--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: By many peoples' standards, my playing is…" description: "\"By many peoples' standards, my playing is very primitive but by punk standards, I'm a virtuoso.\" — Robert Quine" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png" --- # By many peoples' standards, my playing is very primitive… ![“By many peoples' standards, my playing is very primitive but by punk standards, I'm a virtuoso.” quote by Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png) > “By many peoples' standards, my playing is very primitive but by punk standards, I'm a virtuoso.” [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker acknowledges that his skill is basic by mainstream standards but exceptional within the punk genre, highlighting relative expertise. **In simple terms:** He is simple by most but a master in punk. Key Takeaway Recognize expertise is context‑dependent. Themes music skill genre humility confidence Mood proud reflective Type musical self‑assessment When to use this quote - live performance - songwriting - practice - collaboration - genre fusion Key Concepts relative expertise subcultural standards Questions to Reflect On - How does your community define mastery? - What does “primitive” mean to you? A Different Perspective May be dismissed by those unfamiliar with punk aesthetics. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Primitive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primitive/) [Punk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/punk/) [Virtuoso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtuoso/) ## Related quotes > [Trombone virtuoso and innovative composer, Papo combines the best of jazz and Latin music to create a genre that is unique and wild. He's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-brecker/trombone-virtuoso-and-innovative-composer-papo-combines-the-best-of/) Michael Brecker > [The professionalism of technique and flash of dexterity are more comfortable to be around than raw creative power, hence our society generally rewards virtuoso…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-nachmanovitch/the-professionalism-of-technique-and-flash-of-dexterity-are-more/) [Stephen Nachmanovitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-nachmanovitch/) > [What is the best music is impossible to define. Just because it's played by a virtuoso player, doesn't mean it's great music. It might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mickey-hart/what-is-the-best-music-is-impossible-to-define-just-because-it-s/) [Mickey Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mickey-hart/) > [Play slow and perfect - that’s the way to becoming a virtuoso.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-vai/play-slow-and-perfect-that-s-the-way-to-becoming-a-virtuoso/) [Steve Vai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-vai/) > [It was a really interesting time in New York in the late 70s and early 80s, and the music scene was really, really interesting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-jarmusch/it-was-a-really-interesting-time-in-new-york-in-the-late-70s-and/) [Jim Jarmusch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-jarmusch/) > [I'm a virtuoso in my job in that there's not an actor I can't go into a scene with and be absolutely confident that,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/russell-crowe/i-m-a-virtuoso-in-my-job-in-that-there-s-not-an-actor-i-can-t-go-into/) [Russell Crowe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/russell-crowe/) > [Well, Mozart is extraordinary not only in that he became virtuoso along the lines of his father, but that he had that compositional gift,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/twyla-tharp/well-mozart-is-extraordinary-not-only-in-that-he-became-virtuoso/) [Twyla Tharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/twyla-tharp/) > [The great piano virtuoso Paderewski was once playing before an audience of the rich and the royal. After a brilliant performance, an elegant lady…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-butterworth/the-great-piano-virtuoso-paderewski-was-once-playing-before-an/) [Eric Butterworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-butterworth/) > [“Virtuoso? Are you serious? What kind of code name is that? Who's assigning code names these days? They should be shot. How can anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-bevarly/virtuoso-are-you-serious-what-kind-of-code-name-is-that-who-s/) [Elizabeth Bevarly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-bevarly/) > [“Provocative. Striking. Rachel Resnick is a virtuoso on the page. Her fearless examination of the desperate thirst to find love is guaranteed to break…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samantha-dunn/provocative-striking-rachel-resnick-is-a-virtuoso-on-the-page-her/) Samantha Dunn > [When a pianist sits down and does a virtuoso performance he is in a technical sense transmitting more information to a machine than any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moog/when-a-pianist-sits-down-and-does-a-virtuoso-performance-he-is-in-a/) [Robert Moog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moog/) > [I have never learned to read or write music so I am not a virtuoso musician like the others you mentioned. I am completely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-hensley/i-have-never-learned-to-read-or-write-music-so-i-am-not-a-virtuoso/) [Ken Hensley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-hensley/) > [It is one thing to be a virtuoso, but a different thing to play with compassion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vijay-iyer/it-is-one-thing-to-be-a-virtuoso-but-a-different-thing-to-play-with/) [Vijay Iyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vijay-iyer/) > [Well, I do expect a lot of myself. I'm a harsh critic because I know what I'm capable of. I have hit those occasional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-stevens/well-i-do-expect-a-lot-of-myself-i-m-a-harsh-critic-because-i-know/) Dave Stevens > [“So sentences are copied, constructed, or created; they are uttered, mentioned, or used; each says, means, implies, reveals, connects; each titillates, invites, conceals, suggests;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-h-gass/so-sentences-are-copied-constructed-or-created-they-are-uttered/) [William H. Gass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-h-gass/) ## More by Robert Quine > [Meanwhile after failing the bar twice, I knew some people in New York and moved here in August '71.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/meanwhile-after-failing-the-bar-twice-i-knew-some-people-in-new-york/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I think Blank Generation holds up pretty well. You listen to that with headphones and there's a lot going on there with the guitars-…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-think-blank-generation-holds-up-pretty-well-you-listen-to-that-with/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [After I exhausted the blues thing, I got into jazz.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/after-i-exhausted-the-blues-thing-i-got-into-jazz/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I quit the tax job then and decided that I was going to play in a band. I answered ads in the Village Voice…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-quit-the-tax-job-then-and-decided-that-i-was-going-to-play-in-a/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [My playing started to develop through the Miles Davis stuff I was listening to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/my-playing-started-to-develop-through-the-miles-davis-stuff-i-was/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I really feel fortunate to have been around then because there have been good and bad years in rock but the best years were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-really-feel-fortunate-to-have-been-around-then-because-there-have/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [It was just like Howlin' Wolf. Once you arrive at the point that you understand it, the emotional factor is darker than some of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/it-was-just-like-howlin-wolf-once-you-arrive-at-the-point-that-you/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I started off with the really funky stuff like Ramsey Lewis, Milt Jackson, Kenny Burrell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-started-off-with-the-really-funky-stuff-like-ramsey-lewis-milt/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [By then I was in Brooklyn and drank my way through that summer. I stopped when I got sick of that and got a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/by-then-i-was-in-brooklyn-and-drank-my-way-through-that-summer-i/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [From '69 til '76, I never played in public. I would play by myself at home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/from-69-til-76-i-never-played-in-public-i-would-play-by-myself-at-home/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I was 12 in '55 when rock and roll hit. It just completely transformed me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-was-12-in-55-when-rock-and-roll-hit-it-just-completely-transformed/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [The Stones were nasty and ugly and doing songs I was familiar with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/the-stones-were-nasty-and-ugly-and-doing-songs-i-was-familiar-with/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I saw Suicide in '74 and it was pretty horrifying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-saw-suicide-in-74-and-it-was-pretty-horrifying/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [I never really followed grunge.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/i-never-really-followed-grunge/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) > [Even by the time I was four or five, I had Gene Autry records.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/even-by-the-time-i-was-four-or-five-i-had-gene-autry-records/) [Robert Quine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) [Explore all 18 Robert Quine quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/) ## More Primitive quotes > [Life on a small farm might seem primitive, but by living such a life we become able to discover the Great Path. I believe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/masanobu-fukuoka/life-on-a-small-farm-might-seem-primitive-but-by-living-such-a-life/) [Masanobu Fukuoka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/masanobu-fukuoka/) > [Don't ever for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at westerns. They're art - the good ones, I mean. They…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/don-t-ever-for-a-minute-make-the-mistake-of-looking-down-your-nose-at/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [Mine was, as it were, the connecting link between wild and cultivated fields; as some states are civilized, and others half-civilized, and others savage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/mine-was-as-it-were-the-connecting-link-between-wild-and-cultivated/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Recently a study proved that working from a larger, less cluttered computer screen increases concentration. I could have told them that. And yes, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/recently-a-study-proved-that-working-from-a-larger-less-cluttered/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [I see film as a real opportunity to examine the human condition. No matter where the technology goes in the future, the basics don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-schultz/i-see-film-as-a-real-opportunity-to-examine-the-human-condition-no/) [Michael Schultz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-schultz/) > [A contemporary artist can use the findings of all epochs and all styles, from the most primitive literary expressions up to the most refined…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-goytisolo/a-contemporary-artist-can-use-the-findings-of-all-epochs-and-all/) [Juan Goytisolo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-goytisolo/) > [ Again, I hear almost everyday from atheists who write off religion as primitive, premodern nonsense. I summon Aquinas, Augustine, Paul \[of Tarsus\], Teresa of… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barron/again-i-hear-almost-everyday-from-atheists-who-write-off-religion-as/) [Robert Barron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barron/) > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/far-out-in-the-uncharted-backwaters-of-the-unfashionable-end-of-the/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [Like primitive, we now live in a global village of our own making, a simultaneous happening. It doesn't necessarily mean harmony and peace and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-mcluhan/like-primitive-we-now-live-in-a-global-village-of-our-own-making-a/) [Marshall McLuhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marshall-mcluhan/) > [We feel that to reveal embarrassing or private things, we have given someone something, that, like a primitive person fearing that a photographer will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/we-feel-that-to-reveal-embarrassing-or-private-things-we-have-given/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [Games are a trigger for adults to again become primitive, primal, as a way of thinking and remembering. An adult is a child who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shigeru-miyamoto/games-are-a-trigger-for-adults-to-again-become-primitive-primal-as-a/) [Shigeru Miyamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shigeru-miyamoto/) > [“As I, my real self, grew older, I entered more and more into the substance of my dreams. One may dream, and even in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-london/as-i-my-real-self-grew-older-i-entered-more-and-more-into-the/) [Jack London](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-london/) > [Despite the theories traditionally taught in high-school social studies, the truth is: the more primitive the society, the more leisured its way of life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-farb/despite-the-theories-traditionally-taught-in-high-school-social/) [Peter Farb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-farb/) > [“By salvation I mean not barely according to the vulgar notion deliverance from hell or going to heaven but a present deliverance from sin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wesley/by-salvation-i-mean-not-barely-according-to-the-vulgar-notion/) [John Wesley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wesley/) [Browse all 793 Primitive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primitive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "By many peoples' standards, my playing is very primitive but by punk standards, I'm a virtuoso.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Quine" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is-very-primitive-but-by-punk/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Primitive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is-very-primitive-but-by-punk/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/385/robert-quine-29127_primitive_by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is_1205502.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“By many peoples' standards, my playing is very primitive but by punk standards, I'm a virtuoso.” — Robert Quine", "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": "Robert Quine", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-quine/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "By many peoples' standards, my playing...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is-very-primitive-but-by-punk/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-quine/by-many-peoples-standards-my-playing-is-very-primitive-but-by-punk/#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 } } ] } ```