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A touching and humbling experience

Taz

Busking Oracle
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3,026
Locality
Rugby UK
I thought I'd experienced most thinks whilst on the streets busking, I've had little old ladies telling me that I remind them of days gone by, I've had young girls dancing with their friends in front of me. I've even had an old man trying to grab my sax so that he could kiss it (OG, how did you know where I was playing? :w00t:)

Today I had the most humbling experience of all and I want to share it with you all. I actualy shed a tear.

I was playing What a difference a day makes, when a mum with her daughter of about five, stood in front of me. The mum stayed a little distance from me and the little girl walked forward towards my mp3 player. I carried on playing but just kept an eye on what the little girl was doing. She reached forward and just touched the speaker, she then turned to her mum, and using sign language she said "I can hear it!" Her mum then looked at me and told me that her daughter was almost totally deaf. As she said that the tune finished and Georgia on my mind started.

I could see the joy in the little girls face, so I got on one knee, I took her hand and placed it on my sax. Her face lit up! She could now hear the sax and the backing track! My eyes filled as she stared in wonder as I played to her. She didn't move, she just stood there "feeling" the music! The tune finished and her mum gave her some coins to drop in my box. My emotions were on overdrive by this point.
I love busking, it's the most amazing thing in the world.
 
Seriously profound Taz, can't begin to imagine the emotion you experienced.

I am moved by just reading your words.....

Only wish I could play as well as you do and attempt to emulate your busking experiences.

Cheers,
 
Not sure what to say. I think music touches the soul, not only going outwards, but it flows into one as well, given the chance.

Give me a few years under my belt, maybe I'll try busking :)

Alvin
 
Great experience Taz :) thanks for sharing, music is a very emotional tool for both player/singer and audience.


Give me a few years under my belt, maybe I'll try busking :)
Alvin

Ditto, I can't wait to be at a standard were my playing is enjoyable
 
Touching Moments ...

Blimey Taz ...

Lovely mate, thanks for sharing ...


Moments like this are so humbling ...


My wife and I had such an experience back in the 70's ...

We owned a fishing tackle shop in London, I became very interested in the art of Taxidermy as a small part of a service to offer to our customers but also because we had a strong affinity with wildlife ... [Later in our lives we spent many years travelling all over Great Britain filming the wildlife on a professional level].

Being a London based tackle shop we became fairly well known for our window displays which often featured my Taxidermy ...

We were contacted by the head of a local school for young blind children who asked us if we were able to bring some items to their school to allow the kids to see them ...

Unsure what to expect we nervously agreed ...

What took place was one of those long drawn out moments that stay with you for all of life ...

It was a really magical experience to watch and hear the children's excitement as they discover new things - a fox, squirrel, blackbird or trout ...

Their enthusiasm was amazing and spurred us on to repeat our visits regularly so the whole school got to hug and feel the animals ...

Some of the children asked loads of unexpected questions, others just hugged and stroked the animals, one or two of the children said they could even see the colours of their fur or skin ...

All of the children were just so amazing ...

As for tears ...

I ain't saying nuffing ...

Thanks Again Taz ... :welldone
 
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It's great when things like ths happen and you share them with us. Thanks guys, but I guess your real thanks came from the kids....
 
Taz, what a marvellous experience for her and you.
I wonder if she could actually discern pitch difference through touching. I guess it would depend what part of her auditory system was impaired. If she was not totally deaf, perhaps she could. What a wonderful enhancement. Acclaimed percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, also almost totally deaf, is said to experience sound through vibration - possibly a similar mechanism to the little girl's.
YC
 
Good for you Taz, i had a similar humbling experience 3 or 4 years ago, my Daughter used to go to the local riding stables on a Sunday for an hour or so (thank God she never stuck at it otherwise the cost would have killed me) anyway on this perticular Sunday i saw a young woman with a severely disabled little girl of probably 5 or 6, anyway they dident have enough leaders available to lead the horse so the woman had to lead it herself and try to hold the little girl as well...so me being me i decided to hold her upright whilst Mum led the horse so off we go and me being the soft s0d that i am had tears streaming down my face the whole way down the track and back, and at the end of the ride the little girl was smilling and thanked me in her own way.
But doesent it make your day to just be able to help someone less fortunate than yourself?
 
you can have gigs where the punters seem completely indifferent and you ask yourself why you bother and then you have a moment like this and you know you wouldn't want to be doing anything else.
well done Taz!
 
What a wonderful experience for both you Taz and the little girl not to mention her mum, you must have made their day. Fantastic to think that something which gives you so much pleasure can be enjoyed by others and in this case in such a unique way.
 
It's fantastic that you have had this opportunity to connect with another soul Taz. We have a blind customer who visits the workshop
to touch our shell-shaped paperweights which are very knobbly and ridged and she claims she can tell the colours from the feel of them. She's not always right, but quite often she is. I'm so glad you've had this wonderful experience.
 
Brilliant thread Taz - thanks - and some great replies also - I think you have touched a chord which most people in music experience from time to time. I wonder how many people saw 'Goldies Band' on BBC 2 a couple of weeks ago - it's no longer on iPlayer but there are some great clips on YouTube. So many disadvantaged youngsters who have found themselves through music - very moving, as was your post Taz - thanks again.
 
Taz,

Dont really know what to add, it makes all the time you spent learning worthwhile I guess. She will remember you forever, wow.
 
Excellent and touching story, thanks Taz.

Having played several thousand gigs in a period of twenty plus years there is one that I remember with great fondness.
We had been asked to play a freebie for an evening youth group. We turned up in a wet and cold school playground in Walthamstow and played to a club for youngsters with a whole range of difficulties, a lot had Down's syndrome.
They loved it when we played and were so happy to have had a band come and play for them.
Never felt love like it.
Best gig I ever played.

Thanks again Taz
 
I could see the joy in the little girls face, so I got on one knee, I took her hand and placed it on my sax. Her face lit up! She could now hear the sax and the backing track! My eyes filled as she stared in wonder as I played to her. She didn't move, she just stood there "feeling" the music! The tune finished and her mum gave her some coins to drop in my box. My emotions were on overdrive by this point.
I love busking, it's the most amazing thing in the world.

Isn't that what making music is all about? How beautiful Taz, and how kind of you to kneel down to allow her to feel the music. Just wonderful.

Thanks so much for sharing this ♥
 
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