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With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear.
Yo-Yo Ma
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Music performance improves with relaxation, allowing for better listening and expression.

This quote by Yo-Yo Ma emphasizes the importance of relaxation in musical performance. As musicians gain experience over the years, they learn to let go of tension, which enhances their ability to listen and connect with the music, ultimately leading to a more expressive performance.

Themes

MusicRelaxationPerformanceListeningTension

In practice

Example use cases

A musician shares this quote during a workshop on performance relaxation techniques.

More from Yo-Yo Ma

As a child, you respond physically, tactically. You're delighted by sound, you're delighted by recognizing something. It's like hide and seek. Is it there? Is it not there? Is it this note? Is it not this note? It's one fantastic game.
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There's a part of me that's always charging ahead. I'm the curious kid, always going to the edge.
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I think that peace is, in many ways, a precondition of joy.
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I think anybody who goes away finds you appreciate home more when you return.
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When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives.
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I learn something not because I have to, but because I really want to. That's the same view I have for performing. I'm performing because I really want to, not because I have to bring bread back home.
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