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Top 25 Buddy Rich Quotes (2025 Update)

Buddy Rich Quote: “You only get better by playing.”

1. “You only get better by playing.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “Average band with a great drummer sounds great, great band with an average drummer sounds average.”

2. “Average band with a great drummer sounds great, great band with an average drummer sounds average.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “A great musician is just a thief who doesn’t get caught.”

3. “A great musician is just a thief who doesn’t get caught.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I consider every drummer that ever played before me an influence, in every way.”

4. “I consider every drummer that ever played before me an influence, in every way.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I think the drummer should sit back there and play some drums, and never mind about the tunes. Just get up there and wail behind whoever is sitting up there playing the solo. And this is what is lacking, definitely lacking in music today.”

5. “I think the drummer should sit back there and play some drums, and never mind about the tunes. Just get up there and wail behind whoever is sitting up there playing the solo. And this is what is lacking, definitely lacking in music today.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “But primarily, the drummer’s supposed to sit back there and swing the band.”

6. “But primarily, the drummer’s supposed to sit back there and swing the band.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “If you think you stink, you probably do.”

7. “If you think you stink, you probably do.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “Almost everything I’ve done, I’ve done through my own creativity.”

8. “Almost everything I’ve done, I’ve done through my own creativity.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “If you can play, you can play anything. I don’t like classifications.”

9. “If you can play, you can play anything. I don’t like classifications.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “Every drummer that had a name, had a name because of his individual playing. He didn’t sound like anybody else, So everybody that I ever listened to, in some form, influenced my taste.”

10. “Every drummer that had a name, had a name because of his individual playing. He didn’t sound like anybody else, So everybody that I ever listened to, in some form, influenced my taste.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I think at one time every drummer wanted to play like Krupa or wanted to win a Gene Krupa drum contest. This is the big inspiration for drummers and naturally it has to be the same way for me.”

11. “I think at one time every drummer wanted to play like Krupa or wanted to win a Gene Krupa drum contest. This is the big inspiration for drummers and naturally it has to be the same way for me.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I can’t sit down long enough to absorb any kind of learning.”

12. “I can’t sit down long enough to absorb any kind of learning.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “If you have any requests. keep them to yourselves. we don’t play requests!”

13. “If you have any requests. keep them to yourselves. we don’t play requests!”

Buddy Rich Quote: “But, I don’t think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can’t create his own Interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that’s written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom.”

14. “But, I don’t think any arranger should ever write a drum part for a drummer because if a drummer can’t create his own Interpretation of the chart and he plays everything that’s written, he becomes mechanical; he has no freedom.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I play a percussion instrument, not a musical saw; it needs no amplification. Where it’s needed, they put a microphone in front of the bass drum. But, I don’t think it’s necessary to play that way every night.”

15. “I play a percussion instrument, not a musical saw; it needs no amplification. Where it’s needed, they put a microphone in front of the bass drum. But, I don’t think it’s necessary to play that way every night.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “As far as music school goes, I walked through Berkelee one time.”

16. “As far as music school goes, I walked through Berkelee one time.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “But, when you have to resort to turntables, trick lights, flashing lights, fire and all that, you’re actually saying, I need this because what I do is not all that together.”

17. “But, when you have to resort to turntables, trick lights, flashing lights, fire and all that, you’re actually saying, I need this because what I do is not all that together.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I can think of a lot better things to do with my hands than to cut them up on the rim of a drum.”

18. “I can think of a lot better things to do with my hands than to cut them up on the rim of a drum.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I never believed in a set routine. It should depend on how you feel, because you play what you feel.”

19. “I never believed in a set routine. It should depend on how you feel, because you play what you feel.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “Almost everything I’ve done, I’ve done through my own creativity. I don’t think I ever had to listen to anyone else to learn how to play drums. I wish I could say that for about ten thousand other drummers.”

20. “Almost everything I’ve done, I’ve done through my own creativity. I don’t think I ever had to listen to anyone else to learn how to play drums. I wish I could say that for about ten thousand other drummers.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “And, you know, I think the original recording of Ravel’s Bolero, probably whoever played percussion on that, will never have It played better than that.”

21. “And, you know, I think the original recording of Ravel’s Bolero, probably whoever played percussion on that, will never have It played better than that.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “Well, I never really practiced because I never had the opportunity to practice.”

22. “Well, I never really practiced because I never had the opportunity to practice.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “If he’s a true symphony artist, he knows better than that because he knows that the only truly creative musician is the jazz musician.”

23. “If he’s a true symphony artist, he knows better than that because he knows that the only truly creative musician is the jazz musician.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “I think it’s a fallacy that the harder you practice the better you get.”

24. “I think it’s a fallacy that the harder you practice the better you get.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “To have everything written for you It’s not really creating. That’s why I think symphony drummers are so limited. They ’re limited to exactly what was played a hundred years before them by a thousand other drummers.”

25. “To have everything written for you It’s not really creating. That’s why I think symphony drummers are so limited. They ’re limited to exactly what was played a hundred years before them by a thousand other drummers.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “No, I don’t like recording. It’s a bore.”

26. “No, I don’t like recording. It’s a bore.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “And, well of course, Count Basie, and I think all of the black bands of the late thirties and early forties, bands with real players. They had an influence on everybody, not just drummers.”

27. “And, well of course, Count Basie, and I think all of the black bands of the late thirties and early forties, bands with real players. They had an influence on everybody, not just drummers.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “There were so many individual styles thirty or forty years ago.”

28. “There were so many individual styles thirty or forty years ago.”

Buddy Rich Quote: “But I think that any young drummer starting out today should get himself a great teacher and learn all there is to know about the instrument that he wants to play.”

29. “But I think that any young drummer starting out today should get himself a great teacher and learn all there is to know about the instrument that he wants to play.”

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