Esperanza Spalding Quotes

When I became more involved in music, I had to give up some of my writing in the literary sense. However, on occasion, I would write something for my own pleasure or I would write notes and introductory remarks in the songbooks I put together.

I fell into lyric writing because of music. I backed into it.

I can write music but I'm not much for words.

I keep this crazy notebook of song ideas.

It's hard to decide how to match words to music. It's not like it's twice the work. It's always difficult for me to explain to the composer what I'm looking for. I'm not a professional; I lack even basic knowledge about writing music.

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

A songwriter writes songs all the time, whereas just writing a song can be done by anyone, anytime.

I am so happy that I didn't go to school and I didn't have anyone to tell me how to position my fingers on the piano correctly. And what you do with music and what is the correct way to write it and what is not the correct way to write it.

I love making music. I love being involved in arranging music. It's very natural to know what I want to hear next and come up with ideas that are variations of what might be good.

I get the music, I get the beats. And I go to the studios and write the lyrics.

I've been really enjoying writing articles and writing music and music for movies.

I think it's a bit of a myth that if you can read music you can write music. It doesn't work like that.

I learned to play guitar at a young age and converted poems and stuff that I had written to songs.

I write music visually.

I think to be a good songwriter, you have to be able to play an instrument.

I started out with piano when I was little. That, for songwriting, is my favorite instrument.

I'm always interested in writing. I keep music in journals on an everyday basis. I'm always looking for ideas that can be music.

I don't spend afternoons practicing my guitar to get better. I do read, though, to get inspiration for my lyrics.

I compose melodies in my head and then interpret them musically with my guitar and keep them recorded. The guitar helps me to build unique chord structures on simple melodies.

I would write poems and think up melodies to them later.

I love music in general. It's like girls and their clothes and shoes; when you love shoes, you love shoes. So, for me, I think it's a really dangerous thing to say I'm going to write the best dance song in the world.

I can't be bothered anymore about giving songs titles.

I've always thought of music as something which gives the words their flight and their wings and the music often comes first, although sometimes I'll have a concept, a title idea, a lyric idea that I want to write and the lyric will come first.

I've been singing since I was two. Music was my first passion and I love writing, singing, creating and being creative.

Every song has a bouquet, which is the music. If you can put words with something that is really apt, then you've done it.