Music Appreciation Quotes

Carrie was a girl from my music appreciation class. She had beautiful, dark brown eyes, though it was hard to notice them; she hid behind a scrim of mousy hair and soft chub, which gave her the sodden air of someone who'd found a tenuous contentment on Paxil ~ Siel Ju

[O]ften one listens and hears nothing, if it is a piece of music at all complicated to which one is listening for the first time. And yet when, later on, this sonata had been played over to me two or three times I found that I knew it quite well. And so it is not wrong to speak of hearing a thing for the first time. If one had indeed, as one supposes, received no impression from the first hearing, the second, the third would be equally 'first hearings' and there would be no reason why one should understand it any better after the tenth. Probably what is wanting, the first time, is not comprehension but memory. For our memory, compared to the complexity of the impressions which it has to face while we are listening, is infinitesimal, as brief as the memory of a man who in his sleep thinks of a thousand things and at once forgets them, or as that of a man in his second childhood who cannot recall, a minute afterwards, what one has just been saying to him. Of these multiple impressions our memory is not capable of furnishing us with an immediate picture. But that picture gradually takes shape, and, with regard to works which we have heard more than once, we are like the schoolboy who has read several times over before going to sleep a lesson which he supposed himself not to know, and finds that he can repeat it by heart next morning. It was only that I had not, until then, heard a note of the sonata, whereas Swann and his wife could make out a distinct phrase that was as far bey ~ Marcel Proust

There's no appreciation for the giants [of jazz]; there's never been a major film on Duke Ellington , never a major film on Louis Armstrong. What they accomplished, we could never accomplish today ... What's happening now is lightweight compared to what happened before. If Louis Armstrong was alive today, he'd be a superstar. If Art Tatum was alive today, my god, all the piano players would get on their knees. So that's what's missing today; we've been cut off from our heritage. ~ Randy Weston

Talent and generosity are needed to recognize talent and generosity in our companions; all is discord to an ear that has no idea of harmonies, but it needs a musical ear to delight in music. ~ Julia McNair Wright

Let there be music in the home. If you have teenagers who have their own recordings, you will be prone to describe the sound as something other than music. Let them occasionally hear something better. Expose them to it. It will speak for itself. More of appreciation will come than you may think. It may not be spoken, but it will be felt, and its influence will become increasingly manifest as the years pass. ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

I hold my time with the Black Crowes with the utmost respect and sincerest appreciation. It is a huge swath of my life's body of work, i couldn't be more proud of what we accomplished and deeply moved by the relationships people created and maintained with my music. That alone is the greatest honor of being a musician. ~ Rich Robinson

There was an exceeding good concert, but too much talking to hear it well. Indeed I am quite astonished to find how little music is attended to in silence; for, though every body seems to admire, hardly any body listens. ~ Fanny Burney

How could you live life without listen to music? ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

I started when I was really young. I was playing classical music when I was 4 and when I turned 11 I started to write pop music. I guess you could say it was my intellectual evolution and my love of music began to change. ~ Lady Gaga

What is life but a Spectrum and what is music but life itself. ~ Billy Cobham

If classical music is the state of the art, then the arts are in a sad state. ~ Frank Zappa

I love the gothic literature. It always has such great stories with characters bigger than life and the stakes are always high. And because there's always a wolf at the door, the emotions are high; the romance, the sexuality, friendships, and relationships. You don't know if the guy kissing you one minute is going to bite you the next. This heightens all of the sensibilities and emotions, and therefore, it sings to me. And that's where the music comes from. ~ Frank Wildhorn

The things by which our emotions can be moved - the shape of a flower or a Grecian urn, the way a baby grows, the way the wind brushes across your face, the way clouds move, their shapes, the way light dances on the water, or daffodils flutter in the breeze, the way in which the person you love moves their head, the way their hair follows that movement, the curve described by the dying fall of the last chord of a piece of music - all these things can be described by the complex flow of numbers.

That's not a reduction of it, that's the beauty of it. ~ Douglas Adams

I love editorial and sound and music, and I was working with the best people, so you learn a lot. ~ William Monahan

Take that rage, put it on a page, take the page to the stage, blow the roof off the place. ~ The Script

I should like to see any power of the world destroy this race, this small tribe of unimportant people, whose wars have all been fought and lost, whose structures have crumbled, literature is unread, music is unheard, and prayers are no more answered. Go ahead, destroy Armenia . See if you can do it. Send them into the desert without bread or water. Burn their homes and churches. Then see if they will not laugh, sing and pray again. For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia. ~ William, Saroyan

Rock stars have many of the same qualities as athletes - millions for doing what they love, fans, easy pussy, fame, status, the ability to do whatever they want when they want. While what they do is still cool, the main difference is that it's less masculine. You connect with your fans in this intense, intimate, emotional way that is less about you and more about them, how you make them feel. When you're an athlete, it's all about you. They cheer you on. When you make music, you cheer them on, provide the soundtrack to their little lives, and all they do is cheer you back to say "Thanks. ~ A.D. Aliwat

I have been singing gospel music since I was four years old. ~ Marvin Sapp

With The Pogues, at least the first three albums I'll stand by completely, yeah? Because I was in artistic control then, yeah? And the last couple of albums I'll stand by anything that's got my name on it, yeah? But I'll stand by anything that is on The Popes' albums, you know? I wouldn't put stuff out that I didn't like. I don't put out bad music. And I can tell the difference. I know that. ~ Shane MacGowan

With chemistry like theirs, this was the perfect setup for a fling ... and Sherry wanted to go out on a high note.
BRING ON THE ROADIE! ~ Rachel Harris

There was a time you saw me once, one afternoon, in the dormitories. There was no one else around, and I was playing this tape, this music. I was sort of dancing with my eyes closed and you saw me.'
' ... yes, I remember that occasion. I still think about it from time to time.'
'That's funny, so do I. ~ Kazuo Ishiguro

I spent a lot of time in Tower Records. I'm a huge music nerd, and Tower was instrumental to me when I was growing up. ~ Colin Hanks

The Grand Ole Opry used to come on, and I used to watch that. They used to have some pretty heavy cats, heavy guitar players ~ Jimi Hendrix

There's no such thing as a wrong note. ~ Art Tatum

Music is the language of some other state, born of memory. For what can wake the soul's strong instinct of some other world like music? ~ Letitia Elizabeth Landon

I think Rush have always had this reputation, particularly to non-fans, of being an ultra-serious and cerebral group when, in fact, the reverse is true. We don't take ourselves seriously at all. Sure, we take our music seriously, but that's altogether different. ~ Alex Lifeson

Oh, stuff the critics. I don't care. Too many people are snooty about classical. Look, I wasn't brought up in a home where we listened to classical music. It was a singing teacher that thought it would be best for my voice. Then I moved into crossover. And if that makes the music accessible to more people, then great. ~ Katherine Jenkins

Yeah, I've been interested in music since I was a teenager, always writing songs. ~ Jeff Bridges

Being in the music business requires having a very strong resolve. You must be completely committed to the craziness that will inevitably ensue when pursing a career in music. There is no one who is immune to this. Not even the biggest music icons. ~ Wendy Starland

To his orchestra Stop da music, stop da music! You're supposed to follow da music, not chase it all over da place. ~ Jimmy Durante

As a filmmaker, you've got to have a nose for what's going on culturally. You have to feel it. It doesn't have to be manga or music, but you need some kind of antenna. That's very important. ~ Takashi Miike

I myself grew up when radio was very important. I'd come home from school and turn on the radio. There were funny comedians and wonderful music, and there were plays. I used to pass time with radio. ~ Kurt Vonnegut

We grown-up people think that we appreciate music, but if we realized the sense that an infant has brought with it of appreciating sound and rhythm, we would never boast of knowing music. The infant is music itself. ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

... he thought Sufjan Stevens was overrated, which was basically a declaration of war, as far as I was concerned ~ Jasmine Warga

If you are alone & start loving Music, it means you are in with yourself. ~ Abhishek Rai

She didn't look like anyone else Marsha had ever seen, and she lived in New York where eventually you saw everyone, more or less. Her pale hair; her skin was practically albino; those strange silvery blue-green eyes . . . You didn't quite notice her at first glance; she was average . . . then you took a closer look and she was extremely striking. Her voice when she spoke wasn't always easy to understand, but it sounded to Marsha like music. Please, she thought to herself. Let her be kind. But not too kind. ~ Jenny Colgan

Children must receive music instruction as naturally as food, with as much pleasure as they derive from a ball game, and this must happen from the beginning of their lives. ~ Leonard Bernstein

I believe 100 percent in the power and importance of music. ~ James Taylor

I love the Italian culture - it's a beautiful culture. I love the language, the Italian people, their music, their attitudes ... I just love it! Sometimes I think I'm an Italian trapped in a Spanish woman's body. ~ Penelope Cruz

PIANO, n. A parlor utensil for subduing the impenitent visitor. It is operated by pressing the keys of the machine and the spirits of the audience. ~ Ambrose Bierce

In the music industry it's just you're either Black or white, and this is the box you get put in. ~ India.Arie

Life is sexy music, spicy-hot enchiladas and stacks of yellowed journals. It is the salsa and the gossip that floats on city breezes ~ Karl Wiggins

There's always been anger in the making of music or literature or dance. ~ Michael Ondaatje

Music has been a fantastic guidance for me. I'll be eternally thankful for this guidance. ~ Pinchas Zukerman

Well, I'm going to tell you the best and the worst thing you've ever heard. Heroes aren't born. You just go out there and grind it out. You fail and you look foolish and you just keep grinding. There is nothing else. There is no 'chosen one,' there is no destiny, nobody wakes up one day and finds out they're amazing at something. There's just slamming your head into the wall, refusing to take no for an answer. Being relentless, until either the wall or your head breaks. You want to be a hero? You don't have to make some grand decision. There's no inspirational music, there's no montage. You just don't quit. ~ David Wong

I always wanted to play music, and always loved it. I saw a band come to school, when I was in elementary school, and wanted to play drums. I started playing drums at 11, and that's where it all started. ~ Patty Schemel

Cooking is like music: you can tell when someone puts love into it. I come from a place where there was so much attention to detail. The population is smaller in the South, so more attention is given to serving smaller numbers of people. ~ Taylor Hicks

Music is one of the highest art forms there is. It can define a life, change a life, or even safe a life, in just three short minutes. ~ Alyson Noel

When I listen to most forms of music, in their most raw and pure, it all has a punk edge to me, like Lead Belly, Jimmie Rodgers, Otis Redding or Nirvana. ~ Langhorne Slim