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What older keys players should say to younger keys players


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Any young person who whats to play should be encouraged with one caveat. Don't try to make it your career unless you either have killer connections or you're a true transcendental genius like Joey Alexander and the few others at that level. Make music your minor and anything else that could be a decent career the major.

 

Bob

Hammond SK1, Mojo 61, Kurzweil PC3, Korg Pa3x, Roland FA06, Band in a Box, Real Band, Studio One, too much stuff...
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Avoid unstable people, no matter how talented they are. (This applies to many other contexts, by the way.)

 

Don't major in Music Performance -- it's too limiting. No orchestra (or band) ever turned someone down because he learned to teach.

 

Find out what your instrument can do that others don't think about. Learn about Hendrix, Emerson, Van Halen, Ethel Smith, Jon Lord, Milt Herth.

 

Learn other instruments. The more you know how to think like a bassist, drummer, or even a guitarist, the more you can fill in the holes that show up.

 

If possible, learn to both read music and to improvise. If you get good at both, you will be worth your weight in gold.

-Tom Williams

{First Name} {at} AirNetworking {dot} com

PC4-7, PX-5S, AX-Edge, PC361

 

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Be humble and ask lots of good questions.

 

Listen to music. Really listen... Put on a sleep mask and sit in front of a good pair of speakers in a treated room. Youll hear details youve never heard before, and youll learn how a record is really constructed. If you want to wake up your stereo sensitivity, put on Madonnas Lucky Star.

 

Gear is rarely the answer. You need a capable toolkit, but if youre not making good music, its not because you dont own the latest XYZ.

 

Its better to know one synth inside and out than to have several that never get explored.

 

Learn jazz improvisation. It will help you in all genres.

 

Dont give up. This is a wonderful pastime, its incredibly deep, and you can fill a lifetime with wonder.

 

 

 

 

Sundown

 

Working on: The Jupiter Bluff; Driven Away

Main axes: Kawai MP11 and Kurz PC361

DAW Platform: Cubase

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To my younger self-

- Take your music seriously, develop your chops. Music may have come easily to you as a child/teen, but if you don't continue to develop it you will have let something precious slip thru your fingers. Use it or lose it.

 

- Don't be too worried about finding your unique voice at first. Take lessons, be in cover bands so you learn from others, treat it first as a craft to be learned and honed, and if you advance far enough, then it becomes more of an art

 

- Invest in the best sound quality you can afford, no matter the instrument. As a musician what drives me the most is the sound, and that never comes from cheap instruments or cheap speakers

 

- Learn your way around a mixing board and the tech needed to sound good. There won't always be someone else around to take care of it, and part of having a good sound is understanding how it all works

 

- Have at least one keyboard with good onboard speakers and a mic input- show up at a party, a jam session, a family gathering and enjoy having such a simple set-up. Guitars don't get to have all the fun.

 

- Praise the rhythym and bass guitarists that keep it steady for everyone.

 

- If getting high is your way of enjoying music, make sure you spend a good amount of that time just listening to music

 

- Cultivate a straight spine and open breathing while playing- much better than being hunched over and tense

 

- Don't get overwhelmed with the technology- if you find yourself spending more time fiddling than playing/practicing, then reverse that. Don't imagine you need the fanciest do all board out there, a stage piano with great sounds and keybed may be what you really need.

 

Randy

Numa Piano X73 /// Kawai ES920 /// Casio CT-X5000 /// Yamaha EW425

Yamaha Melodica and Alto Recorder

QSC K8.2 // JBL Eon One Compact // Soundcore Motion Boom Plus 

Win10 laptop i7 8GB // iPad Pro 9.7" 32GB

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Hi all,

 

Great post idea and already a lot of useful advices so far ;-)

 

I dont know if we are allowed to repeat what was already said, but here are some advices from me (yes Im 43 years old, so I can share some of my thoughts):

- Use every failure as a learning experience: dont be too hard on yourself or on the others, but instead, draw the right conclusions and use your findings in the next situation you encounter.

- Practice regularly: it is really much better to practice 10 minutes every day (or every two days) than 2 hours once per month.

- Understand how your brain works: you need to push the useful information into your long term memory, and this is possible only with repetition. This is why regular practice is key!

- It is never too late to learn something new: I started learning piano at 32 years old, German at 40 years old. Everything is possible if you put the right motivation level into it and don't give up!!!

- Never stop learning, just for fun: there is always something you can improve in your playing or in your life experience.

- Playing music, even at an amateur level, has a lot to do with relationships. If you cant handle it, then play solo. Otherwise, learn to deal with people and dont do to others what you would not like others doing to you.

- Have a good sense of humor, it can help sometimes to deal with bad situations or bad people!

- Dont take yourself too seriously and stay humble: there is always somebody playing better than you!!

- Dont have too many expectations from life: you will be most of the time disappointed!!

- Your health is your most important asset in life: keep it as good as possible however you can (eating healthy food, don't drinking too much alcohol or sodas, doing sport, laughing, meeting friends, spending good time with your S.O and kids when you have some...).

- Spend more time listening to others than talking ;-)

 

Ill feed the post later when something else comes to my mind.

 

I hope this can help somebody.

 

Peace and thanks for reading!

 

Jérôme

 

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Wow guys. So much great advice, thank you.

I have little to add, I'll just quote the ones which most resonate with me.

 

Some I already knew, some I always did, some are my next objectives, some I will probably never achieve.

 

But again, all useful and fun and most of all, good for everyday life as much as for music.

 

 

Protect your hearing.

 

Buy once, buy right.

 

If you're young, listen to old music. If you're old, listen to new music.

 

when it stops being fun, you need to do something different.

 

Try not to use a music stand on stage when you play unless necessary.

 

Be careful, musicians are passive-agressive and often emotionally immature people.

 

Learn to keep a solid practice routine that actually works. 

 

Ear training.

 

So much in life is out of our control. The singer's ego, tonight's mix, the drummer's time sense. But I control what time I show up, my appearance and presentation, the notes I play, the notes I don't and what they sound like. 

 

The biggest thing you can control is the energy you bring to each and every interpersonal engagement. Your energy makes things better...or not. 

 

Look good. People listen with their eyes.

 

Don't be above taking lessons.

 

Gear is rarely the answer. 

 

Cultivate a straight spine and open breathing while playing.

 

it is much better to practice 10 minute every day than 2 hours once per month.

 

Dont take yourself too seriously.

 

Keep. Your. Day. Job.

 

Dont give up.

 

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Don't get into a band with more than one guitar player
Jason, you know I love ya, but you always drop this one.

 

Jason is hardly the only one to share this frustration.

[snip]

Oh, I hear ya. I'm just saying Never Say Never. Usually, probably, often, even most of the time, but I'd never turn down a gig *just* because there were two plank spankers. I would be prepared to walk away if the aforementioned problems showed up though. I'd do my best to check them out before committing. It's one of the nice things about people posting videos.

 

What I tell young musos already:

 

:blah:

C'mon Tim. Don't you have anything funny and/or useless to add? You're always being so damned helpful. :poke:;):D

 

It is kind of tongue in cheek Joe but it is a serious thing in some cases. It's more that sometimes these guys are bullies. I think if you guys get the opportunity play with another keyboard player in a band, it can be a great thing.

"Danny, ci manchi a tutti. La E-Street Band non e' la stessa senza di te. Riposa in pace, fratello"

 

 

noblevibes.com

 

 

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"When in doubt, lay out."

Also:

- Practice your timing, both when you press the key and when you release it. Play the rests.

 

- Don't solo over the other guy's solo (and insist they do the same for you).

 

~ vonnor

Gear:

Hardware: Nord Stage3, Korg Kronos 2, Novation Summit

Software: Cantabile 3, Halion Sonic 3 and assorted VST plug-ins.

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One more thing

 

Read, absorb and do the exercises and meditations from Kenny Werners Effortless Mastery

 

It will help destroy the toxicity lodged in your psyche from bad, toxic teaching, negative self talk and bad toxic advice

 

Also Zen Guitar and Free Play contain essential music and life lessons!

"I have constantly tried to deliver only products which withstand the closest scrutiny � products which prove themselves superior in every respect.�

Robert Bosch, 1919

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If you happen to spot an attractive fan gazing longingly at you, make brief eye contact, acknowledge subtly, then move along. And never, ever smile at them. This is an important, yet not-well-known and underrated part of being a keys player.

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

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Whenever an attractive woman approaches you after a show, her first words will be, "Hi, where's [insert lead singer or guitar player here]?"

Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4: IEMs or Traynor K4

Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A

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C'mon Tim. Don't you have anything funny and/or useless to add? You're always being so damned helpful. :poke:;):D

 

Leaving your wife or GF for the hot damaged young singer ends badly 97.3% of the time.

 

More than 57% of these also end with a chronic burning sensation.

That's better! :roll:

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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It is kind of tongue in cheek Joe but it is a serious thing in some cases. It's more that sometimes these guys are bullies. I think if you guys get the opportunity play with another keyboard player in a band, it can be a great thing.
Like anything, I've had good and bad with that. I've jammed with guys that play whatever sound even though I've been playing the piano or organ the whole tune, are they not listening? I've had bandleaders say, "Joe, play piano, and Sam, play organ on this tune" when I was doing the opposite and what I thought was pretty good.

 

Back to the OP. My latest mantra: You're practicing too fast.

"I'm so crazy, I don't know this is impossible! Hoo hoo!" - Daffy Duck

 

"The good news is that once you start piano you never have to worry about getting laid again. More time to practice!" - MOI

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When improvising a solo, be melodic. Scales are not melodic, don't play a constant barrage of notes. Scales and Hanon are essential for developing dexterity but aren't always vehicles for solos.

 

A solo should be a story, leave some spaces so non-musician laymen can consume the chapter you just played. Expression can move emotions better than a sequence of notes. Nothing wrong with showing your inner Parker or Coltrane or Emerson or Tatum, but it doesn't appeal to everybody.

 

In any club serving drinks, you are a beer salesperson. One out of twenty people in that club is a discriminating musician. If you want to make good money, play what appeals to the other nineteen. They are the ones dancing, getting thirsty, buying drinks, dancing, getting thirsty, buying drinks, repeat. The more drinks the dancing patrons buy, the better money you pocket. You are not going to make good money appealing to your discriminating musician friends.

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- If you already know you'll be learning in music until the day you die you're doing it right

- It's the players, not the gear.

- Hire those able/willing to rehearse over "the ringer" who cannot.

- When starting say yes more than no

- Know when it's no - do NOT get caught saying YES to shitty paying gigs (it will come back at you if the other musicians don't get you first).

- say NO to smooth jazz (always)

- No inter-office romances (plenty-o-fish).

- THERE ARE NO STARS. There is only marketing and suckers who buy it (so that should be the LAST thing on your mind until you die).

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In a cover band fwiw.

 

Worried if you got your part down? Get 92%? close to their sound, except better on signature licks.

To get the confidence of not being closer than this %, You Tube is your friend. Compare with the original band live, in different years, etc... even they couldn't do better, so it doesn't matter that much, with everyone else blaring anyway.

 

Wear black shirts if possible; sweat doesn't show. Some of the newer fabrics wick about the same in other colors. Do a spit test. :)

 

Take a leak on every break, even if think you don't have too; cheap insurance, plus you can do PR and mingle with customers to and fro the bathroom.

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So much great advice here. But is anyone listening?

 

My advice (first paid gig 40 years ago, lugged a Hammond Porta-B and later B-200 and Leslie up more flights of stairs than I care to remember):

 

1) Better gear will not make you play better. If you want better gear, buy it because you want it, but don't expect miracles unless something is truly holding you back.

1a) Buy good cables. Buy good pedals.

 

2) Listen, listen, listen. If you like how someone plays, repeatedly listen to everything that person has ever recorded. Transcribe it to your instrument - don't just buy a transcription and play it: the only way to get inside the head of a monster player is to figure it out for yourself and learn to play it verbatim.

 

3) Take some lessons. Learn some theory. Otherwise, you're just wasting time trying to re-invent the circle of fifths.

 

4) Learn good hand and seating/standing position. Your wrists, neck, and back will thank you later. And don't play with flat fingers. Your fingers should be naturally curved when playing.

 

5) Someone is eventually going to fire you from a gig. You're going to be pissed off. Nothing you say or do is going to change that you've been fired, so just shut up, be mature, and go on with your life. When you're done being pissed off think about the reasons given and try to find the grains of truth in what the person said. Even if they were a dick about how they did it, there were reasons. Fix them. Get better.

 

6) It's OK to have a beer or shot or whatever to loosen up before the gig, or at the set break. But leave it at that. Nobody plays better when they're hammered and you don't want to develop that reputation.

 

7) Simpler is always better: in your rig, in your playing. Don't bring 5 keyboards, a lap top, iPad, and two mixers when you can get it done with one or two versatile keyboards. Unless you enjoy setting up and tearing down for an hour and a half before and after every gig.

 

8) Dress better than the crowd. I see people gigging in clothes I wouldn't work in my garden in. You're playing in a bar band on Friday night. Nobody is going to think you're a rock star just because you have more holes in your jeans than your average high school sophomore. Same with the damn scarves on your mic stand. You're not Steven Tyler. When in doubt: black on black.

 

9) Only use as much on-stage volume as necessary to hear yourself. If the others need to hear you, have the sound person put it in their monitors.

 

10) Learn to sing decent back-up. Learn the harmonica.

 

11) Always offer to help others carry their equipment. Don't leave until everyone's packed up.

 

12) When leaving the gig, if you see the manager/bar tender/owner, tell them "thank you for the gig, I hope we did well for the bar tonight!" This lets them know that you're hip to the fact that they don't exist just to give you a venue for "your art." Your job is to sell alcohol. If you can have fun and make music while you're doing that, you win.

Muzikteechur is Lonnie, in Kittery, Maine.

 

HS music teacher: Concert Band, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Chorus, Music Theory, AP Music Theory, History of Rock, Musical Theatre, Piano, Guitar, Drama.

 

 

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C'mon Tim. Don't you have anything funny and/or useless to add? You're always being so damned helpful. :poke:;):D

 

Leaving your wife or GF for the hot damaged young singer ends badly 97.3% of the time.

 

More than 57% of these also end with a chronic burning sensation.

Darnit, Tim, you brought this guy to mind and I don't have the class to be ashamed of sharing it. :laugh: He's vile, but he's not wrong.

 

"We used to do crank off of t*tty dancers and sh*t. No one got hurt, we had a lot of fun. We got some good stories and herpes out of the deal, the blisters bring me back! ... People go 'oh that town is 20 years behind the times,' BOOK me there, I had fun 20 years ago!" ~ Doug Stanhope

 

I'd simply advise a young player to keep at it. I generally say

* Your fascination and sweat will pay off in ways you won't even recognize until you work at it for a while.

* You'll have setbacks, but you'll also have great epiphanies & some wild fun.

* You'll power through setbacks and get better at handling the next one(s).

* You'll end up being a mix of everything you've ever heard or played, with varied technical skills that will suddenly pop up when you really need them.

* You'll meet numerous people over time, many of whom will teach you useful abstract social lessons and/or help you to acquire/move gear, so learn to stay mindful of encouraging them; its part of making your music more meaningful.

* Always work to better your own game, but simply keep woodshedding and don't think you're a flop because you can't scorch a stage like George Duke. He wasn't always the George who was worthy of Cannonball Adderly and Frank Zappa; he started as a newbie like anyone else!

"Don't be a dick" is a wise tip. Most situations have a limited half-life, even when awkward, but a severe enough instance of dickhood can develop a release time exceeding your natural lifespan. :hitt:

 

 "I want to be an intellectual, but I don't have the brainpower.
  The absent-mindedness, I've got that licked."
        ~ John Cleese

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Try to play with musicians who are better. Itll help keep you humble and inspired which fuels growth.

 

Listen to what the other band members are playing and do your best to support, communicate, interact, motivate, and inspire others. The musician who brings out the best in others will likely be in demand (provided hes not a jerk).

 

Not everyone is going to like your music. Thats how it is for even the most accomplished musicians. Dont let it get you down.

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