I go to a reasonable number of music events. I listen to a wide variety of different performers, at different skill levels.
What astounds me, is how often a crowd goes wild for something that is really not that great, and remains silent for music that is out of this world.
To be clear, I’m not talking about my own taste. It’s cross-genre, and not primarily about music I like. It’s the stark contrast between people who have clearly spent years crafting an exquisite sound, versus those who are just screaming loudly from a platform, and the disparity between how those are often received.
Joshua Bell
With that in mind, I want to share a short story from this article:
“Joshua Bell is one of the world’s great virtuosos, and one of the biggest names in classical music.
“And in 2007 he did some anonymous busking, as a little social experiment to see what might happen.
“It was 7.51am on Friday 12 January 2007, in the middle of the morning rush hour, when baseball-capped Bell opened his violin case and started playing, just inside L’Enfant Plaza Metro entrance in the busy centre of Washington DC. Watch what happened below:
“Over a period of 43 minutes, the violinist performed six classical pieces, two from Bach pieces, one Massenet, and one each from Schubert and Ponce.
“Out of 1,097 people that passed by Bell, 27 gave money, and only seven actually stopped and listened for any length of time.
“In total, Bell made $52.17 (£42.18). And this includes a $20 note from someone who recognised him.”
Bell is at the top of his game
Joshua Bell’s performances sell out premier concert halls, across the world, at ludicrously expensive prices. He does not want for lack of recognition, but in THAT specific circumstance, there was next to no validation of his skills. No one recognised who he was, let alone his talent, save for one passer-by.
In the same way, I think of all those performances I’ve been to. Where I’ve sat in a venue hearing a singer with an exquisite voice and musical skill, who has clearly worked hard to craft their sound and art, and people still talk over them. And at the same time, to hear other performers bellowing barely in tune notes, but who gets rounds of copious applause and a call for an encore.
Is this unfair? Is this a sign of lack of standards, or something else? Well, the article linked to above I think sums it up best.
It is what it is.
It’s a broader lesson in life that we all have to learn at some point. Sometimes people will appreciate what you do, and sometimes they won’t. A lack of applause doesn’t mean what you did was bad, any more than a round of applause means what you did was good. It cuts both ways.
A great voice is it’s own reward.
What I do notice in the best singers, is their consistency and discipline in staying the course. In working on their craft day in, day out. Through the great gigs and the crappy gigs. Through the days when you feel your voice sounds atrocious, and through the days you feel your voice is on top of the world.
As I tell clients regularly, a great voice is it’s own reward.
If you keep working on it, and enjoying it for what it gives you, it will only keep getting better. If someone else appreciates it, so much the better. But keep the discipline and focus on bettering your voice, like Joshua Bell did with the violin to cultivate his incredible career, and don’t worry about that external validation, as it’s a fickle, fickle creature.
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