YouTube has become a massive opportunity for guitarists to showcase their music, build an audience, and potentially start a career. Whether you want to record guitar videos for YouTube for fun or for bigger goals, this guide will explain how to get the best quality videos with the least effort.
Because there are so many guitarists on YouTube, you want to make sure your videos stand out. The good news is that you don’t need expensive equipment to make great looking YouTube videos.
This is the most detailed guide online on how to record guitar videos for YouTube, so bookmark/favorite it so you can come back at any time to review the tips and advice.
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Before we look at equipment and recording techniques, it’s a good idea to take a look at what makes a great guitar video on YouTube.
There are three aspects to making a great guitar video for YouTube and all three need to be dealt with properly. Let’s take a quick look at each aspect before digging into the details.
Video quality is important and worth the time and effort to get right. Nobody wants to see a blurry or pixellated recording that looks like it was filmed with a potato.
Filming Your Playing
The minimum standard people expect to see on YouTube today is 1080p (1920 x 1080) also known as Full HD. I’ll talk about this when we look at cameras.
Notice even in the small image above how the screenshot on the right looks slightly blurry while the one on the left is sharp and clear. That’s the difference resolution makes. It should be obvious that a higher resolution is always better.
The frame rate is how many frames the camera takes per second. Movies are filmed in 24 fps (frames per second) and that frame rate is good for the cinematic experience, but not very good for guitar videos.
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Your smartphone or camera may offer an option to record at 60 fps. More and more videos on YouTube are showing up in 60 fps and it is gradually becoming standard for many types of videos.
If you’ve never paid attention to frame rate before, go find a video that has ‘1080p60’ as an option in the settings and watch it. Guitar videos in 60 fps look significantly smoother and give a more professional look and feel to your video.
If your camera supports both 30 and 60 fps, I recommend testing both to see what you prefer. 60 fps tends to look better for guitar videos, but it also raises the file size and time it takes for your video editor to process the file.
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What makes the difference between good video quality and great video quality is the lighting. It’s such an important topic so I’ll explain it in detail later in this guide.
People who watch guitar videos on YouTube expect good quality guitar tones. If you’ve ever seen a video on YouTube with bad guitar tones, you probably also noticed the comments complaining about how bad the tone was.
Fortunately, audio quality is easy to get right when you record your guitar in the right way. It’s a crucial aspect to the video’s overall quality, so I’ll talk about it in detail later in this guide.
Recording Audio From A Guitar Amplifier
It’s also worth mentioning that good audio quality can make up for average video quality. Even if you can’t get the best quality camera, people will still enjoy your video if the audio quality is good. So audio quality is your top priority when recording your videos.
People don’t just listen to guitar videos on YouTube, they watch the guitarist perform. Keep this in mind when you record your videos.
While you might not feel like you’re performing for an audience when you record your video, think of it as if it is a live performance with a crowd watching you. Put on a show and make the video enjoyable to watch.
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Imagine watching a video of an energetic song and the guitar just sits there in his bedroom with an expressionless face as he plods through the song. Even if the technical side of the performance is spot on, the video will be lacking.
Before you record any song, think about the performance side of things. Is the song energetic, frantic, or aggressive? Or is the song emotional, delicate, or expressive? Make sure your performance matches the song.

By muting the sound, it forces you to pay attention to what you are seeing instead of being distracted by what you would hear or the guitarist’s abilities.
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What type of camera angles are used? Can you see the guitarist’s face while playing or is the camera focused on the fretboard? Are multiple cameras used? How often does the video cut back and forth between camera angles?
What is in the background? What type of performance is the guitarist putting into the video? In what way is the video entertaining to watch?
Write notes on what you like and dislike from the top videos to give you a better idea on what to focus on in your own videos.
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While you will need a high-quality camera that can take good videos, that doesn’t mean it needs to be an expensive camera.
The minimum accepted standard for videos on YouTube is they need to have a resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080) also known as Full HD.
As you can see in the comparison above, 4K uses a significantly higher resolution than Full HD. While this might seem like a better choice, there are downsides to recording in 4K.
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First, the file sizes are significantly higher, which means it takes far longer to process the videos during editing. Second, more and more people are watching YouTube on mobile devices, so the extra high resolution of 4K is wasted on small screens. 1080p is more than enough now and will be in the future.
Let’s go through the different camera options for recording guitar videos for YouTube. After looking at each type of camera, I’ll explain how to use tripods or stands for each option.

The good news is a typical modern smartphone can record fantastic quality 1080p videos, so you might not need to buy a camera at all. High-end smartphones have seriously impressive cameras that rival many point and shoot cameras.
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If you already have a decent smartphone that can record 1080p video, I recommend doing a few practice video shoots with your smartphone before you consider buying anything else.
After you learn some useful recording tricks and proper lighting techniques, you may find that your smartphone is fully capable of recording fantastic quality videos.
Smartphone cameras use a smaller sensor, which means they take in less light when compared to a DSLR or Point and Shoot camera. This means the quality of your lighting is crucial to get the best looking videos with a smartphone.
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I have the above webcam and have used it for a few YouTube videos and was happy with the quality. It may not compare well against a proper DSLR, but it’s a far cheaper option if you’re on a budget.
This webcam has an inbuilt clip you can use to mount to a computer monitor and it uses a standard camera mounting thread to connect to any camera stand or tripod.
The advantage of recording your videos with a webcam is that it saves the recording directly on your computer. That means you can easily open it and edit it without having to download files from your smartphone or camera.
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The downside to using a webcam is that you’re tethered to your computer. This means if you want to record your video outdoors or away from your computer, it might be tricky.
While DSLRs (Digital Single-Lens Reflex) produce the best looking videos out of all of the cameras covered here, they can be quite expensive.
They also have a bigger learning curve when compared to a smartphone or point and shoot camera. They’re not necessarily hard to learn, but it helps if you know how to use them properly.
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Lower end DSLRs are still capable of seriously impressive quality videos and a second-hand camera can save you a lot of money. Because there are so many DSLR models and new models coming out every year, it is pretty easy to find a cheap second-hand camera that will cover what you need.
If you’re thinking about getting a DSLR, consider buying a bundle like one of these (link to Amazon) that includes all the accessories you would likely buy over time.
As the name suggests, the big difference between a DSLR and a mirrorless camera is that it doesn’t use a mirror. This is why they’re more compact compared to DSLRs.
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If you want to produce the best quality video for your videos on YouTube, I recommend a mirrorless camera instead of a DSLR.
One feature I suggest looking for in a mirrorless camera is a flip-up or selfie screen. Being able to set up your camera on a tripod and see how everything looks while sitting or standing with your guitar is much easier than trying to set up a DSLR by yourself.
I recently purchased a Canon EOS M50, which is a budget-level mirrorless
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