Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Welcome to The Outside Course!

You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features!

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
Thought Post; I wonder If I would Have Noticed.....
Topic Started: Jan 7 2009, 08:08 AM (165 Views)
DairyQueen2049
Member Avatar
DRAGON BREATH. DRAGGIN' BUTT
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
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.

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 p erceive 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?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Delia
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
I heard an interview on NPR with Joshua Bell and the Post writer who conceived of the experiment (Gene Weingarten, who won a Pulitzer for his column on it). They also interviewed a few of the people who did stop to listen (one of whom did recognize Bell). It was really fascinating.

To be fair, though, the subway station where he played is EXTREMELY busy in the morning -- I mean, if you stop or even slow down, you have people climbing on top of you. And, as you're standing on the escalator, you probably could hear the music for more than a minute as you're inching your way up to the top. And it's smack in the middle of many, many federal buildings. When people are rushing to clock into the office on time, get their children to daycare, etc., they often don't have the luxury of stopping to listen, even for a few minutes. So for many, just because they didn't stop doesn't necessarily mean that they didn't notice or appreciate the music. I wonder if the results would have been different if they did the experiment at evening rush hour rather than morning?
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
coriander
Is the meadow on fire?
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
I missed both the article and the NPR interview. Thanks so much for this. I would like to think I'd have stopped, but L'Enfant is hugely busy as has been noted, and I've only been through non-rush hour times.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Indy
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
That's very interesting.
I honestly rarely ever pay much attention to the random metro musicians. I'm much more concerned with making my bus or my train! And like Delia said, stopping to listen to a musician during rush hour is asking to get trampled over.

There did used to be a fabulous guy who would sing at Van Ness some nights, though I can't say I ever stopped to listen to him for longer than it took me to run down the escallator. Lovely high voice. And he was a welcome change from the loud trumpeter that plays in that station sometimes...
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
OpticalIllusion
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
There is this historic outside mall where I live, all brick walk ways with giant trees along the inside, lots of shops and places to eat and coffee houses. There are always people playing music outside. If they are good, we will stop for a bit and listen. However I think if I was on my way to work in a busy metro station, I would probably not have time.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
onwego
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
great story
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Trialbyfire
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
After watching the brief video clip I have to say I think I would have noticed; he was fabulous! Interesting to wonder about the timing; if on the way home would it have been different? The video didn't make it appear incredibly crowded, but it was such a short clip it's hard to know. In my area you rarely see good street performers. They are usually really bad and I always wonder if they have *other* issues. I remember once a guy playing the clarinet on the street and he was horrible. It was painful to get close enough to throw money into the case.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
MayaTy02
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
yeah I think most people are rushing for trains no? I bet it would have been different if it was at the end of the day. I'd like to think I would have stopped.... :)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Delia
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
I went to college with Tracy Chapman, before she was "Tracy Chapman." She would play her guitar/sing on street corners in Harvard Square on weekends to large crowds, and make a TON of money. So, at a more leisurely time/place, maybe people are more open to noticing + taking the time to sample the beauty around them.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
stephjm
Member Avatar
It'll be an adventure! We're going on an adventure!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Thought provoking indeed. I do also think the fact that they did it at rush hour had a lot to do with people not stopping. I don't always stop for a street musician, depending on where I am and where I need to be, but I will often slow down to listen.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Sannois
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Years ago When I was living in New York we would go to the city at least every month.
There were some great street muscians. But that was 30 years ago.
Hearing that man play on the streets on a stratovarius, sp? Would be awesome. The sad thing is like so much in life these days, people rarely stop to see the beauty around them. They are so wrapped up in there every day lives they are letting life pass them by. The older I get the more I appreciate everything. It does not last forever. :cloud9:
Edited by Sannois, Jan 7 2009, 11:12 AM.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Witchy
Member Avatar
You're BANNED!
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Doing it at rush hour was the point. They wanted to see if buisy people would take a minute to enjoy something truly amazing, and they didn't. It's sad that we are all so busy that we don't stop to enjoy things that are perhaps alien, but truly beautiful like classical music played by a virtuoso on a violin that was second to none. I don't know if I would have stopped either, but I generally do try to "stop and smell the roses" as often as possible.

I also found it interesting that all of the children wanted to stop and the parents pushed them along. They were inately drawn to the classical music and the sounds they were hearing. I love that about children they know what they like.

Taking that thought further, I wonder how much we influence what our children listen to, simply by changing the radio station on our search for something we like. When Sophia was little she was always drawn to Latin Music on the radio, now she isn't and I wonder if it's because we always changed it after we let her listen to one or two songs. Did we accidentally teach her that it wasn't good music. Do we do that to our children when it comes to Classical Music? If we don't like it do we teach them not to like it as they get older? I think we do.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
« Previous Topic · The Hay Loft · Next Topic »
Add Reply