Someone sent me this article this week. I had read it before, but it is a good reminder.
Here is a quick summary. Joshua Bell, who is considered to be one of the best violinists in the world, agreed to try an experiment where he played classical music for an hour in a subway station. As it turns out, for the most part, no one even noticed him.
Of course, there are a lot of intriguing questions that arose out of this experiment. Are we so far gone as a civilization that we can't appreciate true beauty? Is music really beautiful if it connects with almost no one? Did the environment affect the perception of the performance?
There are no easy answers to these questions. But I know many who would be quick to judge the listeners for their indifference.
I beg to differ.
That is not to say that I am blaming Joshua Bell. I am sure he played brilliantly. He played Bach and other composers and I don't blame them either.
Let's talk about the technical aspect first. You simply cannot expect the average listener to tell the difference between good and great violinists. As a matter of fact, the one man in the subway station who really understood he was listening to a great violinist was an accomplished violinist himself.
How about the music itself? Well, if beauty is objective, feel free to blame the listeners who should know better. But I don't believe that beauty is objective. So, while the music Bell played was undoubtedly great, the average listener can be excused for not knowing it was great.
So if you can't blame Joshua Bell, Bach or the listener, who should you blame?
Nobody...
But there is something that musicians should take away from this experiment. It does not matter how great the music you play is and it does not matter how well you play it if you cannot connect with the audience.
And in general, if you are not connecting with the audience, it may not be your fault, but it is still your problem.
I have said this before, but musicians roughly fall into two groups. One group thinks they need to educate their audience, enlightening them on what good music really is. The other group thinks that they would be better off meeting their audience where they are.
In theory, I belong to the second group. I think for the most part that is where I practically stay too. But I have to admit I sometimes get into a mindset where I decide it is my job to educate the audience and conform them to my biased view of what good music is. When I try, I usually end up regretting it.
