Music Essays

Music is significant because it takes years of practice to perfect and offers numerous meanings. The Washington Post put together an investigation to decide if good music can be recognized on its own by disguising a famous musician, Joshua Bell, in a public area. The Washington Post attempted to predict people would stop by to listen and would contribute payments. Joshua Bell agreed to play a few of the best works on the best violin. Throughout analysis of this article, I discovered people lack the ability to observe, Joshua Bell is a good violinist, music is underappreciated, and John Picarello’s reaction was pure.

Ironically, Joshua Bell couldn’t seem to attract anyone’s attention except a handful of people while playing the violin. I was devastated to learn that someone as talented as Joshua Bell went unrecognized. This suggests numerous things about the peoples’ personality: people tend to disregard musicians playing in a public area, music holds different values for people, and that people may simply be too focused on their task to notice the music. Yet another reason may depend on personality, people having different opinions on what is considered good, or different music styles.

Joshua Bell continued to play through the occasional glares and looks people gave. It illustrated how important music was to him, and he resumed to play without letting thoughts and opinions of other people bother him. Although Joshua Bell could not persuade people to hear his music, this does not indicate he is bad at the violin. To my shock, it simply demonstrates how musicians are overlooked despite the raw talent and how people are overrun in their own lives. Joshua Bell is so passionate about music that he continued to play the violin as if he were performing at a formal concert, regardless of people’s reactions. A defining moment for Joshua Bell was when he still played the violin as if people enjoyed it as much as he did.

Music goes beyond than what is heard. While some may take music for granted, it often goes unnoticed of what it takes to make such intricate sounds. Musicians must have raw talent, spend years practicing, and must perform in front of large crowds in the hopes of being noticed. This suggests that people would appreciate the art of music if it is understood what goes into making it. Music appeals to different people in various ways. Meaning that people consider different genres of music good.

John Picarello’s reaction was unlike any other because he was not one to scurry by. His response was genuine as he did not care who the musician was and understood how extraordinary this music was. Instead, he wanted to acknowledge outstanding music, which suggested a good ear for music. I would have responded to the musician similarly to how John Picarello did. Shyly throwing in a few bucks, getting lost in the music, and valuing the music for what it is.

Since people have their own agendas and expectations for music, it obstructs their ability to sense worthy music. Therefore, making it harder to truly define an appropriate reaction.

In closing, the article illustrated that people do not notice musicians playing in public on a daily basis. This can be concluded that people are focused on getting to work, uneducated in music, or tuning the music out to live without a guilty conscience. Joshua Bell was mistaken for an average musician therefore, demonstrating how often musicians are overlooked. I was surprised to find out that there wasn’t a bigger outcome from, but Joshua Bell did manage to grab a few people’s attention throughout his performance.