Yanni's Quotes

My music is based on melody and when I play the piano, it's as if I'm singing with them. When you try to transform that into a vocal, there was very little adjustment.

New Age is a very small box. It was a term that was brought in by the music industry to classify music that is neither jazz, classical, pop or rock. They didn't know what to call it or what to do with it. So they threw it all together under this one name.

When you do music concerts at Taj Mahal and the Acropolis, you have to be careful about your performance being appropriate with the place that surrounds you. It has to be appropriate to the culture - it should fit the building behind you, the environment you are playing it in and the culture of that place.

Truth is the number one element in whatever you do with music.

When you hear 'Truth of Touch,' I believe you recognize that it is me; however it's not the typical Yanni album.

A simple life is good with me. I don't need a whole lot. For me, a T-shirt, a pair of shorts, barefoot on a beach and I'm happy.

And going into my studio at night, particularly at night when everybody's asleep, is just a total pleasure for me.

Being an athlete helps me get those grandiose emotions of pleasure and pain that are involved in sports.

Creativity is an inherent human quality of the highest order. When we create, we become more than the sum of our parts.

I am so happy that I didn't go to school and I didn't have anyone to tell me how to position my fingers on the piano correctly.

I do listen to a lot of music, but I don't listen when I'm writing.

I don't really like to explain my songs.

I just would use any instrument known to man in any combination as long as it describes an emotion.

If you are a professional, the speed with which you react to a potential problem separates the men from the boys.

It has never been necessary for me to learn how to read music.

Music is art, and once you become an artist, you need to learn how to accept criticism.

Not being able to read and write music is not the same as being illiterate in speech and writing.

The good news is when you open up in Vegas, you have a lot of friends, because they all come over to see your opening night.

There is no gender to my music. There's no male or female voice, no trite lyrics or poetry. It's much more abstract, so it lives with you longer.

When it comes down to music, I have no balance. I am 100 percent. It is like full throttle. Five hundred miles an hour.

While most of the music I write is instrumental, I love to use the human voice as another instrument.

With instrumental music, it is traditionally hard to get exposure.

You accomplish what you want to accomplish. I just don't ever want to hurt anybody doing it.