My Train Of Thought

For today’s newsletter I have brought together a collection of quotes that express a train of thought I’ve had; and well, these folks just express it so well!

Neither a lofty degree of intelligence nor imagination nor both together go to the making of genius. Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius.

Mozart is certainly one to know about genius. Love is the soul of genius. Ah, put your heart into your endeavors; don’t hold back; be in love with your efforts. Make leaps into the creative unknown.

Just don’t give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.

Good advice from both Ella and Amadeus for every musician. In learning and practicing a musical instrument, voice included, there is no room for caution. As Confucius says, “The cautious seldom err.”

Mistakes are part of the learning experience. And many times, are just part of the experience! Mistakes do not know the difference between professionals and amateurs.

There’s a way of playing safe, there’s a way of using tricks and there’s the way I like to play which is dangerously; where you’re going to take a chance on making mistakes in order to create something you haven’t created before.

Henry Ford agrees, “Even a mistake may turn out to be the one thing necessary to a worthwhile achievement.”

What happens when you put your love and inspiration into your music?

A note can be as small as a pin or as big as the world; it depends on your imagination.

One of the things I like about jazz, kid, is I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Do you?

Life is about rhythm. We vibrate, our hearts are pumping blood, we are a rhythm machine, that’s what we are.

Any good jazz player has innumerable tricks he can fall back on whenever he gets stuck. But to be an improviser you have to leave these tricks behind, go out on a limb and take risks, perhaps occasionally fall flat on your face. In fact, what audiences love most is for you to go ahead and fall. Then they get to see how you manage to pick yourself up and put the world back together again.

Don’t play the saxophone. Let it play you.

Allow yourself to be inspired. Give yourself permission to fall on your face and feel your saxophone play you.

You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don’t try.

And where does magic come from? I think that magic’s in the learning.

Now we’ve come full circle, back to the concept of genius:
A genius is the one most like himself.

Don’t compromise yourself. You are all you’ve got.

Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass… it’s about learning to dance in the rain.

Having collected all these quotes, I am inspired to make music. I feel the soulfulness of Janis Joplin, the playful unrestrained creativity of Mozart, and the passion of Ella Fitzgerald all coursing through me, swirling and whirling in me, demanding release. I hope this collection will inspire you to play your cello or harmonica or whatever your instrument, like the true genius you are!

Got a quote to share? Got a motivational experience to contribute? Email me or add your comment below.