Record Yourself

I've just come fresh from a guitar lesson where I was recording my student. He's not even done the song (it's a recital piece that needs to be finished in the next two months), and I'm recording him. You might be wondering why I'm recording him if he's not even ready to play the song properly. Well, today I'm going to give you several reasons why I recorded him, and more generally, why you should record yourself (at least occasionally) during practice.

Why you should record yourself during practice:

1) So you hear what you actually sound like: Most students are shocked to hear that they don't sound quite as good as they imagined. I remember the first few times I recorded myself and expected a much better recording than what I ended up with.

It's hard to hear yourself objectively while you're practicing. You're too busy playing! By recording yourself, you can step back and put all of your focus on listening to your playing. Are there bad notes anywhere? Did you mess up the rhythm? It's easier to notice these things when you're only listening, and not playing.

2) You can more easily track your progress: One of the biggest reasons I suspect beginners quit playing their instrument is because they don't actually hear their progress. But if you record yourself playing the same song (scale, riff, etc.) every week, as long as you are practicing consistently, and practicing properly (more on that later), you should hear a better recording every week.

You may not be playing perfectly just yet, but you're probably getting better. I'd recommend recording yourself every once and a while so you can see that I'm right.

3) It prepares you for performance (anxiety): Yes, musicians tend to get nervous while performing. It turns out the feeling you get while recording often tends to be similar to the sensation one gets while on stage or in front of an audience. It's almost as if someone is listening!

If you've already suffered through some of the anxiety of recording, you'll be better prepared for performance.

"How often should I record?"

I don't think there are any hard and fast rules about it. Once a week is probably fine, and you can do it more often if you want to keep really close track of your progress. I don't do it weekly, but that's only because when I've finally practiced a song for long enough, I record it anyway (most of the songs I practice are for my next album or recording project).

Record yourself!

It's easier than ever to record yourself. You can use a computer, your cell phone, or even (gasp!) a camera, if you own one. I use my computer as I already do plenty of recording there, and on occasion I use my digital camera. The recording quality doesn't need to be perfect by any means - so long as you get a decent recording where you can hear what you're playing, you should be fine.