--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: My wife Elizabeth and I started The…" description: "\"My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchest..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/alexander-mccall-smith-372_famous_my-wife-elizabeth-and-i-started-the-real_363536.png" --- # My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible… ![“My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; weve become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.” quote by Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/alexander-mccall-smith-372_famous_my-wife-elizabeth-and-i-started-the-real_363536.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/alexander-mccall-smith-372_famous_my-wife-elizabeth-and-i-started-the-real_363536.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f44/alexander-mccall-smith-372_famous_my-wife-elizabeth-and-i-started-the-real_363536.png) > “My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; weve become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.” [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He founded a deliberately imperfect orchestra for amateur musicians, achieving unexpected fame. **In simple terms:** Created a “bad” orchestra for fun. Key Takeaway Embrace imperfection and enjoy community music. Themes creativity humor community Mood lighthearted joyful Type cultural entertainment When to use this quote - local concerts - music workshops - social clubs Key Concepts deliberate imperfection inclusive art Questions to Reflect On - Why celebrate imperfection? - How does humor foster belonging? A Different Perspective Risk of being taken less seriously. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-success/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Music](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/music/) [Orchestra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orchestra/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Performances](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/performances/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Wife](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wife/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [I would never inflict my bassoon on anybody really other than the long suffering audiences that come to the concerts of The Really Terrible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-mccall-smith/i-would-never-inflict-my-bassoon-on-anybody-really-other-than-the/) [Alexander McCall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-mccall-smith/) > [For me, the main goal is loving music and experiencing the great music-making with the orchestra, which is the great reason why I conduct,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andris-nelsons/for-me-the-main-goal-is-loving-music-and-experiencing-the-great-music/) [Andris Nelsons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andris-nelsons/) > [The most difficult instrument to play in the orchestra is second fiddle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonard-bernstein/the-most-difficult-instrument-to-play-in-the-orchestra-is-second/) [Leonard Bernstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonard-bernstein/) > [So, first you have to be able to play with a metronome. 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