| Product: |
Homelessness and street begging |
| Date: |
27/05/08 (69 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Buskers are an essential part of the street scene
Disadvantages: Sometimes they play the same thing over and over
I'm a bit concerned about the number of people who are mentioning buskers in the same bracket as beggars.
In Bournemouth we used to have a well known beggar who carried a small guitar with about 3 strings that he would strum to attract attention when people passed. He was not a musician he was a beggar.
In London (and other cities) there are licensed busking spots where people stand and play their instruments. Sometimes (notably for Covent Garden) they have to actaully pass an audition before being granted a licence. These people are not beggars, some of them do it for a living, often when between jobs as a legimate way of earning money. Expect some classy acts.
Often buskers are music students. If you take the underground walkway along South Kensington you will often hear some wonderful music because that's not far from the Royal Academy for Music and its easy for the students to pop down and play a while. As well as helping them survive the very expensive business of being a student it also allows them to practise in front of a tough audience. Music students are expected to practice for hours a day and usually this is done alone. So it makes a good break to come down and play in a place where the accoustics are interesting and you are actually performing.
You will also often see musicians playing in a local high street. Again the younger ones are often msic students. If they are quite young and supervised they are often collecting for a charity. This year for instance you migtht see quite a lot of very young musicians trying to help raise funds for the National Children's orchetra in their 30th year.
Finally, older musicians may simply play because they are actually very good and it helps them find work. Usually they will have business cards on display in the hope you will book them for an event.
I usually give to buskers if I have listened a while and enjoyed their efforts. I never give the those who use an instrument as a pretence of busking, just to get your attention.
Inthe same vein I hate being `mugged' in my own home by groups of so called carol singers who sing one line and then knock on your door demanding money. But I still give them something because it takes guts to do that - I just make them sing the whole carol first (and have been known to given them the words becuase sometimes they only know the first couple of lines!
Summary: Buskers often deserve some encouragement
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