Listen to the great guitarists of the Fifties. They didn't do that nasty sort of industrial distortion. They played musical compositions as solos - Scotty Moore, Cliff Gallup, Django Reinhardt. There wasn't a bad note in any of those solos. I listened to that and stayed with those rules.

Jeff Beck

Categorized in : Great Bad Rules Listen

I don't understand why some people will only accept a guitar if it has an instantly recognizable guitar sound. Finding ways to use the same guitar people have been using for 50 years to make sounds that no one has heard before is truly what gets me off.

guitar people years

Things turn out better by accident sometimes. But you can't organ... by Jeff Beck

Things turn out better by accident sometimes. But you can't organize accidents.

turns organize sometimes

That old funny-shaped bit of wood is still staring me in the face every day saying 'come on, you haven't started yet!' It's infinite.

woods guitar music

After I saw Jimmy [Hendrix] play, I just went home and wondered what the f*** I was going to do with my life.

music home funny

I play purely from the heart, y'know, and so if it doesn't work the first couple of hours, forget it.

couple play heart

The Strat covers the complete spectrum of human emotion .. the tremolo enables you to do anything - you can hit any note known to mankind

notes music emotion

Nowadays music is as disposable as a McDonald's wrapper. by Jeff Beck

Nowadays music is as disposable as a McDonald's wrapper.

disposable mcdonalds music-is

I don’t care about the rules. In fact, if I don’t break the rules at least ten times in every song, then I’m not doing my job properly. Emotion is much more important than making mistakes, so be prepared to look like a chump. If you become too guarded and too processed, the music loses its spontaneity and gut feeling

mistake song jobs

... by far the most astonishing guitar player ever has got to be Django Reinhardt ... Django was quite superhuman, There's nothing normal about him as a person or a player.

django guitar player

My first wife said, 'It's either that by Jeff Beck

My first wife said, 'It's either that

guitar music giving

I've never stuck around long enough to know if anyone would miss me. That's rock 'n' roll, though. Here today, gone tomorrow.

rocks missing long

I like an element of chaos in music. That feeling is the best thing ever, as long as you don't have too much of it.

elements feelings long

I was interested in the electric guitar even before I knew the difference between electric and acoustic. The electric guitar seemed to be a totally fascinating plank of wood with knobs and switches on it. I just had to have one.

woods guitar differences

A lot of solos I hear sound so incredible, but they sound like somebody practicing. They sound a bit soulless - fiery, but at the same time, lacking in spirit and soul.

soul spirit sound

Can't stand it. Too many amps, too much volume, it's just flat-out ear assault. Speedy guitars leave me not feeling detached but physically upset. When you think of all the subtleties that were built into the guitar and amps for you to discover they completely cover the whole lot with a rack of effects. The guitar doesn't need that.

upset guitar thinking

If you can make it sound exciting with a joke drum machine, you k... by Jeff Beck

If you can make it sound exciting with a joke drum machine, you know you've got something.

machines exciting sound

It's a diabolical business. I can't imagine how hellish it must be to be hounded like Amy Winehouse and people like that. I have a little peripheral place on the outskirts of celebrity, when I go to premieres and that sort of stuff, which is as close as I want to get.

amy want people

As long as there's something original going on, that's all that m... by Jeff Beck

As long as there's something original going on, that's all that matters.

originals matter long

I cherish my privacy, and woe betide anyone who tries to interfer... by Jeff Beck

I cherish my privacy, and woe betide anyone who tries to interfere with that.

woe privacy trying

Yes, it's in my left ear. It's excruciating... I mean, it's the worst thing 'cause it's not... It never... It does go away - it's not true to say that it doesn't but, uhh... It doesn't... The doctors say it won't... It isn't actually going away - you've just gotta suppress... They try to come to terms with what it actually... Why some people fear it - that's the psychology behind it. They know it's there but why is it such a horrible sound? Well, you can say why is a guy scratching at a window with his nails such a horrible sound - I couldn't put up with that! This is worse!

doctors mean people