My first experience with music criticism came when I was about four. It was the Christmas season and I was wandering happily through the house, loudly singing my favorite carols.

After a while, my mom asked: "What are you doing?"

"Singing Christmas songs!"

"No you're not; you're just rumbling the air!" she opined.

The result was that, apart from several forced stints in school and church choirs early on, I actively avoided singing within earshot of other people for the greater part of the next 30 years. (I still enjoyed singing, despite the internal conviction that I didn't do it very well or tunefully, and always continued to sing for my own pleasure.) Fortunately, from the time we were married, my wife has not only tolerated my "rumblings" (my speaking and singing voice are in the baritone to bass range), but has actively encouraged me to loosen up and belt it out.

For obvious reasons, I tend to make a point of praising and encouraging kids in doing whatever creative and artistic things appeal to them (provided they're not life-threatening), regardless of their level of achievement or expertise.