With the a cappella groups, every voice is like one string on a guitar, one note on the piano, or one cymbal, and you don't have the luxury of falling back on anything.
Interpretation
Every individual's contribution is crucial in a group setting, similar to how each instrument plays a vital role in music.
Ben Folds uses the metaphor of various musical instruments to illustrate the importance of each voice in an a cappella group. Just as each string on a guitar or note on a piano contributes to the overall harmony, every singer's unique voice is essential for achieving a cohesive sound. The quote emphasizes that there is no room for error in these performances, highlighting the need for collaboration, precision, and individual responsibility within a team.
In practice
In a music class, to emphasize teamwork in choir, you could quote this to show how each singer contributes to the overall sound.
I was looking for some way to put my music to some service on a nightly basis. You go into a town, you play a little music, you leave something behind. That idea connected us to the local community. It was a very simple idea, but it really resonated with me.
I'd like to think that all the old Beatle fans have grown up and they've got married and they've all got kids and they're all more responsible, but they still have a space in their hearts for us.
I don't know if it's changing already with 'Joanne,' but my intention is to bring people together that don't know each other and that would maybe feel awkward, but somehow be brought together by the music. That's what I wanted to do. Because that is pure and authentic to my family history and what I stand for.
As a child, all I knew was that people kept asking me to sing, and because I liked to please, I would sing. It wasn't until my dad told me that my singing made him happy that I began to think my voice might be good.
Jimi Hendrix came from the blues, like me. We understood each other right away because of that. He was a great blues guitarist.
That's the music that I play at home all the time, Joni Mitchell. Court and Spark I love because I'd always hoped that she'd work with a band. But the main thing with Joni is that she's able to look at something that's happened to her, draw back and crystallize the whole situation, then write about it. She brings tears to my eyes, what more can I say? It's bloody eerie. I can relate so much to what she says. "Now old friends are acting strange/They shake their heads/They say I've changed."
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