Do music videos for fun
For students and teachers and you
Your music comes out differently when you are recording for public consumption.
Your practice is more focused.
You’re not as likely to skip over ideas you’re not comfortable with.
Most teachers lean hard on, “Did you practice?”, which is ok and helps students remember that they have to put in some repetition in order to get that muscle memory installed. (That’s not the technical process but you get it).
The Piano Instructor instead leans on “Are you having fun?” and “Let’s hear what you produced!” Practice is just one of many steps to get to the “Listen to this!”
In addition, you’re doing all this practice. It would be nice to have something to show for it.
So have fun with your recordings. Of course we want mastery, of course we do.
But produce. Record. Find subjects or visuals or intentions and put music to it.
You do not have to reach for music you cannot yet play. Start where you are with what you have and let your daily or weekly or monthly recordings guide you into strengthening your skills.
Your piano playing will improve steadily.
We practice what we preach, lo:
This video was recorded yesterday, and I recorded the music at 4:15 a.m. today in two takes. The song is All the Pretty Horses, a nursery rhyme, so I am speaking the Truth when I say start with where you are—I did not record Rachmaninoff here. That’s not the point, but if Rachmaninoff is what inspires you to complete a video or film, by all means go for it.
The video was done in Canva, and to put the music and the video together it took an additional 15 minutes, all told, with the downloads, placement, and some rudimentary equalizing.
We teach this.
Would you like lessons? Lessons@ThePianoInstructor.net
Would you like us to train your new teachers? 313.687.4433
Would you like us to present educational pedagogy seminars or professional development workshops? 313.687.4433
