Wynton Marsalis Said:

“One thing I’ve learned through the years of writing extended compositions that also applies to living: don’t let the form you have chosen interfere with the music as it reveals itself. Take the music as it comes and change the form.”

Wynton Marsalis


I’ve always liked the word and concept of fermata. In music, it means to momentarily suspend the beat. It doesn’t mean to pause for a beat or two, it means that the beat actually stops for a short time. It’s unmeasured time. Your foot stops tapping, the pulse is suspended. It’s a special moment.


  1. The prolongation of a tone, chord, or rest beyond its indicated time value.
  2. The sign indicating this prolongation.

[Italian, from feminine past participle of fermare, to stop, from Latin firmāre, to make firm, from firmus, firm.]