"Session work makes you more strict. You can't hit notes all over the place. You've got to make each one really count"
About this Quote
Session work is where ego goes to get sanded down. When Ritchie Blackmore says it makes you "more strict", he is talking about the invisible discipline that separates a flashy guitarist from a reliable musician: the clock, the chart, the producer behind the glass, and the unspoken rule that nobody is paying for your personal mythology. In a studio, every note is audited. You can hear the slop. You can hear the indulgence. You can hear the player trying to be interesting instead of being useful.
"Can't hit notes all over the place" is a quiet jab at the rock-guitar temptation to treat space like a canvas you must fill. Session culture is anti-sprawl: you serve the song, the singer, the groove, the brand. The strictness Blackmore credits is less about technical policing than about economy and intention. A session player learns that the most expensive thing in music is not gear or studio time but attention. Scattershot notes dilute the message; a targeted phrase lands like dialogue.
The line also carries context for Blackmore's own path: a virtuoso who moved through the U.K.'s pre-Deep Purple circuit, absorbing professional standards before becoming a larger-than-life band figure. It's a reminder that his fire came with craft underneath. "Make each one really count" is the studio's moral code: if you're going to speak, say something. That ethic is why a restrained lick can feel more dangerous than a hundred-note sprint.
"Can't hit notes all over the place" is a quiet jab at the rock-guitar temptation to treat space like a canvas you must fill. Session culture is anti-sprawl: you serve the song, the singer, the groove, the brand. The strictness Blackmore credits is less about technical policing than about economy and intention. A session player learns that the most expensive thing in music is not gear or studio time but attention. Scattershot notes dilute the message; a targeted phrase lands like dialogue.
The line also carries context for Blackmore's own path: a virtuoso who moved through the U.K.'s pre-Deep Purple circuit, absorbing professional standards before becoming a larger-than-life band figure. It's a reminder that his fire came with craft underneath. "Make each one really count" is the studio's moral code: if you're going to speak, say something. That ethic is why a restrained lick can feel more dangerous than a hundred-note sprint.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
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