Something to think about….
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 approximately. 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?
Thanks Gene
Irregardless of the variables, few people stopped to appreciate the beauty of the music. Simple as that.
If the people were being chase by a lion would anyone be surprised or offended that no one stopped? Beauty is at the top of the hierarchy of needs. If one is busy trying to get to work so they can put food on the table stopping to appreciate any sort of beauty is not a priority. Once work is done, mortgage is paid and we have excess time we can stop and smell the roses. Try this experiment at a time and place when people are out for entertainment and I imagine one would get a more positive result then on the subway when people have other needs which take precedent.
If a person stops to Liston then they are obligated to Tip the musician. Perhaps they didn’t stop to avoid paying out a tip.
Try someplace smaller, oh I don’t know, Wisconsin, you may find cultured folks in place you never expected.
c’mon this isn’t an experiment it was a publicity stunt, people don’t go to metro stations to listen to music, they were busy people and you can’t say that those people weren’t appreciating the music just because they didn’t stop to watch him.
John Daniel,
“irregardless” is not a word. If it were, it entails a kind of double negative which asks us to ‘not-not’ consider something. A pet-peeve I suppose.
The question, “do we perceive beauty?” He played “intricate piece” on an expensive violin. That doesn’t mean it was beautiful. It sounds technically difficult. In a subway, pieces that echo, that “cry” would probably stop the crowd. I could just as easily conclude that Joshua didn’t know his audience very well. I’ve seen street performers lay down pure drivel and stop the crowd. At least they knew their audience.
Most people do not stop to appreciate anything especially when they have no respect for someone they percieve to be inferior
wow,i think thats amazing! i hope if this ever happened to me i would stop and appreciate it.
John Daniel,
Irregardless is not a word. Please learn English or let natural selection work its magic.
I think all of you guys are missing the whole point here. I think by conducting this expirement it shows us how people are so engulfed in what they have to do, like what Molly said, about paying taxes, going to work, putting food on the table, paying the mortgage, all that stuff that they don’t appreciate life anymore. I understand that with a different audience or perhaps at a different venue there would be a different reaction but with all that aside, the fact of the matter is that people are so busy all through out their lives because of constant responsibilities thrust upon them that they miss out on things like this. And before they know it, they’re being burried in a box.
This also goes a long to say – that people rarely judge upon merit.
Audiences go to see and will pay $100 a ticket because they are told its good, not because they appreciate the finer brilliance of it. They go for the vibe and a sense of social status – the majority I’m saying of course.
People never buy value, they consume what they are sold, the sad truth about art for the masses.
But also any true aficionado would appreciate the musicians talent, no matter the surroundings, I’m certain of that.
I would like to know a stat to how many musicians walked past in that 1 hour. Maybe its also a reflection that fellow musicians aren’t usually going to work in rush hour!
In Italy under Berlusconi, the cultural policy has been that art is an excess, an indulgence and not a necessity,
Personally, I believe its as important as the banks – but hey, what does this experiment prove!? Time and place for it perhaps.
It could also be a sense of conformity too, as people are pretty much told how to eat, dress, act, and what their taste of music should be. Also, why does it matter if he played on an extremely expensive violin a couple of days after his sold out recital? Who are you to say he is one of the best musicians around? Stop going on about beauty, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
By the way, “Irregardless” isn’t a word Johnny boy
um.. actually, to the people insulting John, irregardless is a word. It’s a dictionary, my friends. Use it before you criticize others.
Wow, You Just Blew My Mind…!
You would to well to include the brilliant Washington Post article that accompanied this. It’s a GREAT read.
I hate people who say irregardless. Its stupid, and make you sound stupid…that is all.
we are trying to do the same thing but with a clay lion, still childrens are the best! they have the eye. Have fun http://www.elnarval.org
Love from Mexico.
Ch
this great, i love social experiments
maybe the people in the station just didn’t like violin music. there’s nothing wrong with that…right? plus, i think people usually feel obligated to give a performer money if they stop to watch and don’t really like to give money to a random person who chooses to perform in the street for money rather than acquiring money some other way like getting a job. or the performer could be a con-artist not to be trusted with his little pickpocket buddies hiding amongst observers. so one of those. maybe. or maybe people just can’t appreciate beauty.
“irregardless” YES! No, but seriously, in a DC metro station, on a cold weekday morning: what’s the difference between an awesome performance of a truly difficult violin arrangement on an expensive violin played by a skilled artisan and a homeless or not homeless beggar or hippie asking for spare change? Neither one is really that special. Yeah, someone’s good at violin, sweet for him. Yeah, somebody run across some hard times, tough rocks for him. So what. We all got problems. We’re all try to do our best. Life goes on. Just shut up, be a nice person, get a job, pay your taxes, call your mother once in a while, and try not to litter.”irregardless” YES! No, but seriously, in a DC metro station, on a cold weekday morning: what’s the difference between an awesome performance of a truly difficult violin arrangement on an expensive violin played by a skilled artisan and a homeless or not homeless beggar or hippie asking for spare change? Neither one is really that special. Yeah, someone’s good at violin, sweet for him. Yeah, somebody run across some hard times, tough rocks for him. So what. We all got problems. We’re all try to do our best. Life goes on. Just shut up, be a nice person, get a job, pay your taxes, call your mother once in a while, and try not to litter.
Can you honestly say you would hate someone for using a word?
To hate someone for using a word that you don’t understand &/or know exists is a bit harsh, isn’t it Frank Lambert ?
[Comment edited]
Irregardless
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Irregardless is a term meaning regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since it first appeared in the early twentieth century. It is generally listed in dictionaries as “incorrect” or “nonstandard”.
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/irregardless
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irregardless
There now you can see who is the stupid one. For speaking negatively of my ability to speak and talking before you think. Eat my shorts.
I really think that this is quite funny, how many idiots are out there on the internet that think they know what they are talking about?
People in Boston enjoy violin music much more than people in Washington D.C. Hmm.
If you actually read the wiki article you’d realize it says its not a real word.
But who cares?
I think everyone is missing an important point. Busking, to many, is simply graffiti – junk mail advertising. We are so practiced at blocking out the many forms of advertising, marketing and other things trying to invade our personal space, that it is easy to walk past a busker and simply not hear the music. Combine this with the practice of ‘moving on’ – basically eyes forward, head down, to avoid being asked for money and you have a plausible reason for not taking in what you are hearing. I am sure that in a less invasive setting, most people would understand that they were listening to someone very, very good.
Just saying, i don’t think you can trace back all social ills in this study and i personally suspect that if there was a rule requiring buskers to have at least some talent (and in plenty of places this rule exists) then people would be far more likely to pay some attention.
He ort to come to Alabama to play his fiddle. We’s cultured folk dowm hear and we’uns wood preciate good fiddle playing. ’sides, we aint never seen a fiddle costing $3.5 million.
i love the comments about irregardless…its pretty entertaining
and i like the study, even though i don’t think it represents the population as a whole. its interesting at least.
“Irregardless” is a double negative tard
Regardless of its beauty (because that’s in the eye of the beholder) I think it is kind of sad that people don’t stop to at least observe the roses…and like Molly’s post, it is because when we’re rushing in a DC station, most of us are wondering if we’re going to make the subway in time for work or what’s for dinner…so what does this experiment prove? That we’re so consumed by the routine time pressures and priorities in life that unless we’re actually physically placed in a context where we’re allowed to focus on something “beautiful” we won’t notice it. I guess we sacrifice certain experiences to live out the priorities in life, but doesn’t that make you wonder what else you’re missing because you’re too busy with your priorities?
$32 an hour?? . . . I only get a lousy 26 bucks an hour – nice goin Josh!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnOPu0_YWhw
he definitely got recognition (a little)… you should check it out on youtube…
Well, the piece wasn’t intricate, if it’s the one I think they’re talking about, it’s the mot emotionally charged and beautiful pieces Bach ever wrote. They’re right, depending on the situation, people are much less open to recieving beauty. Some aware souls stopped to listen to the beauty of the 6 partitas, but many people simply ignored him on their way to where they needed to be. Though, mind, it could be the product of an ignorant world that has turned its collective back on the history of the music we now enjoy. Still, Stradivari, are expensive because their high tone quality and the ability to have their sound soar over a symphony orchestra. It would’ve been a very noticeable sound. In the end, I conclude that due to the setting and hour, people were unable to percieve the beauty of the partitas.
Most of you are pretentious. It’s an interesting article.
when you consider value, just look at the point, that the person played for 45 min. and collected $32 dollars. that is an income of $42.6 dollars per hour. equal to $1706 a week. Two weeks off for vacation. 50 weeks would bring around 85,000 a year. This is twice what I make fixing mail machines! So It seems to me value for a service is totally in the hands of the consumer. This is the Free Market, and makes America great! We judge value on what a product is worth to us at the time we need it, not because someone else tells us what is worth! This is called the law of SUPPLY and DEMAND. My response to the question “How many things are we missing” is: I am not missing anything that is a value to me. Your values are yours, not mine. Don’t tell me what I should care about or like! Gene, your question about how much more we are missing is just a way for you to judge others using your own beliefs.
Robert
Molly hit the nail on the head! People what I want to know is when did it become a necessity for both husbands and wives to have to work to support a family? Our ‘masters’ have slowly made slaves out of most of us, all we can do it work work work. And when your life is consumed with having to work like a dog to just live then you can’t hear the music, much less enjoy it. When will we recognize our slavery to the machine we call America today? When will our greed for ‘things’ stop? When I ask you?
TGB
Maybe the perception of paying a certain amount for something therefore adds the value to it.
Just checked it on YouTube – I call foul on the experiment. He played an intricately structured piece (that’s not particularly melodious in an unstructured setting) that’s designed to be listened to in a quiet, well-built venue. If he’d used those great skills and beautiful instrument to play an attention catching, rollicking tune, he would have had people five deep around him taking the next train. All they showed is that some Bach shouldn’t be played in a busy train station.
BTW – flammable – inflammable – it happens. Move on.
My favorite part about this whole thing is that a great percentage of people commenting on this blog have focused on the word: Irregardless and its correctness rather than their perception on the experiment itself. Love it.
Also, Molly, I’m a fan.
The people paying 100 dollars for the concert are doing so because they are likely avid listeners of classical music, and enjoy it. Not everyone enjoys such music, so I’m sure that many of the people who passed by didn’t care for the music, and therefore didn’t notice it.
@The Great Bunndini
If everyone stopped working and decided to spend their whole lives doing nothing but pursue pleasure, the entire human world would fall apart and there would be nothing left to pursue. As almost every great philosopher and intelligent person realizes, a perfect utopia where no one needs to work is simply impossible, because there ALWAYS needs to be some people working in order to maintain our way of life.
As I neared the end of the article, I honestly thought the point was going to be “It’s not worth it to pay 100$ a ticket if you can’t tell how talented this guy is.” Beauty is subjective and unquantifiable, rendering this ‘experiment’ totally bogus.
Not to mention, most people probably wouldn’t even pay to watch this guy. Not that he’s bad or anything, but those who do pay to see him are doing so because they know what they want and they seek it out. The average person on the subway is probably not a huge fan of Bach.
that is so true but im one those people who stop and listen and dont u know how must the people who stopped were very young and im 12
In a subway, people are busy going to work, to school, living. They don’t have time to stop and smell the damn roses. And simply because a piece is difficult, doesn’t mean it’s beautiful. I’ve heard some insanely complicated pieces that made my ears bleed, I couldn’t stand them. But then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And why does the price of the violin matter, anyways? Price doesn’t determine quality, in my opinion; how the player and the instrument work together means everything.
Try this “experiment” where there ISN’T so much hustle and bustle; outside a restaurant, near a library, places where people usually AREN’T required to go.
It’s kind of hard to see beauty [since it IS a pasttime--and screw the spelling] when you’re busy trying to help your family live. Because when you’re stressed and struggling [especially with this economy] it’s rather hard to see the roses and not just the thorns.
Perception depends on promotion -just as production is only as good as the sales – unless it is art for arts sake and all that!
Perception is all about the psychology of what you believe. Good experiment that shows people need to know more about who you are not just what you do. Have been researching how amazing people made it and successful marketng was half the battle – see Mozart http://myamazingpeople.com/2009/11/27/mozart-journeys/