Howard Roberts Quotes

A good musician can do more to change society than 30 average mayors.

I've come up with the theory that the music is within. We don't bring it in; it's already there. We have to figure out how to get it out.

Whenever you study composition you inevitably encounter Bach right off the bat. You can't get across the room without running into him and the other greats. Analyzing Bach absolutely influenced my jazz playing.

... the hardest studio music to play is Tom & Jerry - cartoons. The music makes absolutely no sense, as music. You can't get into hearing it. There's nothing to hear-'bleep!, blop! scratch!' and it comes fast; everything's first take. That'll change the way you look at life.

Learning to play the guitar is a combination of mental and motor skill acquisition. And to develop motor skill, repetition is essential... Whenever musicians have trouble executing a passage, they generally tend to blame themselves for not having enough talent. Actually, all that's wrong is they don't know where their fingers are supposed to go...you should learn the piece in your head before you play it. And when you do play it, play it so slow that there's no possibility of making a mistake.

Chord substitution isn't some mysterious religious sect.