The whole point of working and practicing your whole life is so that you're ready when that moment arrives; when the inspiration arrives, you are ready to be at the disposal of inspiration. John McLaughlin More Quotes by John McLaughlin More Quotes From John McLaughlin Only in spontaneity can we be who we truly are. John McLaughlin jazz spontaneity I find Indian music very funky. I mean it's very soulful, with their own kind of blues. But it's the only other school on the planet that develops improvisation to the high degree that you find in jazz music. So we have a lot of common ground. John McLaughlin music mean school Music speaks from spirit to spirit and in that sense you could call it a true spiritual language. John McLaughlin musician language spiritual The music dictates to me which instrument I use. I'm basically waiting for orders as it were. John McLaughlin use waiting order Spirituality is worthless if it's not practical. Music is my work. I am a musician. John McLaughlin spirituality musician music-is You can have the greatest player in terms of mastering an instrument and you could be yawning your head off when you hear them. So, it's not what you do, but the way you're doing it and in the end that's all that we have John McLaughlin yawning player way I practice all the scales. Everyone should know lots of scales. Actually, I feel there are only scales. What is a chord, if not the notes of a scale hooked together? John McLaughlin guitar practice together Absolutely, all guitars are different. You can go into a store and grab five guitars, all the same model, and even though they look identical they're not identical. They play differently, they feel a bit different and they sound slightly different. John McLaughlin guitar play looks I believe everybody is spiritual and no one is any more spiritual than anyone else. John McLaughlin i-believe spiritual believe My entire life is dedicated to music, and at my age, that makes a lot of years! But all the work and dedication is only that I'm able to forget myself and let the music do the 'talking.' John McLaughlin dedication talking years If I can get out of the way, if I can be pure enough, if I can be selfless enough, and if I can be generous and loving and caring enough to abandon what I have in my own preconceived silly notions of what I think I am - and become truly who in fact I am, which is really just another child of God - then the music can really use me. And therein lies my fulfillment. That's when the music starts to happen. John McLaughlin silly lying children There are two kinds of success. One is musical or artistic and the other is commercial. John McLaughlin musical kind two Music that touches the transcendental aspect of a human being is reserved for a marginal audience John McLaughlin transcendental audience aspect I'm never trying to preach to anybody with my music, but I'm aware of the universal nature of the human experience and I try to reach out and connect with people in that manner. John McLaughlin human-experience trying people For me, rhythm is a type of divine mathematics in a way. No matter where you're from, we can all understand the mathematics of rhythm. I try to apply this mathematical thinking to my playing. John McLaughlin matter trying thinking When you open box after box of old comics and they're ALL "Archie," you have suffered a trauma from which it is difficult to ever recover. John McLaughlin trauma boxes difficult Question: Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo -- a black on the outside, a white on the inside -- that an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long civil rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spent his lifetime fighting for? John McLaughlin fighting struggle rights I don't have any particular goals in making a recording. In a way the recording is itself the goal. The music comes into my mind, and from there the main job is to give form to it. John McLaughlin goal jobs giving I'm not any different from you or the guy down the street or across the globe, we're all connected in some way and hopefully my music can integrate that feeling of human connectedness. John McLaughlin guy different feelings When Indian musicians play a raga it's very restrictive. But, in a way these restraints are essential to liberate yourself through them, if that makes sense. I'm very much of this school of rhythm, it's the direction I'm drawn in when I'm writing and improvising. John McLaughlin play writing school
