The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.1586 Friday, 28 June 2002
From: R. Schmeeckle <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 27 Jun 2002 12:12:30 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 13.1378 Thelonious Monk
Comment: Re: SHK 13.1378 Thelonious Monk
>I realize that he said a lot of quotable things, so perhaps it's
>apocryphal, but I wonder if anyone has a source for the statement
>attributed to Thelonious Monk that "there's no such thing as a bum note;
>it depends what you play afterwards".
>
>(I'm aware of his response to the accusation that he'd played a wrong
>note, "piano ain't got no wrong notes", but that's not quite the same
>thing.)
>
>There is, I hasten to add, a Shakespearian purpose to my asking.
This is a month old, but I do not see any response to Gabriel Egan's
question re Thelonius Monk's statement that there is no such thing as a
bum note.
A note by itself is without significance. Melody, rhythm, harmony all
depend on notes in relation to other notes. It