Other People's Opinions
“Criticism is something you can easily avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.” ~Aristotle About ten years ago I gave a big concert. I had been practising for it for months, and when it came to the night, I played my heart out. I came off stage knowing I'd given the performance of my life. I sold a tonne of CDs after the gig, and all the audience were raving about it. I was thrilled. But the next day, in the biggest national newspaper, there was a review that tore the performance apart. I'm not just talking about some gentle criticism; nope, he flat out hated it. He had nothing good to say. And I was completely, utterly crushed. I started to believe that reviewer - I must have been terrible, he must have known better than me or any of the audience who had enjoyed it, I was a bad musician. It destroyed my confidence, not only in my playing but in my own judgement! It took me a long time to bounce back from that, but over the years I&#