Ten tips you can learn from Miles Davis

[Robert]

From Premier Guitar:

http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/Daily/News/SXSW_Ten_Miles_Davis_Tips_for_Guitarists.aspx

If there’s one album without a guitar on it that you should own, it should be and probably is Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, the result of two recording sessions totaling 10 hours that would go on to become the most popular jazz album of all time (RIAA certified quadruple platinum).

[R_of_G]

The thing I most learned from Miles, that I try to remember all the time in my playing is this quote...

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none." - Miles Davis

[Ch0jin]

The thing I most learned from Miles, that I try to remember all the time in my playing is this quote...

"Do not fear mistakes. There are none." - Miles Davis

I'm thinking all the coke and booze might have been a mistake in hindsight..

I've actually got that CD because of the hype surrounding it. Frankly it's a little too, I dunno, random, for my tastes. Maybe it'll eventually grow on me.

[R_of_G]

I'm thinking all the coke and booze might have been a mistake in hindsight.

I suspect he meant from a musical standpoint, not life choices. I cannot judge the personal choices of a man I didn't know personally.

Then again, while it might have been a "mistake" in hindsight as far as his personal life goes, who's to say what effect these "mistakes" had on his life which impacted the music. It's distinctly possible that if Miles didn't experience some of the low points in his life he'd not have been in the mindset he was in when he made some of the music he did.

I am not one of those who believes you need altered states of consciousness to make music, but what I am saying is that every single thing which happens to a person impacts their world view in some way and we have no idea what the effects of removing even a single one of them would be. Perhaps if Miles were a "happier" person he'd not have needed to make all the music he did, or worse, he'd have made "happy" music which would be bland and meaningless.

I am glad Miles lived his life exactly as he did because I love nearly every bit of the music it led him to create. If I knew him personally, perhaps some of the aspects of his life would have bothered me as they affected me. As a fan, they don't at all.