Keyboard for learning music & bass of course

[jar546]

I bought a keyboard to help me understand music better and improve my bass playing. It is a drum machine and much, much more. I am using it as a teaching tool for my self taught "music 101" learning chords and scales. I found it to be extremely helpful with my bass playing. I would recommend a keyboard to anyone learning the bass. It really helps to tie everything together and is also a lot of fun. As any FYI I got a WK 3300 Casio for under $300.

[oscarr111111]

I agree learning to play keys helps a lot, and is good fun. I got a Yamaha Clavinova for £100.

[Phil W]

I learned to play without any keyboard knowledge and my music theory to a decent level - but I wouldn't recommend it. I'd have made much faster progress if I'd learned keyboards at the same time - at least to a basic level as a tool.

The Keyboard Corner (go to forum list at the top) is a great resource; of course they have lots of dull (to me) GAS threads but all us instrumentalists are like that. In terms of theoretical knowledge and chord voicings and playing jazz the amount of knowledge on there is greater than most colleges.

I did converse with a jazz piano player on there who insisted that all good jazz bassplayers can play at least a little piano and some a lot.

I certainly find that although I enjoy playing guitar more (and bass infinitely more), keyboard playing definitely opens up your mind to more possibilities. For example, if guitar is playing Dm7, 90% would play D, F and C in a combination of multiples of those notes (with maybe an A) but a good jazz keyboard player might leave the low D to the bass and play E, A, D, G and B or G, C, F and B or a whole bunch of combinations of notes.

[jar546]

Thanks, nice to see that I made a good decision for once. It definitely helps. I have a lifetime of learning ahead of me now,

 

Jeff