Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing.
Oscar PetersonRead
First of all, I swore it was two people playing. When I finally admitted to myself that was one man, I gave up the piano for a month. I figured it was hopeless to practice.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the struggle of self-doubt and the realization of one's limitations in comparison to exceptional talent.
In this quote, Oscar Peterson conveys the moment of realization when he believed that the piano performance he admired was by two skilled musicians rather than just one. This revelation led to feelings of inadequacy, prompting him to give up playing for a month, showcasing the internal battle between aspiration and self-doubt that many artists face.
Themes
Self-DoubtMusicInspirationTalentPiano
In practice
Example use cases
In a music class discussion about the nature of talent and practice.
More from Oscar Peterson
All quotes →I don't believe that a lot of the things I hear on the air today are going to be played for as long a time as Coleman Hawkins records or Brahms concertos.
Oscar PetersonRead
It's the group sound that's important, even when you're playing a solo. You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That's jazz.
Oscar PetersonRead
Montreal was a very active jazz center until club owners started putting in strippers instead of music. Before long, there was nothing to hear.
Oscar PetersonRead
Too many jazz pianists limit themselves to a personal style, a trademark, so to speak. They confine themselves to one type of playing. I believe in using the entire piano as a single instrument capable of expressing every possible musical idea. I have no one style. I play as I feel.
Oscar PetersonRead
You not only have to know your own instrument, you must know the others and how to back them up at all times. That's jazz.
Oscar PetersonRead
Similar quotes
It's funny, when bands or younger musicians ask me: 'So, what does it take to make it?' Well, first explain to me what you mean by 'making it': Do you want to be a rock star or do you want music to be your livelihood?
Eddie Van HalenRead
There was a point in the '80s when I looked out at my audience and I saw people that - were I not on the stage - they'd sooner slug me as they walked by me on the sidewalk. And I realized that I was way beyond the choir.
Michael StipeRead
I realized what Led Zeppelin was about around the end of our first U.S. tour. We started off not even on the bill in Denver, and by the time we got to New York we were second to Iron Butterfly, and they didn't want to go on!
Robert PlantRead
Don t play this piece fast. It is never right to play ragtime fast.
Scott JoplinRead
The great moments of rock 'n' roll were never off in some corner of the music world, in a self-constructed ghetto.
BonoRead
I'm not 'Grace.' That album is like a brick onto itself. It's like a coffin that I put certain feelings and observations in so that they can be capsulized forever. I wanted to put them there so I would be free to move on.
Jeff BuckleyRead