--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The great thing about string quartets is…" description: "\"The great thing about string quartets is the players are kind of like family. They work really well as a unit, so you can write things that let them us..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/terry-riley-27340_association_the-great-thing-about-string-quartets-is_546488.jpg" --- # The great thing about string quartets is the players are… ![“The great thing about string quartets is the players are kind of like family. They work really well as a unit, so you can write things that let them use those talents of association and intuition-all the things they’ve developed together as a group.” quote by Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/terry-riley-27340_association_the-great-thing-about-string-quartets-is_546488.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/terry-riley-27340_association_the-great-thing-about-string-quartets-is_546488.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bb7/terry-riley-27340_association_the-great-thing-about-string-quartets-is_546488.jpg) > “The great thing about string quartets is the players are kind of like family. They work really well as a unit, so you can write things that let them use those talents of association and intuition-all the things they’ve developed together as a group.” [Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. String quartets function like a family, allowing members to draw on shared intuition and talent for cohesive creation. **In simple terms:** Quartets are like families, using shared intuition. Key Takeaway Leverage group chemistry for creative work. Themes collaboration music intuition Mood inspirational analytical Type musical educational When to use this quote - composer workshops - rehearsal strategies - musical education Key Concepts ensemble dynamics creative synergy Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance unity and individuality? - What methods foster collective creativity? A Different Perspective Group cohesion can stifle individual expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Great things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-things/) [Intuition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intuition/) [Quartets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quartets/) [Song](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/song/) [String quartets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/string-quartets/) [Talent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/talent/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“Some people write string quartets, some grow lettuce and tomatoes. There have to be a few who build railroad stations,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/some-people-write-string-quartets-some-grow-lettuce-and-tomatoes/) [Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/) > [I suppose subconsciously I was thinking in terms of having the scale of it matching the scale of the images. Hence the sort of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonny-greenwood/i-suppose-subconsciously-i-was-thinking-in-terms-of-having-the-scale/) [Jonny Greenwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonny-greenwood/) > [There was one thing Beethoven didn't do. When one of his string quartets was played, you can believe the second violin wasn't improvising.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/there-was-one-thing-beethoven-didn-t-do-when-one-of-his-string/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [I would like to hear Elliot Carter's Fourth String Quartet, if only to discover what a cranky prostate does to one's polyphony.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-sellars/i-would-like-to-hear-elliot-carter-s-fourth-string-quartet-if-only-to/) James Sellars > [Part of me is probably more conservative than people realise. 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Brahms lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bennett-cerf/the-detroit-string-quartet-played-brahms-last-night-brahms-lost/) [Bennett Cerf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bennett-cerf/) > [Beethoven's string quartets express pain itself; it is not MY pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-armstrong/beethoven-s-string-quartets-express-pain-itself-it-is-not-my-pain/) [Karen Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-armstrong/) > [The most perfect expression of human behavior is a string quartet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-tate/the-most-perfect-expression-of-human-behavior-is-a-string-quartet/) [Jeffrey Tate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-tate/) > [One is that you have to take time, lots of time, to let an idea grow from within. The second is that when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yo-yo-ma/one-is-that-you-have-to-take-time-lots-of-time-to-let-an-idea-grow/) [Yo-Yo Ma](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yo-yo-ma/) > [A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-colwin/a-world-without-tomatoes-is-like-a-string-quartet-without-violins/) [Laurie Colwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-colwin/) ## More by Terry Riley > [We are either going to dissolve as a human race or we are going to break through into a new understanding of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/we-are-either-going-to-dissolve-as-a-human-race-or-we-are-going-to/) [Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) > [Out of doing all that experimentation with sound I decided I wanted to do it with live musicians. To take repetition, take music fragments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/out-of-doing-all-that-experimentation-with-sound-i-decided-i-wanted/) [Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) > [Essentially my contribution was to introduce repetition into Western music as the main ingredient without any melody over it, without anything just repeated patterns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/essentially-my-contribution-was-to-introduce-repetition-into-western/) [Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) > [I was using tape loops for dancers and dance production. 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But its highest vibration for me is that point of taking us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/music-can-also-be-a-sensual-pleasure-like-eating-food-or-sex-but-its/) [Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) > [The highest point of music for me is to become in a place where there is no desire, no craving, wanting to do anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/the-highest-point-of-music-for-me-is-to-become-in-a-place-where-there/) [Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) [Explore all 20 Terry Riley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/) ## More Association quotes > [If you are poor, shun association with him who measures men with the yardstick of riches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khalil-gibran/if-you-are-poor-shun-association-with-him-who-measures-men-with-the/) [Khalil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khalil-gibran/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. 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I go to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-am-a-member-of-that-small-little-group-that-covers-i-m-a-member-of/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [Most of the more celebrated names among African-American authors, poets, and artists are known to the world because of their association with specific cultural…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aberjhani/most-of-the-more-celebrated-names-among-african-american-authors/) [Aberjhani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aberjhani/) > [While opponents label (Howard) Dean a throwback liberal, The New York Times recently noted that as governor, Dean cut income taxes, reformed welfare and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/while-opponents-label-howard-dean-a-throwback-liberal-the-new-york/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Anarchism is a definite intellectual current in the life of our times, whose adherents advocate the abolition of economic monopolies and of all political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/anarchism-is-a-definite-intellectual-current-in-the-life-of-our-times/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [The feedback that I get from my association with Gomez is heartwarming. It is very difficult for me to take anything but a positive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-astin/the-feedback-that-i-get-from-my-association-with-gomez-is/) [John Astin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-astin/) > [Public and private funds have been thrown around like confetti at a country fair, to close up and destroy clinics, hospitals, and scientific research…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benedict-fitzgerald/public-and-private-funds-have-been-thrown-around-like-confetti-at-a/) Benedict Fitzgerald > [ \[T\]here are, at bottom, basically two ways to order social affairs, Coercively, through the mechanisms of the state - what we can call political… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-crane/t-here-are-at-bottom-basically-two-ways-to-order-social-affairs/) [Ed Crane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-crane/) > [Whatever withdraws us from the power of our senses; whatever makes the past, the distant, or the future, predominate over the present, advances us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/whatever-withdraws-us-from-the-power-of-our-senses-whatever-makes-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [The Stroke Association has produced leaflets that set out clearly the health risks associated with stroke that African-Caribbean people face.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linford-christie/the-stroke-association-has-produced-leaflets-that-set-out-clearly-the/) [Linford Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linford-christie/) > [The regular division of the plane into congruent figures evoking an association in the observer with a familiar natural object is one of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-c-escher/the-regular-division-of-the-plane-into-congruent-figures-evoking-an/) [M. 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