I've been thinking about how much people value the opinions of others, and how they affect the things we do and the ways we feel about ourselves.  Most musicians are very influenced by what others express concerning their art, for better or worse.  I have determined that we need to carefully decide how much stock to place in the opinions of other people in all aspects of our lives.

We all need teachers to guide us.  Our true mentors, whether they are our parents or school teachers, generally have our best interests at heart.  Therefore, we need to listen to their opinions and be able to place a certain degree of trust in what they have to say as being worthy.  However, there are times when we could be better served by following our own track and not letting what others have to say affect us.

For musicians, there could be no more blatant example of the importance of other people's opinions than music reviews. When one receives a positive review, it is common to publicize it for the world to see.  When a negative review is given, you won't find nearly as much obvious attention devoted to it on behalf of the artist.  There are ego issues involved too; a great review can send a musician soaring while a bad one can crush one's confidence.  This is precisely why the opinions of others need to be kept in perspective.

Even when it would appear that somebody's opinion of himself might be a culprit for a lack of confidence or initiative to try something new, I contest that much of that has to do with the opinion of others.  I've heard that Jimi Hendrix was very self-conscious about his singing voice.  It's been told that he would not sing his studio vocal tracks in front of others, and that he would record them alone in the vocal chamber.  I can't verify this about Hendrix, but regardless, I'm sure others have had similar situations of extreme self-consciousness.  Why do you think Hendrix would be shy about his vocals?  Wouldn't it make sense that it was because he would be concerned about what others would think about them?  (I definitely deal with some of these same issues whenever I try to sing; but if I just give up because of a fear of someone not liking it, then I'll never get better at it.  I have to be my ultimate judge of when or when not to give it up.)

Hendrix certainly was a self-assured guitarist, but maybe he didn't feel as if his singing could compliment his playing and do it justice. The fact is that he may not have been a great singer by technical criteria, but he was a very soulful vocalist and more than did his music justice.  The voice of Hendrix turned out to be the best voice for his music (of course there is always Bob Dylan, who ironically wrote "All Along The Watchtower" ;-)

On a more "local" level, I think the whole attraction to the current trend of karaoke has to do with people letting their inhibitions down and singing, even if they aren't technically great.  Some people will not try it because they care enough about what others think.  They don't want to look foolish in the eyes of others, therefore they are paralyzed by opinions and won't try to sing.  Some take it for what it is and have fun with it.  Some actually are good and use the occasion to simply fulfill their singing dreams.

While all people should carefully evaluate how much the opinions of others affect them, I want to stay within the scope of music here.  Artists, in general, are very emotional people who have to channel inspiration through feelings of toughness and fragility.  The human tendency is to be influenced by our outer environment, including what others think.  Guitarists play their music and hope that others will like it.  If it is not received positively, then a player can adopt a number of attitudes:  "To heck with them, they don't understand me."  "Well, I'll just play my music to make myself happy."  "They don't like it, but that is okay.  Everyone has their own tastes."  "They don't like me!  I am going to quit playing!"  "Maybe I should change what I'm doing?"  It's up to each person to decide how they are going to react when they aren't embraced in a positive manner.

It is much easier to receive a positive assessment from other people.  It serves to reinforce us and our sense of self-worth (which is ironic because concepts such as self-esteem and self-worth are supposed to emphasize coming from the self).  Whether other people like or dislike us, we should have enough trust and confidence in our own visions to stay the course, or else we can be derailed completely by what others have to say.

What if Beethoven had listened to all those who said he couldn't play or compose?  What if Einstein had listened to those who described him as anything less than a genius?  What if Michael Jordan had given up after his junior high school basketball coach told him he was not good enough to play on the basketball team?  Think about all of the sports coaches who are constantly criticized by fans (which is short for fanatic by the way).  It's a wonder they can even go to work each day!

If Stevie Ray Vaughan had let the crowd which tired to boo him off the stage at the Montreux Jazz Festival break his spirits too much, he never would've been "discovered" by the likes of David Bowie and Jackson Browne, which led to some great career opportunities.  He kept on playing and was able to overcome the natural hurt of not being accepted by a crowd he was laying his heart and soul on the line for.

It can work the other way around too, I guess. There have been cases of people buying too much into the good opinions of others so as to increase their huge egos and desires for selfish gain.  The world is full of examples of military, religious, and yes, musical personalities who placed too much trust into the positive opinions of other people.

Stop and think how free you would feel if you didn't have the burden of trying to live up to the expectations of other people.  Without being selfish, the only person you should have to please is yourself.  If you never heard somebody tell you that you couldn't do something, then you could probably do anything you wanted.  On a musical level, wouldn't it just be amazing to plug in your guitar or hit "record" on the machine and just play and create with the spirit and innocence of a child, with no regard to the opinions of others?  My best experiences as a guitarist are when I let things flow without any care of what anyone else might think. Sometimes it is very difficult for me to allow myself to do that.  In the end, if someone doesn't like it, then they just simply shouldn't listen to it.

As for myself, I have had my share of positive and not-so-positive critiques of what I do.  It is always very nice to hear people express their appreciation of my music, and disheartening to hear the negatives.  Part of the musical journey is experiencing both extremes and learning how to keep them in clear perspective.

In the end, my harshest critic is myself.  Sometimes I need to shut him up too!

Jason

"Sometimes what appear as failures are really successes in disguise."  ---Tommy Shannon (bassist
for Johnny Winter, Double Trouble, Arc Angels)