“Words are the instruments you play to the song of your ideas, you're just playing covers.”

“The banjo is such a happy instrument--you can't play a sad song on the banjo - it always comes out so cheerful.”

“You know what punk is? a bunch of no-talent guys who really, really want to be in a band. Nobody reads music, nobody plays the mandolin, and you're too dumb to write songs about mythology or Middle-earth. So what's your style? Three chords, cranked out fast and loud and distorted because your instruments are crap and you can't play them worth a damn. And you scream your lungs out to cover up the fact that you can't sing. It should suck, but here's the thing - it doesn't. Rock and roll can be so full of itself, but not this. It's simple and angry and raw.”

“Don't leave the instrument sitting in its case, my son. Play! Leave no part of your instrument unexplored. Why settle for 'Three Blind Mice' when you can play the 'Gloria'?”

“I want to play you…” He pressed his forehead to mine, closing his eyes. “I want to play your body like an instrument.”

“It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”