Stop and smell the roses every once in a while...

[GUARD!AN]

Don't be like these people

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc

Description from project founder:

In Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At ten minutes, a three-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 the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

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 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

If so, 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 as we rush through life?

[Turky]

I read that story years upon years ago.

It all comes back to the fact that classical musicians are severely underrated and undercredited in this day and age. The majority of people only care about rock bands and shit, without appreciating the foundations from which that music came from. If that had been a guy playing a guitar instead, I bet you money there'd have been crowds all around him.

What I love about classical music is the emphasis that is placed on the composer. Sure there's room for individual interpretation, which is part of what keeps it alive, but what matters most is who was creative enough to write it. Whereas these days it's like "OMG _____'s cover of _______ was sooooo much better."

[Turquoise Dragon]

Rock didn't come from classical music. It came from the Africans in two stages. First was the early plantation era, where it consisted of singing in the fields, a call-and-response sort of thing. They constructed hommade instruments (banjos/drums) to accompany these chants, after they were freed and such things were not legally forbidden. The white people adapted this into their own version. This was later fused with with doo-wop which started as small groups of blacks singing on streetcorners. The lead vocalist would sing the lyrics, while backup vocalists provided the rythem behind the singer, using ounds more than words, although backup words were not uncommon. With these two fused tigether, rock was born. About the only connection to classical music is a decent number of white-interpreters used a piano as accompanyment.

Back on topic, yeah, there are priorities. In NYC, at least, life's very hectic and fast-paced. You've got stuff to do, places to get to, and you've got to do it all on time, a focus that people are driven towards constantly. I wouldn't be surprised if other large cities are similar. So I'm not surprised that people passed this guy by. Due to my family, however, I have also been able to observe life in the countryside. Life there is a hell of a lot slower and more laid-back. If the same experiment was repeated in a rural setting, I'm betting the outcome would be much different.

[Kerafym]

Are you insinuating that rock isn't a derivative of blues, Mike? (lol)


Anyway, I don't think playing classical music in a subway is exactly appropriate. Moreso than with other genres, I really have to be focusing on classical music to really appreciate it. I generally just sit there and listen to it, when I do, whereas I can be doing other things while listening to different genres.

[Magyk]

I agree with first Youtube commenter man.

I think the conclusion from this is not accurate: first of all the common average person wouldn't tell you Bach's music and intricate difficult pieces is the "finest music ever made" you have to have an acquired taste for this stuff--one you can only get through exposure (some might say being more privileged) If the seats average $100 each then think about the demographic of the audience he typically attracts??--not the common day subway rider I can tell you that (w/ a few exceptions of course)

[Kerafym]

Um, I don't know if my school was outside of the norm, but I got quite a bit of exposure to classical in my grade and middleschool music classes.

You can find a lot of really nice interpretations for free, even on Youtube. It's not hard to appreciate with initiative.

Personally I think the author of the article should listen to some hipster shit because I think they're more interested with being soooo cool counter culture underground under appreciated super genius beep boop fuck society than actually appreciating the music themselves.

[Magyk]

I learned how to play the recorder in elementary school.

[Kerafym]

Yeah we did that too but we also listened to a fair bit of Mozart and Beethoven.

[Magyk]

We spent a lot of the year learning the Fifty Nifty United States in second(?) grade.

I mean, a lot of the year.

I still remember all the words.

They haunt me.

Fuck that song.

[CHEW]

Check out the piano guys on you tube, they are doingvsome neat stuff.