Top 63 Musicianship Quotes & Sayings

The improvisational nature of jazz musicianship is such that a truly competent performer must be prepared to function as an on-the-spot composer who is expected to contribute to the orchestration in progress, not simply to execute the score as it is written and rehearsed.

Our idea is simply to play the songs and to emphasize our musicianship.

I feel like I'm waving the flag for musicianship, trying to bring back bands that can play.

I like playing a character that admires real musicianship, and real talent and hard work. I think that's a good message for everyone.

I was three or four, and my mother would have a Bing Crosby record playing through the house. It was my introduction to jazz, harmonies, melodies, musicianship, and emotion.

I practice every day and that kind of stuff to maintain my musicianship.

Sean Chen has been an audience favorite from the early rounds. With his floppy hair and outstanding stage presence combined with an extraordinary technique and musicianship, this is little wonder.

The essential elements of singing are voice, musicianship, and story. It is the rare artist that has all three in abundance.

The level of musicianship in New York is the highest in the world. It's tough to get into. You start gigging making 50 dollars a night, or playing for nothing to get to something. It's insane. It's like being a modern dancer, or something - the hardest thing to make money from.

I've always had musicianship as a dream since I was really small. I started to take it a bit more seriously when I learned how to write properly when I was 13 or 14. I saw it as a viable career option when I was 18. I thought, I'm going to start trying it and see how it goes.

I'm still somebody that listens to a lot of James Brown, a lot of The O'Jays, a lot of TLC... in that era, producers had more musicianship.

We definitely get respect as far as the musicianship, working hard and being road dogs.

I first heard Miles Davis as a student, when I was struck by his extraordinary musicianship, and his work did affect some of the sounds of Simply Red. He was one of the reasons I chose to have a muted trumpet on 'Holding Back the Years.'

Matthew Davidson is blessed with a God-given, born-in-the-bone, talent. His musicianship is far beyond his age. When I play with Matthew, it's like playing with a musician with many years of experience. Always a perfect gentleman, Matthew's personality shines through in every performance. He obviously loves what he is doing!

With chamber music you can get people who work on the music for months, rehearsing it every day for a couple of hours, and if they get it in a different way than you do, which is entirely possible, it's not as a result of anything other than their good musicianship.

I am part of an age-old profession of musicianship. I believe these times require grounding, real-ness and fun. Let's do it. Whatever happens is all good.

Deep Purple definitely belongs in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 'Cause they had great songs, great musicianship, they had an impact, and they're a huge influence on the heavy metal community as a whole.

You don't train for only the 100-meter dash and you don't practice only the excerpts. When I prepared for auditions, I spent most of my time each day on scales and exercises to be my best in basic musicianship, and only a half-hour or so on the actual excerpts I'd be playing.

I was probably five years old or four years and I would listen to "White Christmas," and I just thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. The musicianship and his voice and the melody of that song; it's almost like I wish it wasn't a Christmas song because I wish that you were allowed to listen to it all year.

We wanted to make sure that the film covered the main issues of his life. Musicianship, appearance.

I've never been happy with the quality of my work. I always felt as though my musicianship was lacking and that I should have worked harder at it when I was younger. As I sang and sang, I improved.

Without doubt, the foremost band for decades has been the One O'Clock Lab Band at the University of North Texas. Through its many incarnations and under various leaders, they have demonstrated the highest qualities of musicianship imaginable, plus a willingness to balance their big band tradition with creative exploration. Astounding ensemble work, insightful interpretations of the arrangements, imaginative writing, and above all, a loving attention to musicality . . . these people play beautifully.

I think we appreciate the musicianship we're surrounded with. Too many bands - it's an ego trip for the leader.

I think for me to be involved in a festival, there has to be a strong element of songwriting and musicianship.

The music that is played on the radio all the time or written about in magazines has nothing to do with musicianship.

If you're going to be called a musicianship, you have to be able to play.

To me, there was no better drummer than Jeff Porcaro. His musicianship and kindness to me will never be forgotten. Our loss is heaven's gain

One cannot help but be impressed by this music. The musicianship is top-notch, the performances unpredictable and full of surprises, and Eric Starr's writing is consistently inventive.

If somebody's going to represent our music live, I'd like to see it represented with excellence and spectacularly and with really great musicianship.

Musicians get tense at big gigs. Some you can't talk to before the concert; some you can't talk to afterwards; some need the same size dressing rooms as others; others need bigger; some have comments to make on others' musicianship or how a particular song ought to be played.

Seskin has the gift of song...his voice has a natural lilt that can’t be learned. The combination of musicianship and repertoire make for a rich and satisfying musical experience.

Many of the African musicians are well-schooled and well-versed...what they do takes a high level of musicianship.

Don't be lazy. Learn your instrument and the kids should be learning that stuff. We have to get back to the musicianship of the music. It's called music, so at some point somebody has to learn how to play an instrument.

I like musicianship, and it's quite lacking in most modern popular music. You're always safe with old Chicago, the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule, or Tower of Power.

It's pretty clear I am a diehard Chris Cornell fan, so his voice, musicianship, and lyrics have touched me across many different projects.

You're in for a live band. That's really what I wanted; I wanted to put on a show for people where they could come for the gay and stay for the musicianship. It's a live show; there's some rock stuff, too. Some rock and roll. Get ready.

Our music may sound big emotionally, but that's more to do with the playing, the level of musicianship and the full-on energy. Often, the lyrics are often quite small and focused.

Upwell is one of the most terrifyingly great bands I have ever known out of Seattle. Their musicianship and songwriting is monstrous... They're heavy like Soundgarden or Zeppelin with killer female vocals, but with their own unique style.

Christian music was such a huge foundation for me, even as a kid, and I grew to love Christian music not only because of the musicianship, which I thought was extraordinary, but because of the message in it. It was such a huge building block of who I was and who I would become.

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.

I have such happy memories of performing in a choir and I don't think I'd have got where I am today without all that experience. So my advice to young singers is to either join your school or church's choir or find one in your local area. Choral music at any level teaches you so much about musicianship and blending your voice.

I’ve worked with such legendary guitar players as Allan Holdsworth, Ronnie Montrose, Eric Clapton, Lowell George and Steve Vai, but none of them come close to having Ed’s [Eddie Van Halen's] fantastic combination of chops and musicianship. I rank him along with Charlie Parker and Art Tatum as one of the three greatest musicians of my lifetime. Unfortunately, I don’t think Ed puts himself in that class.

We went in and recorded exactly where we were at that point in time. I think because of the quality of musicianship of the band has given it the longevity. I thought the music would endure, I didn't think I would ... I always thought I'd be dead by 30, then dead by 40 and on and on. Now I'm 55 so I didn't even die at 50.

I'm not a big metal fan. I love and respect the musicianship, which is spectacular.

Jeri Brown has it all - adventurous spirit, superb musicianship, and technique to spare.

I don't really admire musicianship per se - as is obvious from my own playing.

I don't think there's anything wrong with not knowing how to play an instrument, but the rise of the non-musical producer has done away with musicianship and focused attention purely on the song's hook.

When it comes to influences, we are influenced not just by Japanese and overseas metal acts, but J-pop acts too. One Japanese rock band we're particularly fond of is Seikima-II. We were attracted by their brand of devil imagery and of course, their high-quality musicianship.

Favored Nations is a long-term commitment. Our hope is that those who are passionate about real musicianship will want to hear and own most of our albums. We will set out to attain the same direct relationship with our customers that we have with our artists.

No one will ever ask me to sing because it's beautiful. My secret is hiding my musicianship behind humor.

I was a huge pop music fan as a kid, but the bands I was into were like 5ive and N-Sync. It was like watching a cartoon. There was so much going on, and the production was so well mixed. Stevie Wonder was able to give you those melodies and production but back it up with such creative integrity and real musicianship and artistry.

The state-of-the-art techniques really allowed us to make maps of how Sting's brain organizes music. That's important because at the heart of great musicianship is the ability to manipulate in one's mind rich representation of the desired soundscape.

For me, it's more about the musicianship - focusing on the guitar, playing with my band, rather than just going out and doing what anyone my age can do with backup dancers and a track.

If a concert film is an experience of the musicianship without critiquing it, then this, too, is dropping you into a world and letting you experience it.

I don't think I've ever been true to jazz. There's always a kind of jazz element to what I do. There are a very few genres that I haven't tried out, really, in what I've been doing. As a jazz musician, you can kind of mess about with things with a certain level of musicianship, which helps.

In some ways, jazz is the most precise of art forms and the loosest in the sense that it's all about improvisation, but the musicianship required is kind of insane. To actually play with real jazz musicians is a different level of musicianship that almost has no equal in any other form of music in the world.

To the outside world, I was pretty bad at everything my whole life. People didn't credit me for my musicianship.

Christian musicians today, minus about ten bands, have never had to fight to be accepted or heard like general market bands have to make a living. It's just overlooked that the Christian market is safer and more lucrative, but requires musicianship that applies to the lowest common denominator.

I'd like to be remembered as someone who wasn't satisfied with just one level of musicianship ... as someone who was a pioneer.

'Europe '72' was a super influential record full of fantastic songs and amazing experimental musicianship. I always valued both of those aspects in what Sonic Youth has done through the years - being able to get very abstract and very concrete within the same song.