Giving Credit Where It's Due

By Dorothy J. Hill

Giving Credit Where It’s Due

You always have to learn how to decipher when to compliment someone or when to give constructive criticism as well as how to receive it. You also have to be aware of how you say what you say, because not everyone has thick skin. Some people may be a little sensitive where certain things come into play. Here are a couple of examples.

Just a few weeks ago, I had my first solo vocal recital performance. Here it was… I thought that I had put in enough preparation to have a superior performance. I had practiced and practiced, rehearsed and rehearsed, but once the day had come, I felt like most of it had gone out the window. I have been battling with this issue of comfort between home and school where my singing is concerned, and I’m sure that you may be able to relate in some respects, too. When I am at home, I am able to be free and silly, when I am at school, I feel like I have to remain professional and suffer through some restrictions in a sense.

In all honesty and reality, there really are no restrictions there is just the difficulty of separating the academic part away from singing as it is my strongest passion. I end up going through this mental battle, almost like having mini-me’s on my two shoulders going back and forth with each other…

The good one: You know you need to do this and do that…
The bad one: Girl, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do…
The good one: It’s not about what you want to do. It’s about what needs to be done…
The bad one: Blah, blah, blah don’t listen to her, listen to me. You know I’m right…

Okay, what in the world is going on here?? It’s really not that difficult of a decision to make, you just have to do what you have to do. I must say, following my performance, I was not necessarily pleased with what I had produced, but because I know what I am capable of and the knowledge that I possess, it was sufficient enough to get the job done. At this point in my life, I am just trying to make a better habit of applying all the knowledge I have to a particular situation, especially where music is concerned.

Fast forward a week and I am attending a choir concert. As a musician, there are a lot of things that I look and listen for in music, whether it be instrumental or vocal. As a vocalist, I tend to key in to very specific things, such as the quality of sound produced and whether or not it is good. I will admit, though I am nobody (in essence), I am very hard to please. I have set a very high standard for myself as a professional musician and I only associate myself with a certain caliber of musicians. A colleague of mine asked me of my opinion on how the choir sounded and I am one for always giving credit where it is due, especially if I am fully aware and knowledgeable of the subject-matter at hand. My response was “for what it was worth they were good.” Now, what is wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it is just merely an opinion. I have found that people can’t take everything that you say, which is why I often choose to remain silent in many situations because they’re a little too sensitive. I feel that as an adult, you should be capable of having a conversation without responding like a teenager. The statement of my opinion was not well received and that is fine. Not everyone will like or agree with what you do or have to say. For the situation that we were dealing with, I felt that I had given them enough credit saying that they were good. It wasn’t superb or excellent, just good and that only goes for my taste. Had it been a situation where I was not knowledgeable about the in-depth aspects of singing then I could understand why one would disagree or be offended by what I have said, but because I am knowledgeable, I just shared my expertise. And the same goes for my own performance. I personally feel that it was good and as my teacher says “passable”.

Know when to speak and when not to. Know when people deserve the credit and when they don’t. A lot of people walk around in life with a chip on their shoulder like someone owes them. That is not true in the least bit. Be fair and always honest, regardless of what the consequences and repercussions may be. Too many people live in fairy tale lives and tip-toe around reality as if it doesn’t exist. If more of us would just be honest in all that we did, the world would probably be a lot better than it is. So, next time you feel the need to be honest, SAY SOMETHING! It will get you a lot farther than you anticipated.

Use your voice. You have the right to.

Dorothy J. Hill is a senior from Chicago, IL. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Dorothy is a Student Ambassador and currently serves as the Training Coordinator at Saint Xavier.