The bass is the link between harmony and rhythm. It is the foundation of a band. It is what all the other instruments stand upon, but it is rarely recognized as that.
Victor WootenRead
You can't speak Music with notes alone, but you can speak Music without notes at all!
Interpretation
Music cannot be fully expressed just through written notes; it transcends written form.
This quote emphasizes the idea that true musical expression goes beyond the written notation found on sheet music. It suggests that the essence of music lies in the emotional and experiential aspects that can be conveyed even without structured notes, highlighting the importance of creativity, improvisation, and the ability to connect with one's audience on a deeper level.
In practice
During a speech about the importance of artistic expression, I would use this quote to highlight how music transcends traditional forms.
The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment β to put things down without deliberation β without worrying about their style β without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote β wrote, wroteβ¦By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.
Before you can write a novel you have to have a number of ideas that come together. One idea is not enough.
I don't know what it's like for a book writer or a doctor or a teacher as they work to get established in their jobs, but for a singer, you've got to continue to grow or else you're just like last night's cornbread...stale and dry.
Beauty is a key to the mystery and a call to transcendence. It is an invitation to savor life and to dream of the future. That is why the beauty of created things can never fully satisfy. It stirs that hidden nostalgia for God which a lover of beauty like Saint Augustine could express in incomparable terms: 'Late have I loved you, beauty so old and so new: late have I loved you!'.
Filmmaking is exploring. Why would I want to make a film about something I already understand?
I am no longer concerned with sensation and innovation, but with the perfection of my style.
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