Audio and video recordings both in lessons and in practice are invaluable tools. Use them to supplement your notes and develop a critical eye and ear. They allow the child to learn to listen critically to what they are playing. Keep recordings, both audio and video as a record of your child's improvement. Review suddenly seems useful when a child can see how much better s/he plays the peices than they did a few months ago. Record crucial lessons - filming those last lessons just before the beginning of a long holiday can be a useful way of remembering and reviewing the practice points.

There are lots of easy ways to record your child's practice.

Video

1) Use a handheld video recorder : these can be high end high definition machines, or, something quick and easy like a Flip Video Camera or the movie mode on most digital cameras.

The Flip is relatively cheap and extremely easy to use. Footage can be quickly shot, viewed on the camera or easily copied onto your computer using the built in usb plug. The quality of the video is passable, and the quality of the sound is surprisingly good. There are also video recorders built into many phones - the new blackberries, and the new iPhones work well.

Video is good for filming that perfect bow hold that needs to be practiced over the summer, and for demonstrating posture problems to the child. Demonstration is far easier than constant correction.

2) Use the video camera in your computer. Most modern computers have a video camera for making conference calls - use the camera to record something your child is playing.

In all cases fims can be easily filed away, and played back on your computer.

Audio

Audio is also useful. There are lots of ways of recording the sound.

MP3 recorders. These are small portable recorders, with built in microphones, which record onto removable memory cards like those used in your camera. These are expensive, but useful if you are going to do a lot of recording, and both the examples below seem to have remarkably good microphones for a small device.

Zoom recorder .... there are two portable models - the zoom H2, and the zoom H4. Both work well, allow you to record and play back sound at a high quality, and to transfer your sound files to your computer for editing. It runs off AA batteries which can do about 6 hours of recording. It can also run off mains power.

Roland R09 .... this small but expensive device has extremely good sound quality. The MP3 files can be copied onto your computer and edited using a program like Audacity above. It uses SD memory cards. It can record in WAV and MP3 format. it runs off AA batteries which can do about 12 hours of recording.

We have only listed devices we have used, and this is a rapidly expanding market. For a comparison of different pocket sized field recording devices see this site. Follwo the links through on each recording device to read an in depth review.

iPhone 

Your iPhone is of course a jack of all trades - but it has perfectly respectable audio recording and playback built in, and the newest models (2009) have video recording too.

Your Apple Macintosh - it has a built in microphone. Either use garageband, or download a free utility like Audacity  or SoundStudio which is available for most computer platforms.  These are excellent as they not only allow you to record the sound and play it back, but also to see the sound as a wave diagram, and to cut, edit and manipluate the sound. It is all very easy an straightforward.