Interesting observation
http://www.organfax.co.uk/news/view/206/

This story should give many of us something to think about.
We're rushing through the life, so hasty that we almost
have no time to do anything else than continue the rush......
with both ears and eyes closed.

Cheers
GJ

Very good. With the way the article ends and the question it asks, here's another perspective on the same thing.

Here's a guy with a 3.5 million dollar violin selling out concerts for 100 dollars a seat when over 23,500 people die each ""day"" from starvation in this modern world.

I'd like to think that I would be one who stopped, listened and dropped a bill in the case, but the time and circumstance of the moment might dictate otherwise.
What does a 3.5 million dollar violin look like?


Maybe if he used a Bose Compact he would have sounded clearer and more people could have heard him.

From the article:
...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?

Doesn't really seem like a fair experiment, does it? They picked a spot where 99.9% of the passersby are on a schedule; DC Metro isn't going to wait for the busker to take a break, right. How about picking a spot where a lot of people gather but are not necessarily running to get somewhere, maybe a park where business people take their lunch, a shopping mall, or whatever.

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Wm. David McMahan
LearnMyKeyboard
JazzItUp Band
The Modulators

Hey thanks Abacus for posting! I always am enamoured by street musicians and have done it a time or two myself. Here is the actual article from the Washington Post with a short video:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html

It is indeed an interesting read. The acoustics were great for him where he performed. But having gone through the Metro station a whole lot of times, I am not surprised folks just kept moving. That's the DC way of life. A shame for sure.

Thanks again for the post...although I'm way down in the minor leagues, I'm going to feel better now when I play a kewl song in an environment where everyone is focused on other priorities.

Randy

This was not a properly run experiment.

In all fairness, not everyone is into Classical music. And even those who like it...very few are into stopping their daily lives for a few minutes to listen to "six Bach pieces" in a subway, including myself. Further, it's like taking a workout. You warm up first and wean your way into it. Same with Classical music. I love it, including opera, but I have to be in the right mood before I'll take the time to listen. I definitely would NOT stop in a subway to appreciate it. That kind of music demands "ambiance" in a proper setting to fully appreciate it.

I played in the streets for many years. My biggest observation was this. When I played Classical music, no one dropped anything into my case. When I played simple tunes that you could hum too, they were falling over themselves to throw money at me.

There's a psychology to presenting music. I don't care WHO you are. You don't just plop yourself down in some underground mine and start playing and then make an observation that "no one has time to listen."

But Gunnar Johnny is correct with his:

This story should give many of us something to think about. We're rushing through the life, so hasty that we almost have no time to do anything else than continue the rush......with both ears and eyes closed.

Lucky

We are also influenced by the media too. We tend to think the guy playing on the streets may not be good enough so he’s making a living on people’s charity and we don’t pay so much attention to him. On the other way I saw an experiment in which 2-3 years old kids from kindergarden made a painting which was later exhibited in a very important art museum and people were asked their opinion about such a piece of art. They concluded it was an impressive painting valued in many thousands dollars.

Truth is, only a minuscule percentage of those passerby's would be likely to be among the few hundred or so (out of a city of millions) that would have gone to a concert of his in the first place.

Compare this to the way that you can bring traffic to a grinding halt in Times Square, or in London, by having the Beatles, or U2, or Madonna perform on a rooftop or behind a glass wall for MTV....

People will stop and listen to it, if it is the kind of music they WANT to listen to. A lesson for us all.

The thing that I noticed most from the event was that the young children stopped to listen, and it was their parents who pushed them on, all of which goes against the usual train of thought that you have to play modern music to get them interested.

This experiment is not unique as many TV companies and newspapers have tried it before, (Anything to boost sales or audience figures) however in most cases they have used top pop stars and groups in disguise, and the results turned out pretty much the same.

Yes, absolutely. When I was playing in the shopping mall I noticed it was the children that moved, swayed and danced to the music as they were walking down the aisle, particularly when I played a waltz...and particularly when I played the Blue Danube. Adults, in turn, have mentally conditioned themselves to block out "sissy" music. Once one (adult) asked me to play something modern. When I questioned "do you really like that kind of music?" the reply was "no, but it makes us feel young to listen to it!" Figure that one out!

I've often thought if people would forget about peer pressure and age and delusions such as "well, if I don't listen to older music, and just tune into modern stuff, then I'll remain young!"....then the music would default back to a period when there was melody to it.

Also, if young people would learn how to hold each other again (contact dancing) when they dance that also would help us to return to the days when music was therapeutic and not destructive or inflammatory!

Lucky