I have been thinking a lot about the nature of criticism lately, which has created The Lightbulb Moment for me this week.

One of the most difficult things for any young artist to learn is how to handle criticism. In the past, a musician might receive criticism from a newspaper or magazine, or perhaps from a teacher, another musician, or someone in the audience. Today, things are very different. Owing to social media, almost anyone can immediately express an opinion about a performance. A pianist can play a concert and, within minutes, find comments on YouTube, Instagram, or other websites. Some comments may be thoughtful and helpful, while others may come from people who know very little about music. This is something that all artists must learn to deal with, and really, it is something that almost everyone must learn to deal with in our public lives.

There are many artists who simply decide never to read comments about themselves. I understand this completely. If you read every anonymous opinion about your playing, your appearance, your personality, or your choices, it can become very difficult to maintain confidence. But I have found that there is another way to think about criticism. Instead of asking yourself, “Is this person right?” I think it is much more useful to ask, “Is there something I can learn from this that might make me better?” Imagine that someone says, “She played that passage too slowly.” You do not have to believe that the person is correct. However, you can ask yourself whether playing it a little faster might actually bring you closer to what you believe the composer intended. Perhaps the comment gives you an idea that you had not considered before.

The same thing can happen with something as simple as pedaling. If someone says, “There was too much pedal,” you do not have to immediately change the way you play. Instead, try the passage with less pedal and listen carefully. Maybe you will discover that the music becomes clearer and more beautiful. Or perhaps you will decide that your original interpretation was exactly what you wanted. Either way, the criticism has given you an opportunity to examine your own playing. This is an important distinction: criticism is not necessarily truth. A critic, a listener, or an anonymous person on social media is expressing an opinion. Even a very respected critic is still expressing an interpretation of what he or she heard. It is not a fact that you must accept as though it were written in the score.

For me, the healthiest way to deal with criticism is to use it without allowing it to control you. An artist should never begin changing everything simply because someone has written something negative. At the same time, we should never become so proud that we believe there is nothing left to learn. The goal is to listen carefully, think honestly, and then decide for yourself what is useful. Sometimes criticism can introduce an idea that makes a performance stronger, clearer, or more meaningful. 

Other times, you will listen to the criticism and realize that it does not belong to you. Both outcomes are perfectly fine. What matters is that you do not lose faith in yourself because of someone else's opinion. Your responsibility as an artist is to keep learning, keep questioning, and keep searching for the most honest and beautiful way to express the music, and yourself.