Keyboard instruction book for experienced guitar player

[Coopers]

Hi all. I'm an experienced guitar and bass player with a modest home studio. I'm mainly into metal, but as I love industrial music and basically think metal sounds better with keys, I have just bought myself a Roland Fantom X6.

 

I was just wondering if anyone could recommend a good instruction book that will give me a crash course on the keyboard. As I'm an experienced musician and can already play a few chords and simple tunes on the keys, I'm basically looking for a book that will give me a recap on the basics and then move on to more advanced stuff at a fairly quick pace. Also a book that can help me navigate the features (sampling, MIDI tracks etc) would be great.

 

Thanks in advance.

[CEB]

Can you read both bass and treble clef?

 

A crash course on synths I like may be beyond what you want. I like Fred Welsh's stuff.

 

Something like this MAY be of use if you can read.

http://www.amazon.com/Progressive-Rock-Keyboard-Leonard-Series/dp/1423409213#_

 

As far as playing technique, What you ask is tough because most of us learn through a pedagogy that took us through the basics systematically and built on that base through techinical studies over the course of years. There really isn't any book that teaches a guitar player over the course of 200 pages to play Jordan Rudess types of things. There are good studies but nothing aimed specifically at a guitar player.

 

Fred Welsh does a nice job at presenting synthesis programming. I'm sure there are some nice books the present other gear overviews also.

 

I am a halfway accomplished guitarist. I started on keys but and took up a guitar years later. My 1st guitar book was Mel Bay Book 1. I progressed quickly because of my knowledge of theory bu there were no short cuts. I still had to prgress one step at a time thanks to some really good teachers.

[The Real MC]

They have keyboard tabs

[Coopers]

Thanks very much CEB. Yes, I can read both clefs, so that book you recommended does indeed look helpful and I'll probably order it.

 

It seems like I will have to add a number of books to my collection, as what I'm looking to cover is fairly extensive. I'm not looking to be a wiz like Rudess, but instead want to learn more simple things that can complement my guitar work. Nevertheless, I still have a lot to learn.

 

Thanks for your help.

[Coopers]

They have keyboard tabs

 

Don't worry, unlike many guitarists I can actually read music.

[stoken6]

I'm not clear - are you interested in playing, or sound design, or both? I would expect those to be covered by different books.

 

As a starter, get to know all your inversions. Voice leading is very important on keys.

 

Cheers. Mike

[nickd]

YouTube is overflowing with 'how to play' videos for piano/keyboards, so if you're looking to learn specific songs that's a great resource. You could do worse than thinking of songs with a keyboard part you'd like to play, and see if someone has done a tutorial on YouTube.

 

If you're specifically interested in Hammond organ, I'd recommend this book (which I've got - it's a solid backgrounder and covers multiple playing styles, and assumes zero existing knowledge):

http://www.amazon.com/Hammond-Organ-Complete-Dave-Limina/dp/0634014331/

[WesG]

Matt Woodward, is this you? LOL

 

Do yourself a favour and pick up the brown book of scales and arpeggios at your local music store. 10 or 12 bucks. Playing these correctly will help you a lot in the long run.

 

Wes

[GovernorSilver]

I went to my last piano teacher after a long layoff from playing piano. He had me get this book:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Adult-All---One-Course-Technic/dp/088284931X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1418408462&sr=1-1

 

He also had me get Vol. 2:

http://www.alfred.com/Products/Alfreds-Basic-Adult-All-in-One-Course-Book-2--00-14534.aspx

 

I know you said you wanted a "fairly quick pace" but some things just take time to get down, like basic hand independence, curling your fingers, etc. You could probably skip some songs that bore you, but don't skip the Hanon exercises. Try to learn at least a handful of songs you can play from start to finish in time with a metronome. Make sure you learn songs in keys other than C major or A minr. Vol. 3 is almost all repertoire (very little in the way of theory or technique lessons) so you might be able to skip that.

 

For learning the features of your Roland keyboard, Google search says there are Fantom tutorials on Youtube you can watch and a book or two in Amazon.

[Coopers]

Thanks very much to everyone. I've already ordered two of these books and am looking into rest.