The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

by Mitch Albom

But even beginnings have beginnings.

Still, sometimes good is found amid bad, just as major-key notes can be played over minor chords.

Truth is light. Lies are shadows. Music is both.

The song gave him comfort. That is often why you come to music, isn’t it? To feel that you are not alone?

Although his cheeks were still soft and his thick hair carried the sheen of youth, the boy’s music displayed a sensitivity beyond his years. “An old soul” is how you sometimes describe it. But talents like me have been inside you since creation. Every artist is old in that way.

“Is this too fine a guitar for a boy so young?” “No. It must be with him the rest of his life.” “Why?” “Because I cannot be.”

“Remember this, Francisco,” he said. “The secret is not to make your music louder, but to make the world quieter.”

Man searches for courage in drink, but it is not courage that he finds, it is fear that he loses.

Dizzy Gillespie, the jazz trumpet player, once said, “It’s taken me all my life to learn what not to play.” He was one of my special ones. And he was quite correct. Silence enhances music. What you do not play can sweeten what you do.

Don’t let go of your music, chavo. Or you will let go of yourself.” “Yes, Mr. Django.”