I learn something not because I have to, but because I really want to. That's the same view I have for performing. I'm performing because I really want to, not because I have to bring bread back home. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share Image
With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
A composition is always more than the sum of its parts. In other words, a really good piece of music is more than itself.… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
My involvement in the political arena is to make sure there's a place for culture. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
When we enlarge our view of the world, we deepen our understanding of our own lives. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
I remember when I was growing up. My great wish was to understand who I was and how I fit in the world. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
It took me way beyond what I knew, into places of which I was totally scared, but as I became less frightened, I welcomed… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
One is that you have to take time, lots of time, to let an idea grow from within. The second is that when you… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
You go through phases. You have to reinvent reasons for playing, and one year's answer might not do for another. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
When people ask me how they should approach performance, I always tell them the professional musician should aspire to the state of the beginner. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
Mastering music is more than learning technical skills. Practicing is about quality, not quantity. Some days I practice for hours; other days it will… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
Jazz has been such a force in music, that any musician, including classical composers, have been influenced, and obviously performers, also. — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
Practicing is not only playing your instrument, either by yourself or rehearsing with others - it also includes imagining yourself practicing. Your brain forms… — Yo-Yo Ma Copy Share
