A Violinist in the Metro 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 some of the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
That's interesting, but I gotta say: If my wife is waiting for me to get home and I don't wanna miss my train, screw it, I gotta go. I'd rather be at home with her ASAP after a day of work than stop and listen to "one of the worlds best musicians" for free for a few minutes. Nothing can beat that. Slayer could be playing for free down there for free and.....ok......maybe I'd stop for Slayer I think this, in a way, links to our collecting here. I mean, someone going through there MAY have known who the guy was or the music, and would appreciate it, but a lot passed. Like these toys, a lot just think they're quaint and cute junk and that's it and freak when they find out the price but they're un-educated on the history, process and hard work that goes into them.
This is a old story. Nonetheless - I admit that I would not have stop for a long time either, even if I know who is Joshua Bell (a have a couple of is cd) I would probably not reconized him in a place like that anyway. I'd stay for Slayer,anywhere !
Well that proves the point, don't you think? And even if you would have recognized him in "a place like that", wouldn't you have at least stopped for a few seconds in confusion or simply to ask him what the fuck he's doing playing in a metro station?
This is an interesting topic. Personally, it annoys me when musicians are playing in subway stations. They're already loud places due to the trains so the music is just contributing to the din. Look at it from the other way: would you want to hear the sounds of a subway when you were in a concert hall? The way I see it, there's a time and a place for everything, and it doesn't surprise me that the musician was ignored.
The only reason I'm in the metro is to get to work or to get home. I'm not gonna stop for anyone. I don't think the behaviours say anything about anyone. I also find musiciains and beggars in the metro stations annoying. That and I have a violinist of my own.
When I hear really good musicians in the Metro stations playing music I like, I usually tip 'em. There were some Conservatory students playing Purcell quartets in the Metro last month ... incredibly sweet music that you don't normally hear in the USA besides in European recordings, and just as in the Bell story, most people just ignored them for whatever reasons. Last year I saw a guy playing Renaissance music on two recorders at once, one part on each recorder, like a classical version of Rahsaan Kirk or something, he was amazing. I haven't seen him in some years but there used to be an elderly Chinese man who played traditional pipa music in the stations ... great stuff, very eerie to my western ears. In the Mission there's a blind fellow who plays traditional Rancheras very well although people only seem to tip when he plays the inevitable familiar "Cielito Lindo." Unfortunately however most street musicians I see here in SF are either not very good, or play annoyingly grating stuff. I can't stand the "fake James Brown guy" if any locals know who I mean. Yikes. Anyway, point of the story is well taken. Stop and smell the roses, and if you like 'em, pay the piper. That Bell story must be pretty old because there are millions of people who would recognize him at this point. Best violinist I've ever seen, bar none.
In Chicago there used to be a lady who played like 3-4 different things at once. Violin, tap shoes, all sorts of things AT ONCE! Since most people only waited for the train for around 5-10 min. they thought AMAZING and paid her, all the time. After hearing her for years, and sometimes longer than usual due to waiting for someone else to meet me at the train, I realized she was just playing the same song over and over and over, just a few bars too. Point: She KNEW no one would stop to appreciate crap, but if they saw some crazy gimmick like that, and it SEEMED complicated and all, they paid. That doesn't have anything direct to do with the story above but it JUST reminded me. Image is everything in music it seems. But I can't say anything really, I'm a KISS fan, a sucker for the gimmicks.
