The only music I don't like is bad music.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the subjective nature of music appreciation, suggesting that the only universal dislike is for poor quality music.
Quincy Jones emphasizes that music is a deeply personal experience, and while individuals may have different tastes and preferences, the common ground they can share is the rejection of music that is poorly made or insincerely crafted. This perspective invites listeners to appreciate the artistry in all forms of music while acknowledging that not all music will resonate with everyone.
In practice
In a discussion about musical preferences, one might say, 'The only music I don't like is bad music.'
Just blow in it and sound bad for about a year and then make it sound a little bit better, and you get a little band together, and then you get a few jobs. You take four guys that sound half bad, but if they're 25 percent each, they can give 100 percent, you know?
Music in movies is all about dissonance and consonance, tension and release.
When you produce an album, you're dealing with it theatrically. It has to have a structure, and the inner response to that is that the ear loves it.
You can study orchestration, you can study harmony and theory and everything else, but melodies come straight from God.
I got a scholarship to Seattle University and I was writing arrangements for singers and everybody. But the music course was too dry and I really wanted to get away from home.
I tell my kids and I tell proteges, always have humility when you create and grace when you succeed, because it's not about you. You are a terminal for a higher power. As soon as you accept that, you can do it forever.
I would like, if I can, to broaden the possibilities of the musical theater. I think there's a better 'Oklahoma!' someplace, a better 'West Side Story.' And I'd like to be mixed up in it.
And it was the idea that you can do a play - like a Shakespeare play, or any well-written play, Arthur Miller, whatever - and say things you could never imagine saying, never imagine thinking in your own life.
You see a child play, and it is so close to seeing an artist paint, for in play a child says things without uttering a word. You can see how he solves his problems. You can also see what's wrong. Young children, especially, have enormous creativity, and whatever's in them rises to the surface in free play.
I have one piece of music, since 1997, and I don't see it having lyrics. Where does it go in this world? So I haven't recorded it.
In my writing, as much as I could, I tried to find the good, and praise it.
Art is action. The way I live my life to its highest degree is by writing, the practice of art.
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