This is something I wrote up a while ago, but something I feel very strongly about and a good one to get started on.
YouTube frustrates me, as I'm s ure it does for a lot of people. Namely speaking, the comments section always turn up an interesting barrage of different 'opinions' which frustrate me no end. Though, I can't stop reading them sometimes.
As a classical musician, I spend a lot of time on YouTube trawling for recordings, performances and masterclasses in order to better interpret what I'm supposed to be playing. As per usual, one day, I was watching a wonderful performance by Gil Shaham and whilst scrolling the comments found this statement:
"Those can, they play. Those who cannot, they teach. Those who can do neither, become critics. Please stop criticising great performers. Remember they are humans, and they are trying their best."
71 likes for that comment. I suspect as one of the 'modern day greats' of violin, Shaham would have frowned at that statement as I did. I find it somewhat confronting that there is a significant group of people on YouTube who think that it's not OK to criticise 'great players' because of their reputation, or their standing or because the critic can't play as well. This sort of thinking seems be quite endemic in today's society in many areas sadly.
Despite that comment, someone's reply to it made me smile:
"Well clearly people that use that phrase never went to a workshop or a masterclass =)"
The person who replied to the initial comment couldn't be more correct in my opinion. Musicians such as my self crave the opportunity to gain feedback and criticism at any opportunity. The reality is, you will never be truly be able to master your craft without some people pointing you in the right direction along the way and it absolutely floors me every single time I see someone's honest opinion get shot down because they are not as qualified, or because they could never be as good.
People don't become good from having an army of people telling them how good they are (though I wish that were the case).
However, as musicians and as people in general, we need to be able to learn to take constructive criticism in a positive way, and perhaps turn criticism of the negative type into something we can learn from. I can't think of a better medium than classical music to exemplify this point. Studying music at university, I have noticed from so many workshops and masterclasses that in fact very little of what is said by a teacher/visiting artist is actually explicit praise. Often it's not even implicit. Instead, comes a list of passages that need fixing, technique that needs changing, more recordings that need to be listened to... the list goes on. Despite this, I don't see every student who sits through a masterclass burst into tears every time something about their playing is questioned, instead, they quietly attempt whatever has been suggested by their peer to see if it makes sense, or sounds good.
This is the wonderful thing about criticism (again especially in music). You don't necessarily have to take every suggestion as gospel, but every time someone criticises something, you are provided with a little food for thought to nourish your mind with and to toy with. Then perhaps, after fully digesting everything there is to be said, you might be able to construct something (a piece for example), which was better than you initially had.
Of course, there is some room to distinguish between constructive criticism and someone who is obviously trying to rattle your cage. In those situations, I often still attempt to take something from what is being said, even though the manner may not be overly pleasant. Perhaps something to talk about another day.
Of course, this is all easier said than done. I myself struggle all the time to 'practice what I preach' as it were. However, learning to take constructive criticism or criticism in general with good intent will revolutionise the way you do life.
I leave you with one final thought:
"People don't become great by being told they're great."
YouTube frustrates me, as I'm s ure it does for a lot of people. Namely speaking, the comments section always turn up an interesting barrage of different 'opinions' which frustrate me no end. Though, I can't stop reading them sometimes.
As a classical musician, I spend a lot of time on YouTube trawling for recordings, performances and masterclasses in order to better interpret what I'm supposed to be playing. As per usual, one day, I was watching a wonderful performance by Gil Shaham and whilst scrolling the comments found this statement:
"Those can, they play. Those who cannot, they teach. Those who can do neither, become critics. Please stop criticising great performers. Remember they are humans, and they are trying their best."
71 likes for that comment. I suspect as one of the 'modern day greats' of violin, Shaham would have frowned at that statement as I did. I find it somewhat confronting that there is a significant group of people on YouTube who think that it's not OK to criticise 'great players' because of their reputation, or their standing or because the critic can't play as well. This sort of thinking seems be quite endemic in today's society in many areas sadly.
Despite that comment, someone's reply to it made me smile:
"Well clearly people that use that phrase never went to a workshop or a masterclass =)"
The person who replied to the initial comment couldn't be more correct in my opinion. Musicians such as my self crave the opportunity to gain feedback and criticism at any opportunity. The reality is, you will never be truly be able to master your craft without some people pointing you in the right direction along the way and it absolutely floors me every single time I see someone's honest opinion get shot down because they are not as qualified, or because they could never be as good.
People don't become good from having an army of people telling them how good they are (though I wish that were the case).
However, as musicians and as people in general, we need to be able to learn to take constructive criticism in a positive way, and perhaps turn criticism of the negative type into something we can learn from. I can't think of a better medium than classical music to exemplify this point. Studying music at university, I have noticed from so many workshops and masterclasses that in fact very little of what is said by a teacher/visiting artist is actually explicit praise. Often it's not even implicit. Instead, comes a list of passages that need fixing, technique that needs changing, more recordings that need to be listened to... the list goes on. Despite this, I don't see every student who sits through a masterclass burst into tears every time something about their playing is questioned, instead, they quietly attempt whatever has been suggested by their peer to see if it makes sense, or sounds good.
This is the wonderful thing about criticism (again especially in music). You don't necessarily have to take every suggestion as gospel, but every time someone criticises something, you are provided with a little food for thought to nourish your mind with and to toy with. Then perhaps, after fully digesting everything there is to be said, you might be able to construct something (a piece for example), which was better than you initially had.
Of course, there is some room to distinguish between constructive criticism and someone who is obviously trying to rattle your cage. In those situations, I often still attempt to take something from what is being said, even though the manner may not be overly pleasant. Perhaps something to talk about another day.
Of course, this is all easier said than done. I myself struggle all the time to 'practice what I preach' as it were. However, learning to take constructive criticism or criticism in general with good intent will revolutionise the way you do life.
I leave you with one final thought:
"People don't become great by being told they're great."