An Analysis of Taped Comments from a High School Jazz Band Festival

The purpose of this study was to examine comments taped by judges at a competitive festival for high school jazz bands. To accomplish this, comments from 48 tapes were categorized through a series of questions: Was the feedback positive or negative? If negative, was the criticism direct or implied? Was the comment specific or non-specific? What was the focus of the comment? At whom was it directed? Was the comment coupled with a suggestion for improvement? Among the findings: (a) About 15% of all judges' comments were direct-negative, 49% were implied-negative, and 35% were positive; (b) The number of comments per tape varied significantly among judges; (c) Whereas bands with high numerical scores received negative and positive comments in equal proportions, lowscoring bands received negative and positive comments in a 4:1 ratio; (d) Rhythm sections and soloists attracted disproportionate numbers of negative and positive comments, respectively; and (e) About 23% of negative comments were coupled with suggestions for improvement.