Tim Minchin Quotes

I know that the twelve notes in each octave and the variety of rhythm offer me opportunities that all of human genius will never exhaust.

There's many, many ways to write a song. But generally, sitting down at a table and writing is not one of them.

The real architecture happens within the works themselves, and that was done by the composer. That's where the real skill is. In putting together a program, you're more a curator, but that's important as well. And then the interpreting of it is where our big job is.

The further the music develops, the more complex the apparatus used by the composer to express his thoughts becomes.

However, I began composing as soon as I started taking piano lessons.

There's a basic rule which runs through all kinds of music, kind of an unwritten rule. I don't know what it is. But I've got it.

Music is an intrinsic part of life; therefore, it is important to transport different forms of artistic expression, science, and mathematics into compositions.

I'm usually just writing lyrics alone in my room, but I'm happy to be producing and writing chords anywhere.

I like inventive melodies and chord changes, a little bit of creativity.

The creative process of composing music has always fascinated me.

Music has a lot in com­mon with math­e­mat­ics. But in music, two and two need not make four: they add up to what­ever you wish.

I think that the melodic piece of the puzzle in music is the most esoteric and difficult to quantify.

My musical knowledge is so bad it's embarrassing. When composers discuss music with someone as primitive as myself, they have to talk about it in terms of senses and emotion, rather than keys and tempo.

Especially with music, people want confidence.

Soloing was pretty easy for me because it was probably the first thing I've ever done.

But you can't extend, or go beyond any point musically, without the basic fundamentals.

It's a real gift to be able to have the works of brilliant, great people to learn from and build from. It gives you so much more to draw on, and then you don't have to be all about three-chord pop songs. I don't really like that kind of writing.

One thing I've tried to do in writing music is take on very basic things, very archetypal things.

There are no rules to writing a song.

I've written many extra verses to songs that I learned to sing - an extra verse about a friend, or just add some verse - and that led to writing my own songs.

For me, making music just starts with a simple melody, and lyrics will come sometime after that.

I wrote my first piano piece when I was in 4th grade.

To my mind and ear, there is simply nothing that compares to the musical sophistication of a late Beethoven, Bartok, Schubert or Brahms work for minimal forces.

I can play piano, and I write everything on piano, but I don't really feel like a piano player, necessarily.

I'm not the same person as the character I do in my songs. She's crazy! The 'Daddy Song' was the first sketch I ever wrote, especially on the guitar and everything - and definitely the most offensive. And absurd.