Quick Tips

How to Make a Great Video of Yourself Playing the Piano

By Hoffman Academy Team
How to Make a Video of Yourself Playing the Piano

Hi, my name is Nick Boxwell, and I’m the videographer at Hoffman Academy. It’s my job to make sure Mr. Hoffman looks and sounds great as he’s teaching you to look and sound great on the piano. In this post, I’m going to give you some tips for video recording your own piano playing. As you hone your piano skills, you will eventually want to share your performances with friends and family around the globe. Fortunately, almost everyone has a camcorder these days. You might even have one in your pocket! Camcorder plus internet means that you can share your piano playing with everyone by simply recording a video and posting it online. Some people might find video recording overwhelming at first, but there are a handful of techniques you can use to get the best out of your phone camera.

Keep in mind three important things each time you bust out your camera to make a video:

1. Stabilize Your Camera

Stabilize your cameraNo one likes to watch a video that is too shaky. It might make the viewer queasy or give them a headache. Make sure not to set your camera on the piano, because the sound of the piano will overload the speakers and warp the sound. Also, it will cause the camera to shake! Your camera may have some built in stabilization, but the best way to prevent shaking is to set up your camera on a tripod. If you are using a cell phone there are many small attachments that you can use to fix your phone onto your tripod. If a tripod is not available, another person can hold the camera for you. The best way to stabilize a handheld camera is to hold it with both hands, draw your elbows in, and press them lightly against your sides. Hold still!

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2. Use Good Lighting

Use good lightingUnlike our eyes, video cameras need as much light as possible to make the cleanest image. Sunlight is the best, but be careful to have the sun shine onto your subject, and not on their back or into the camera lens. If it is nighttime, consider bringing in an extra lamp or two from another room and turn them up to their brightest setting. If the lighting is too uneven in your shot and it can’t be adjusted, try to at least make the subject’s face look good. On a touch screen phone this might mean touching their face. Your phone will then smartly focus and expose the image in a more pleasing way. If you really want to go the extra mile, you can use some inexpensive video lights that are very easy to set up.

3. Quiet On The Set!

Use a good microphoneWatching dark, grainy video is actually forgivable to our eyes, but hearing lots of noise and no music will irritate even untrained ears. The easiest way to get good piano sound is to make sure the only thing making noise is the piano! Ask anyone else around to be quiet while you perform, turn off any electronics that might make noise, and shut the doors to the room. The sound that a phone records is pretty forgiving, but still picks up lots of ambient noise. If you would like even better sound, consider investing in a small microphone for your smartphone. It will ensure that whatever it’s pointing at will be recorded the loudest and cleanest it can be.

How Do I Record A Video Playing Piano?

While recording yourself playing piano, it’s really important to remember to use good piano playing posture and to sit at an angle from the camera that picks up both your hands and keyboard as well as the smile on your face! As a performer, it’s important to show your audience that you enjoy the music that you’re playing, so make sure to sit tall, play with a comfortable and relaxed handshape, and smile. 

If you’re uncomfortable showing your face in your video, you can invest in an overhead mic stand that will allow your camera to record your hands from above. You can check this mic stand out here.

Which App Do Piano-Playing YouTubers Use?

Are you wondering which app you should use to record yourself? Most smartphone camera apps work wonderfully to pick up the desired video and audio quality! If you would like even better sound, you can always consider investing in a small microphone for your smartphone.

Improve with Practice

Just like learning the piano, learning to record yourself takes practice. Use these tips each time you record, and don’t be afraid to do multiple takes with different camera positions, lighting, and sound. Then you can pick the one that turned out the best. Have fun with it! We’re looking forward to seeing your videos.

When you’ve recorded several videos of yourself playing the piano, try creating a Memento video montage to see your progression over a period of time. Share it with friends and family so that they can celebrate with you!

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