Something to think about

1329 Views 18 Replies 14 Participants Last post by westair, Jul 29, 2009

G

Discussion Starter · Jul 28, 2009

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

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

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

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1 - 19 of 19 Posts

Old Texan

· #2 · Jul 28, 2009

Ultra26 # 1 said:
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later:
the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest 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 Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

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

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made.... How many other things are we missing?

Probably lucky he didn'tgetmugged and had his fiddle stolen.....

I remember hearing about this experiment. I think he was playing a very expensive violin, a Stradervarius(sp) even.

Knowing myself I would have stopped and listened as I've always had an ear for street musicians. My kids laughed at me in New Orleans one time when I listened for a half hour to a couple guys playing in the quarters on a streetcorner and then bought a couple of their CD's. The kids were pretty surprised several years later when the 2 guys and their band played on The Tonight Show. Always worth it to stop and hear talent of any type music.

G

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 28, 2009

Old Texan said:
Probably lucky he didn'tgetmugged and had his fiddle stolen.....

I remember hearing about this experiment. I think he was playing a very expensive violin, a Stradervarius(sp) even.

Knowing myself I would have stopped and listened as I've always had an ear for street musicians. My kids laughed at me in New Orleans one time when I listened for a half hour to a couple guys playing in the quarters on a streetcorner and then bought a couple of their CD's. The kids were pretty surprised several years later when the 2 guys and their band played on The Tonight Show. Always worth it to stop and hear talent of any type music.

OT,

If you get a chance, there is a movie that has been on HBO recently named August Rush, that is worth watching. For some reason this reminded me of that.

jordy

· #4 · Jul 28, 2009

I'm sure he got a bill for $32 in undisclosed income from the IRS after the got done reading the story...

sphss

bajadad

· #5 · Jul 28, 2009

If you don't stop and look around once in a while, life will pass you by.
Ferris Bueller.

G

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 28, 2009

bajadad said:
If you don't stop and look around once in a while, life will pass you by.
Ferris Bueller.

Yep !

SR

· #7 · Jul 28, 2009

I'm thinking the location had alot to do with peeps not sticking around,might of had differant results in a park or other public place.

lhcbrad

· #8 · Jul 28, 2009

jordy said:
I'm sure he got a bill for $32 in undisclosed income from the IRS after the got done reading the story... sphss

And also a penalty for being late and now he owes more then the original $32
of income

Sleeper CP

· #9 · Jul 28, 2009

Have you listened to much Bach ? They should have chosen Mozart the reaction may have been different.

bulb

S CP

jordy

· #10 · Jul 28, 2009

Sleeper CP said:
Have you listened to much Bach ? They should have chosen Mozart the reaction may have been different. bulb

S CP

If you're going to play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band... I think location was the key factor.

sphss

SR

· #11 · Jul 28, 2009

Sleeper CP said:
Have you listened to much Bach ? They should have chosen Mozart the reaction may have been different. bulb

S CP

That's a no shitter!!

maybe some old Rolling Stones,Stevie Wonder,the Beatles,something

slowride

· #12 · Jul 28, 2009

The passers-by had already downloaded it from Itunes.......

Rio

· #13 · Jul 28, 2009

The key words here are" Washington, DC Metro Station ". Either beggars or bureaucraps in D.C. He's lucky he didn't get mugged, buggered or had his fiddle stolen but then he was prolly well protected.
Rio

ChiliPepperGarage

· #14 · Jul 28, 2009

I agree, location, location, location!

Pick a small town and you'd probably have very different results. This would apply to a lot of situations, a mugging, an old lady struggling with packages, a mom with a couple kids and a loose dog, heck even just a guy saying hello to people. People stop to help in a small town, not so much in the big city.

Tahiti Boss21

· #15 · Jul 29, 2009

He should've been cited for loitering/panhandling.

LuckyDaze

· #16 · Jul 29, 2009

I've always enjoyed listening to street performers. I am a musician and in my eyes some of those performers express some of the best music to be heard. Raw, un-edited, sometimes desperate for a break. The music seems to hold more to me than something you hear in a concert just because it's been stripped down to its barest qualities, instrument, talent, and music.

Never heard of this experiment, thanks for posting up.

~Brian

Gravyboat

· #17 · Jul 29, 2009

This is kind of a no brainer for those of us who have an ear for good music. People that don't appreciate finer sounds typically are the ones that don't want to be bothered.

ChumpChange

· #18 · Jul 29, 2009

Ultra26 # 1 said:
Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.

Hope they cleaned the area around hiim first. The last thing I like to do in metro stations is stop. LA is nasty, could only imagine DC being worse.

Ultra26 # 1 said:
During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

They had to be at work on time....millions of people on welfare are depeding on them.

They should do this experiment in Detroit where unemployment is 17% and see if that culture stops.....

sphss

westair

· #19 · Jul 29, 2009

bajadad said:
If you don't stop and look around once in a while, life will pass you by.
Ferris Bueller.

Similar to a John Lennon quote:

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.

1 - 19 of 19 Posts

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