--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is more important to keep the horse…" description: "\"It is more important to keep the horse going hard than to always play the exact notes.\" — Charles Ives" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png" --- # It is more important to keep the horse going hard than to… ![“It is more important to keep the horse going hard than to always play the exact notes.” quote by Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png) > “It is more important to keep the horse going hard than to always play the exact notes.” [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Emphasizing effort over exact notes creates dynamic performance. **In simple terms:** Focus on energy, not perfect notes. Key Takeaway Prioritize expressive energy in music. Themes musical expression effort improvisation Mood inspirational musical Type art educational When to use this quote - concerts - practice sessions - music education Key Concepts performance theory creative interpretation Questions to Reflect On - How does effort affect musical impact? - When should you prioritize accuracy? A Different Perspective Technical precision still matters for clarity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Go hard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/go-hard/) [Horse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/horse/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) ## Related quotes > [I always believe in going hard at everything, whether it is Latin or mathematics, boxing or football, but at the same time I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-always-believe-in-going-hard-at-everything-whether-it-is-latin-or/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm going hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cam-newton/i-see-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-so-i-m-going-hard/) [Cam Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cam-newton/) > [The horse must perform from joy, not subservience. Praising a horse frequently with voice, a gentle pat, or relaxing the reins is very important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/klaus-balkenhol/the-horse-must-perform-from-joy-not-subservience-praising-a-horse/) Klaus Balkenhol > [It's foolish to bet on a horse without talking to him first. I know it seems silly to ask a horse who's going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gracie-allen/it-s-foolish-to-bet-on-a-horse-without-talking-to-him-first-i-know-it/) [Gracie Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gracie-allen/) > [There is a story in Zen circles about a man and a horse. The horse is galloping quickly, and it appears that the man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/there-is-a-story-in-zen-circles-about-a-man-and-a-horse-the-horse-is/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) > [“SEE! I HAVE TIME. AT LAST, I HAVE TIME Albert backed away nervously. ‘And now that you have it, what are you going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/see-i-have-time-at-last-i-have-time-albert-backed-away-nervously-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“If I ever find a dead horse, I am going to beat the fucking shit out of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-pink/if-i-ever-find-a-dead-horse-i-am-going-to-beat-the-fucking-shit-out/) [Sam Pink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-pink/) > [“If you keep gathering those reins, lass, you and the horse are going to end up back where you came from.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-banks/if-you-keep-gathering-those-reins-lass-you-and-the-horse-are-going-to/) [Maya Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-banks/) > [Find your horse. Discover the direction the horse is going. Ride the horse in that direction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-mcwilliams/find-your-horse-discover-the-direction-the-horse-is-going-ride-the/) [Peter McWilliams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-mcwilliams/) > [Horses are consistent and logical. The horse will do what is easiest for him. If you make it easy for him to buck you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buck-brannaman/horses-are-consistent-and-logical-the-horse-will-do-what-is-easiest/) [Buck Brannaman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buck-brannaman/) > [I'm a health nut, but when I eat, I go hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/i-m-a-health-nut-but-when-i-eat-i-go-hard/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [How you play, is how you'll be remembered. Go Hard, follow your heart or be forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keshia-chante/how-you-play-is-how-you-ll-be-remembered-go-hard-follow-your-heart-or/) [Keshia Chante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keshia-chante/) > [In order to perfect your craft, you've gotta go hard, you've gotta go overtime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ace-hood/in-order-to-perfect-your-craft-you-ve-gotta-go-hard-you-ve-gotta-go/) [Ace Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ace-hood/) > [ The reason people burn out is not because people are going hard \[after God\]; it's because they are working and perusing with the wrong… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-bickle/the-reason-people-burn-out-is-not-because-people-are-going-hard-after/) [Mike Bickle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-bickle/) > [We go hard or we go home we gon' do this all night long! #werk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/we-go-hard-or-we-go-home-we-gon-do-this-all-night-long-werk/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) ## More by Charles Ives > [Expression, to a great extent, is a matter of terms, and terms are anyone's. The meaning of 'God' may have a billion interpretations if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/expression-to-a-great-extent-is-a-matter-of-terms-and-terms-are/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [I don't write music for sissy ears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/i-don-t-write-music-for-sissy-ears/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [In some century to come, when the school children will whistle popular tunes in quarter-tones--when the diatonic scale will be as obsolete as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/in-some-century-to-come-when-the-school-children-will-whistle-popular/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [It is conceivable that what is unified form to the author or composer may of necessity be formless to his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/it-is-conceivable-that-what-is-unified-form-to-the-author-or-composer/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something in nature seems to reveal all consciousness, cannot be explained at noon. Yet it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/a-rare-experience-of-a-moment-at-daybreak-when-something-in-nature/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [Most of the forward movements of life in general ... have been the work of essentially religiously-minded people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/most-of-the-forward-movements-of-life-in-general-have-been-the-work/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [There can be nothing exclusive about substantial art. It comes directly out of the heart of the experience of life and thinking about life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/there-can-be-nothing-exclusive-about-substantial-art-it-comes/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [The future of music may not lie entirely in music itself, but rather in the way it encourages and extends, rather than limits the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/the-future-of-music-may-not-lie-entirely-in-music-itself-but-rather/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [An apparent confusion, if lived with long enough, may become orderly . . . A rare experience of a moment at daybreak, when something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/an-apparent-confusion-if-lived-with-long-enough-may-become-orderly-a/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [The possibilities of percussion sounds, I believe, have never been fully realized](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/the-possibilities-of-percussion-sounds-i-believe-have-never-been/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [Beauty in music is too often confused with something that lets the ears lie back in an easy chair. Many sounds that we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/beauty-in-music-is-too-often-confused-with-something-that-lets-the/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [Stand up and take your dissonance like a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/stand-up-and-take-your-dissonance-like-a-man/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [A song has a few rights the same as ordinary citizens... if it happens to feel like flying where humans cannot fly... to scale…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/a-song-has-a-few-rights-the-same-as-ordinary-citizens-if-it-happens/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [You cannot set art off in a corner and hope for it to have vitality, reality, and substance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/you-cannot-set-art-off-in-a-corner-and-hope-for-it-to-have-vitality/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) > [But maybe music was not intended to satisfy the curious definiteness of man. Maybe it is better to hope that music may always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/but-maybe-music-was-not-intended-to-satisfy-the-curious-definiteness/) [Charles Ives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) [Explore all 37 Charles Ives quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/) ## More Go hard quotes > [I always believe in going hard at everything, whether it is Latin or mathematics, boxing or football, but at the same time I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodore-roosevelt/i-always-believe-in-going-hard-at-everything-whether-it-is-latin-or/) [Theodore Roosevelt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodore-roosevelt/) > [I see the light at the end of the tunnel, so I'm going hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cam-newton/i-see-the-light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel-so-i-m-going-hard/) [Cam Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cam-newton/) > [ The reason people burn out is not because people are going hard \[after God\]; it's because they are working and perusing with the wrong… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-bickle/the-reason-people-burn-out-is-not-because-people-are-going-hard-after/) [Mike Bickle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-bickle/) > [In order to perfect your craft, you've gotta go hard, you've gotta go overtime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ace-hood/in-order-to-perfect-your-craft-you-ve-gotta-go-hard-you-ve-gotta-go/) [Ace Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ace-hood/) > [We go hard or we go home we gon' do this all night long! #werk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/we-go-hard-or-we-go-home-we-gon-do-this-all-night-long-werk/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [I'm a health nut, but when I eat, I go hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-hart/i-m-a-health-nut-but-when-i-eat-i-go-hard/) [Kevin Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-hart/) > [How you play, is how you'll be remembered. Go Hard, follow your heart or be forgotten.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keshia-chante/how-you-play-is-how-you-ll-be-remembered-go-hard-follow-your-heart-or/) [Keshia Chante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keshia-chante/) > [I still follow that model: just go hard every day, and take it one step at a time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ace-hood/i-still-follow-that-model-just-go-hard-every-day-and-take-it-one-step/) [Ace Hood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ace-hood/) > [We'd just shared the last beer and slung the empty can out the window at a stop sign and were just waiting back to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/we-d-just-shared-the-last-beer-and-slung-the-empty-can-out-the-window/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [The majority of what calls itself Christianity today is a circus. You've got a bunch of people chasing health, wealth, prosperity; chasing a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-conway/the-majority-of-what-calls-itself-christianity-today-is-a-circus-you/) [Tim Conway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-conway/) > [It's one of the best feelings in the world to hit the quarterback like that, hear the crowd go crazy, and then to watch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrion-scott/it-s-one-of-the-best-feelings-in-the-world-to-hit-the-quarterback/) Darrion Scott > [We go hard. In everything we do we're going to accomplish our victory and our goal. If it takes a day, a year, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dj-khaled/we-go-hard-in-everything-we-do-we-re-going-to-accomplish-our-victory/) [DJ Khaled](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dj-khaled/) > [ If the wise erred not, it would goe hard with fooles. \[If the wise erred not, it would go hard with fools.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/if-the-wise-erred-not-it-would-goe-hard-with-fooles-if-the-wise-erred/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [When you go hard your nays become yays. Yankee stadium with Jays and Kanyes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/when-you-go-hard-your-nays-become-yays-yankee-stadium-with-jays-and/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [My main focus, whenever I put on a new uniform, was just to provide energy. ... There was one thing I knew I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drew-gooden/my-main-focus-whenever-i-put-on-a-new-uniform-was-just-to-provide/) [Drew Gooden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drew-gooden/) [Browse all 31 Go hard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/go-hard/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is more important to keep the horse going hard than to always play the exact notes.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Ives" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-going-hard-than-to-always-play/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Go hard" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-going-hard-than-to-always-play/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/45e/charles-ives-17391_go-hard_it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-g_2604892.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It is more important to keep the horse going hard than to always play the exact notes.” — Charles Ives", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Charles Ives", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ives/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "It is more important to keep...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-going-hard-than-to-always-play/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ives/it-is-more-important-to-keep-the-horse-going-hard-than-to-always-play/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```