I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
Duke EllingtonRead
The wise musicians are those who play what they can master.
Interpretation
True musicians excel by mastering their craft and expressing their unique talents.
Duke Ellington's quote illustrates the importance of mastery in art, particularly music, suggesting that wise musicians focus on playing pieces they have fully mastered. This emphasizes the value of skill and authenticity in artistic expression, rather than attempting to showcase complex compositions that they are not proficient in.
In practice
During a music workshop, a mentor could use this quote to encourage students to focus on mastering their chosen instruments.
I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues.
Tomorrow is in the wings waiting for you to sound her entrance fanfare.
There is no art without intention.
There is nothing to keeping a band together. You simply have to have a gimmick, and the gimmick I use is to pay them money!
Gray skies are just clouds passing over.
Playing 'bop' is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.
Melody and harmony are like lines and colors in pictures. A simple linear picture may be completely beautiful; the introduction of color may make it vague and insignificant. Yet color may, by combination with lines, create great pictures, so long as it does not smother and destroy their value.
I know that one of the great arts that the writer develops is the art of saying, 'No. No, I'm finished. Bye.' And leaving it alone. I will not write it into the ground. I will not write the life out of it. I won't do that.
Every painting is a voyage into a sacred harbor.
There is no greater joy than that of feeling oneself a creator. The triumph of life is expressed by creation.
It's true that none of my characters are admirable. But maybe I'm primarily a satirist, and a satirist needs to hold up what's not admirable.
Poetry has been to me its own exceeding great reward; it has given me the habit of wishing to discover the good and beautiful in all that meets and surrounds me.
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