Record yourself

If you’re learning an instrument or how to conduct or something similar, recording yourself and listening to and watching yourself perform can be an indispensable tool in improving your own abilities.

I recently conducted a concert of some of my students performing and watching the video back gave me a lot of information on how I can improve my conducting skills and my music directing skills.

It’s easier to critique yourself more objectively and in more detail when you’re simply watching yourself. While you’re performing it’s incredibly hard to be objective and honest and focused on small details of your own playing or performing. That’s for a number of reasons, but one main reason is that you’re also performing. You’re not just focusing on listening to and watching your own performance. You’re focused on actually creating that performance. Even if you’re just in a practice room practicing your instrument.

So recording yourself gives you the opportunity to just watch yourself. You don’t have to think about where your fingers are going to go. You can only take a look at your own playing and think about how you can improve it and what you need to work on.

I still remember some of the first few times I recorded myself. I was a beginner so it wasn’t very pleasant at all. And it can be de-motivating at first to hear yourself more objectively and you realize that your ability isn’t where you thought it was.

But after recording yourself a number of times and getting comfortable listening to your own performances you’ll see it as a useful tool for improving your own playing abilities.

ISJ