150 Musical Ability Quotes

Following is our list of musical ability quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about musical performance.

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Famous Musical Ability Quotes

In terms of brain development, musical performance is every bit as important educationally as reading or writing. — Oliver Sacks

It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself. — Johann Sebastian Bach

If children hear fine music from the day of their birth and learn to play it, they develop sensitivity, discipline and endurance. They get a beautiful heart. — Shinichi Suzuki

Learning to read music in Braille and play by ear helped me develop a damn good memory. — Ray Charles

Nature endows us with the feeling that moves us in all our musical experiences; we might call her gift instinct. — Jean-Philippe Rameau

If you look at music, you see theme, variation, you see symmetry, asymmetry, you see structure, and these are related to skills in the real world. — Dave Van Ronk

The world is full of musicians who can play great, and you wouldn't cross the road to see them. It's people who have this indefinable attitude that are the good ones. — Nick Lowe

The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen. — Duke Ellington

Musicians should never forget that we're blessed. We have a special gift that people can enjoy through us. We've had the good fortune to receive this and pass it along to others. — Ed Thigpen

My appearance was always good and my ability to play on the piano, especially ragtime, which was then at the height of its vogue, made me a welcome guest. — James Weldon Johnson

The essential elements of singing are voice, musicianship, and story. It is the rare artist that has all three in abundance. — Linda Ronstadt

Music may not make you a genius, or rich, or even a better person. But it helps train you to think differently, to process different points of view — and most important, to take pleasure in listening. — Joanne Lipman

Great music is that which penetrates the ear with facility and leaves the memory with difficulty. Magical music never leaves the memory. — Sir Thomas Beecham

Music is a defining element of character. — Plato

Being a musician is a noble profession. — Paul Weller

Musical Talent Quotes

I have this ability to find this hidden talent in people that sometimes even they didn't know they had. — Berry Gordy

It's like a novelist writing far out things. If it makes a point and makes sense, then people like to read that. But if it's off in left field and goes over the edge, you lose it. The same with musical talent, I think. — Johnny Cash

Musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who is properly trained can develop musical ability just as all children develop the ability to speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited. — Shinichi Suzuki

Musical ability quote Life is like a piano, the white keys represent happiness and the black shows sadness, but as you go
Life is like a piano, the white keys represent happiness and the black shows sadness, but as you go through life's journey, remember that the black keys also makes music.

If 'Pygmalion' is not good enough for your friends with its own verbal music, their talent must be altogether extraordinary. — George Bernard Shaw

Talent works, genius creates. — Robert Schumann

Ry Cooder for me is a master, a great master that has a wonderful feel for Cuban music. He's also paid tribute my talent a bit, even though I don't know half of what he knows. — Compay Segundo

Musical ability quote Behind every girl's favorite song there is an untold story.
Behind every girl's favorite song there is an untold story.

I really like Alan Jackson, in Country Music. I think he's really very, very talented along with George Jones, and Merle Haggard, the same old favorites. — Tanya Tucker

Composers today get a TV script on Friday and have to record on Tuesday. It's just dreadful to impose on gifted talent and expect decent music under these conditions. — Alex North

I've never heard anything Wynton [Marsalis] played sound like it meant anything at all. Wynton has no voice and no presence. His music sounds like a talented high-school trumpet player to me... he's jazzy the same way someone who drives a BMW is sporty. — Keith Jarrett

The first step - especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money - the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art. — Chuck Palahniuk

Musical Performance Quotes

In the end, worship can never be a performance, something you're pretending or putting on. It's got to be an overflow of your heart...Worship is about getting personal with God, drawing close to God. — Matt Redman

We love not just Judas Priest music, but we love heavy metal and we love to get out on that stage every night and perform. It's a joy to be able to do it. — Glenn Tipton

Mainly I was able to perform with music - I played the French horn, I would sing, and I was a drummer in the pipe band. So I think it was a way to show off. — Ewan McGregor

Musical ability quote Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forwad for the trip.
Tact is the ability to tell someone to go to hell in such a way that they look forwad for the trip.

Dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music — Charles Baudelaire

Regardless of what you play, the biggest thing is keeping the feel going. - Wes Montgomery

Regardless of what you play, the biggest thing is keeping the feel going. — Wes Montgomery

I dare suggest that the composer would do himself and his music an immediate and eventual service by total, resolute and voluntary withdrawal from this public world to one of private performance and electronic media. — Milton Babbitt

Musically I try to connect a common bridge between such exhilarating feelings as performing at the Acropolis, to the emotions each and every one of us feel everyday. In the end, a good melody will always stand the test of time. — Bradley Joseph

Dance every performance as if it were your last. — Erik Bruhn

For some people, fame kills it and becomes more important than the music or the performance. But for me fame is like rocket fuel. The more my fans like what I'm doing, the more I want to give back to them. And my passion is so strong I can't sleep - I haven'tslept for three days. — Lady Gaga

Music is still the one thing that ties people together. People can come together from all different religions, walks of life, colours, creeds and enjoy the same song. That's still the most incredible thing to me about performing live. — Dave Gahan

Natural Ability Quotes

We should spend less time ranking children and more time helping them to identify their natural competencies and gifts and cultivate these. There are hundreds and hundreds of ways to succeed and many, many different abilities that will help you get there. — Howard Gardner

Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learned. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and, where appropriate, profits. — Edward De Bono

The problem with government-provided money is that its hardness depends entirely on the ability of those in charge to not inflate its supply. Only political constraints provide hardness, and there are no physical, economic, or natural constraints. — Saifedean Ammous

Even if a man has no natural ability, he can be a warrior. - Miyamoto Musashi

Even if a man has no natural ability, he can be a warrior. — Miyamoto Musashi

What is art? It is not just nature, it is nurtured nature. It is intelligence applied to what physical ability you have. — Rudolf Nureyev

The road to happiness lies in two simple principles: find what it is that interests you and that you can do well, and when you find it put your whole soul into it-every bit of energy and ambition and natural ability you have. — John D. Rockefeller III

Natural abilities are like natural plants, that need pruning by study; and studies themselves do give forth directions too much at large, except they be bounded in by experience. — Francis Bacon

There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, happiness, and misery. — Charles Darwin

Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature. - Eric Hoffer

Creativity is the ability to introduce order into the randomness of nature. — Eric Hoffer

Artistic Ability Quotes

When you look at the greatest artists and creators, they have this ability to start over that nobody else does. — Naval Ravikant

Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass. — Fran Lebowitz

Children also have artistic ability, and there is wisdom in there having it! The more helpless they are, the more instructive are the examples they furnish us; and they must be preserved free of corruption from an early age. — Paul Klee

The future belongs to a different kind of person with a different kind of mind: artists, inventors, storytellers-creative and holistic 'right-brain' thinkers whose abilities mark the fault line between who gets ahead and who doesn't. — Daniel H. Pink

The ability to draw from life determines the artist's skill. This is why live drawing classes have always been at the top of the curriculum for properly structured academic workshops. — Igor Babailov

I think that one of the reasons that we chose the word love as the subject is because your human connection and how you affect everybody around you, you'll only understand the gravity of that as you pass later on in life. I think as artists it's our ability to communicate that in certain ways. — Tom DeLonge

Symphony is the ability to see the big picture, connect the dots, combine disparate things into something new. Visual artists in particular are good at seeing how the pieces come together. I experienced this myself by trying to learn to draw. — Daniel H. Pink

Artists have the unique ability to tell stories. It's not charts and graphs that get people to change. — LeCrae

I believe that working independently will give artists the ability to communicate the full extent of their art and not just a piece of it that might sell. — Tom DeLonge

The creative ability of an artist is manifested only if he succeeds in transforming the natural phenomena into 'another reality.' This part of the creative process as an independent element, if conscious and developed, hints at the possibility of creating a painting. — Frantisek Kupka

Athletic Ability Quotes

I played football for a team called the East Dragons on the east side of town. We only had six regular season games. And six games I played tail back and I had 18 touchdowns in six games. That's when I knew I had some athletic ability. — LeBron James

The ability to grow is directly related to the amount of insecurity you can take in your life. — Bruce Jenner

My education is going to take me 10 times further than my athletic ability. — Cardale Jones

Money has changed today's black athletes. Those who have the ability as African men to bring a change in a community that so desperately needs it are concentrating only on their own careers, some charities and how much money they can make. — Jim Brown

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. — Andrew Carnegie

All of us get knocked down, but it's resiliency that really matters. All of us do well when things are going well, but the thing that distinguishes athletes is the ability to do well in times of great stress, urgency and pressure. — Roger Staubach

It is simply not consistent with either my character or my confidence in my God-given athletic ability to cheat in any way. — Justin Gatlin

My father's encouragement is what has brought me this far, because when I grew up I wanted to be like him, and I knew I had that ability to become an athlete. Being an Olympian is one of the greatest things, and being an Olympic gold medallist is one of the most prestigious titles in the world. — David Rudisha

The street to obscurity is paved with athletes who perform great feats before friendly crowds. Greatness in major league sports is the ability to win in a stadium filled with people who are pulling for you to lose. — George Allen

This ability to conquer oneself is no doubt the most precious of all things sports bestows. — Olga Korbut

Mental Ability Quotes

I can feel guilty about the past, Apprehensive about the future,but only in the present can I act.The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. — Abraham Maslow

I think you should be able to imagine things in a different way. And, you have to dedicate both your physical and mental abilities to that ambition to accomplish it. — Nirmal Purja

The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness. — Abraham Maslow

In nature, it is not only the physically weak but the mentally weak that get eaten. Now we have created this modern society in which we have every comfort, yet we are losing our ability to regulate our mood, our emotions. — Wim Hof

Chess as a sport requires a lot of mental stamina, and this is what that makes it different from a physical sport. Chess players have a unique ability of taking in a lot of information and remembering relevant bits. So, memory and mental stamina are the key attributes. — Viswanathan Anand

Character is the ability to consistently live in harmony with your values. Even when external and internal pressure is tempting you not to. It's also about having the mental flexibility to update your values as you grow and evolve. — Rangan Chatterjee

True wealth is having a healthy mind, body, and spirit. True wealth is having the knowledge to maneuver and navigate the mental obstacles that inhibit your ability to soar. — RuPaul

Clearly, health and disease cannot be defined merely in terms of anatomical, physiological, or mental attributes. Their real measure is the ability of the individual to function in a manner acceptable to himself and to the group of which he is a part. — Rene Dubos

Exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function…exercise has a profound impact on cognitive abilities and mental health. It is simply one of the best treatments we have for most psychiatric problems. — John Ratey

I have often reflected upon the new vistas that reading has opened to me. I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life. As I see it today, the ability to read awoke inside me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive. — Malcolm X

Musical Experience Quotes

Music does bring people together. It allows us to experience the same emotions. People everywhere are the same in heart and spirit. No matter what language we speak, what color we are, the form of our politics or the expression of our love and our faith, music proves: We are the same. — John Denver

In wilderness people can find the silence and the solitude and the noncivilized surroundings that can connect them once again to their evolutionary heritage, and through an experience of the eternal mystery, can give them a sense of the sacredness of all creation. — Sigurd F. Olson

Music is one of the closest link-ups with God that we can probably experience. I think it's a common vibrating tone of the musical notes that holds all life together. — Marvin Gaye

Singing, it's like it's like loving somebody, it's a supreme emotional and physical experience. — Janis Joplin

Yeah, after making Pablo Honey, we started experimenting with cloning myself in order to double the band's creative energy. However, the experiment was a failure, and the defective Thom Yorke clone escaped. And formed a band called Muse. — Thom Yorke

To me history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is. — David McCullough

As far as being a 'player's player,' you've only got to go to Nashville or Argentina and you can forget about it. The world is full of amazing guitar players, and you know it, and I know it...it's a humbling experience. — Mark Knopfler

Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow. — Kurt Vonnegut

How is it possible that a being with such sensitive jewels as the eyes, such enchanted musical instruments as the ears, and such fabulous arabesque of nerves as the brain can experience itself anything less than a god. — Alan Watts

I mean, making art is about objectifying your experience of the world, transforming the flow of moments into something visual, or textual, or musical, whatever. Art creates a kind of commentary. — Barbara Kruger

Physical Ability Quotes

Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul. — Jim Valvano

Who wants to leave the door open to being dominated physically by another human being? Jiu Jitsu gives you the ability to not be dominated by that person, and to me, that's real peace of mind. I don't have to worry about that when I'm walking around in the world. — Jocko Willink

Just the actual physical ability to hold four instruments simultaneously and do some of the things that Vivien was able to do is mind blowing to any surgeon. He never went to medical school and he became one of the great teachers of medicine himself, people are just amazed. — Mary, Queen of Scots

Just the actual physical ability to hold four instruments simultaneously and do some of the things that Vivien was able to do is mind blowing to any surgeon. He never went to medical school and he became one of the great teachers of medicine himself, people are just amazed. — Mary Stuart Masterson

Boxing is a science. You don't just walk into a gym and start punching. Fighters are born with differences in physical ability, but you also see a big difference in their skills. That's the trainers influence at work. — Eddie Futch

Too many players focus on physical tells. For both online and live games, you should be focusing more on betting patterns and histories. The ability to figure out your opponent's hand based on his betting pattern is a crucial skill. — Daniel Negreanu

Clarity is the ability to see the soul in action in the physical world. — Gary Zukav

There are a very few consistent, common threads among the most successful NFL quarterbacks. Most of them are intangibles, which you can't measure with a physical test. You need leadership ability, competitiveness, drive, and will. You need focus, poise, and charisma. — Drew Brees

Developing inner values is much like physical exercise. The more we train our abilities, the stronger they become. The difference is that, unlike the body, when it comes to training the mind, there is no limit to how far we can go. — Dalai Lama

When I was young, I had to learn the fundamentals of basketball. You can have all the physical ability in the world, but you still have to know the fundamentals. — Michael Jordan

Musical Expression Quotes

It's a dream come true, and with this music, with this Rossini, it's unbelievable how to express the joy and express the joy of the situation and the joy to play this music, to sing this music, it's really fantastic. — Cecilia Bartoli

I want to express the feelings that everyone has felt at least once in music so i think people will feel/understand my song. — G-Dragon

My music is the spiritual expression of what I am — my faith, my knowledge, my being...When you begin to see the possibilities of music, you desire to do something really good for people, to help humanity free itself from its hangups...I want to speak to their souls. — John Coltrane

My music is the spiritual expression of what I am: my faith, my knowledge, my being. — John Coltrane

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words. - Victor Hugo

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words. — Victor Hugo

Music expresses that which cannot remain silent and that which cannot be put into words. — Victor Hugo

Music begins where words are powerless to express. Music is made for the inexpressible. I want music to seem to rise from the shadows and indeed sometimes to return to them. — Claude Debussy

Music is the expression of the movement of the waters, the play of curves described by changing breezes. — Claude Debussy

Music is something I've always been interested in and incorporated into my videos. — Jake Paul

The art of Mime encompasses all the feelings of the soul. The Dance, on the other hand, is essentially an expression of joy, a desire to follow the rhythms of the music. — August Bournonville

People Writing About Musical Ability

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Read quotes by Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks
quotes on love, music and dying

108 2181
Read quotes by Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

30 1755
Read quotes by Shinichi Suzuki

Shinichi Suzuki
quotes on life, love and leadership

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Read quotes by Ray Charles

Ray Charles
quotes on life, race

82 1178
Read quotes by Jean-Philippe Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau

10 74
Read quotes by Dave Van Ronk

Dave Van Ronk
quotes on love, friendship and life

23 218

More Musical Ability Quotes

The conductor of an orchestra doesn’t make a sound. He depends, for his power, on his ability to make other people powerful. — Benjamin Zander

Ability, when trained, becomes proficiency. Scribbling through training becomes hand writing. Talking through training becomes communication. Noise, under proper training becomes music. Don’t be satisfied with ability. Take the responsibility to make it a proficiency. — Mahatria Ra

Music has to be recognized as an…agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values - solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings. — Jose Antonio Abreu

Our point of view, not our drawing skills or musical virtuosity or ability to tell a story. — Rick Rubin

I think artists can influence only through making music that challenges people, excites them and flips them out. Music that repeats what you know in ever-decreasing derivation, that's unchallenging and unstimulating, deadens our minds, our imagination and our ability to see beyond the hell we find ourselves in. — Thom Yorke

I think music has the ability to inspire people and to change hearts, and the heart has the power to change the mind, and the mind has the power to change the world. — Serj Tankian

God made me blind and unable to walk. BIG DEAL! He gave me the ability... the musical gifts I have... the great opportunity to meet new people. — Patrick Henry Hughes

I prefer to learn everything through music. If you want divinity, the music in every human being and their love for music is pretty much it. It's the big indication of their spirituality and their ability to love and make love, or feel pain or joy, and really manifest it, really be real. — Jeff Buckley

You have to open your mind. I like the ability to express myself in a deep way. It's the closest music to our humanity - it's like a folk music that rises up out of a culture. — Sonny Terry

Rather than relying on my skills, the musical ability of my band or the technical expertise of our production team, I want to learn to rely on the leading of the Holy Spirit. Only then will our churches come alive in worship. — Tim Hughes

Some are blessed with musical ability, others with good looks. Myself, I was blessed with modesty. — Roger Moore

I believe my most important skill is an ability to perceive patterns in the market. I think this aptitude for pattern recognition is probably related to my heavy involvement with music. — Linda Bradford Raschke

I have a pretty good math mind, so I can see patterns, but I don't have a great ear. It's like a tragedy - I can see so much more natural musical ability in so many other people. — Bo Burnham

Improvisation is the ability to talk to oneself. — Cecil Taylor

I think the feelings in my music were suggested to me before I even had the ability to play music. — John Frusciante

You start by copying other people's paintings or music or whatever. You get all of those skills before you branch out. Really creative people have a fantastic ability to copy things and then combine them in new ways. And whether we're talking about genes or memes, recombination is the real heart of creativity. — Susan Blackmore

It's basically a city of songwriters and that's what gives it it's strength, that's what gives it its lasting ability. You've got people making all different kinds of music and that's what attracts me to Nashville as Music City. — Emmylou Harris

Technology has made music accessible in a philosophically interesting way, which is great. But on the other hand, when everybody has the ability to make magic, it's like there's no more magic - if the audience can just do it themselves, why are they going to bother? — Thomas Bangalter

I have come to the definite conclusion that musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. — Shinichi Suzuki

We need self-confidence in our ability to build Africa. I trust in Mali and I trust in music. — Rokia Traore

It sounds silly, I know. But for me, the power of music rests in its ability to reach inside and touch the places where the deepest cuts lie. Like a benevolent god, a good song will never let you down. And sometimes, when you're trying to find your way, one of those gods actually shows up and gives you directions. — Tiffanie DeBartolo

Metaphysicians are musicians without musical ability. — Rudolf Carnap

Let us not get so busy or live so fast that we can't listen to the music of the meadow or the symphony that glorifies the forest. Some things in the world are far more important than wealth; one of them is the ability to enjoy simple things. — Dale Carnegie

Of course, it's not the technique that makes the music; it's the sensitivity of the musician and his ability to be able to fuse his life with the rhythm of the times. This is the essence of music. — Herbie Hancock

Any day above ground is a good one. A woman's beauty is her inherent ability to better a man in every way. My father, now in heaven, is the watcher of birds. And his eye is on his sparrow. God, in his great silence, is still there. Of that I haven't a single doubt. Music is the balm that heals the ache of a forlorn star. — Donald E. Williams, Jr.

What I have achieved by industry and practice, anyone else with tolerable natural gift and ability can also achieve. — Johann Sebastian Bach

Improvisation is the ability to create something very spiritual, something of one's own. — Sonny Rollins

I consider my musical ability to be a gift from the Creator. It's not that I try to work hard or nothing like that, it's a gift, it was given to me, and I appreciate it. — Erykah Badu

The stress that we [with Abilities] always feel is trying to continue advancing with our music. That's our plight, it's ingrained in our personalities. We feel like we're trying to race the world of music itself - just trying to create the best music, and as soon as we get done with one piece we're trying to figure out how to top it. — Eyedea

My musical ambitions are not that great. I make music I like, and thankfully - for my ability to make an (fairly...) honest living - at least some others like the music too. — Varg Vikernes

Louie Bellson represents the epitome of musical talent. His ability to cover the whole musical spectrum from an elite percussionist to a very gifted composer and arranger never ceases to amaze me. I consider him one of the musical giants of our age. — Oscar Peterson

And my father was a comic. He could play any musical instrument. He loved to perform. He was a wonderfully comedic character. He had the ability to dance and sing and charm and analyze poetry. — Lynn Johnston

Black music has increased my enjoyment of what I do. It has increased my range, my ability to reach into myself and accept myself. — Michael Bolton

I certainly never doubted the ability for the guys to get together and make good music, but there was so much legal business with the record company that it ended up being like five albatrosses around our neck. — John Bush

In many cases, the decision to study music has robbed them of the ability to play music. They have lost respect for music that comes from within because they have been programmed to feel "unworthy". — Kenny Werner

I don't know if I could write ten easy ways to connect with an audience. I know you have to believe in what you're doing, you have to believe in your music, believe in your ability, believe that what you're doing is honest and true and real. — Ramsey Lewis

I had no musical or athletic ability, and I wasnt particularly good looking. Comedy was something I could do for attention. — Doug Stanhope

We must ask why apparently general musical abilities should be restricted to a chosen few in societies supposed to be culturally more advanced. Does cultural development represent a real advance in human sensitivity, or is it chiefly a diversion for elites and a weapon of class exploitation? — John Blacking

I like to create the music I hear in my interior. As a conductor, you have the ability to squeeze the sounds and interpretation you asked for from 50 to 80 people. — Eberhard Weber

I also believe my musical abilities are a true gift from God. — Wynonna Judd

When I stay focused and honest about who I am and the image that I hope to portray, then I won't find myself stranded in unfamiliar territory chasing money or popularity. If the work that you do is quality, then you'll be rewarded. It's also good to stretch musically within the realm of your ability, but not if it compromises your integrity. — Oleta Adams

There is something wonderful about singing and writing music, I think there is something special about creativity and the ability humans have in that area. — Kim Gordon

I love what I do. I was given the most incredible gift that can be given to anyone. I could never imagine a world without music, and I feel grateful that I've been given the ability to share that. — Dionne Warwick

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