The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me. For me, jazz is a vehicle that takes you to the true destination - a musical one that describes all kinds of stuff about the human condition and the way music works.

Pat Metheny

I'm always trying to find 'connections' between things. That art is the juxtaposition of a lot of things that seem unrelated but add up to something recognizable.

Pat Metheny

The beauty of jazz is that it's malleable. People are addressing it to suit their own personalities.

Pat Metheny

There are some musicians who are talented and see themselves as some kind of natural geniuses or something because of a certain amount of natural ability. But that is often rarely the case over the long term.

Pat Metheny

The pianist Cecil Taylor is extremely melodic; the guitarist Derek Bailey is extremely melodic, and Ornette Coleman.

Pat Metheny

I was able to work with the best musicians in Kansas City starting when I was really young.

Pat Metheny

People sometimes say it takes a long time to become a jazz fan, but for me it took about five seconds.

Pat Metheny

The reality of music itself, which is the fabric of life for me, is where most of my attention is.

Pat Metheny

No two notes are ever the same volume. With the guitar, you really have to model in your mind this wider thing; you're trying to create the illusion of a bigger dynamic range.

Pat Metheny

Someone who knew me when I was 14 said I was the oldest 14-year-old on the planet. Now I'm a 14-year-old who is 60.

Pat Metheny

'The Unity Band' project has been life-changing for me. I have led many groups of talented musicians, but this is unlike anything else.

Pat Metheny

I'm triggering acoustic instruments. I'm literally beating, smacking, hitting, blowing, doing physical things. It's an incredibly exciting way to make music.

Pat Metheny

I would always contend that talent is an element, but over the long run, ultimately, a minor part of it all; it is mostly hard work.

Pat Metheny

I think I represent a more left-wing view of what jazz is.

Pat Metheny

One of the things jazz has always excelled at is translating the reality of the times through its musical prism.

Pat Metheny

If we are going to list guitar influences, the biggest one by far is Wes Montgomery. Also, Gary Burton was obviously huge for me in a number of ways. But beyond that, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis and Freddie Hubbard.

Pat Metheny

I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music world and have been able to play exactly what I have wanted the way I have wanted.

Pat Metheny

For me, let's keep jazz as folk music. Let's not make jazz classical music. Let's keep it as street music, as people's everyday-life music. Let's see jazz musicians continue to use the materials, the tools, the spirit of the actual time that they're living in, as what they build their lives as musicians around.

Pat Metheny

I used to love going and playing jam sessions, doing things spontaneously. I can't do that anymore. Everything you do is documented, nothing is casual anymore.

Pat Metheny

The guitar for me is a translation device. It's not a goal. And in some ways, jazz isn't a destination for me. For me, jazz is a vehicle that takes you to the true destination - a musical one that describes all kinds of stuff about the human condition and the way music works.

Pat Metheny

I realized that equipment really had little to do with why I sound like the way I sound.

Pat Metheny