When you think of filming yourself playing the piano, you’re likely to assume that its intended purpose would be to share your playing with others. Whether that might be via social media or with close friends via message. However, what if I told you that recording yourself playing can benefit YOU first and foremost?
To most people, the idea of watching yourself playing in a video might sound daunting, but it can be a fantastic tool to evaluate your skills. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider recording yourself playing the piano and a few tips on how to do it best:
The benefits of recording yourself playing
It prepares you for a performance
Sometimes, finding opportunities to play to a crowd can be tricky and even if you were to book a few concerts here and there, you might not get many chances at playing in front of an audience. Moreover, you might be avoiding these few opportunities out of performance anxiety!
Even if your only audience becomes your phone, the knowledge that you’re being ‘watched’ is often enough to recreate some of the tension you would experience when performing. So, in a way, recording yourself playing helps train yourself to relax and focus on your playing in this situation.
It gives you time to listen to your playing
As a pianist, you’ll be used to paying attention to your playing and listening out for any mistakes. However, when you’re ‘in the moment’, it’s likely that you’ll miss a few things out. The beauty of recording yourself playing is that it gives you a chance to watch your playing as a spectator.
This way, you can observe your posture, hand movements, and listen out to your playing all at once, and better spot any areas that need improvement. And if you’re unsure as to what you should watch out for, you can always re-watch your performance with your piano teacher to better spot these mistakes!
It helps you better judge progress
When we’re wrapped in our playing, we might find it harder to notice any progress we’re making. You might be aware that a piece that you used to find difficult to play now seems easier, but your playing could still sound the same to you.
By recording yourself, you’ll be able to watch back your videos and see how much progress you’re making. Imagine rewatching yourself playing just a few months ago, and how different your approach would have been from how it is right now! If anything, it will be a great confidence boost.
It helps you gain confidence and learn from mistakes
Last but not least, all of the above points lead to one main big benefit: gaining confidence and learning from your mistakes. As you spend time rewatching yourself playing, and getting used to the feeling of being ‘watched’ by your camera, you’ll become a more confident pianist.
Everything from learning how to keep a good posture to removing tension from your playing will contribute to this development. Just give it a try!
How to best record yourself playing the piano
Get the right setup
To effectively record yourself playing the piano, you need to first get the right setup. The most important thing is to figure out the best way to record sound!
The basic setup involves using your piano or laptop, which might not provide the best quality audio but can be a good start before deciding to invest in any professional equipment. If you’re playing a digital piano, you can get better audio by directly connecting it to your computer.
Otherwise, you can get a microphone and try out a few different locations until you find the best one to record yourself. This is the option that’s most likely to give you the highest-quality audio recording!
Check your piano is ready
This might sound obvious, but always check that your acoustic piano is tuned or that your digital piano is working correctly before starting the recording. There’s nothing more frustrating than having to interrupt a recording due to a few technical issues.
Practice first
In the same way that it’s best to check your equipment, you should also make sure that you’re ready to record. If you plan to film yourself playing a new piece, give yourself a few attempts before recording anything.
This way, you won’t get demoralised by making the normal amount of mistakes that everyone makes when learning something new!
Do a test
And before you jump into a full performance, make sure you do one or two test recordings just to check that everything is working well. It’s the best way to avoid the potential pitfall of playing a whole piece and only realising at the end that your microphone wasn’t properly set up!
Hopefully, this blog has encouraged you to give recording yourself when playing the piano a go. For some, it can be a great tool to monitor progress on the piano and fight performance anxiety. Whether you’re using your phone or a professional microphone, give it a try and see where you go from there!
