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Music is still part of my spiritual life. Sometimes I sing my prayers. When I get audiences singing, I hope I'm helping them feel connected to something beyond themselves.

Bobby McFerrin

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Bobby McFerrin
Age: 74
Born: 1950
Born: March 11
Beatboxer
Conductor
Jazz Musician
Recording Artist
Singer
Songwriter
Vocalist
Manhattan borough
New York City
Robert Keith McFerrin Jr.
Robert Keith McFerrin
Jr.
Robert McFerrin
Jr.
Life
Stills
Sing
Part
Singing
Still
Beyond
Music
Prayer
Feel
Audience
Sometimes
Hope
Audiences
Feels
Spiritual
Prayers
Something
Helping
Connected

More quotes by Bobby McFerrin

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But, if there's any aspect of my career that needs attention, it's writing.
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I use the audience as my color palette, my instrument.
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Inviting audiences to open up and hear things differently is an important part of what I do. But I still love to sing songs with words, too.
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Sometimes mistakes are the best thing that can happen, because they might lift you...out of your complacency, and open your mind up to a whole other area that you wouldn't have gone to intentionally.
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Here's a little song I wrote. You might want to sing it note for note. Don't worry, be happy.
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Improvisation is the courage to move from one note to the next.
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I did the one concert, and I was not bitten by the conducting bug, and I thought I was done, but then the phone started to ring, and gradually, over time, I started conducting more and more. Now a third of my performances are with orchestras.
Bobby McFerrin
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I'd actually been making my living as an organist with bands since I was probably 15 or 16 years old, and then as a senior in high school I put together a jazz quintet called The Bobby Mack Jazz Quintet.
Bobby McFerrin
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To me, it's our job as artists. You must bring joy.
Bobby McFerrin
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I try not to perform. I try to come on stage and be myself, to sing the way I would in a room by myself, to interact with the audience the way I would relate to them if we were in my kitchen drinking tea and making up silly songs. Maybe the way to get past the fear of being ourselves is simply to try it more often.
Bobby McFerrin
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Whenever I'm onstage, I try my best not to think that I'm performing. It's simply another part of my day.
Bobby McFerrin
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Remembering that life can be full of surprises is useful in any part of your life. You can try a new way of singing a song you’ve performed for years, a new way of showing your family your love for them, or a new recipe. Don’t just play the licks you know. We’re all improvising all the time — it’s good to recognize that and embrace it.
Bobby McFerrin
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I’m not a scholar or a psychologist, so I don’t really think about why. But I do think about what it means to sing to and with people, to offer music to them, and to ask them to spend time with me.
Bobby McFerrin
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I played piano as a kid I still play a little bit.
Bobby McFerrin
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Miles Davis turned his back to the audience when he came out on stage, and he offended people. But, he wasn't there to entertain he was all about the music. I kind of do that.
Bobby McFerrin
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My father was a very disciplined singer who worked hard at his craft, and I was around that growing up.
Bobby McFerrin
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Here's a little song I wrote You might want to sing it note for note Don't worry, be happy In every life we have some trouble But when you worry you make it double Don't worry, be happy Don't worry, be happy now
Bobby McFerrin
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Music is so powerful, it needs to be used for some kind of redeeming work. To lift peoples spirits, to lift their souls.
Bobby McFerrin
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Then I came up with this crazy idea just to walk out on the stage with no band at all and just start singing whatever came to mind. I actually fought the idea for a while because it seemed almost too radical, but it became obvious what I was supposed to be doing.
Bobby McFerrin
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When I'm on stage by myself, I don't have to think about anything. I don't have to worry about anything because I'm not responsible for anything except just opening my mouth and making sure music comes out.
Bobby McFerrin