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Keyboards/pianos/organs

Hi everyone I thought I would start a thread on people who play any musical instrument but mainly keyboard/pianos and organs


I started playing piano when I was six and the keys have been part of me ever since


I live in a small house with part of the lounge taken up with a 76 note Roland keyboard along side a Yamaha 2 manual organ.


I thought by starting this thread it would create an interest in what instruments are played and what styles of music you play.


It would also be interesting to see how the balance is of those that need music and those who play by ear. This could end up a bit of a self help group, a sheet music exchange etc. some may be helped by others to explore various styles and techniques .especially when trying to decipher music


The possibilities go on .


I look forward to your input


Created By on 22/12/2019

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SilverSammy
13th Feb 2020 01:32:22 (Last activity: 21st Feb 2020 00:59:22)
0
Thanks for voting!
It's so sad to see that your thread was started almost two months ago, with no further posts to it. Good thing I showed up!

I happen to have complete expert knowledge of music (so actually read and write music notation) and write music, arrange music, play keyboards, and teach music privately. I'm not big on owning a lot of expensive gear and producing recordings, though, and so prefer instead to use and depend on low-end Yamaha portable keyboards, mainly for writing and live performance. Guess you could say I'm unusually frugal. I love to strive for the biggest musical bang, for the smallest possible buck (American for "expenditure"). It's amazing what we can do with today's electronic keyboards; so, finding ways to get the most from low-end keyboards is very, very rewarding. Besides, they're easy and light to take around.

Sad to say, there are a lot of bad music teachers out there. It so happens that the category of retirees is just about the best category of music student there is: Retirees have the time, the brains, the maturity, and the money. What they need is a music teacher who knows how to place emphasis on acuity rather than on virtuosity (so that, once the arthritis begins to set in after the age of 50, there won't be any problems!). Being able to write, arrange, and play music--music that sounds great--provides free, unlimited entertainment for the rest of a person's life and never becomes obsolete. It's not virtuosity that makes music sound great; it's KNOW-HOW. See, the goal of most music teachers is just to keep classical music alive, instead of to teach students how to write, arrange, and play their own. Oddly enough, most of the music we hear is written by instrument players instead of composers. Now you know why there's so much bad music out there. . . .

I tend to be very long-winded when I post, so I'll just rest now and look forward to more future comments. Tomorrow's another day.
Response from SilverSammy made on 13th Feb 2020 19:01:33
I find very interesting what you are saying about not having all eighty-eight keys, because I never miss them and never really used them much when I had them! Sixty-one keys (i.e., five octaves, instead of the full seven and a quarter) will give all that's really needed. Electronic keyboards provide a means to shift every instrument's range up and down by octaves, so you can easily shift and record a part up or down an octave or two to access lower or higher notes, then shift back to play normally again. A five octave keyboard can play, for example, organ notes so low, you won't be able to hear much of them except their overtones.

Ukulele sounds useful. I cast my vote for ukulele. How about electric bass? Electric bass is VERY useful.
Response from Casualgrey Original Poster made on 17th Feb 2020 17:51:52
Hi Silversammy It's great you have joined the chat . I was beginning to think there were no musicians around . its nice to see Sammy that you are into all aspects of music including teaching.
I can read the dots but I have to slowly work through it but most of the time I play what I hear . Unfortunately the days of the home electronic organ seems to be dying .I go to an organ club and I'm a young one, and I am 71. I tend to think there are very few young people who have the patience to learn. There are theatre organ in the country where the circuit of organists is slowly diminishing as there is very little new blood
Incidentally there is a Compton Theatre pipe organ Concert in Bristol this coming Saturday (22Feb 2020) afternoon 2.30pm at Eden Grove Methodist church Horfield Bristol BS7 0PQ The organ was installed in the Church Hall by a guy called Byron Jones and friends otherwise known as the 'Welsh Wizard' . Worth checking out on the internet
I see Sammy you go fo low end Yamaha . My Yamaha El90 organ was £350 . I have had it for 3 years and play it every day . So Cheap . Was 9K when new. My Roland VA76 I bought 20 years ago it was a £ 1600 . It's still a heavy old lump to lug around as the action is semi weighted, so I understand why you go for light weight yamaha . I live in Somerset if you or any body else is inspires to have a jamm
I look forward to future chat
Response from Casualgrey Original Poster made on 17th Feb 2020 18:13:01
Hi Enchanted7Dandelion Glad you have joined the chat
I see you play a yamaha keyboard, steel drum and clarinet and looking to learn uke and saxophone . Am I right in thinking that the clarinet and sax are similar fingering. I see you have previously played electric bass . You sound musically versatile . I have thought about the uke myself because of the portability My keyboard is a 78 note which I find adequate but one has to contend with the weight aspect
Look forward to your chat
Response from Casualgrey Original Poster made on 21st Feb 2020 00:59:22
Hi Enchanted 7 Dandelion Thank you for your conversation . I thought I would help you overcome having to sight read and not playing by ear. I have done this and it works . This is favourable on a keyboard or piano.

Start firstly with the right hand and go by semi tone up and down the keyboard and see how many chords you can come up with taking the top note as the dominant note and working out as many chords per dominant note . There are some chords that seem to often get used in film scores . There are also chords the gospel players use. I have found that some of the Gospel players on Youtube who give tutorials sometime suggest trying this . In the end you will be able to go up and down the keyboard and play chords that lead into the next one Augmented, Diminished, 7th,9th and so on . you can the invert chords in 1st 2nd and 3rd position
The left hand not so difficult initially, perhaps start with octaves,4ths and 5ths
I look forward to your comments and also from other players with systems that work for them.
Although I am an atheist ... on Freeview TV if you look at the jimmy swaggart Church on no.263 and watch the piano player called Brian Hanley and what he can play with a good size band including a Hammond and full gospel choir this might give you a few ideas. The other guy that springs to mind is Jools Holland
You ask what music I play well.... ballads, classic organ , pop, rock film music. religious, . your probably thinking ... what a mixture .. if you want some fun try the Bach D minor toccata and after about a page and a half drop into the House of the Rising Sun then revert back for about the last page to finish ( I use pages as an approximate measure of the music) . A lot of pop and standard songs do play well on a church organ . That,s if the vicars OK.
I go and play a small village church organ for my own practice and fun.Final countdown comes out good and so does I'm a cider drinker ... I play that like a harvest thanksgiving hymn. If any body is in the church I either get miserable faces or smiles. The organ I have at home sets up quite good with its classic and theatre organ sounds as it has the equivalent of drawbars to get a basic organ sounds,. I then add colour with the various stop sounds
I have read with interest what you have done are going to do musically. If you ever find one look out for a 'Selmar' Sax If you find a good one they are rated as a really nice instrument but they are probably at least 50 years old now and at the other end of the spectrum Woolworths in the 50s 60s sold a little soprano plastic sax . they were bought by players in big bands for a laugh but they played with an unusual sound and if you ever find one in good condition it would be at a premium I believe Woolworth trademark was Winfield . I don't know if these were thus labeled.
Anyway Good luck on your musical journey

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