Mabel Quotes

There are some people who are just plain great at making music. That's not who I am.

I have a four-and-a-half-, nearly five-octave range. I probably should have had extra lessons as a child, as I am certain my family heard my potential, but I didn't. I was in the choir as a schoolgirl, but really, it is all self-taught.

I mean, I sing. But I don't think I'm a good enough singer to do any kind of musical.

I was for a minor amount of time but I was probably a better pianist at 15 than I am now.

I played the clarinet, and my sister played the violin... If we'd had the discipline and the passion, maybe we could have been good.

I was a lucky kid. You could have got 10 kids to be in The Byrds who were better than I was.

Oh, you wouldn't want to hear me sing.

As soon as I figured out I didn't know anything about music, I was OK. It's when I thought I could learn something that I was in trouble.

Playing to a decent standard sometimes isn't enough.

When you're working with music that is invariably better than you are, it's difficult to become swell-headed.

Music is, of course, a universal emotional experience, cutting across cultures and languages. I studied piano for ten years as a child and consider that experience one of the most valuable in my life.

You're a constant student, as a musician.

I'm not good enough, technically, to be a classic musician. I lack discipline.

I consider myself to be an inept pianist, a bad singer, and a merely competent songwriter. What I do, in my opinion, is by no means extraordinary.

I didn't even start playing the piano until I was about 13 or 14. I guess I must have had a little talent or whatever-you-call-it, but I practised regularly, and that's what counts.

Everybody on our cast is very musically talented, except for me.

I just wonder where I was when the talent was being given out, like George Benson, Kenny Burrell, Eric Clapton... oh, there's many more! I wouldn't want to be like them, you understand, but I'd like to be equal, if you will.

I have absolutely no musical talent of my own!

So, I really don't consider myself a fabulous keyboard player.

Playing guitar is not a beauty contest.

I wouldn't be able to act like Al Pacino or play the piano like Dr. John, But I could probably act better than Dr. John and play the piano better than Al Pacino.

One of the things that's influenced me musically was my experience at Brown University. I was surrounded by musicians that I really admired, and felt challenged to come up with music, lyrics, and recordings that stood up to the expectations of those musicians and myself.

I think everybody thinks they're an amazing singer, but I'm one of those guys who realizes where his limitations are, and it's definitely with singing and dancing.

I've played every instrument you could possibly think of for 10 minutes. So I'm mediocre at everything. I can play drums, guitar, piano, violin, saxophone, clarinet, flute... Just not well.

My youngest daughter sings. She's going to be very good. She's graduated from Music School and she's been working down around and getting her feet wet, you know. I had her out with me for a year just showing her the ropes a little bit, but she's going to be all right.