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What Types of Play-Along Covers are Most Helpful?
May 20, 2024
In today’s video I want to pose a question to you! Specifically, of the play-along covers I include with most of my song lessons… which format do you find the most helpful? Over the years I’ve experimented with different types of playthroughs, including:
- Some where I show the lyrics and chords
- Some where I show the chord progression and strumming
- Some where I show the tabs for each line
- Some where I sing along
- Some where I make a separate video for the cover
- Some where I play things simplified and slowed down
- Some where I use no graphics, and keep a wide camera angle
- Some where I include an audio drum track
- Some where I include a looped backing track
If you could only pick 1-2 items from the list above, which are most helpful in your opinion? Or do you think this is different for each song, and entirely context-dependent? I would love to hear what you think!
Please understand that it isn’t possible for me to do everything above for each song lesson I make. This would require multiple play-along covers, which can quickly become unwieldy and impractical. Likewise, cramming too many graphics on screen (lyrics, chords, strumming, tabs) can likewise create legibility issues that I try to avoid.
I’d love to hear your feedback… feel free to email me or better yet, post in the community forum (linked below). Thanks so much!
Lesson Discussion
How to Browse My Play-Along Covers…
Click here to see search results for play-along cover — which is a tag I’ve given to each lesson where I play through each section of a song. Sometimes the play-along cover is part of my main YouTube tutorial, and other time it’s a separate video embedded somewhere on the page.
How to Browse My Backing Tracks…
Click here to see search results for backing track — which is a tag I’ve given to each lesson which has either a video or audio backing track (sometimes both). Audio backing tracks can typically be downloaded for off-line use, giving you a steady drum-beat to play over while practicing.
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