- Just because you're not a drummer doesn't mean you don't have to keep time.
- Pat your foot and sing the melody in your head when you play.
- Stop playing all (that bullshit) those weird notes, play the melody!
- Make the drummer sound good!
- Discrimination is important.
- You've got to dig it to dig it, you dig? All reet!
- Always know... (Monk -->)
- It must be always night, otherwise they wouldn't need the lights.
- Let's lift the bandstand!!
- I want to avoid the hecklers.
- Don't play the piano part, I'm playing that. Don't listen to me, I'm supposed to be accompanying you!
- The inside of the tune (the bridge) is the part that makes the outside sound good.
- Don't play everything (or every time), let some things go by. Some music [is] just imagined. What you don't play can be more important than what you do play. Always leave them wanting more.
- A note can be as small as a pin, or as big as the world, it depends on your imagination.
- Stay in shape! Sometimes a musician waits for a gig, & when it comes, he's out of shape & can't make it.
- When you're swinging, swing some more!
- What should we wear tonight! Sharp as possible!
- Don't sound [like] anybody for a gig, just be on the scene.
- These pieces are written so as to have something to play, and to get cats interested enough to come to rehearsal.
- You've got it! If you don't want to play, tell a joke or dance, but in any case, you got it! (To a drummer who didn't want to solo.)
- Whatever you think can't be done, someone will come along and do it. A genius is the one most like himself.
- They tried to get me to hate white people, but someone would always come along and spoil it.
Monk's Advice, 1958
[Saw this on a friend's feed, had to transcribe it and re-post. All emphasis is the author's]
