"You could say that everything the musicians have learned and known over the years, all of their technical resources, are in a dialogue with the things they are discovering every time, as if it was the first time"
About this Quote
That word, dialogue, does heavy lifting. It rejects the idea that art is a one-way transmission from the all-knowing expert to the audience. For Frith, the musician’s past (training, repertoire, habits, muscle memory) argues with the musician’s now (risk, accident, the room, the other players). The subtext is anti-virtuoso: technical fluency isn’t there to seal the performance shut with polish; it’s there to keep it open, porous, responsive. You don’t deploy skill to avoid surprise; you deploy it to survive surprise.
“As if it was the first time” reads like a manifesto for improvisers and experimental composers, the world Frith comes from, where repeating yourself is the quickest way to become your own tribute act. He’s also quietly describing how authenticity is manufactured: not by pretending you have no history, but by staging a productive friction between what you know and what you haven’t met yet.
The intent, then, is ethical as much as aesthetic. It’s a demand that musicians stay vulnerable even when they’re powerful - that experience should sharpen curiosity, not replace it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Music |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Frith, Fred. (2026, January 16). You could say that everything the musicians have learned and known over the years, all of their technical resources, are in a dialogue with the things they are discovering every time, as if it was the first time. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-could-say-that-everything-the-musicians-have-91277/
Chicago Style
Frith, Fred. "You could say that everything the musicians have learned and known over the years, all of their technical resources, are in a dialogue with the things they are discovering every time, as if it was the first time." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-could-say-that-everything-the-musicians-have-91277/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"You could say that everything the musicians have learned and known over the years, all of their technical resources, are in a dialogue with the things they are discovering every time, as if it was the first time." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/you-could-say-that-everything-the-musicians-have-91277/. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
