλείο και συνάμα τολμηρή, αλλά με μεγάλο σεβασμό στη σιωπή και την ισορροπία ανάμεσα στα μουσικά όργανα.”  Manu Katche

“There are no roles. No one is keeping any roles. The drummer is also answering everybody and everything. So it is a constant conversation and communication between musicians on an extremely high level with extremely valuable material, motifs, and melodies”. Miroslav Vitous

“ Aν δεν μπορείς να το τραγουδήσεις - δεν μπορείς να το παίξεις” Joe Pass

“ Aν ξέρεις τι πρέπει να διδαχτείς – δεν χρειάζεσαι δάσκαλο» Μ. Καπηλίδης.

” Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it anyway” Salvador Dali

“ All dreams are Possible – There is room for everyone in the business - Τry not to be in a big hurry and don’t give up”. D. Weckl.

“Aν δεν σας αρέσει η μελέτη… κάποιο πρόβλημα υπάρχει στην σχέση σας με τα drums.” D. Weckl.

” I am a drum monk”. D. Weckl

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody” B. Cosby

”Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Α.Εinsten

“The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.” Α.Εistein

“Learn the rules like a pro so you can break them as an artist” P.Picasso.

“It’s nice to be important but it’s more importand to be nice”  Unknown

” If you think you stink…., you probably do.” Buddy Rich  

” Good artists copy- Great artists steal” P. Picasso

” The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do”  Unknown

” Only those who attempt the absurd can achieve the impossible” Albert  Einsten

“But, I don’t think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can’t create his own Interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that’s written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom.You only get better by playing.”  -Buddy Rich

“ Yes….. Country music! “   {When Buddy Rich was at the hospital to do his scheduled heart-operation (the one he died at..) he was asked if he was allergic to anything}

“As soon as I finish learning how to play this one.”  {At some point in Buddy’s career, someone had asked Buddy Rich when he was going to get a bigger kit}

“I’ve studied all my musical life, but learning is only good if you do something constructive with it.”Tony Williams

“You need to take risks, you never know if the end results will be beautiful or strange, you need to be instantaneous, listening to every moments, without missing a scrap of the music, even if you play a rest!” – Brian Blade

“I’m such a bad host, I haven’t offered you anything! Do you want a… pad?” –Vinnie Colaiuta

” Make the Metronome your friend, not your enemy”- Vinnie Colaiuta

“There is no 100%… the better you get the more you see how much you suck… Unknown

“When it comes time to perform, intellect must yield to instinct” Ken Werner

“Before the accident, I’d pretty much lost interest in playing drums”.  Rick Allen of Def Leppard

“I found that to really make money, you had to give up music. So I gave up money”. Mel Lewis

“Become the best musician that you can be because that is your product – your own personal musicianship.”Steve Smith 

“Dude... i love playing the drums and i love being on stage and i love recording. It’s my life and has always been my life and i don”t think it could ever become boring for me.” Dave Lombardo 

I actually wanted to be a drummer but i didn’t have any drums.” St.Ray Vaughan.

“Build you own dreams or someone else will hire you to build theirs.” Unknown.

“Sometime you win, sometimes you learn” Unknown.

“That whole thing of replicating what others do is a siren call. The sirens lure you to the Rocks of unoriginality.” Stewart Copeland

“Almost the moment he died, they put him in Playboy as one of the greatest drummers, which he was – there’s no doubt about it. There’s never been anybody since. He’s one of the greatest drummers that ever lived”. Jimmy Page on John Bohnam

“I can think of a lot better things to do with my hands than to cut them up on the rim of a drum.”  Buddy Rich
“To have everything written for you… It’s not really creating. That’s why I think symphony drummers are so limited. They ‘re limited to exactly what was played a hundred years before them by a thousand other drummers.” Buddy Rich

“The records that I grew up listening to had feel, and the drummers that inspired me – like Stewart Copeland, Neil Peart, Phil Collins and Roger Taylor – all had their own voice and individual style.” Taylor Hawkins

“Drummers spend 95% of their time working on things they use 5% of the time”.  Roy Burns 

” Someone asked me about the use of the metronome and I answered that you should use it only if you cannot keep time and are trying to develop a sense of holding time at a certain level. But to play metronomic time is another inhuman aspect. The time should be at the same place, but to make it elastic sounding, it may have to get a little faster or slower. A metronome locks you into “bap bap bap bap.” Max Roach.

” Musicians should not play music. Music should play musicians.”  Henry Rollins 

“You can read all the textbooks and listen to all the records, but you have to play with musicians that are better than you”. Stan Getz

“When you approach this instrument for the first time, what comes out of you is simply what you feel.”- Dennis Chambers

” Musicians don’t retire; they stop when there’s no more music in them”. Louis Armstrong

“You can’t be everything. Nobody is everything. You just do what you do, and you try to do that as well as you can. And if somebody doesn’t like it, too bad.” – Vinnie Colaiuta

‘You have to fight beyond it (self-doubt) and don’t let it stand in the way of you being what you want to be’ – David Garibaldi

Steve Gadd was asked during an interview once: “What advice would you give a young musician trying to break into the music business”? …..and his reflection was: “Never pet a burning dog”

“ The hardest thing in the world to do in this business is start a band nobody’s heard of.” Tom Whalley, Interscope Records

“It’s the showing up on time, getting along with people, having an upbeat attitude, and you must maintain a strong work ethic. You have to be willing to go to any length to be the best you can be.” Tommy Clufetos: on the  ingredients to a successful working career in music.

“I can’t teach this to you, you are going to have to catch it”  {Unknown on teaching Groove and feel}

“Jazz is a very democratic musical form. It comes out of a communal experience. We take our respective instruments and collectively create a thing of beauty.” – Max Roach

“Playing well with others is important – not being too flashy, just keeping good time and of course coming up with cool beats. A good snare drum, kick drum, high hat. Just getting good at the hand feet coordination.”-Chad Smith

“If you have a great band with a mediocre drummer, you have a mediocre band. If you have a mediocre band with a great drummer, you have a great band!” Duke Ellington

“Just because you’re not a drummer doesn’t mean that you don’t have to keep time.” Thelonious Monk on his musicians

“To be a drummer you also have to be a musician.” – Ian Paice

“Take your time. It takes years to build the speed and chops that a lot of these guys have today. Thats why you’re watching them TODAY. Because they started YEARS ago.” John Longstreth

“The greatest contribution Jazz has made in music has been to replace the role of the conductor with a member of the ensemble who, instead of waving his arms to keep time and convey mood, is an Active Member of the musical statement. That person is the drummer.” – Elvin Jones

“Take one stick away from a drummer and what do you get?….a director!”  Unknown

“Learning to play a musical instrument is not an extra curricular activity. It’s as fundamental to your overall education as math and history”  Unknown

“You exist to serve the music. The music does not exist to serve you!”  Jamie Muir to Bill Bruford.

” Οι μουσικοί Βαγγέλη είναι σαν τις πουτάνες- ‘Ολοι θέλουν να γα… - κανείς ομως στο τέλος δεν θέλει να πληρώσει!!  Ποτέ μην παίζεις χωρίς να περιμένεις να πληρωθείς”. Κ.Γεωργουλέτης- {ο Διοικητής μου στο Στρατιωτική Μουσική της Λήμνου}.

“A true master is full of compassion for those just starting out, for he knows the perils of the journey.” Unknown

“ Για κάθε μια χαρά που θα σου δώσει η μουσική, θα σου δώσει και 10 σφαλιάρες”  H. Δουμάνης

“Follow your curiosity” Α.Εinsten

“Perseverence is priceless” Α.Εinsten 

If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way. Napoleon Hill

“Focus on the present” Α.Εinsten

“The imagination is powerful”  Α.Εinsten

“Make mistakes” Α.Εinsten

“Live in the moment” Α.Εinsten

“ If you can’t explain it simply –you don’t understand it well enough” Α.Εinsten

“People get into drums today and after a year they are working on their own style. You must first spend a lot of time doing everything that the great drummers do. Drumming is like an evolutionary pattern.” Tony Williams  1984

“Υλη που δεν σου ανήκει οφείλεις να την μοιράζεσαι απλόχερα. Μην κρατάς τίποτα πίσω.”  Η. Δουμάνης

“Work on your sense of time and your feeling of the beat. That’s the most importand thing about drumming and without it all the technique in the world doesn’t mean a thing”  Big Sid Catlett 1941

“That’s what the drummer is supposed to do. Keep the time. If you can do something else besides that, fine. But the time is essential and non-negotiable.” Elvin Jones 1963

“Every drummer that had a name, had a name because of his individual playing. He didn’t sound like anybody else. So everybody that I ever listened to, in some form, influenced my taste.” Buddy Rich

“Playing fast around the drums is one thing. But to play music, to play with people for others to listen to, that’s something else. That’s a whole other world.”  Tony Williams

“I used to practice eight hours a day, every day! From about 1956 until about 1962. It was a whole thing, a whole period in my life where nothing else was happening.” – Tony Williams

“Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect” Unknown

“My time sucks”  – Jeff Porcaro 

“Less is more”  Unknown

” I am not afraid of a person who knows 10000 kicks, but i am afraid of a person who knows one kick but practices it for 10000 times”. Bruce lee

” I got a chance to work with Miles Davis, and that changed everything for me, ’cause Miles really encouraged all his musicians to reach beyond what they know, go into unknown territory and explore. It’s made a difference to me and the decisions that I’ve made over the years about how to approach a project in this music¨. Herbie Hancock

“Anyone can make the simple-complicated. Creativity is making the complicated simple”. Charles Mingus 

“A student is almost always feeling motivated to practice, if  he leaves his lesson feeling capable”. Frances Clark

“What I look for in musicians is a sense of infinity”. Pat Metheny

” A musician is someone who puts $5000 worth of gear into $500 vehicle, drives 50 miles to play a $50 gig”. Unknown

” To play a wrong note is insignificant, to play without passion is inexcusable” L.Von Beethoven

“Technique has nothing to do with music. It’s a Tool, like a hammer: You can build a shed or you can build the Sistine Chapel.”- Thomas Lang

“A great musician is just a thief who doesn’t get caught” Buddy Rich

“The more technique you have, the less you have to worry about it. P. Picasso

“The more technique there is, the less there is”. P. Picasso 

“CBS {CONTROL BEFORE SPEED}”Unknown

“Προσεχε όχι μόνο τι παίζεις, αλλά και με ποιόν παίζεις αλλά και που παίζεις “ H.Δουμάνης

” Αν θέλεις να σταδιοδρομήσεις σε αυτό τον χώρο μάθε να κάνεις το μ... και μην ΤΣΑΚΩΝΕΣΑΙ!!¨ Η. Δουμάνης.