Voting, grading, giving feedback

[Blue boy]

I have found the assignment of points or a letter grade to be difficult and I endEd up at times avoiding listening to posts. A big problem I have with the point thing is that we have players of varying skill levels, and for a beginner or early intermediate player, giving the lowest point value can not recognize the relative strength of their post. So far, in this current jam I have listened to almost all the posts and have done my best to give useful feedback. I tried to take care of my problem with the "grade" or points thing by giving everyone maximum points. Not an entirely satisfying solution. Then one of my recent songs, someone gave me the minimum point value (a C or 3 points) on a post the I thought was reasonably decent playing. Little feedback accompanied the score. Maybe it was a typo. Whatever.  I noticed that very few "C" scores are given on this site. I don't know if the track just annoyed the listener or if I had somehow offended them, or if they just thought it was very weak playing, but it kind of got in my head. And it highlighted for me the issue I already have with grading. So I decided to neutralize the issue of grading as much as possible in a different way. In future comments I give I am not going to do the grading thing. I realize you all will have to make your own decision concerning grading my tracks or not. I also know I can get better as a harp player (as we all can) and do want and appreciate thoughtful feedback. I absolutely am inviting all who read this to refrain from grading my stuff also. Thanks.

[Matt]

I feel a similar way about the grading system. I most often give 4 or 5 points, and sometimes 3. I admit that I have on occasion given more points than I thought the track deserved simply because I thought it deserved more votes than it had accumlated so far. I want to encourage those who are progressing and tip my hat to those who play very well. I have thought about not giving ratings but then members posts would have less chance of going gold, and I think the gold room does encourage some players because they have it in mind as a goal or reward for their efforts. So I do continue to rate and very rarely do so these days without leaving a comment, as the feedback is the most valuable part of this whole site.

I will honour your request to not rate your posts from now on and I'm happy for you not to rate mine because I appreciate your opinion on my playing above any rating you might award me. I'll be happy to continue posting comments on your uploads, but to be honest it is rare that I can offer you critical advice since you play so very well both technically and musically 

I will continue with my lopsided ratings on other memebrs posts and try to shift the ratings towards where I think they will do the most good. My comments will, as always, be worded towards highlighting the areas which I feel the player could be stronger, regardless of their apparent skill level.

[Blue boy]

Thanks for your response Matt. I really appreciate it, including your positive remarks about my playing. I always look forward to hearing your tracks as well and it really adds to this site when you are active on it. I think the underlying principles are to have fun and get better at playing harp. Whatever supports those goals is a positive.

[Rick]

What I do, is I grade people each inside their own universe, that is, if someone is real good, but I think they can do better, I might give them a C, if someone is a beginner, but I think they improved, I give them a A.    It makes the comparison between players crazy.   But that's what happens when you have players of all skill levels mixing one jam, everyone trying to learn from the others.

Probably every person uses the grading system in their own idiosyncratic way.   

[Lips Angelo]

I point judging on the players skill level, how much they've improved during their stay at HBoogie.  It helps that I've been around for a long time and know more about each player than the newer folks coming in.  How much I enjoyed the song is a big part of it too.

[ShufflinPaul]

Blue boy,
 First of all thanks for your back tracks!  For me my goal is to get to the Goldroom but the part I like the most is the comments. I truly want learn and be as good as I possibly can as a harmonica player. The feedback from the players is so very valuable to my growth as a player and I always welcome the comments good and bad. Where I live there are no harp players to interact with so this site is a valuable tool to my growth. I to do get frustrated with the point system. There are times when I think I nailed a BT and no one votes to move me ahead. This is not the most perfect system but having the opportunity to listen to and be judged by such a great group of good harmonica players is so invaluable to me. You are an awesome player and I always welcome your scores and comments. Thanks for being here.

Paul

[htrain]

This is an issue that has been around since I first started on this site. To my way of thinking, Blue Boy nailed it with " I think the underlying principles are to have fun and get better at playing harp. Whatever supports those goals is a positive."

In addition to the level of experience and proficiency is what it is the player is trying to do; e.g. play in third position for the first time or to try to work OB's into some riffs. I tend to go with a '5' thinking this is what the person wanted to put up for comments and thinks is good enough to post. I try to reflect in my comments, what I found noticeable, interesting or enjoyable in the harp playing. Or if someone has asked something specific, I will try to respond to that (e.g.: Are my warbles strong enough?). Sometimes, but not that often, I'll make a suggestion that I think would improve the song - but that's to my tastes and may not be to the taste or preferences of the player.

And with all of that said, I go back to Blue Boy's quote;  "I think the underlying principles are to have fun and get better at playing harp. Whatever supports those goals is a positive."