--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People think that singing and playing is…" description: "\"People think that singing and playing is easy. It's not. It's easy to strum along, but if you actually want to really play, where it's important, that'..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da2/bob-dylan-168_easy_people-think-that-singing-and-playing-is_2971890.jpg" --- # People think that singing and playing is easy. It's not… ![“People think that singing and playing is easy. It's not. It's easy to strum along, but if you actually want to really play, where it's important, that's a hard thing and not too many people are good at it.” quote by Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da2/bob-dylan-168_easy_people-think-that-singing-and-playing-is_2971890.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da2/bob-dylan-168_easy_people-think-that-singing-and-playing-is_2971890.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/da2/bob-dylan-168_easy_people-think-that-singing-and-playing-is_2971890.jpg) > “People think that singing and playing is easy. It's not. It's easy to strum along, but if you actually want to really play, where it's important, that's a hard thing and not too many people are good at it.” [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Mastering an instrument requires disciplined practice beyond casual playing, and true skill is rare. **In simple terms:** Skill needs hard work, not just fun. Key Takeaway Practice deliberately to improve. Themes music skill discipline Mood determined reflective Type advice motivational When to use this quote - learning guitar - joining a band - performing live - teaching others Key Concepts musicianship deliberate practice Questions to Reflect On - What specific practice routine could you adopt? - How do you measure progress? A Different Perspective Talent alone isn’t enough without sustained effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) [Easy Strum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy-strum-4579677/) [Hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard/) [Hard things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hard-things/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Playing Easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/playing-easy-2810860/) [Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing/) [Singing Playing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/singing-playing-614930/) [Think Singing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/think-singing-313616/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Too many people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/too-many-people/) [Want](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/want/) ## Related quotes > [When you love the game, playing is easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamal-crawford/when-you-love-the-game-playing-is-easy/) [Jamal Crawford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamal-crawford/) > [You play all your life and train all your life and then you are not playing. It's not easy to deal with. But you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shay-given/you-play-all-your-life-and-train-all-your-life-and-then-you-are-not/) [Shay Given](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shay-given/) > [I've wanted to not play as much. I would like to just sing now. Even though I don't think I'm a great singer, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-malkmus/i-ve-wanted-to-not-play-as-much-i-would-like-to-just-sing-now-even/) [Stephen Malkmus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-malkmus/) > [It was fun playing a horrible, snotty kid in 'Harry Potter', and then playing Prince Charming where I was also singing and playing guitar,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/freddie-stroma/it-was-fun-playing-a-horrible-snotty-kid-in-harry-potter-and-then/) [Freddie Stroma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/freddie-stroma/) > [Playing live was always definitely a lot more fun. You picture it: working alone in the studio eight or 10 hours a day with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-scholz/playing-live-was-always-definitely-a-lot-more-fun-you-picture-it/) [Tom Scholz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-scholz/) > [The colored folks been singing it and playing it just like I'm doin' now, man, for more years than I know. I got it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elvis-presley/the-colored-folks-been-singing-it-and-playing-it-just-like-i-m-doin/) [Elvis Presley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elvis-presley/) > [Singing and playing live can be difficult. Like, in the studio, I would record either the music track first or the vocal first. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thundercat/singing-and-playing-live-can-be-difficult-like-in-the-studio-i-would/) [Thundercat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thundercat/) > [What I always expect to deliver to my audience is a very entertaining evening of singing and playing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-miller/what-i-always-expect-to-deliver-to-my-audience-is-a-very-entertaining/) [Steve Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-miller/) > [I've been singing and playing the guitar ever since I can remember.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glen-campbell/i-ve-been-singing-and-playing-the-guitar-ever-since-i-can-remember/) [Glen Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glen-campbell/) > [If you write a song, and you go into a restaurant, and there's a guy with a piano singing and he's playing piano, singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-harris/if-you-write-a-song-and-you-go-into-a-restaurant-and-there-s-a-guy/) [Jesse Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-harris/) > [Singing and playing have always gone hand-in-hand with me. I love 'em both equally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-anselmo/singing-and-playing-have-always-gone-hand-in-hand-with-me-i-love-em/) [Phil Anselmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-anselmo/) > [But without the experience of actually singing or playing these things yourself, you don't have the same kind of involvement or understanding of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-tilson-thomas/but-without-the-experience-of-actually-singing-or-playing-these/) [Michael Tilson Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-tilson-thomas/) > [A fantasy of mine is being pulled up onstage by one of my favorite bands and singing or playing an instrument with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-posey/a-fantasy-of-mine-is-being-pulled-up-onstage-by-one-of-my-favorite/) [Tyler Posey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-posey/) > [I came from being a singer going into jazz. And that's one of the things that polio did for me is it took away…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-haden/i-came-from-being-a-singer-going-into-jazz-and-that-s-one-of-the/) [Charlie Haden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-haden/) > [I don't have a family that grew up singing and playing all the time. I didn't really have anything to judge my abilities against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/van-hunt/i-don-t-have-a-family-that-grew-up-singing-and-playing-all-the-time-i/) [Van Hunt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/van-hunt/) ## More by Bob Dylan > [The hollow horn plays wasted words, proves to warn that he not busy being born is busy dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-hollow-horn-plays-wasted-words-proves-to-warn-that-he-not-busy/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't forget to support your public library.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-forget-to-support-your-public-library/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [You don't count the dead, when god's on your side.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/you-don-t-count-the-dead-when-god-s-on-your-side/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She makes love just like a woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-makes-love-just-like-a-woman/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Silvio, I gotta go, find out something only dead men know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/silvio-i-gotta-go-find-out-something-only-dead-men-know/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I don't really have a retirement plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-don-t-really-have-a-retirement-plan/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Just a reminder, if you tell anyone about what happened with Jonah last night, I'll destroy all of my writing and never play music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/just-a-reminder-if-you-tell-anyone-about-what-happened-with-jonah/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Little red wagon, little red bike, I ain’t no monkey but I know what I like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/little-red-wagon-little-red-bike-i-ain-t-no-monkey-but-i-know-what-i/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Twenty years of schooling and they put you on the day shift - look out out kid, they keep it all hid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/twenty-years-of-schooling-and-they-put-you-on-the-day-shift-look-out/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The drunken politician leaps upon the street where mothers weep, and the saviors who are fast asleep, they wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-drunken-politician-leaps-upon-the-street-where-mothers-weep-and/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/your-eyes-are-like-two-jewels-in-the-sky/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [I gotta friend who spends his life, stabbing my picture with a bowie knife. Dreams of strangling me with a scarf, when my name…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/i-gotta-friend-who-spends-his-life-stabbing-my-picture-with-a-bowie/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [She speaks with a stutter and she and she walks with a hop. I don't know why I love her, but I just can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/she-speaks-with-a-stutter-and-she-and-she-walks-with-a-hop-i-don-t/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [The man in the coon skin cap in the pig pen wants eleven dollar bills, you've only got ten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/the-man-in-the-coon-skin-cap-in-the-pig-pen-wants-eleven-dollar-bills/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/don-t-put-my-faith-in-nobody-not-even-a-scientist/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) [Explore all 1,018 Bob Dylan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) ## More Easy quotes > [Public infrastructure around the world is facing unprecedented stress, with hurricanes, cyclones, floods and forest fires all increasing in frequency and intensity. It's easy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-klein/public-infrastructure-around-the-world-is-facing-unprecedented-stress/) [Naomi Klein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-klein/) > [I don't want easy success. It's boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sudeep/i-don-t-want-easy-success-it-s-boring/) [Sudeep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sudeep/) > [It's very easy to fool yourself that you're working, you know, when you're really not working very hard. I mean, I'm very lazy. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-caro/it-s-very-easy-to-fool-yourself-that-you-re-working-you-know-when-you/) [Robert Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-caro/) > [she got a reputation for an easy smile and a sharp tongue, and using one to balance the other, she seemed friendly but distant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-allison/she-got-a-reputation-for-an-easy-smile-and-a-sharp-tongue-and-using/) [Dorothy Allison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-allison/) > [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/) [Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/) > [People think that the Club World Cup is an easy competition, but it's not.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keylor-navas/people-think-that-the-club-world-cup-is-an-easy-competition-but-it-s/) [Keylor Navas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keylor-navas/) > [New York is large, glamorous, easy-going, kindly and incurious, but above all it is a crucible - because it is large enough to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ford-madox-ford/new-york-is-large-glamorous-easy-going-kindly-and-incurious-but-above/) [Ford Madox Ford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ford-madox-ford/) > [I've done so many other projects where you're in a room with a reader and you're acting your lines out: 'We have to get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/i-ve-done-so-many-other-projects-where-you-re-in-a-room-with-a-reader/) [Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/) > [Sometimes life can suck and not be fair ,but we have to deal with it,because we feel we cant do anything but,we can.We have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sometimes-life-can-suck-and-not-be-fair-but-we-have-to-deal-with-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Mortals are such fragile things. Just tender feelings walking around exposed in their delicate shells...Easy to crush.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-marr/mortals-are-such-fragile-things-just-tender-feelings-walking-around/) [Melissa Marr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-marr/) > [Certainly these are not easy times. But history does not contain very many easy times. Years from now, we will look back at this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/certainly-these-are-not-easy-times-but-history-does-not-contain-very/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) > [I don't know why, but I'm an easy target. And I don't do anything to dispel it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-mcginley/i-don-t-know-why-but-i-m-an-easy-target-and-i-don-t-do-anything-to/) [Ted McGinley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-mcginley/) > [I know that I'm going to have to work hard, keep working hard, and not because of this victory think, "I'm back." I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-clijsters/i-know-that-i-m-going-to-have-to-work-hard-keep-working-hard-and-not/) [Kim Clijsters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-clijsters/) > [It's easy to make mistakes. It's living with the consequences of them that's the hardest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/it-s-easy-to-make-mistakes-it-s-living-with-the-consequences-of-them/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [In business, as in politics, it is never easy to go against the beliefs and attitudes held by the majority. The businessman who moves…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-paul-getty/in-business-as-in-politics-it-is-never-easy-to-go-against-the-beliefs/) [J. Paul Getty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-paul-getty/) [Browse all 14,306 Easy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/easy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "People think that singing and playing is easy. It's not. 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