A little thinky for us in our hectic lives

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning.
He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour,
it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped
for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first
dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk. A few minutes later,
someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again.
Clearly he was late for work

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the
kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning
his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception,
forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money
but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no
one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of
the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average
$100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post
as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a
commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we
recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music
ever written, how many other things are we missing?

I wonder how many people passing him were classical music enthusiasts who would actually think this is "the best music ever written", and who would recognize the difference between a top player and a regular street violinist? Also, many people have to be at work at a certain hour, so it's not like they don't want to or don't know how to appreciate beauty, rather than that they can't afford to be late. If Washington Post really wanted to get some "profound" results out of this experiment, he should've played after work hours or on a weekend.

Q: What happens when a world class violinist plays at a rail station during rush hour? A: He earns $32.17

...and they should've put Eric Clapton or Paul McCartney or someone like that out there to play his greatest hits, since their music has a more universal appeal than classical music.

(x-post)

(xxpost) ^^^ this
There's also the "flow" of people through a station during rush hour - often it's not possible to stop, even if you want to, because you'll be holding other people up. Professional buskers often deliberately stand somewhere with a large number of people passing by quickly - say at the bottom of an escalator - because that way they can maximise how much money they make.

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music
ever written, how many other things are we missing?

I'm trying to read, you noisy fuck.

so did anyone else get this in their inbox? i thought it was so bad i had to share.

(xpost) I'm trying to make a call on my Bluetooth headset enabled mobile, but someone's playing a violin...

*cue world famous violinist getting bashed over head with instrument by irate iPod user trying to listen to Polly Scattergood*

Seriously, though, the answer is - change society.

Get rid of outdated Victorian 9-5 work ethic which requires everyone to work the same hours at the same time.

Take it out on greedy landlords so workers can afford to live near their workplace and therefore ease the commuting burden.

Abolish credit/mortgage culture - people working themselves into early grave to pay for things they can't really afford.

Then maybe people would have time and space to stop and listen to some Bach.

^^ back on form

The experiment seems like a nonsense to me as it assumes there is some objectively definable "best music" that we can all agree is worth listening to, which is clearly false. I personally would not have stopped to listening (nor would I have given him any money, but that is because I am a cheap).

a) I do not care much for Classical music. I was never exposed to it properly growing up. I never developed the critical faculties to appreciate it (maybe one day I will).

b) From the gist of the first post, the piece's status as "best music" seems to rest on its technical difficulty. I have little interest in technicality in music and it is the last thing I consider when listening to a piece of music.

c) A mass transit system is not the ideal context in which to listen to live music.

So yeah the experiment doesn't really prove anything, except that Classical music enthusiasts are prepared to play a lot of money to listen to Classical music in the right context, and people who have no interest in Classical music unsurprisingly won't stop to listen to a Classical violinist on their way to work.

You know, being British, I wouldn't have given this guy any money at all even if I did like his playing, surely my hard-earned is mine and this fellow can afford to play for me for free?

Why do people treat street musicians like the homeless? It's not a matter of people stopping to listen, but you would think more people would notice.

Then again, a lot of people think the violinist is supposed to be there and don't really question it.

Well, that's why record shops are shutting down (xp).

And if I had recognised him I would've asked him for a twenty and not accepted no for an answer. Or just nick his violin case.

I mean, if anyone had recognised him would he have posed for photos/signed autographs or done a Ringo? WE SHOULD BE TOLD

...and they should've put Eric Clapton or Paul McCartney or someone like that out there to play his greatest hits, since their music has a more universal appeal than classical music.

― Tuomas, Tuesday, 27 January 2009 10:44 (47 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

McCartney has also done this (admittedly in disguise). He earned around £32 iirc.

Oh, and ref: Badly Drawn Boy's "All Possibilities" video.

Didn't BDB busk incognito in Waterloo a couple of years back and earn £1.60?

Whereas Tom Jones, not in disguise, busked on the South Bank a couple of months back and raised £460. There's a moral in there somewhere.

That Tom Jones is more popular than Bradley Dawn Boy?

Then again I don't know how much TV's Bradley Walsh might have made with his endearing 100 Golden Greats medleys.

If Des O'Connor tried this, he'd get arrested - but he already has several criminal records... (ba dum pish!)

ehh, i just don't like this experiment because it seems to wilfully ignore all of the factors related to busking or walking or whatever. i saw the hypnotic brass ensemble at union sq station and left after a few minutes, just because i was kind of on my way somewhere.

i remember going to some peter saville exhibition in manchester, and watching everyone trudge around pensively considering these album sleeves. then you'd walk across town and people would finger-flick through ten - actually ten - twelve by twelve copies of the same images in a second, in record stores. i know it's a critique of the young british artists etc that it only 'worked' if you were in the right frame of mind - that you had to walk into a gallery expecting to be shocked, like you walk into a comedy club wanting to laugh - but i don't think there's anything wrong with compartmentalising so that you encounter things when you're receptive to them. walking past guernica every day without breaking into tears and standing in front of a tank doesn't mean a) it's shit or b) you're ignorant, it just means that you've got some place to go. the people going to sit in a concert hall probably went and enjoyed concentrating on the music. it's lovely to think that we're presented with the opportunity to do that unexpectedly, but i think even that's something that you have to allow the role of chance in.

http://www.fogcityjournal.com/images/photos/xmas_day_with_h_brown_061225/mw2w5507_std.jpg

Who would earn more in a train station, this gal or a guy in a jester outfit?

Josh, man, invest in the funny hat and shoes. You'll earn it back.

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Today, we celebrate the greatness of the reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Tomorrow, our country will swear in its first black President. On the football side, here is something to chew on: Yesterday, Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin (a young black man at age 36) became the third black head coach to make a Super Bowl. Do you recall any media making a big deal about this?

Flash back to two years ago, when Tony Dungy and Chicago's Love Smith became the first black head coaches in a Super Bowl. Remember what Dungy said when asked about the significance of the event? Well, he pretty much echoed the sentiments of former Boston Celtics great Bill Russell:

"My hope is that someday soon we will get to the point where no one notices the ethnicity of winning coaches, but rather the merits of their success."

Again, Mike Tomlin (a black man) coached his team to the Super Bowl yesterday, and I don't recall the media making a big fuss over the fact that he is, indeed, black. They just simply called him a great, young head coach.

Slowly, we are seeing progress. Happy MLK Day.