When we listen to improvisational jazz, or solo classical violinists, the way they phrase and inflect melodies feels vocal, like they’re talking to us.
BOBBY MCFERRINHere’s a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don’t worry, be happy In every life we have some trouble But when you worry you make it double Don’t worry, be happy Don’t worry, be happy now
More Bobby McFerrin Quotes
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I found that if I sang a line using the consonants, vowels, shadings, and inflection we recognize as human language sounds, people responded as if I were talking to them.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
I think play and joy and feeling good deserve more of our time. I don’t see why adults are supposed to grow out of those things.
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I use the audience as my color palette, my instrument.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
Improvisation means coming to the situation without rigid expectations or preconceptions. The key to improvisation is motion.
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I’d actually been making my living as an organist with bands since I was probably 15 or 16 years old, and then as a senior in high school I put together a jazz quintet called The Bobby Mack Jazz Quintet.
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I want them to have this sense of real, real joy from the depths of their being. Because I think when you take them to that place, then you open up a place where grace can come in.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
Music is still part of my spiritual life. Sometimes I sing my prayers. When I get audiences singing, I hope I’m helping them feel connected to something beyond themselves.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
Here’s a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don’t worry, be happy In every life we have some trouble But when you worry you make it double Don’t worry, be happy Don’t worry, be happy now
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
If I sing “you broke my heart, you left me flat,” everyone knows exactly what that means – they know the story. But if I sing a line that’s plaintive or wailing, people can experience their own set of emotions and their own story.
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I actually fought the idea for a while because it seemed almost too radical, but it became obvious what I was supposed to be doing.
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I do a lot of performing, but don’t get a chance to go to the studio and write good music.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
The audience is like my instrument. It’s not just me up there, it’s collaborative.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
I like a very dark house, just black. I sit there and just think. Once I’m still and quiet inside, I’ll begin. It’s very personal; it has to be.
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When I was figuring out how to perform solo, I wanted to move back and forth between bass riffs, melody, and harmony, so I often used sounds instead of — or alongside — the words of a song.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
This is what I want everyone to experience at the end of my concert… everyone has this sense of rejoicing. I don’t want them to be blown away by what I do,
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When you worry your face will frown, that will bring everybody down, so don’t worry BE HAPPY!:)
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
Improvisation is the courage to move from one note to the next.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
It’s not that I don’t love the song. My songs are like my children: some you want around and some you want to send off to college as soon as possible.
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One song may be Bach, the next blues, a song from TV, or a nursery rhyme or jazz piece.
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Don’t just play the licks you know. We’re all improvising all the time – it’s good to recognize that and embrace it.
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The true musician is to bring light into people’s hearts.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
The voice gets to the soul of a person more than any other instrument. Because it’s the voice. It sings talks, it cries, it laughs, it squeals, it barks, it shouts it whispers, There is no other instrument that can do that. We’re born with it.
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Musicians are the architects of heaven.
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Each of us might give that phrase a different meaning. It’s open to interpretation, and one song becomes a thousand songs. I love that.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
I couldn’t do anything without faith. I couldn’t open up my eyes, I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t speak, I couldn’t sing.
BOBBY MCFERRIN -
If I have a mission it’s to make everyone who comes to my concerts leave feeling a heightened sense of freedom to play, sing, and enjoy themselves.
BOBBY MCFERRIN