The assigned articles and lecture aim to demonstrate how certain mindsets can be damaging to one’s personal or professional progress. Their relation to teaching and learning music is of significant interest. Here are my experiences with this topic:
–On a frequent basis, I attribute my feelings to a situation rather than my own interpretation/response.
–When thinking about a recent performance, I base its success on my own perception of the performance itself, rather than what my teachers and peers think.
–Most of the time, this is damaging to my progress as a performer; mainly, if a performance goes poorly, I will have an inaccurate perception of my success as an artist.
–In the end, this does not create a conducive environment for objective improvement, as I do not have a concrete view of my strengths and weaknesses.
–With reference to people using “but” during constructive criticism, I feel this approach is problematic; the phrasing of the statement sounds like a positive comment, creating a false sense of achievement.
–The main objective of these statements is to provide constructive criticism in a respectful manner, but it completely diminishes the purpose of feedback as people usually tend to neglect the positive aspects of these sentiments, in my experience.
–Moving forward, I feel that people, including myself, should be direct about criticism so that people can improve more effectively. There are nicer ways to give such feedback without being disrespectful. This is especially true in music, where one’s progression as an artist is paramount to their success.
–Overall, I believe that the performer’s ability to be non-emotional or objective about their performance is the key to their progression as an artist. This is also up to people giving feedback; they must give legitimate feedback without excessively flourishing it.
References
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