Giving a Critique

Critiquing is giving a person feedback on their performance or work.

Sometimes it can feel like we're going to hurt someone's feelings by telling them that they did something incorrectly or not very well.

We can avoid that if we offer critiques because we want them to improve instead of just wanting to point out what is wrong!

Check your intention before you say something to avoid hurting anyone's feelings.

A good, basic way to give a critique is to wrap it in a "Positive Sandwich". That means tell them something you liked about what they did, then tell them something they can work on, then tell them another thing you liked.

That way the first and last thing they hear from you is positive.

For example, "I liked your last note, it sounded very steady! Watch the rhythm in measure 3, that has two eighth notes, not 4. You sit with really nice posture when you play." 

Another way to avoid saying something that might hurt someone's feelings is to tell them how to fix something instead of just saying something is wrong or bad.

Many times just pointing out what is wrong isn't very helpful. However, offering them a solution or idea of how they can improve is almost always useful.

So instead of saying "Your posture is bad" you can say "try sitting on the edge of your chair and lifting your chin to improve your posture". This gives them a way to fix the problem instead of just telling them they have a problem. This is called constructive criticism.