YouTube and Piano Lessons

There is no denying the power of social media in our students’ lives. After all, how many of our students have a cell phone, iPod, iPad, or another portable electronic device?

Within my studio, every single student has access to at least one device. And, video is an incredibly powerful teaching tool. I can’t begin to count the number of times that I have pulled up a few videos on YouTube for students to listen to and watch. It’s also a powerful tool in giving make-up lessons, without giving up any extra teaching time.

Whether it’s an introduction to a piece, analyzing several interpretations of the same song, or a make-up video lesson … Repeat after me. YouTube is your friend.

Read more of Rosemarie’s work: Easy designs for a modern piano studio using Canva | Free Download

YouTube can be a powerful way to reach your students outside of lesson time.

Using YouTube in Your Studio

For my own students, I primarily upload private make-up lessons to my studio YouTube channel.

However, I’ve discovered that my students also like having the group lesson playlists available as well. One of our music history group lessons, in particular, was a big hit and parents found out ALL about it when they picked up their children.

The children wanted to know where they could access the playlist, and of course I let them know. Thank goodness for the power of Beaker and the rest of the Muppets!

Within your studio you can use YouTube to create:

• Playlists with high quality videos of each song (divided by method book & level)
• How-to videos: scales, chords, arpeggios, types of articulation
• Theory concepts
• Playlists from group lessons
• Private make-up lesson videos: student sends a short video of each song, technique, etc. being practiced and the teacher provides video lesson with feedback and next steps.
• Excerpts from recitals or impromptu performances
• Highlight reels of what is going on in the studio

As long as it can be put in video format, almost anything you could imagine can be put on YouTube. (I’m thinking of how my twins LOVE watching “YouTubers” play video games & provide commentary. I would much rather PLAY the video games, but their generation absolutely loves these types of videos.)

Best Practices When Recording Video

While creating playlists of other people’s videos is a powerful tool, I’m going to show you how to easily take video during lesson and upload it directly to playlists within your studio YouTube channel, all using your iPhone or iPad (though the process will be almost identical with non-Apple devices.)

However, there are a few best practices when taking video:

• Hold your phone or tablet sideways (horizontally). This avoids the black bars on the side of the video later.
• Choose your focus (i.e. face of someone talking, fingers on keyboard, etc.) and get close
• Avoid zooming in with the device since the video quality will not be as great. I did this recently at a dog show we attended and while it was fun to reminisce, I won’t subject anyone online to the poor video quality.
• Check the lighting
  • Is there a window or light behind the student (or teacher) making it difficult to see your focus point?
  • When using photos as part of the video, are they all the same or are some brighter than others? I love switching to black and white photos since it’s often easier to manipulate how light or dark they appear for a consistent look throughout.
• Use a stand when it’s a longer video to avoid a shaky screen.
  • Basic tripods don’t cost much and are great for those times when you know ahead of time recording will occur.
  • Rigging up a quick stand for impromptu recording within a lesson can be accomplished with several books or resting arms on the piano player’s shoulders.
• Quiet on set! Audio matters just as much, if not more than the video quality.
  • Don’t hesitate to ask family members to be absolutely silent during recording. They want the best for their child as well!
  • Be sure to tell younger siblings as soon as they can talk and move around again, or be prepared for them to appear on the video as well! It might just be a foot or it might be a question directed to mommy or daddy, but little ones (and pets!) have a talent for finding a way to be part of videos.

Related: How to Get Great Piano Recordings without Breaking the Bank

Quick Tips for Editing Videos for YouTube

I have a few students that get really nervous in front of a camera. Regardless of how well they’ve played or spoken before the “ding” of the record button, they WILL freeze up.

Do you have a few students that fall into this same category?

Oftentimes the best way to help these students it to let them start over within the SAME video recording. This avoids the whole Pavlovian response to the “ding” and we have a much better chance of getting a recording they can be proud of.

Having the student choose their best out of three attempts gives them control over the recording while ensuring only a portion of the lesson is spent on recording, rather than the whole time. It also avoids students trying to get a “perfect” recording. I tell my students there is no such thing as perfect, but there is our best recording.

Thankfully, there are easy ways to edit that five-minute video down to a much more reasonable one or two minutes!

Editing Videos for YouTube in 10 Easy Steps (iOS)

Editing videos for YouTube is not a complicated or long process. Especially on an iPhone or iPad. In just a few minutes, you can take a video that has “Uhm”, “Sorry!”, and “Can I start again?” down to a video your student can be proud of.

If you prefer a step-by-step list instead of tutorial video, scroll below this for a video guide.

Editing Videos for YouTube in 10 Easy Steps

1. Open “Photos” and select the video you wish to edit.
2. Click “Edit” (top right on the screen).
3. Play the video and pause where the best version starts.
4. Below the video is a rectangle that shows every frame of the video. Select and hold the left arrow.
5.  While holding the left arrow, move the video to your preferred start point.
   • Slightly rolling your finger either direction moves it one frame at a time.
   • Try to ensure the person is smiling or has a neutral face. No one wants an inadvertent grimace or sneeze to start their recording. (Yes, sneeze. It’s happened more than once that I’ve had to edit out a sneeze or cough.)
6. While holding the right arrow, move the video to your preferred end point.
   • Slightly rolling your finger either direction moves it one frame at a time.
   • Again, ensure it’s a pleasing facial expression for the last frame.
7. Play through the recording. Repeat steps 5 and 6 until you are happy with the end result. Remember that there is no such thing as perfect. It’s your best version.
   • You can press and hold the white bar to slide it forwards or backwards as the video plays to fast forward to the section you would like to view or edit.
8. When you are happy with the recording, press “Done”.
9. Select “Save as New Clip”.
10. New video shows in your “Photos”. Feel free to delete the original video but, only once you are sure you won’t need it.

Feel like learning more about teaching chords? Grab the first 3 lesson plans from Tim’s 4 Chord Composing course today!

Uploading Your Video to YouTube

You have a fabulous video. Perhaps it’s a student performance. Perhaps it’s a tutorial video. Perhaps it is video make-up lesson.

Regardless of the topic, you are ready to share it with the world! Or, just your student.

There are two methods to upload a video to YouTube. Just like everything else, they each have their own pros and cons.

1. Upload directly from your “Photos” to YouTube.
   • Pro: editing and publishing all occur within the same app
   • Con: upload time can be really long depending on your device and which iOS version is installed
2. Upload video using the YouTube app.
   • Pro: fast upload time for videos
   • Con: need to use different apps for editing and publishing

I use both methods, but for different reasons. This last year, I switched to using the YouTube app directly for publishing video make-up lessons. Not only were they only minimally edited, but many times the upload time from Photos was prohibitively long (10 minutes +) vs. the YouTube app only took one-three minutes.

However, when uploading videos using other apps (i.e. iMovie), the upload time was much shorter.

Try out both methods on your device to see which method works the best for you. Each device will be different and your Wi-Fi connection will play a big part in upload times as well.

Uploading from “Photos”

If you prefer a step-by-step list instead of tutorial video, scroll below this video guide.

1. Select the video you wish to publish.
2. Click the Share icon (looks like a box with an arrow pointed up)
   • iPhone: bottom left on the screen.
   • iPad: top left on the screen.
3. Scroll through apps (middle section with colourful icons) until you can select “YouTube”.
4. If you are not signed into your YouTube account, you will be prompted to sign in. Sign in or select the account you will use.
5. Fill in information about the video
   • Title
   • Description
   • Leave the resolution settings (i.e. standard vs. HD) unless you have a specific reason for HD.
   • Tags
   • Category (will probably be Education)
   • Privacy setting: public, unlisted, private
   • Location: leave blank for anything related to students for privacy purposes
6. When you done filling in the information, press “Publish”.
7. A box will pop up when it is published. Select “View on YouTube”
   • If it says the video is unavailable, go to the YouTube app.
8. Open “Videos” & find the video you published.
9. Select the 3 grey dots to the right of the video. Select “Add to playlist” (for example ‘video lessons’).
10. When everything is done, select “Share” to email or text the link to student or parent, if needed.
    • You can not share the link if the privacy is set to “private”.

Uploading using YouTube app

If you prefer a step-by-step list instead of tutorial video, scroll below this embedded guide.

Uploading using YouTube app

1. Open app and select “Record” icon (looks like a movie camera and is the on top right corner)
   • If you are not signed into your YouTube account, you will be prompted to sign in. Sign in or select the account you will use.
2. Tap on the video you would like to upload
   • You can record directly in YouTube. I leave it to the “YouTubers” (as my kids call them).
   • Scroll up or down to find the video you want
3. Optional: Trim video, change colour, add music (on your device or provided by YouTube)
4. When you are happy with how it looks, select “Next” (blue text, top right corner)
5. Fill in information about the video
   • Title
   • Description
   • Leave the resolution settings (i.e. standard vs. HD) unless you have a specific reason for HD.
   • Tags
   • Category (will probably be Education)
   • Privacy setting: public, unlisted, private
   • Location: leave blank for anything related to students for privacy purposes
6. When you done filling in the information, press “Upload” (blue text, top right corner).
7. Progress shows at the bottom of the screen. When it is done, slide your finger down the screen to refresh video list.
8. Select the three grey dots to the right of the video. Select “Add to playlist” (for example ‘video lessons’).
9. When everything is done, select “Share” to email or text the link to student or parent, if needed.
   • You can not share the link if the privacy is set to “private”.

Read more: 20 Creative and Innovative Ways to Start Your Next Piano Lesson

A quick word on YouTube privacy settings

Public. Unlisted. Private. These are all different YouTube settings for your videos.

What do they mean? And when should they be used?

• Public: Anyone can see the video.
  • Perfect for non-student related videos such as tutorials and studio promotional videos (i.e. highlight reels, performances, etc.).
  • Be sure to have written parental permission before publishing anything student related.
•  Unlisted: Only someone with the link can view.
  • Perfect for video lessons that are individual to a particular student.
  • If a parent does not want videos posted, explain in writing the privacy setting. Usually, parents are okay with this setting so they get access to a make-up lesson because it will never be public. If a parent still says no, don’t publish. But, they might need to forfeit make-up lessons if this is how you handle them.
•  Private: Only you can view the video.
  • You haven’t quite gotten all elements of the video done & aren’t ready to share it.

Conclusion

I hope this post will help you when recording, editing and uploading videos to YouTube.

Recording videos can be a great task to set for your students.

Have you had success/challenges recording videos? Leave thoughts and questions below.