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Getting the Right Angle: How to Record Video for Piano Players

on students, teachers, videos, recording, visualize

As we move further into the age of rich media, recording audio and video is quickly becoming core to the music learning process. Whether you are recording a video for your students, having students record their practice, or you do Skype lessons and need various angles of your piano to show your student - most of us don’t have fancy recording equipment to do it right. Instead, we usually just have our tablet and/or smartphone with us. Either way, it can be a bit tricky to figure out how to get the best angles, especially for piano. Here, we share various ways to get that ever-elusive birds-eye-view of the piano keys (and any other angles you would ever need) with a tablet/smartphone. I've divided the suggestions by types of pianos, but any of these work interchangeably.

1. Upright Pianos

If you have an upright piano, here are some options:

The simplest way

The absolute easiest way to record your keys: simply place your tablet/smartphone on top of the piano with the camera sticking out. You can use a weight (books work best, and you always have those lying around near your piano) to keep it in place. However, you won't get all 88 keys in there. We'll explain how to get that kind of shot later on in the article.

GorillaPods

There are these magical devices called GorillaPods (made by Joby) - basically, a little tripod with flexible legs. All you need is one of these small ones and a weight to keep it in place to get a good birds-eye-view. You can do this like so:

Gooseneck tablet holders

Search for a “gooseneck tablet holder” (or “gooseneck iPhone holder”). If you’ve got an upright that opens up at the top, you can clamp one of these onto the lid and tilt it to get the same view. This will also help you get a bit taller and therefore wider view of the keys.

2. Keyboards

If you use a keyboard or digital piano, a sturdy stand could be all you need. This is my go-to setup for recording simple things (as you can see, it only captures a little under 3 octaves).

A couple things to note here:

  1. Because this stand has holes, I usually position it so the camera records through one of these holes. This ensures a more stable position for the iPad.
  2. If your stand doesn’t have holes and you have it peek over the edge of the stand (like in Photo 2), it helps to have a metal stand + magnetic case like I do here.
  3. Otherwise, using a heavy object (like a book) to help keep your phone/tablet in place will be sufficient.

3. Grand and Baby Grand Pianos

If you have a baby grand/grand piano, you may have to look at some different options. The following option will also help with getting a taller view (which means more keys in the frame!) and for getting any other angles you may need.

Mic stand + iPhone holder

Once you have this setup, you can get virtually any angle you need (within reason). To set this up, you'll need:

1. A mic stand

Really, any mic stand like this will work.

2. Mic Stand to iPhone Holder Adapter This nifty adapter connects your mic stand with any camera or tripod adapter.

3. iPhone Holder Attach this iPhone holder to the adapter above. Squeeze in your iPhone and you're ready to go!

4. A fun option

Using a GoPro strapped to your forehead can provide a cool view of your keyboard. The fisheye also helps tremendously in capturing the whole thing. Here’s an example:

Because this is more of a visual experience than it is a helpful, teaching view (unless you keep your head very still), it’s probably better geared for recording performances or music videos (such as this one). I’d love to see more live performances recorded this way - although I doubt anyone wants to perform with a camera strapped to their head!

Recordings can be a great way to teach, learn, and receive feedback in the days between lessons! Seamlessly incorporate recordings into your students' practice time and lessons with Better Practice.