Giving And Receiving Criticism - Part 2
"Giving minor tweaks and direction to fellow musicians is not really criticism, and we should all be willing to be guided like this."
Last week, we began looking at how to biblically give criticism, and we also spent some time looking at how to define criticism.
Let's continue now with the third point...
Keep your criticism specifically focused, rather than being too broad or vague
It can certainly be unloving and exasperating for someone if they keep playing the songs out of time, and instead of dealing specifically with that, you just say something like “I just don’t like the way you played that” or “that sounded terrible." Saying phrases like this will just create conflict and breed resentment. So, be focused, and only deal with what you actually need to deal with.
If possible, bring your criticism at the most appropriate time, in the most appropriate way, and to only the appropriate people.
Before we look at this, I do want to highlight that I'm talking about something more than just casual or on-the-fly instruction or correction, as it relates to working with other musicians.
Giving minor tweaks and direction to fellow musicians is not really criticism, and we should all be willing to be guided like this. A student who has a 30-minute piano lesson won’t come home and complain to their parents that all their teacher did was criticise them throughout the lesson, saying things like "put this hand here, play this like that, a little louder, a little faster." Not at all! Because that is not criticism but rather teaching and instruction.
With that being said, a criticism is best given when it’s brought at the appropriate time. This might be during or after the service, or even another day; many factors determine this, and we have to be aware of them.
To bring criticism in the right way means that we must check our hearts first. We don’t want to point out the speck while there's a big log in our eyes, which essentially means our reaction to the fault is worse than the fault itself.
It also means we communicate in a loving and Christ-like manner, rather than being harsh, belittling or intimidating, as that will just harm our relationships.
Then, to bring the criticism only to the appropriate people means that we are sensitive to whether we really need to say it in front of others, or if it’s best said one-on-one to the person.
It also means that we don’t critique someone to others when we haven’t been willing to address that issue with the person themselves.
So that’s some pointers on giving criticism. I'll just recap them again...
Know the nature and disposition of the one you are critiquing, and proceed accordingly
Keep your criticism specifically focused, rather than being too broad or vague
If possible, bring your criticism at the most appropriate time, in the most appropriate way, to only the appropriate people.
Next week, we'll look at how to receive criticism biblically.
[Return to The Church Piano Player Website]
This blog post was written by pastor and pianist Kris Baines, from The Church Piano Player. Kris lives in the UK with his family, having recently moved back from New Zealand where he worked as a pastor for the past 26 years (also leading worship/worship teams). Kris has also spent over 35 years writing, recording, and performing music and is now bringing all that combined experience together to help equip church piano/keyboard players.
Check out the church piano player website for more information on online courses by Kris Baines.
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