Praise Revisited

Five years ago, I wrote a blog about praise—why we want it, how it makes us feel, and the role it can play in vocal training. According to multiple formal definitions, praise can be admiration, commendation, laudation, adulation, or approval offered toward another person.

There are lots of ways we can offer someone praise. "Good job!" "Atta way!" *pats on the head* "Here's $1,000,000!" 

As I wrote five years ago, praise of our singing can feel like an important part of our training. It helps us know we are improving and that what we are doing is effective. It also helps us know whether we are meeting a standard of success by earning the approval of our teachers, our peers, and our audiences. It can also help us know if we are meeting our own performance benchmarks, which can be a useful indication as to whether or not we are on track in reaching our goals. 

However, praise can have a downside, too, as reflected in a new book titled Student-Centered Voice Pedagogy: Working with Students toward Developing Artistry, Authenticity, and Autonomy edited by Jeanne Goffi-Fynn and Matthew Hoch. In a chapter called "Establishing Rapport," author Makiko Ueda highlights how praise can actually serve as a "roadblock" to progress by inhibiting our self-exploration. Citing the work of therapist Dr. Jane Nelsen, she makes a distinction between praise and encouragement. "Praise is to express a favorable judgment and expression of approval, and the locus of control is external: a student feels good only when the teacher approves" (31). "In contrast, encouragement is to inspire students; it helps them reflect upon their work and promotes self-evaluation. When students feel encouraged, they have a sense of ownership in their progress." (32) 

Ueda lists examples of praise: "You are a good musician." "You are such a good student." "I'm proud of you for passing the audition." 

She then notes how encouragement can differ from praise: "I appreciate your performance at the recital. It reflected your hard work this semester." "I noticed your trill has improved since last time. How did you go about practicing it?" "How do you feel about passing your audition?"

This isn't to say there is no place for praise in the voice studio. But there are qualifiers. As Ueda notes, "Praising students is helpful in building the student's confidence and rapport if it comes from a place of sincerity and authenticity. However, when praise is not based on actual merit, it can be problematic. Vague feedback such as 'good job' may contain a message of judgment—although it is positive—and does not provide a clear reason for the praise" (31). 

So it seems that, in order to be most useful, praise should be sincere (We can usually tell when it isn't, can't we?), specific ("Good job!" is not as helpful as "I appreciated how you were able to incorporate such effective use of dynamics."), and should inspire further commitment to the process. 

Don't get me wrong. Sometimes I'm happy just to hear a simple "Atta way!" But the good feelings from such a comment tend to fade pretty quickly and it offers no useful feedback that can lead to a next step. 

Think about the way you comment on others' performances. Do you tend to offer praise or encouragement? 

Now think about the way you comment on your own performances. Do you tend to offer praise or encouragement (or discouragement)? 

How has your practice been going, now that we're a full month into the semester? Have you been able to maintain your practice schedule or does it need some tweaks? 

Now go practice.