--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: With just one musician, you can really do…" description: "\"With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano, if you have at your disposal an exploded keyboard.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png" --- # With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited… ![“With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano, if you have at your disposal an exploded keyboard.” quote by John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png) > “With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano, if you have at your disposal an exploded keyboard.” [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A single musician can explore limitless possibilities inside a piano by deconstructing its keyboard. **In simple terms:** One player can create endless sounds by breaking down the piano. Key Takeaway Experiment with unconventional piano techniques. Themes creativity exploration music Mood inquisitive inspirational Type philosophical experimental When to use this quote - concert performances - educational workshops - studio recordings - experimental compositions - sound installations Key Concepts instrumental innovation sound art improvisation Questions to Reflect On - How can you apply this concept with limited equipment? - What new sounds can you discover? 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They used to put me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-van-halen/i-can-t-read-music-instead-i-d-do-stuff-inside-the-piano-do-harmonics-2/) [Eddie Van Halen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-van-halen/) > [I can't read music. Instead, I'd do stuff inside the piano, do harmonics and all kinds of crazy things. They used to put me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-van-halen/i-can-t-read-music-instead-i-d-do-stuff-inside-the-piano-do-harmonics/) [Eddie Van Halen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-van-halen/) > [I was bookish and awkward and wanted a means of expressing the millions of emotions flying around inside me. The piano seemed as good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-perkins/i-was-bookish-and-awkward-and-wanted-a-means-of-expressing-the/) [Sue Perkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-perkins/) > [I really wanted to just be a musician. 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It's always challenging to switch it up a bit. And just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bat-for-lashes/when-i-m-doing-just-music-all-the-time-it-can-get-really-overwhelming/) [Bat for Lashes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bat-for-lashes/) > [I felt that with 'In A Perfect World' I was still kind of finding myself - not just as a musician, but also in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keri-hilson/i-felt-that-with-in-a-perfect-world-i-was-still-kind-of-finding/) [Keri Hilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keri-hilson/) > [I was never totally sold on this idea that I'm just a musician. I wanted to be the Tim Burton of music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oneohtrix-point-never/i-was-never-totally-sold-on-this-idea-that-i-m-just-a-musician-i/) [Oneohtrix Point Never](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oneohtrix-point-never/) > [Nothing's difficult. I'm having a good time. I look at this as a total blessing, you know, and as myself being fortunate to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pharrell-williams/nothing-s-difficult-i-m-having-a-good-time-i-look-at-this-as-a-total/) [Pharrell Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pharrell-williams/) > [Unless you've given up your business to a record label, there's no such thing as just being a musician anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-conte/unless-you-ve-given-up-your-business-to-a-record-label-there-s-no/) [Jack Conte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-conte/) ## More by John Cage > [If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, then eight. Then sixteen. Then thirty-two. Eventually one discovers that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/if-something-is-boring-after-two-minutes-try-it-for-four-if-still/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [ It was at Harvard not quite forty years ago that I went into an anechoic \[totally silent\] chamber not expecting in that silent room… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/it-was-at-harvard-not-quite-forty-years-ago-that-i-went-into-an/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [So somebody has talent? So what? Dime a dozen. And we're overpopulated. Actually we have more food than we have people and more art.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/so-somebody-has-talent-so-what-dime-a-dozen-and-we-re-overpopulated/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [“...the important questions are answered by not liking only but disliking and accepting equally what one likes and dislikes. 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But if you work at your art you don't have time to be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/people-who-aren-t-artists-often-feel-that-artists-are-inspired-but-if/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [“Farting, don't think, just fart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/farting-don-t-think-just-fart/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [Not one sound fears the silence that extinguishes it. And no silence exists that is not pregnant with sound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/not-one-sound-fears-the-silence-that-extinguishes-it-and-no-silence/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) > [My work became an exploration of non-intention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/my-work-became-an-exploration-of-non-intention/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) [Explore all 186 John Cage quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) ## More Ifs quotes > [Women still, when they have breast cancer, go to work; they still lead their lives. They have to. I just did what I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monica-potter/women-still-when-they-have-breast-cancer-go-to-work-they-still-lead/) [Monica Potter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/monica-potter/) > [Most of us are convinced that we are our egos, which is who we think we are. 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The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [Obviously, if you don't love life, you can't enjoy an oyster.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-clark/obviously-if-you-don-t-love-life-you-can-t-enjoy-an-oyster/) [Eleanor Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-clark/) > [If I don't have pressure, I don't function.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ferran-adria/if-i-don-t-have-pressure-i-don-t-function/) [Ferran Adria](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ferran-adria/) > [If you restore a car, and you're making money, then you're doing it wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-leno/if-you-restore-a-car-and-you-re-making-money-then-you-re-doing-it/) [Jay Leno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-leno/) > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [If we gave up our freedom as the price of security, we would no longer be the great nation that we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-bader-ginsburg/if-we-gave-up-our-freedom-as-the-price-of-security-we-would-no-longer/) [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-bader-ginsburg/) > [If my campaign is not in the debate, we will not be talking about how we really fix this problem of endless and expanding…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-stein/if-my-campaign-is-not-in-the-debate-we-will-not-be-talking-about-how/) [Jill Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-stein/) > [Nothing is so powerful as an insight into human nature... what compulsions drive a man, what instincts dominate his action. 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Hitting your kid is really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zach-braff/the-thing-about-hitting-kids-is-think-about-if-you-were-doing-the/) [Zach Braff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zach-braff/) > [Reader, if you are gifted with nerves like mine, aspire to any character but that of a wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/reader-if-you-are-gifted-with-nerves-like-mine-aspire-to-any/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) [Browse all 94,303 Ifs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano, if you have at your disposal an exploded keyboard.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Cage" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do-an-unlimited-number-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ifs" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do-an-unlimited-number-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a6/john-cage-2094_ifs_with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do_1798824.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“With just one musician, you can really do an unlimited number of things on the inside of the piano, if you…” — John Cage", "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": "John Cage", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "With just one musician, you can...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do-an-unlimited-number-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/with-just-one-musician-you-can-really-do-an-unlimited-number-of/#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 } } ] } ```