We in the Western world suffer from too many categories and classes; we've forgotten that we all still have diapers on. We've separated music from life.
Ornette ColemanRead
You've got to realize. In the western world, regardless of what color you are, what title the music is, it's all played by the same notes.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Music transcends race and genre, fundamentally sharing the same elements.
Ornette Coleman's quote emphasizes the universality of music, suggesting that irrespective of racial or cultural differences, all musicians operate using the same foundational components of musicβnotes. This highlights how music can unify diverse backgrounds, inviting a recognition of shared humanity through the art form.
Themes
MusicUniversalNotesEqualityCulture
In practice
Example use cases
During a conversation about the power of music in bringing people together, I quoted Ornette Coleman to highlight its unity.
More from Ornette Coleman
All quotes βYou don't have to worry about being a number one, number two, or number three. Numbers don't have anything to do with placement. Numbers only have something to do with repetition.
Ornette ColemanRead
So, for instance, if you came to me, I'd ask, 'Do you want to write? Do you want to improvise? Why do you want to play this instrument? What do you want to do?'
Ornette ColemanRead
That's what I was trying to say when we were talking about sound. I think that every person, whether they play music or don't play music, has a sound - their own sound, that thing that you're talking about.
Ornette ColemanRead
It's just someone has labelled us as having a different label to do what you do. I find that labels are the worst thing in the world for artistic expression.
Ornette ColemanRead
I decided, if I'm going to be poor and black and all, the least thing I'm going to do is to try and find out who I am. I created everything about me.
Ornette ColemanRead
Similar quotes
In a sense, the music business and I haven't always been the best of bedfellows. Artists often have to fight their corner. Your music goes through these filters of record labels and media, and you're hoping you'll find someone who'll help you get your work into the world.
Annie LennoxRead
The major rock instruments and classical instruments were designed for performance, for sharing the music with an audience, and then later people put microphones on them and recorded them. But for electronic music, the opposite was true - they're designed in laboratories, and later, we tried to put them on stage.
Jean Michel JarreRead
Without the Fender bass, there'd be no rock n' roll or no Motown. The electric guitar had been waiting 'round since 1939 for a nice partner to come along. It became an electric rhythm section, and that changed everything.
Quincy JonesRead
I'll always love rap, no matter what's going on.
NasRead
In hindsight, if I could go back in time and relay a message to my younger self, I would tell him to work on his time keeping, and that the job of a drummer is not to be the one that gets noticed the most on stage, or to be the fastest, or the loudest. Above all, it is to be the timekeeper.
Taylor HawkinsRead
I always felt rock and roll was very, very wholesome music.
Aretha FranklinRead