Self Teaching - "Hammond"

[GlendaleViper]

Hey folks, here it is. The single post noob asking what has probably been asked a million times before. Apologies in advance for any redundancies. I did search, but have very specific questions.

 

First, I should let you know that I have purchased a Korg CX-3 single manual "clonewheel" organ, with NO previous piano experience. Why? I want to play Hammond, not a synth with a Hammond patch. I have about ten years under my belt with guitar, so I'm certainly not new to music making, but this keyboard is otherwise alien to me.

 

My short term goals are simple - gain enough chops to play competently in a band. Nothing exotic, just basic comping and solos. I expect to create a Ska or Heavy-Blues band and I do not intend to run at the forefront. Just want to bring that rhythm and warmth to complement a guitarist as only a Hammy can.

 

Thus far, I have a Hammond lesson guide, a beginner's piano book and a chord finder.

 

My question is this, and I hope other Hammond players can offer some suggestions: Where to start? What is the quickest way to get over the initial learning curve and get to making music?

 

The chord finder has proven extremely beneficial in letting me draw parallels between my experience as a guitarist and this new beast, but it really doesn't help me understand and become attached to my instrument.

 

I do plan on taking a few lessons, but budget and time constraints make full training impossible. I have an ear for music, but the fact that I am currently running the keyboard through headphones impedes much play-along practice.

 

I've seen a few DVDs rolling around which look intriguing (I am a visual learner) but don't know which are cash grabs and which are legitimately effective.

 

At any rate, this is getting lengthy. Any help is very much appreciated. Again, I want to get my comping skills up to snuff FAST. A strong left hand (and I'm left handed) is key here. The rest will fall into place.

 

Thanks for any help!

[ProfD]

You have taken the first steps in terms of grabbing the ax and checking into some theory. Apply your guitar knowledge to the organ from a chordal and rhythmic perspective.

 

Experiment with the presets in order to get a feel for the sound of it. Then, learn how to create your own sounds using a combination of drawbars, percussion, effects, etc.

 

Listen to cats who play Hammond organ in the style of music close to your own i.e. Bob Marley and older reggae bands.

 

Hammond playing requires a different technique from piano so the lack of experience there is a non-issue. In fact, that might be to your advantage.

 

The established Hammond KC contingent will chime in with more helpful tips. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[linwood]

I'm basically self taught and started on Hammond. So...pick something "kind of" easy and learn it. Listen and learn. Since you mentioned a blues thing, why not work up Green Onions. It's mandatory, anyway. Learn the voicings, dial in the sound, and the way Booker T plays it. The parts are right there on the record. Figure it all out. That's where you start.

[Trill]

 

My question is this, and I hope other Hammond players can offer some suggestions: Where to start? What is the quickest way to get over the initial learning curve and get to making music?

 

 

Practice .Practice Practice. If there was a pill for reducing the learning curve ,we'd all be junkies

 

Well welcome to the forum and congratulations on wanting to play a Hammie. The best book and cd I have found is Dave Limina's ,I believe it is the Hammond organ complete or something titled like that. It will give you a lot of good things like draw bar settings, techniques, and voicings and some really good basics on styles . The good thing about a hammie is you can get a lot of mileage out of one note or chord with the leslie spinning along.

 

 

Good Hammond players understand the total package, the mix of playing skills and all the nuances of the organ which come with the draw bars and expression pedals ,leslie ,percussion,glissados,etc.

 

As far as your guitar skills, use them to your advantage and try to emulate some of the rytyhm licks on the hammond (Hey ProfD we were typing the same thing at the same time ) .Don't be afraid to slap it around a little bit or be percussive.

I am a novice player myself ,but some of the styles I listen to for inspiration are: Jimmy Smith,John Medeski, Billy Preston,Tower of Power What ever I can find in funky Gospel music,especially the styles associated with Black gospel churchs. Some other bands you might find simalar to the style you want to play are. Vinyl,Galatic.Papa Grows Funk, Meters

 

If you go to showmethat.com ,You can buy some gospel type dvds to help you out.

 

B3player magazine

Musicplayer.com

Scroll up and Click on the Musicplyer.com header , Yep right hear at music player, check out Chester Thompson on the tv section,Also check the lessons

 

 

[GlendaleViper]

Practice .Practice Practice. If there was a pill for reducing the learning curve ,we'd all be junkies

 

Yep, no way around that, no matter who tells you otherwise. It's more the comfort factor to get me "playful" and productive.

 

Well welcome to the forum and congratulations on wanting to play a Hammmie. The best book and cd I have found is Dave Limina's ,I believe it is the Hammond organ complete or something titled like that. It will give you a lot of good things like draw bar settings, techniques, and voicings and some really good basics on styles . The good thing about a hammie is you can get a lot of mileage out of one note or chord with the leslie spinning along.

 

Yep, the Limina book is great. I REALLY need to get back up to snuff with my note reading ability, but it seems to be the complete package.

 

Your point with the "mileage" is well taken, however. It's a curious (and wonderful) aspect with the Hammond that rhythm/percussion can be worked so flawlessly into melody.

 

Beyond that, I've been starting with Green Onions and Whiter Shade of Pale. It's tough to play by ear with headphones though. I think a little practice amp will make all the difference and provide some freedom in that regard.

 

Thanks for the help so far. Very much appreciated!

[Mr. Nightime]

Maybe a small mixer where you can run both the organ and the song through the headphones at the same time.

 

I've recently started doing that with my computer. I have a keyboard controller connected to the computer, and I'll pull up a standalone software synth then play along with the MP3.

 

The CX-3 is one of the better clones, so you'll really like it. The one thing I've never liked about the clones is the Leslie sim. Even the best onboard sim is sub-par to my ears. In the future you might consider getting some form of Leslie, whether it be a Leslie 21 or similar, a Speakeasy, or a Motion Sound. They will make the sound so much better and so much more inspirational.

 

 

[Trill]

Practice .Practice Practice. If there was a pill for reducing the learning curve ,we'd all be junkies

 

Yep, no way around that, no matter who tells you otherwise. It's more the comfort factor to get me "playful" and productive.

 

 

 

Yep, the Limina book is great. I REALLY need to get back up to snuff with my note reading ability, but it seems to be the complete package.

 

 

Well , The ability to read is greatest thing you can do to reduce the learning curve or the closest thing to a magic bullet. I didn't start learning to read until I was in my 40's , When you fiqure out a lot of stuff is written down and the only thing stopping you from learning it right away is your reading ability. The light bulb goes off

It can be painstakingly slow at first,but if you do it every day even for only 10 minutes you will improve quickly(every day is the key). And read something you want to learn,the learning will keep you motivated. I used to sit down write out all the notes at first next to the notes , I would do this until I started recognizing them right away .Also I would write the chord names above the chords. Again, the repetitiveness leads to recognition

 

 

I agree get off the headphones, You gotta feel it, Crank it up when the wife is gone

[Mr. Nightime]

 

I agree get off the headphones, You gotta feel it, Crank it up when the wife is gone

 

The louder, the better. Make that thing scream. Then you'll know why we love the Hammond sound so much.

 

 

[B3bluesman59]

Glendale Viper said: What is the quickest way to get over the initial learning curve and get to making music?

________________________________________________________________

Ask around town and find out who the hot Hammond players are. Then go listen to them and after the gig try to meet them. Compliment their chops and ask for tips. Most players will be happy to help a newbie. You might event inquire about one of these players giving you some lessons, for a fee of course. One hour spent with a great player at the keyboard is worth many, many hours trying to figure things out for yourself. Just having someone show you some cool drawbar settings and how and when to use the percussion and chorus and Leslie is worth the price of a lesson.

 

[GlendaleViper]

Oh, believe me, I KNOW what I'm missing. I think I'll be able to scoop up a loaner practice amp this weekend.

 

Presumably a combo guitar amp will be ok to pump the Korg through. It's no Leslie, but at least I'll be able to jam with my CDs.

 

Glad to know there are other Hammond fanatics around here. I had heard it was mostly synths and Rhodes here.

[Mr. Nightime]

I grew up listening to Jon Lord and his C3, along with people like Rod Argent. Then I heard Gregg Allman's Hammond work on "Dreams", and I felt I had heard the perfect Hammond tone. I've been hooked ever since. Even when I was on the road playing Country, I had a Hammond. Can't do without it.

 

You'll find that we're a very diverse group here, with one underlying commonality, the love of any form of keyboards.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

[GlendaleViper]

You'll find that we're a very diverse group here, with one underlying commonality, the love of any form of keyboards.

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks, Mr. Nightime. And if that's the case, then say hello to my little Oxygen 8 midi controller, too!

[Hammodel AV]

I would concurn that "Green Onions" is mandatory! I *think* there are a few Hammond players around here (I have a 1936 Hammond AV, a 1959 Hammond A100, two Leslies, and a E-MU B-3 module). The learning suggestions above are all good. I only got Hammond console(s) in the last eight years, but learned on a Hammond spinet back in 1971. And my organ teacher was a fanatic about how to switch a Leslie while playing, so I learned that part as a 12 year old. You are going to have fun, though, I promise.

[GlendaleViper]

Oh, it already is. Futzing around with the Korg's Leslie sim (certainly no replacement) and the reverb, chorus/vibrato and key click paramaters is an awful lot of fun and I'm starting to get the hang of how the drawbars work with one another. I love how the Hammond really is like a synth in a way, but with such fundamentally related functions that it's second nature to work with once you get the hang of it. Very mechanical and classically analogue.

 

[Mr. Nightime]

I would concurn that "Green Onions" is mandatory! I *think* there are a few Hammond players around here (I have a 1936 Hammond AV, a 1959 Hammond A100, two Leslies, and a E-MU B-3 module). The learning suggestions above are all good. I only got Hammond console(s) in the last eight years, but learned on a Hammond spinet back in 1971. And my organ teacher was a fanatic about how to switch a Leslie while playing, so I learned that part as a 12 year old. You are going to have fun, though, I promise.

 

Back in my garage band days my drummer gave me the Booker T album that "Green Onions" is on. I still have it.

 

 

[Jim Alfredson]

About all you can do is practice. I learned by listening to Jimmy Smith and practicing. As with anything in life that is worthwhile, it takes time and effort.

 

I can't stress enough how important it is to learn your scales... no skipping on scales. Sure, they are boring, but that is what will make your playing. You should know this from playing guitar.

 

If you get frustrated or un-inspired, go see some live music with an organist or go to YouTube and watch some videos. They should inspire you to want to play!

 

My band has several vids on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=organissimo

 

Good luck!

[Joe P]

Mr. Viper,

Learn all the major and minor triads and all their inversions in both hands. A little goes a long way on a Hammond, and, I assume on a clonewheel. Good luck and welcome.

Regards,

Joe

[b3_john]

I was originally a pianist, I used to just watch Brent Mydland play, esp. arena-type shows where I could see from above and to the side. Then I'd go back to the rehearsal studio and just bang on the keys until I got that same effect. Same thing watching Tom Coster when he played with Santana, and later when the ABB started back with their reunion tours (of course they are playing pretty much full time now). As a rock instrument, the Hammond isn't just *played* its more of an experience (see my sig below).

 

John

[GlendaleViper]

As a rock instrument, the Hammond isn't just *played* its more of an experience (see my sig below).

 

John

 

John, you are a poet. This is what has always attracted me to the Hammond (beyond that wonderful sound) and indeed, is what inspired me to pick it up.

[Blues Disciple]

I agree with everyone here. Listen, listen and listen more to the great Hammond players. Each player brings something different to the instrument. My favorite for technique is Gregg Allman...he really knows how to use Hammond to augment a song. I agree also with the suggestion about inversions and chording. There are times when a three note chord is too much and where one note will do better. Other times call for both hands at one time power chords. The sound on a Hammond, including its volume and how it cuts through the mix with the rest of the band changes from one end of the keyboard to the other, so get to know how the keyboard responds, learn the drawbars and the art of building or shaping a sound using them---to me that is all important. Then move to working with chorus, vibrato, percussion and the all important Leslie component. Then go to the "tricks"--the glissandos, the slaps, and all the rest. The best way to play Hammond is to learn all you can about it. Playing it correctly can make or break a song. So practice, experiment, listen, practice, experiment, listen all the time. To me you don't just play a Hammond, you drive one---in the right hands sometimes it can as smooth as a Cadillac and other times it can be a bumpy Hummer and still other times it can be a wide open Top Fuel or NASCAR screaming beast....how you drive it determines what it is.

 

There are a handful of good DVD's out there too. I have never bought or used one, but I hear they are good. Also research the Hammond on the Internet and learn about all the about plus the technical part of the Instrument, which in turn will lead to knowing it and better playing of it.

 

In one way be thankful you are not learning on a console. My C3 at times is an adventure because often it does something surprising that I didn't know it could do....fifty year old electronics can do that.

 

Have Fun.

 

BD