Be Your Own Best Teacher: Constructive Self-Assessment Through Recording

Today almost everyone walks around with a device in their pocket capable of recording. This easy access has given us an extremely powerful tool to help us on our musical journey, but only if we know how to use the information we gain.

Last weekend I enjoyed several hours with the Skylark Horn Quartet recording some new works at Eastern Illinois University. Our awesome recording engineer Chris set up headphones for us, and we were able to listen back to takes to see what we liked, and what we wanted to fix. Sounds really helpful, right? It is, but only if we were able to maintain the right headspace to process the information in the recordings without emotion. Easier said than done.

As our session progressed, I noticed a few times that I reacted to the playback in a way that was not helpful to myself or the group. Luckily, I noticed these few instances and was able to remind myself of the purpose of listening back: to gain information in a non-judgmental way.

I cannot express how useful recording yourself is, and how quickly you can make corrections using this approach. But as I mentioned above, this is only helpful if you approach the listening process in a constructive way. Here’s how to get the most out of your experience.

1. Record something. Anything. Even 10 seconds is fine, but mentally construct this recording as a performance. Get set up, and only give yourself one shot to record.
   
2. Listen back two times.
   
   1. Listening one: write down three things you liked about your performance with as much detail as you can
      
   2. Listening  two: only after creating your list of positives can you write down three things you would like to do better, again with as much specificity as you can muster.
      
3. Implement. Plan another practice session to include the goals you set up for yourself through your assessment.
   

**A very important point to consider: make sure to include in your practice plan the things you did well in your recording session too, not just the bad stuff. You need to keep an eye on all aspects of your music, not just the tough parts.

Also, here is a nice layout of the form I use for this process. One of the instructions on this form says to 'prepare for a Magic Line performance." You can learn more about that technique from Jeff Nelsen. And I have to mention that the inspiration for this concept came from observing a masterclass with Randy Gardner. 


Weekly Charge
Following the guide above, record something and listen back. Write down your findings in a practice log. Look closely at the language you use in both the positive and negative, with special attention to the way you phrase the parts of the recording you want to fix. This should be constructive, not condescending.