The Anti-Keyboardists

[The Real MC]

Anti-keyboard guitar player made this mix with keyboards removed: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uK6jVsEYS44

 

Here's a screenshot where he admits he hates keyboards:
 

[Docbop]

One of my favorite movies was Barfly with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway.    I'll alter one of the scenes to fit this situation.   

 

Dunaway...   I hate keyboards players.

 

Rourke...   You shouldn't hate anyone it not good.

 

Dunaway...   Ok.   Keyboard players, I feel so much better when they aren't around. 

[synthdogg]

I love the top comment: “Listening to this is like eating pizza with all of the cheese and pepperoni scraped off.”

[Stokely]

A lot of the music I listen to doesn't have keys   

A lot of bands around here don't use keys for whatever reasons.  Don't have multiple singers either, which I find super-boring.

Of course, the solution for a lot of bands is just to have keys and vocals tracks, which I won't stick around to listen to.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

I think I have some of those folks in my band picking songs....

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

But seriously, we're currently learning "Alabama Getaway" by the Grateful Dead and I'm surprised by some of the comments I am reading on the live versions on Youtube.  It seems some fans didn't care for the "plinky dinky" keyboard sounds from the late Brent Mydland.  Well, it is what it is, and I'd think their fans would accept it as it is.  But I was surprised to hear an interview with (I think) Mickey Hart who said keyboards (well, piano in particular) didn't belong in their music.  I guess everyone has an opinion. 

[BenWaB3]

"The Anti-Keyboardists" Yeah, and they all end up making their wishes come true by becoming sound-men. 😀

[John Tweed]

I was in a band with this guy (pr someone just like him) back when he played drums. Anytime he could hear keys at all they were too loud, according to him (it was an eighties tribute band, so lots of keys). He would always tell our sound guys he just needed to hear the guitar. Don’t miss that band at all.

[Moonglow]

A while back I asked this guitar player why he didn’t have any keys in his band, as they did a lot of Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Cars, Top Petty…that’s all I can think of at the moment. His answer was that he didn’t want to sound like a wedding band. I recall rather quickly terminating our little chat.

[CHarrell]

21 minutes ago, Moonglow said:

A while back I asked this guitar player why he didn’t have any keys in his band, as they did a lot of Journey, Fleetwood Mac, Cars, Top Petty…that’s all I can think of at the moment. His answer was that he didn’t want to sound like a wedding band. I recall rather quickly terminating our little chat.

 

You terminated the "chat", of course.   ....we won't tell if you don't.

[Legatoboy]

I was working at one of my computer gigs not to long before retirement and someone mentioned to someone in another department who I did not know that I played keyboards and had the guy call during the lunch break to talk, he had worked as a bassplayer for a successful LI, NY artist with a few nationwide mega radio hits for a period of time in the late 70's and 80's. So we talked and started to talk about each others musical  backgrounds ..... I told him about my rock resume that had some pro-affiliations, after he mentioned the star who was famous with a string of nationwide 'hits' ...I was/am to a certian degree impressed with that, I know that territory and what goes into that type of work from my playing in late 60's and 70's and more recently also...but told him that I also played some classical and involved with jazz ... and he basically almost ended the conversation right there, he seemed at tht point that had to keep the some sort of upper hand and I instantly became aware of that... and adamently said..... "no, no ,no ... I don't get involved with any of that.. no" ..  in semi-hostile tone to boot, as if I was trying to outdo him....(that says a lot right there) ...  feeling like I had to try to remedy the call,  I said that working with those musics sort of comes along with the keyboard players territory, it helps you get around and know your instrument better and technique etc ... he still jumped off the phone quickly after that.... I just write those people off,... you have to....ignorance/ego go hand in hand especially in rock and roll but at the philharmonic also ....  

 

Very transparent how people define themselves through their ego's in Rock and Roll..really in any art...art/music in general has alot of this type of stuff going on in it ... sometimes best to say nothing if your digging the gig or give them a crumb to make themselves feel better about themselves peridocally. I understand the 'string only mentality' all to well ... People will define you through their perceived personal 'strengths' and positions in almost anything not just music .... and often, they feel they gain strength by defining themselves by rejecting others ..... sort of 'working from fear' ... which is never good for anyone , but you can't tell folks like that that.... they need the crutch to keep going!  We all have that going on to some degree in life, but best to keep tabs on that sort of stuff if you want to grow as a person and in life in general ....     I have really no trouble with any instrument or players of ..... I play a bit of guitar.... it's a relaxing axe, easy to get in the door on..  with a beautiful tone (acoustic or non), always did...oh well! 

 

[UnderGroundGr]

Two of my rock/hard rock/metal projects has no electric guitar or bass guitar. I like guitar and bass very much but I would like to do something different that many others did in the past. Is it wrong? No.

Anyone has his opinion, but I do not understand how someone can hate a musical instrument...😉

[Old No7]

5 minutes ago, UnderGroundGr said:

...I do not understand how someone can hate a musical instrument...

 

My take on this is:  Their attitude says more about them than the things they hate.

 

Old No7

[Old No7]

"It was pregnant!"

 

Ted shooting the "baby mutant" in the above video was funny -- from the title we knew what he was up to, but I didn't expect that!

 

Old No7

[ProfD]

I saw a performance by American punk rock band Green Day on a New Year's Eve TV show.

 

Sure enough, Green Day's touring KB player Jason Freese is set up behind a stack of guitar amps.

 

It's only by accident that the KB player was in any band shots as the camera pans. Every now and then there was a glimpse of his hat. He looked like an off-stage-hand. Any KB parts were buried in the mix.

 

Maybe there are songs in a Green Day concert where KBs are present. Regardless, I'd imagine the gig pays very well.

 

Otherwise, I'll never see the point of KB players joining bands that really don't want them and/or where they mainly serve as window dressing.😎

[Tusker]

The launching of Guitar World in 1980 and the apotheosis of the guitar to heights of fetishization, is both a symptom and a cause of anti-keyboard sentiment in Rock music. The guitar after all is an everyman's everyday instrument. It was hardly seen in the concert hall till the 20th century. But the anti-elitist elitism of rock music flips the script. Street cred is cred and who cares if we guitarists are secretly stealing techniques from every other "elite" instrumentalist, from Paganini to Miles?

 

I work with guitar players who are often far better musicians. I learn profound things from them. The less they have drunk the kool-aid, the more they have invested in music and the more rewarding the interaction. 

[time4jazz]

1 hour ago, ProfD said:

Regardless, I'd imagine the gig pays very well.

 

Otherwise, I'll never see the point of KB players joining bands that really don't want them and/or where they mainly serve as window dressing.😎

Likewise, I don’t understand why a number of bands even want keyboard players when they bury the keys deep in the mix (they say the keys are “too loud” merely because they can hear them!). 

[KuruPrionz]

I'm a guitarist and I am definitely not anti-keyboard. I've played in quite a few bands with keyboard artists and am friends with even more. 

Sometimes reality rears it's ugly head. There are 2 or 3 local venues that I play and there would be room for one typical keyboard player by themselves but no more than that. 

I've seen a trio playing on one of those places, a guitarist/singer and a saxophone player in the stage area and a harmonica player sitting in a chair over a few feet. 

With somebody playing a vertical rack of 25 keys, they could have been where the sax player was standing. I've never seen anybody do that, I have seen lots of 88 keys players and now you need a much larger stage for everybody to fit. 

 

That could be one reason, lack of space. 

[Anderton]

In light of the first video, maybe John Cage's 4:33 is just Beethoven's piano sonata #7 with the keyboards removed. 🤣

 

 

[BenWaB3]

1 hour ago, Tusker said:

The launching of Guitar World in 1980 and the apotheosis of the guitar to heights of fetishization, is both a symptom and a cause of anti-keyboard sentiment in Rock music. The guitar after all is an everyman's everyday instrument. It was hardly seen in the concert hall till the 20th century. But the anti-elitist elitism of rock music flips the script. Street cred is cred and who cares if we guitarists are secretly stealing techniques from every other "elite" instrumentalist, from Paganini to Miles?

 

I work with guitar players who are often far better musicians. I learn profound things from them. The less they have drunk the kool-aid, the more they have invested in music and the more rewarding the interaction. 

 Anti-elitist elitism. I've never heard that before but think it's a great phrase.

[Docbop]

I played guitar and bass for over 60 years.   I worked in a music school for about 10 year.   I attended MI which it's main program is guitar.   I was recording engineer and most my friends then and now are musicians and a mix of instruments including keyboard players.   I never heard of all this crap you guy are talking about with anti keyboard or similar stuff.   So this thread is really weird to me make me wonder how much is real and how much is just trying to read something into situations that doesn't exist. 

[Stokely]

I haven't really either, not "anti keyboard".  What I have heard at my lowly level is "it's way too hard to find a keys player that is both good and not making more money doing solo gigs."   So a lot of cover bands just go without or run tracks.

Face it, for rock music unless you are really leaning into the 80s or other keys-heavy songs, keyboards are optional.  Even songs like Brown eyed girl, Margaritaville, etc etc that have keys are done all the time by bands without them (including my own during the first part of covid when I sat out for a couple years.)   Ever seen many bands doing classic rock without a guitarist?  The one I recall from many years ago featured the keys player playing--you guessed it--guitar parts with a guitar sound on his keyboard (and quite well honestly)  

I'm sure in other genres it may well be the guitarists that feel undervalued, I've always played in rock bands so I can't say.

Eh, I feel valued in my current band despite the guitar-centric nature of our music.  I actually enjoy the challenge of adding appropriate keys parts to songs that don't have them.   It's a blank canvas and nobody can ever say I'm not playing the part right!  Granted, some songs just don't work well with keys (like, what do you add to Basket Case or Dirty Deeds?)   My current thought is for such songs--if you can't beat 'em, join 'em   Yep, hoping to get up on stage and play some guitar before I keel over.   I'm as scared to do it as I was to play keyboards in my first band at 15....

[jazzpiano88]

7 hours ago, UnderGroundGr said:

Anyone has his opinion, but I do not understand how someone can hate a musical instrument...😉

In some cases, it’s not so much a matter of hate, but treating it like a poisonous snake.  E.g. the bagpipe 

[The Real MC]

4 hours ago, Docbop said:

I never heard of all this crap you guy are talking about with anti keyboard or similar stuff.   So this thread is really weird to me make me wonder how much is real and how much is just trying to read something into situations that doesn't exist. 

 

You don't have to just hear it, you can see it in the actions.  I promise you, that disposition does exist and not just with guitar players.

 

I'm not anti-guitarist; I'm anti-attitude.

[stoken6]

5 hours ago, Docbop said:

I never heard of all this crap you guy are talking about with anti keyboard or similar stuff

I've guested with the house band at a jam, where a slide guitarist comes up to play a blues (yes, a blues!) and says "no keys in this one, thanks". 

 

I've also had plenty of "we'd like to add keys to expand our sound and allow us to cover more varied sounds" quite a lot. Most people understand that keys are essential to a versatile band.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[Stokely]

My favorite was in my band in college (we traveled around to different frats).  We switched suddenly from a more classic pop/rock sets to ones filled with alternative rock (which at the time was REM, Stone Roses, Camper Van Beethoven, Psych Furs and so on).  On the harder rock side, Jane's Addiction, Chili Peppers and the like.  our guitarist kind of gingerly approached me and wanted me not to play on some of those, because keyboards really sounded a bit cheesy.   He wasn't wrong--what in the hell am I going to add to Pigs in Zen by Jane's Addiction when I have a JX-10 and an Emu Proteus?

And yes the correct answer is don't have a ****ing keyboard player if you are going to play songs where keyboards don't fit but we were all young and dumb.  Now I'm in bands where everyone is old and dumb.

[Docbop]

25 minutes ago, Stokely said:

 He wasn't wrong--what in the hell am I going to add to Pigs in Zen by Jane's Addiction when I have a JX-10 and an Emu Proteus?

Do like the horn players and sneak off the stage and grab another beer.   

[KuruPrionz]

34 minutes ago, Stokely said:

He wasn't wrong--what in the hell am I going to add to Pigs in Zen by Jane's Addiction when I have a JX-10 and an Emu Proteus?

I'm a guitarist and more than once I've simply turned my guitar all the way down and acted like I was playing because the keys and bass had everything the song needed. 
I don't think anybody ever noticed, I know nobody ever mentioned it to me. 

[Docbop]

51 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

I'm a guitarist and more than once I've simply turned my guitar all the way down and acted like I was playing because the keys and bass had everything the song needed. 
I don't think anybody ever noticed, I know nobody ever mentioned it to me. 

 

What I'd do in situations like that was mute the strings and play rhythmic patterns like a percussionist.   In fact now playing piano it's something I miss being able to mute notes and play rhythmic patterns.  The Jazz guitar legend Herb Elis used to do that, he had a way of slapping his guitar making and playing bongo sounds and rhythms. 

[KuruPrionz]

I've done that too sometimes.