--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you take a violin, you can make it…" description: "\"If you take a violin, you can make it sound 50 different ways. Not just pizzicato and played by the bow, but ponticello, and harmonics, and tremolos. I..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/john-corigliano-33085_bows_if-you-take-a-violin-you-can-make-it-sou_2996928.jpg" --- # If you take a violin, you can make it sound 50 different… ![“If you take a violin, you can make it sound 50 different ways. Not just pizzicato and played by the bow, but ponticello, and harmonics, and tremolos. If you take an oboe and play it, there's about one way you can make it sound: like an oboe.” quote by John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/john-corigliano-33085_bows_if-you-take-a-violin-you-can-make-it-sou_2996928.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/john-corigliano-33085_bows_if-you-take-a-violin-you-can-make-it-sou_2996928.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/142/john-corigliano-33085_bows_if-you-take-a-violin-you-can-make-it-sou_2996928.jpg) > “If you take a violin, you can make it sound 50 different ways. Not just pizzicato and played by the bow, but ponticello, and harmonics, and tremolos. If you take an oboe and play it, there's about one way you can make it sound: like an oboe.” [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. String instruments offer many expressive techniques; wind instruments are more limited in timbral variation. **In simple terms:** Violins have many sounds; oboes have few. Key Takeaway Explore diverse techniques on versatile instruments. Themes music instrumentation creativity expression Mood inspired analytical Type educational musical When to use this quote - orchestration - music education - instrument design - performance practice Key Concepts acoustic physics artistic limitation technique variety Questions to Reflect On - How can you expand expression on a limited instrument? - What does timbral variety add to a composition? A Different Perspective Limitations can inspire unique artistic choices. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Oboes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oboes/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Violin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/violin/) ## Related quotes > [“If a man can’t build a violin, he might as well make pizzas in a former violin shop.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-wizenberg/if-a-man-can-t-build-a-violin-he-might-as-well-make-pizzas-in-a/) [Molly Wizenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molly-wizenberg/) > [All music is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments. It is not the violins and the cornets-it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/all-music-is-what-awakes-from-you-when-you-are-reminded-by-the/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [The trombones crunched redgold under my bed, and behind my gulliver the trumpets three-wise silverflamed, and there by the door the timps rolling through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/the-trombones-crunched-redgold-under-my-bed-and-behind-my-gulliver/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [Spent the fortnight gone in the music room reworking my year's fragments into a 'sextet for overlapping soloists': piano, clarinet, 'cello, flute, oboe, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-mitchell/spent-the-fortnight-gone-in-the-music-room-reworking-my-year-s/) [David Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-mitchell/) > [Certain voices hold this odd pull on our heartstrings. They are like sad oboes or something, something that makes you want to throw all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-goldstein/certain-voices-hold-this-odd-pull-on-our-heartstrings-they-are-like/) [Jonathan Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-goldstein/) > [Conductors do not know how the oboe does its work, but they know what the oboe should contribute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-drucker/conductors-do-not-know-how-the-oboe-does-its-work-but-they-know-what/) [Peter Drucker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-drucker/) > [For forty years I have play the oboe, and still I never know what is coming out. It is a perpetual anxiety. But maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-tabuteau/for-forty-years-i-have-play-the-oboe-and-still-i-never-know-what-is/) Marcel Tabuteau > [When you play the oboe, the flute or other wind instruments, there is something between you and the breath; there is the embouchure, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michala-petri/when-you-play-the-oboe-the-flute-or-other-wind-instruments-there-is/) [Michala Petri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michala-petri/) > [I guess I just look at talent as a very subjective thing. I mean, if you never tried playing an oboe, how do you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-soderbergh/i-guess-i-just-look-at-talent-as-a-very-subjective-thing-i-mean-if/) [Steven Soderbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-soderbergh/) > [The oboe sounds like a clarinet with a cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-borge/the-oboe-sounds-like-a-clarinet-with-a-cold/) [Victor Borge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-borge/) > [But the stuff that I do is more like all the comic roles like in The Merry Widow and Die Fledermaus and I just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-graae/but-the-stuff-that-i-do-is-more-like-all-the-comic-roles-like-in-the/) [Jason Graae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-graae/) > [And that unusual squawking sound is actually the mating call of the the rare...oh, it's just an oboe player.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-irwin/and-that-unusual-squawking-sound-is-actually-the-mating-call-of-the/) [Steve Irwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-irwin/) > [Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is now fourteen, and, while he gives little sign of doing what Lord Rochester planned to do at the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-lane/harry-potter-daniel-radcliffe-is-now-fourteen-and-while-he-gives/) [Anthony Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-lane/) > [The oboe's a horn made of wood. I'd play you a tune if I could, But the reeds are a pain, And the fingering's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ogden-nash/the-oboe-s-a-horn-made-of-wood-i-d-play-you-a-tune-if-i-could-but-the/) [Ogden Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ogden-nash/) > [An oboe is an ill-wind that nobody blows good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/an-oboe-is-an-ill-wind-that-nobody-blows-good/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) ## More by John Corigliano > [You become a great composer when you win a Pulitzer. But I think that now it's a completely meaningless award.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/you-become-a-great-composer-when-you-win-a-pulitzer-but-i-think-that/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [The structural thinking I use in the concert hall is unnecessary to most film projects, and most film composers make better use of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/the-structural-thinking-i-use-in-the-concert-hall-is-unnecessary-to/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [Eighty percent of my pieces gravitate towards an A, as a tonal thing, not at the beginning, but somewhere in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/eighty-percent-of-my-pieces-gravitate-towards-an-a-as-a-tonal-thing/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I think art can reflect tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-think-art-can-reflect-tragedy/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I find respect for a mediocre British composer, as opposed to a really good American, ridiculous because they automatically respect a composer if he's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-find-respect-for-a-mediocre-british-composer-as-opposed-to-a-really/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I think it's good for the composer to teach because you always have new students and you have to begin at the beginning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-think-it-s-good-for-the-composer-to-teach-because-you-always-have/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I always conceive a piece as a different set of challenges.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-always-conceive-a-piece-as-a-different-set-of-challenges/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I have tremendous respect for film composers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-have-tremendous-respect-for-film-composers/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [Jazz is not the popular culture. Jazz is in the same position in our culture as classical music. A very small minority of people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/jazz-is-not-the-popular-culture-jazz-is-in-the-same-position-in-our/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I don't think that the Pulitzer should be given the way it is. I think the competition should be anonymous. I think completely different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-don-t-think-that-the-pulitzer-should-be-given-the-way-it-is-i-think/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [I'm glad I won it because when I grew up the Pulitzer was the award that every composer wanted and I was like that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/i-m-glad-i-won-it-because-when-i-grew-up-the-pulitzer-was-the-award/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [What I think of as style - and I've gotten to this over years of really thinking about it - is that style is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/what-i-think-of-as-style-and-i-ve-gotten-to-this-over-years-of-really/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [The French Revolution is the ultimate modernist statement. Destroy everything. Don't build on the past. There is no past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/the-french-revolution-is-the-ultimate-modernist-statement-destroy/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) > [Art is not only about angst.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-corigliano/art-is-not-only-about-angst/) [John Corigliano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) [Explore all 15 John Corigliano quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-corigliano/) ## More Bows quotes > [I could not limit my values and pursuits to what makes others comfortable. Being possessed by a promise I live without options. I will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/i-could-not-limit-my-values-and-pursuits-to-what-makes-others/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [I with borrow'd silver shine, What you see is none of mine. 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The prince flinched and cast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marissa-meyer/steadying-herself-with-both-hands-on-the-table-she-managed-an-awkward/) [Marissa Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marissa-meyer/) > [Go not to the temple to put flowers upon the feet of God, first fill your own house with the fragrance of love. Go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabindranath-tagore/go-not-to-the-temple-to-put-flowers-upon-the-feet-of-god-first-fill/) [Rabindranath Tagore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabindranath-tagore/) > [I did archery when I was in high school. 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