Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum The importance of video recording your playing

I can't stress enough the importance of video recording when you play, IMHO.

It has for me several advantages:

-It helps reducing scenic panic
-It helps with your posture and technique
-You keep a record of your playing so you can objectively attest the improvement over time. Very useful for those low moments in your piano journey
-It gives you another perspective of your playing, both visual and aural

One example when it has helped me: I use to play pop music I like besides the classical pieces I learn, and analyzing my playing I found that my 4th and 5th fingers on right hand were too flat in several moments. As I play the melody by ear and just use chord information from guitar song books while right hand works almost automatically, I was not aware of that technique problem until I saw it recorded.

I use a Zoom Q2n-4k as it is easy to setup, has very good audio capture and is not too expensive (hint: wait for Black Friday sales). On a 128GB microSD it can store in full HD about 11h hours of video

Jose

I second that! And if not video, at least audio, and listen, really listen to your playing. If you have rhythm problems, clap your hands while listening, and find out if you end your phrases too quickly (my problem), or if your tremolos are too slow (also my problem). But apart from rhythm, how smooth is your legato, how light is your staccato, how gradual is your crescendo, etc etc etc.

Thanks for this suggestion and encouragement, Jose!
I’d like to learn how to do this, too.

It’s really helpful that you also included a few details— “action steps”— about the video-capture equipment you have used successfully.

If other people who also capture their playing or performance add to this thread, perhaps they can share their own success stories along with a little about setup, equipment, post-processing if any, how video-capture helped them, etc.

I hope to figure out a set-up with what I already have on hand:
a relatively new iPhone and iPad.

I’ll be particularly interested in anyone with similar iOS equipment.
Thanks!

One more comment:

in other threads, I’ve seen a few commenters that note “this has already been discussed at length in this forum… in digital something or other…. Go find it there.”

That’s great advice! I’d like to find that, so people don’t have to re-post.

In hopes of not annoying people, I have done my best to search for this information in multiple PW forums but I haven’t yet found it.

If someone is inclined to suggest this approach today, could you kindly share either a PW link (if that is possible) or the search terms I should use.

But no worries, I know everyone is busy: I’m sure YouTube will have everything I need to learn (somewhere) when I’m really ready to tackle this.

Thanks!

I think it's great idea if you have the gear and the setup. But perhaps a less high-tech solution, if you can manage it, is to have a standing mirror right next to the piano? You can't review your playing later but at least you can check out your posture.

If you have a relatively new iPhone then it's rather easy. No need for expensive microphones. The built-in microphone is not as good as stand alone mics but is good enough for assessing your playing and the camera on most phones these days is fantastic. Simply get a photo tripod and smartphone mount (they are pretty cheap) and start recording at every practice session. On modern smartphones there is so much storage space that you don't even have to worry about letting it run for a long time. I often record this way even though I have a separate microphone pair and computer interface because it's simply easier and faster to set up.

I just figure out how best to position the iPad (or iPhone) at me & the piano, set the camera app to video, and hit record (or do the same with the MacBook and use the video option in Photo Booth).

ETA: and if you have both an iOS device & Mac, video recorded on the iPhone/iPad should automatically be uploaded to iCloud, so it’s automatically accessible to watch or edit in iMovie on the Mac.

ETA-2: Oops, simul-post!

Jose - I hadn't seen the Zoom Q2n-4k. Thanks for making us aware of it. Looks like it's limited to the internal mics. Can you post a sound sample of your piano we could audition? Looks like a very useful and power device at a great price point.

Definitely audio recording would pick up nuances in your playing. Video is even better. In the future if you want to relearn the piece you can use an old video as reference...

After reading this thread, I recorded a video.
I'm always disappointed of the first recording of a new piece. In my head, it sounds good but in reality it's not so good. I never keep my videos excerpt the last one when it up to a recital level.

Thanks Qazsedcft & Tangleweeds! I’m going to put one of the simple iOS setups you described together … and give this a try.

Again: Jose, thanks for getting the discussion started!

I think the majority of past threads mostly discussed the nerves when recording. There's no doubt to me recording is a good idea.

I just use my smartphone. The cream still rises to the top. Not saying after years I can stand to listen to myself.

Oh yesss! And delete the bad takes immediately! The brain, (at least mine does) has an uncanny ability to mimic mistakes, a.k.a. Last-Video-Syndrome.