Quotes By Evelyn Glennie

When I was 12, I happened to see a schoolmate playing percussion, and it looked interesting. I asked for lessons, and it felt right.

My favorite instrument is the snare drum. In Scotland, the snare drum is very prominent in Highland bands. The Scottish style of playing is in my blood. It's a very powerful instrument, but it can also be soothing, like velvet. It's a real challenge for composers.

It's the things that you notice when you're not actually with your instrument that, in fact, become so interesting, and that you - you want to explore, through this tiny tiny surface of a drum.

Music is about communication... it isn't just something that maybe physically sounds good or orally sounds interesting; it's something far, far deeper than that.

Percussion is the most adaptable family of instruments. The biggest challenge is to project percussion in a lyrical way.

And as I grew older, I then auditioned for the Royal Academy of Music in London, and they said, well, no, we won't accept you, because we haven't a clue - you know - of the future of a so-called 'deaf' musician. And I just couldn't quite accept that.

I often play on the cello-bass side of the orchestra, because I prefer the deep sounds. I can't hear the violins well.

What I have to do as a musician is do everything that is not on the music.

The thing about playing percussion is that you can create all these emotions that can be sometimes beautiful, sometimes really ugly, or sometimes sweet, sometimes as big as King Kong and so on. And so there can be a real riot out there, or it can be so refined.

Anything you strike, anything you shake or rattle, or just anything that can be picked up, and you can create a sound.

Society cannot continue to disable themselves through their need to categorize people or make assumptions as to another individual's abilities.

The body's like a huge ear. It's as simple as that.

I didn't decide to become a musician until the age of 15, which is quite late.

As we live longer and healthier for longer, we need to keep ourselves busy... the diary is pretty full.

My first real foreign holiday was my honeymoon 20 years ago, and we went to Bali. It was particularly special for that reason, I enjoyed it very much - I had packed music scores and a practice drum pad, suspecting that I would be completely bored, but actually they remained in my case.

Hearing is a form of touch. I could hear less through the ears but more through the body.

I like the sparkle of the vibraphone.

Apart from Scottish traditional music, I wasn't really influenced by any kind of music. I just basically followed my own instincts.