Charlie Parker Quotes

Some guys said 'Here's bop!' Wham! They said, 'Here's something we can make money on!' Wham! 'Here's a comedian!' Wham! Here's a guy who talks funny talk!'

Man, there's no boundary line to art!

Don't be afraid, just play the music.

If you don't live it, it won't come out your horn.

Music is your own experience, your own thoughts, your wisdom.

First you learn the instrument, then you learn the music, then you forget all that s**t and just play.

I look at melody as rhythm.

Bop is no love-child of jazz.

Learn the changes, then forget them.

You've got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail.

You've got to learn your instrument.

Master your instrument. Master the music. And then forget all that bullshit and just play.

I'm very glad to have met you. I like your playing very much.

Don't play the saxophone, let the saxophone play you.

I realized by using the high notes of the chords as a melodic line, and by the right harmonic progression, I could play what I heard inside me. That's when I was born.

I'd been getting bored with the stereotyped changes (harmonies) that were being used all the time ... I found that by using the higher intervals of a chord as a melody line and backing them with appropriately related changes I could play the thing I'd been hearing. I came alive.

Any musician who says he is playing better either on tea, the needle, or when he is juiced, is a plain, straight liar. When I get too much to drink, I can't even finger well, let alone play decent ideas ... You can miss the most important years of your life, the years of possible creation.

When I first heard music, I thought it should be very clean, very precise. Something that people could understand, something that was beautiful.

I can play all I know in eight bars.