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Joshua Bell's 'Stop and Hear the Music' metro experiment | The Washington Post

Washington PostCited 4× on HN, 2013-2026
YouTube
8.9M views · 19 years ago · news · evergreen

Washington Post video of the experiment in which violinist Joshua Bell played incognito at a D.C. metro station. It asks whether commuters would notice a world-class musician in an ordinary setting.

Referenced in threads on busking, art perception and context as the standard example of great work going unnoticed.

Music performance & songsPsychology & human behaviorDocumentaries & storytelling#joshuabell#busking#violin#experiment#washingtonpost

4 comments from Hacker News

@growt2026 · in “What happens when you post a real Monet and say it's AI?”

There is a similar experiment where a famous violinist plays in a subway station. Nobody really notices or appreciates him and his music. ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@EGreg2023 · in “Instagram’s co-founders are back with Artifact, a kind of TikTok for text”

Someone else told me also that I’m using the wrong fonts and colors. They said once they saw Comic Sans used in a text bubble they instantly closed the website and didn’t look any further. Tomorrow I am supposed to interview Noam Chomsky again, with David Harvey. I wonder how many people have said “Noam speaks in such a slow and boring way, I tuned out immediately.” Guess what… he is famous so people don’t say that :) I enjoy getting these reactions because later on when we finally turn on the hype I will have a collection of how people react to substance rather than superficial things and hype. ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@robertelder2016 · in “My Experience Busking in San Francisco”

Here is a video of Joshua Bell ( link ) playing a 3.5 million dollar violin in the subway for 45 minutes and making $32: ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
@gjmulhol2013 · in “The Science Of Snobbery”

Joshua Bell, one of the greatest violinists of our time, as a busker has only 2 people take any notice, and only one person realize how great he is -- and that is because she recognized him, not his playing. ▶ this video

CitesView on HN
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