From Chords to Chart-Toppers: Essential Musician-Focused YouTube Content

15 YouTube Video Ideas for Musicians

Richard Bennett

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

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If you’re a musician who wants the world to hear your music, getting your music on YouTube is a must! By uploading your work onto the world’s most popular video platform, you talent has the potential to reach millions of listeners. Here are fifteen YouTube video ideas you can use to share your music.

Polish Your YouTube Music Videos with Filmora

Filmora features plentiful video and audio editing tools, which allows you to cut out unwanted clips, remove the background noise , change the video and audio speed. The tutorial below shows you how to create a split-screen video with fun with the split-screen presets in Filmora.

1. Live Performance

Raw talent that is unedited and uncut can make a huge impact on your audience. In the above video, William Singe and Alex Aiono perform a live mashup from beginning to end without stopping. This kind of all-in-one-take performance is even more impressive when it is flawless. If you’ve got what it takes to perform your music from beginning to end without stopping, try recording yourself doing a live performance.

2. Cover A Classic Song

Although you might gain a lot of views in the short-run by covering a popular song that is currently in the top charts, you may find that your views will drop significantly in a few years when the song loses its relevance in pop culture. On the other hand, classic songs are timeless and performing them may even pleasantly evoke nostalgia to many listeners. In the video above, Daniela Andrade and HanByul Kang beautifully cover the 1934 jazz classic “Stars Fell on Alabama.” Do you have any favorite old classics?

3. Cover a Popular Song With Your Own Lyrics

As mentioned above, covering a popular song that is currently in the top charts can bring in a lot of views. But since many people do just straight covers of songs, you’ll find yourself competing for views against many other musicians if you do the same. Creatively rewriting the lyrics of the song you choose to cover is one way you can set your cover apart from all the others out there. In the above video, the performer creatively sings a cover of MAGIC!’s “Rude” from the perspective of the father in the song.

4. Cover a Popular Song In a Different Genre

Another way to set your cover apart from all the other many covers out there is to change up the genre. Whether or not everyone likes the genre you choose, it’s still undoubtedly interesting to hear a familiar song in such a different way. Postmodern Jukebox transforms a lot of current songs into old genres of music. Check out their jazzy version of Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass.”

5. Show Your Musical Adaptability Through Many Genres

Professional musicians mostly adhere to fewer genres of music so that they don’t leave their listeners confused about who they are as a musician. This, at times, can get quite predictable and boring. Switching between multiple genres can be refreshingly interesting, especially if it’s many genres in one video. Rapper Mac Lethal explores 27 styles of rap in the above video.

6. Cover a Popular Song With a Musical Instrument (Or With Several If You Know How To Play More Than One)

If you cover a popular song with a musical instrument, you not only have the potential to gain many views from people searching up your song, but you also have the potential to gain many views from people searching up your instrument. In the above video, Lily Liu performs “See You Again” on her Zither/Guzheng.

7. Play Your Musical Instrument In a Unique Way

In much of the same way that performing a familiar song in a different genre can be refreshingly interesting, playing a familiar musical instrument in a different way can have the same effect. The above video is a YouTube classic video featuring Greg Pattillo playing his flute while simultaneously beatboxing.

8. Cover a Popular Song Using Odd (Non-Musical) Objects

Since music is a combination of notes, you can practically create music out of anything that has a pitch, which is everything that makes a sound. With the power of editing and pitch manipulation, you can create fascinating instrumental covers like Andrew Huang’s 99 Red Balloons.

9. Transform Non-Melodic Speech Into Music

There’s a lot you can do with music creation when you have access to software pitch manipulation. One of those things you can do is transform non-melodic speech into music. In the above video, many different clips of Donald Trump have been edited together to recreate Camila Cabello’s hit song “Havana.”

10. Produce a Remix

Most of the ideas we mention in this list have to do with taking something already existing and transforming it into something new. Similarly, a remix is a transformative musical piece. But rather than performing your music in a different and interesting way, remixing involves producing digital music using music production software. In the above video, C2C remixes Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition.”

11. Produce a Mashup

Unlike a medley where you perform one song and then move onto the next in a sequential manner, in a mashup you blend parts and fragments of songs together in a non-sequential manner, oftentimes overlapping parts that belong to different songs (vocals from one song over the instrumental of another song). In order to do this in a way that ends up not sounding like a jumbled mess, you need to make sure all the parts you’re mixing together are not only in the same tempo, but also in the same key. My mashups have been shared all over the world.

12. Make An Acapella Arrangement

Most songs on the radio have all kinds of different sounds going on that it can be difficult to just appreciate and enjoy the sound of the human voice. Acapella arrangements, on the other hand, attempt to recreate music with just the voice. Your own voice is a musical instrument that you can use in so many different ways to make all kinds of unique sounds. Mike Tompkins is someone who has made his mark on YouTube as an acapella musician.

13. Impersonate Celebrities

If you’re a musician who also happens to be good at doing impersonations of celebrities, recording yourself performing a song in different voices that others are familiar with can be a huge hit. In the above video, Yanina Chiesa performs a medley of songs featuring 15 different celebrity singers.

14. Music Tutorial

YouTube is the go-to place for many people who want to learn how to do something, including music. In the above video, Anna-Maria Hefele explains how polyphonic overtone singing works.

15. Make A Song So Bad, It Just Might Go Viral

Making music that’s so bad that it goes viral is not as easy as you might think. When it comes to bad quality material, there’s probably more of those on YouTube than there is good quality material. Your music will have to be extra bad in order to stand out among the competition. Rebecca Black’s “Friday” is a notable example of this last YouTube video idea.

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Richard Bennett

Richard Bennett is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Richard Bennett

Video Wizardry: Your Guide to the Top 10 Editing Hacks

YouTube Video Editing Tips for Beginner Editors

Marion Dubois

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

Creating good-quality videos regularly can be difficult, especially when you are a beginner. The most crucial part of making a video is editing. This is the part where you have to look at every intricate detail. This is the part where you remove unwanted footage and place useful shots in their position. Every creator has their editing style by which they put their mark on their videos.

Editing can be a long and tedious process. It takes time, patience, and an immense amount of creativity to create a video good enough to impress the viewers. Here are few tips that will make your editing process easier and cut your editing time in half.

Top 10 Video Editing Tips for YouTube Beginners

The following will not tell you how to edit your YouTube videos, but will surely make editing a little more convenient.

1. Choose a Good Video Editor

One of the first things you have to do is make sure that you have chosen a video editor that is best for you.

Using either too complicated or too basic a video editor can only create problems for you. An advanced video editor may create very high-end, professional videos, but it will take months just to get the hang of the software. Whereas a free basic video editor may not give as many options as you’d need to edit your videos properly.

2. Use Fast Computers

Being a video creator, you’ll have to store numerous huge files on your computer. To improve your current PC, you can invest in an SSD, which is a lot faster than the traditional hard disk.

SSD will not only improve your export, loading, and rendering time but it will allow you to access files and editing software much faster. Another improvement you can make to make your editing process faster is to increase the RAM of your computer (it should be at least 8 GB). Also, make sure to get the recommended video card and processor for your video editor.

3. Invest Your Time in Video Editing Tutorials

You can watch video editing tutorials to learn and perfect the art of video editing. You can easily find free tutorials online, visiting websites like Skillshare and Red Giant tutorials to access free video editing tutorials. Search for tutorials that are specific to the editing software you use. You can also search for tutorials that will help improve your content.

4. Use Keyboard Shortcuts

Learn the keyboard shortcuts for various functions in the software, especially the ones that are usually repeated throughout the process like undo, redo, delete, etc.

You can also invest in an Editing keyboard, they are software specific and already have keyboard shortcut icons in them.

5. Add Good Music

Another important tip to keep your audience all ears is to add good music to your videos. Whether it is background music or a soundtrack in between shots, it has to pair well with your video.

If you are on a budget and don’t want to spend money on music, there are royalty-free options available. But, know that good music only comes at a price.

6. Add Text, Titles, and Graphics

You can choose from a wide variety of text and titles. You’ll also have tools to enhance the graphics of your video. When you have so many options, choosing the right one can be difficult. It is better to keep the font of the text simple.

You can also use video editors to add flashy motion graphics to your videos. You can either create your graphics by hand or you can also choose from a variety of ready-made graphics templates.

7. Don’t Forget to Color Correction

Not color correcting your videos may render them looking dull and lifeless. Color is one of the major elements that play a crucial part in setting the mood of your video. Depending upon the type of content you’re portraying in the video, you can use a color scheme to highlight specific aspects or to evoke certain emotions in the audience.

Color correction is used to make your video appear consistent throughout the scenes. Whereas color grading is used to make videos stand out. Both are essential to differentiate certain scenes from others.

8. Learn Important Terms

Learn the terms commonly used in video editing. It will help you become proficient with the software and the process of editing. Some common terms used in the editing sphere are:

• Cutaways
• Jump Cuts
• Match Cuts/Match-Action Montage
• J and L Cuts
• Cutting on Action

9. Store Your Video Files on an External Drive

Storing your huge video files on an external drive will free up a lot of space on your computer. This will help speed up your device so you don’t have to worry about slow rendering.

10. Make Copies of Your Files

Always make more than two copies of your files. You can use the 321 rule. The rule is to make 3 copies of your files, store them in two different places, where one place should be physically separate from the other.

The Best YouTube Video Editing Software for Beginners

There are many video editing software available in the video editing market, but Wondershare Filmora is the best video editor for beginners and professionals alike. It has a beginner-friendly interface, contains advanced editing tools, and is available at a reasonable price.

Here is a list of few features offered by Wondershare Filmora.

1. AI Portrait

It helps make your videos vibrant and colorful

2. Visual and Audio Effects

Visual and audio effects can be added to improve the image and sound quality of the video

3. Audio Ducking

You can layer one sound on top of the other.

4. Cool Texts

You can add cool texts and titles from the library.

5. Screen Recording

You can record the screen activity of your device.

Final Word

As a beginner, the time and effort required to make a good video can be reduced to half if you follow a few simple tricks that professionals use daily. It’s all about working smart and not hard. You can save time by learning the editing term and keyboard shortcuts. You can save your files in an external drive to save storage and make backup in case of any mishaps. Remember to color grade, add cool texts and good music to make your videos distinct.

Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Marion Dubois