Thoughts on { The Piano & The Wrong Notes | Thelonious Monk / Robert Schumann / Ludwig van Beethoven / Artur Schnabel / Marcel Proust

Philip Jones Griffiths, Boy Destroying Piano, Wales, 1961

“The piano ain’t got no wrong notes.”

Thelonious Monk

“The notes I handle no better than many pianists. But the pauses between the notes – ah,
that is where the art resides.”

Artur Schnabel

“If, while at the piano, you attempt to form little melodies, that is very well; but if they come into your mind
of themselves, when you are not practising, you may be still more pleased; for the internal organ of music is
then roused in you. The fingers must do what the head desires; not the contrary.”

Robert Schumann

“To play a wrong note is insignificant; to play without passion is inexcusable!”

Ludwig van Beethoven

“It was true that Odette played vilely, but often the most memorable impression of a piece of music is
one that has arisen out of a jumble of wrong notes struck by unskilful fingers upon a tuneless piano.”

Marcel Proust