On a busy day, the best buskers in the world can make up to $1000 an hour. Five days a week this anonymous musician plays the violin in New York’s subway for about four hours each day. He has no sign or hat on the ground, however he still manages to collect $60000 in one year.
The catch is that he doesn’t accept any donations! Instead, he uses a service called Paypal which allows him to send an invoice to his listeners via Bluetooth. Should they wish to pay him, they make a credit card payment right there and then.
So how does such an innovative idea work? Basically, it involves a wireless chip implanted into his violin as well as a small device strapped to his waistcoat which allows him to connect with passers by via Bluetooth and send them an invoice for the music they are listening to.
The “busking” scene in New York City is a diverse and interesting place, but it’s often hard to break the ice with some of the buskers in between their acts. But not this time! We happened upon this violinist who had put on quite a show at one of the subway stops in midtown Manhattan and decided to film him for our YouTube channel. What happened next was truly amazing… we ended up interviewing him for an hour about his entire life as a musician.
Meet Robert, one of the best buskers in the world. He makes $60,000 each month just playing in the subway. Even more incredible is that he doesn’t have a manager or agent! At least not yet…
How does he do it? We interviewed Robert on camera and got an exclusive look at his life as a professional musician. You’ll learn about everything from how much he makes to his favorite music and even what happens when he gets sick. There’s more than meets the eye to this guy!
He’s been playing since age 4, has never taken lessons, and plays by ear. He’s also been performing nonstop since 2005 (about 7 years). He doesn’t have anyone managing him other than himself and his wife who is
In the movie, a man walks into the New York subway and sees a violinist playing six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, lots of people passed by.
Many people did not even look at the musician.
But there were also those who gave him money — and not just small change, but even $20 bills! When 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 best 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 his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at 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 an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have
This is a blog about the violinist Joshua Bell. He plays in the Washington, D.C., metro system to raise money for homeless people. He’s one of the best buskers in the world.
The video below shows him playing his music in front of an audience in Boston, Massachusetts. As you watch the video, ask yourself:
1. What is Mr Bell’s attitude to his performance?
2. How does he feel about playing in public?
3. What do you think his music may mean to other people?
4. Why do you think he has chosen not to play classical music?
5. What makes him one of the best buskers in the world?
6. Do you enjoy listening to his music? Why or why not?
7. Do you know any other famous street musicians who have become famous like Mr Bell? Tell me about them.
From the Blog:
I am so excited to share with you my first ever interview with busker, Josh Vietti. Josh is a violin player who gained fame from his street performances in LA and has just recently released his first album.
He’s pretty amazing, huh? But when I started this blog, it was for people like me: struggling musicians who don’t make a living playing their instrument on the street (or anywhere else). So I decided to interview him to find out how he makes it work.
Enjoy!
1. What made you decide to start busking?
Josh Vietti: I had been playing violin since I was 4 years old and wanted a way to “pay it forward” and share the gift of music with others. When I was in college I would busk at Universal City Walk and realized that children were paying more attention to me than adults. That is when I decided to make kids music my niche and by doing so, children are no longer afraid of me or intimidated by what I do…they love it!
2. What kind of equipment do you take with you when you go out?
Josh Vietti: My violin, bow, rosin, shoulder rest, chin rest, strings (
A professional busker is someone who makes a career of performing on the street. During this time, the busker finds his or her own style of music, gains an audience, and makes enough money to survive. Of course, this is not an easy task.
Most professional buskers never make it past the stage where they play for a living (though some have been known to sign with record labels). However, there are also many professional buskers who work at other jobs. These professional buskers have a more solid footing in their craft than someone who plays for a living and not much else.
There are different kinds of buskers. Some choose to play for money, while others don’t. This article will focus on those who do play for money. If you want to learn more about playing for free, check out The Busking Project’s page on this topic.
The best way to learn about what it takes to be a professional busker is to ask someone who has done it and how they did it. I asked several accomplished street performers (and a few aspiring ones) how they got started and what they learned along the way. Their answers varied widely, but all of them had one thing in common: They were willing to share their secrets with me
Losing the ability to hear high frequencies, especially at a young age, can be devastating. If you don’t know what you’re missing, you can’t miss it. But if it happens suddenly, or later in life, you are left with the haunting sensation that something is not quite right.
I am familiar with this feeling because I spent nearly a decade as a software engineer before I realized I wanted to be a writer. It was easy to ignore the problem while I was in college and grad school. The constant worry that I wasn’t making the most out of my life seemed normal and even necessary. It was only when the structure of school disappeared that I realized how miserable I had been for so long. To borrow a phrase from Scott Adams, my brain had become a “mindkiller.”
This was also when I discovered meditation. The meditation practice that helped me most was focused on observing thoughts instead of trying to silence them. This trained my mind to be more aware of its own content and allowed me to recognize the difference between what I call state 1 and state 2 thinking.
State 1 thought is concerned with the past and future, but not in any particularly useful way. It’s what we might call daydreaming or fantasizing: “Maybe if I