Nuno Bettencourt

“The groove is the most important thing. If it doesn't make you want to move your head, then what's the point?”

“Songwriting is king. A great song can live without a great guitar solo, but a great guitar solo can't live without a great song.”

“Every time I pick up a guitar, I'm still that 14-year-old kid in his bedroom.”

“I'm not a technical player. I play with feel.”

“The minute you think you've made it, you're done. You have to keep a little bit of that hunger.”

“I've always been about the song. It's not about how many notes you can play.”

“You can have all the technique in the world, but if you don't have soul, it means nothing.”

“The most important thing is to have your own voice. Find what makes you unique.”

“I'm not a shredder. I'm a musician.”

“I don't think you can ever be a complete musician. You're always learning.”

“Being in a band is like being in a marriage. There are ups and downs, but you have to work through it.”

“I think the best musicians are the ones that are the most diverse.”

“The audience is the fifth member of the band. Their energy feeds us.”

“I never practice scales. I just play. I find things by accident.”

“Music is the universal language. It connects people from all walks of life.”

“I never looked at the guitar player as a job. I always looked at it like I get to play guitar for a living, and that's a lucky gig.”

“For me, the guitar is a vehicle to write a song. It's not the end-all, be-all.”

“I try to play for the song, not for myself. The song dictates what I should play.”

“You have to be open to everything. Don't close yourself off to any style of music.”

“You have to be in it for the long haul. It's a marathon, not a sprint.”