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Play-along videos in individual lessons

The teacher creates videos that function as play-along videos in connection with sheet music. Students can use these to practice outside of scheduled lessons.

The students have access to the materials, allowing them to practice whenever they like and learn the music at their own pace, with their own teacher introducing and playing in the recording. 

Navigate the different aspects of the activity here

Purpose and target audience
Technology/setup
Teacher/student requirements
Before/during/after the activity
The teachers’ experiences

The purpose of the activity

  1. To continue instruction beyond the scheduled lessons 
  2. To provide students with materials they can always access and practice with 
  3. To allow students to work with the materials at their own pace 
  4. To connect sheet music, technique, and sound through videos and sheet music 

Target audience

Music students and conservatory students


Technology/setup

  • Acquire sheet music, adapt arrangements, or create sheet music for original music using notation software (e.g., Sibelius) – be mindful of copyright 
  • Make videos accessible so that students can access them from home. Videos can be made publicly available via YouTube with QR codes generated online or shared through the institution’s Learning Management System (LMS), such as Moodle, Speedadmin, via email, private Facebook groups, shared drives, etc., where access can be assigned 
  • Video camera/microphone or mobile/tablet for recording 
  • Video editing software (e.g., iMovie or Final Cut) 
  • Mobile or tablet access to the videos 

Requirements

Teacher

  • Willingness to record with a mobile/tablet or camera/microphone 
  • Familiarity with video editing or a willingness to learn 
  • Familiarity with creating sheet music using a notation program or a willingness to learn 
  • Familiarity with sharing videos 
  • Optional: Knowledge of generating QR codes or a willingness to learn 

Student

  • Access sheet music using QR codes- either in paper or digital format 
  • Knowledge of how QR codes work 
  • Access to videos via tablet or mobile, either their own or provided by the institution/parents 
  • Access, if the videos are not made publicly available 
  • Know how to access the videos where they are made available 

Before, during and after the activity

BEFORE

The teacher

  • Creates or finds the sheet music to be included in the video 
  • Make recordings of the teacher playing the piece, focusing on demonstrating technique, rhythm, etc. 
  • Edits the video, zooming in on important instrument elements to ensure students can clearly see the instruction 
  • Makes the video accessible, either publicly or in a restricted-access space once the video is edited 
  • Optionally generates a QR code, which is added to the sheet music for easy access 
  • Distributes sheet music to students, either in paper or digital format 

DURING

The students

  • Play along with the videos between lessons

AFTER

The teacher

  • Follows up on the students’ progress with the piece

Experiences with the activity

Students at Aalborg School of the Arts have practiced with play-along videos created by their teacher. Students say it’s helpful to “re-watch the video” and “listen through the video and control the tempo”. The teacher has used play-alongs with several students but found that “some students used it more than others; some may have felt that they were already spending too much time on screens”. When making the videos, it’s crucial that they are “easy to get started on” for the students. The teacher has started incorporating play-along videos into lesson sessions to “simulate practice” and teach practice through a “if you can complete task 1 you are ready to move on to task 2” approach. The teacher has created multiple videos with built-in progression and made them publicly accessible on YouTube.

As a teacher of guitar, bass, ukulele, drums, and ensemble playing, Christian Houmann has created play-along videos for his music students – hear Christian explain the process, insights, and reflections after completing the activity.

Watch videos with Christians’ experiences

Find Christian’ materials here:
Play-along “Uke – Uke -Lele”
Play-along “Ganster Song”
Play-along “Vanilla” Guitar track

© the partners (see "About the project"), to cite this website: Ørngreen, R., Paasch Knudsen, S., Henningsen, B. & Laimer, C. (2024) Digital Tools in Music Education, available at teachingmusic.online.