Giving constructive criticism can work well in so many ways. And the quality and usefulness of such a communication completely depends on many factors, including the relationship between the two people, what specific kind of feedback the writer requested (that's a whole other discussion), how receptive and open minded the receiver is, etc...

However, if you are giving some constructive criticism, I find the following to be cool approaches a lot of the time:


JEDI MIND TRICK: help them find their own answers

If they haven't already told you, ask the writer what specific areas they are wanting feedback on. If they say "I dunno, just tell me what you think", that's fine, go ahead and start opining. BUT I find its better to persist and see if they can guide you. In many cases, the feedback-receiver already has most of the answers they need, but they just need to be drawn out a little. This is a classic coaching/teaching/feedbacking method sometimes called facilitating.

Sometimes another good way to start is to ask them what they think about it, what they think are its strengths and its weaknesses. Be careful, though, because this can easily turn into a argue/defend dynamic. In other words, getting them to share a little can help you more usefully enter their creative world, but you also want them to be open to your different perspective...I mean, that's kinda why they asked for feedback the first place, right?


The Song Abides: leave your preconceived ideas and tastes at the door

This is a toughie. We don't want to turn off our useful unique perspectives and yet we don't want to bulldoze over a writer with them. I guess I just find it more rewarding and helpful to enter into the world of the writer and the specific song. Okay, this sounds a little mamby-pamby, but to put it in a more simple way, listening carefully without prejudice can go a long way.

The Song Abides. The song kinda knows where it wants to go if you let it. So, instead of trying to fit the song into some "goodsong/badsong" framework in your mind, see if you can hear the core foundation or the central-most strong idea somewhere within the song, and let that be the framework which inspires your feedback.


I know this may sound a little esoteric or abstract.....but man, the songwriting process is a bit mysterious and hard to nail down. Sometimes I think that if you try to explain it in too concrete and simple terms, you start getting a lot of stiff and two-dimensional songs.

Thanks for listening.

--Eli