"I have a piano and a guitar, and I tend to switch back and forth between those two instruments to help me get inspired"
About this Quote
There’s an unflashy honesty in the line, and that’s part of why it lands. Lennon isn’t mythologizing inspiration as suffering or genius; he’s describing it like a musician’s version of cross-training. That matters culturally because we’re still addicted to the romantic story of the songwriter alone in a room, possessed. He’s offering a quieter counter-narrative: inspiration is engineered, coaxed, scheduled, nudged by small physical changes.
The subtext also brushes against lineage. As the child of two artists whose work is endlessly overinterpreted, Lennon’s statement gently resists the idea that songs arrive via inherited mystique. It’s almost anti-nepotism rhetoric: the craft is in the practice, the experimenting, the willingness to start over in a new key - literally and figuratively.
In an era of infinite digital options, he’s also pointing back to tactile limits. Two instruments, two moods, one method: keep moving so the song can catch up.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Lennon, Sean. (2026, January 15). I have a piano and a guitar, and I tend to switch back and forth between those two instruments to help me get inspired. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-have-a-piano-and-a-guitar-and-i-tend-to-switch-162523/
Chicago Style
Lennon, Sean. "I have a piano and a guitar, and I tend to switch back and forth between those two instruments to help me get inspired." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-have-a-piano-and-a-guitar-and-i-tend-to-switch-162523/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I have a piano and a guitar, and I tend to switch back and forth between those two instruments to help me get inspired." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-have-a-piano-and-a-guitar-and-i-tend-to-switch-162523/. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.





