Music Genre - Keyboard Playing Style Reference Thread

[Blue JC]

I've been reading Mr. Nightime's and Steve Nathan's country music listening suggestions with great interest since I don't know this music as well as I would like and their suggested listening examples are invaluable to that end.

 

Then I started thinking of all of the diverse musical genres and playing styles represented on this forum and I thought it might be helpful to start a thread where listening-for-study and analysis suggestions could be shared for all.

 

We have Jazz, Fushion, Country, Metal, Rock, Blues, Prog, Funk, Accordion, Latin, Ritmo, Ethnic and every other style imaginable represented here from players all over the world.

 

If the folks who play those styles could pick representative examples for listening, analyze them for playing style and talk about what makes them representative of the style on this public space, I think it would educational and helpful for all. I love all kinds of music and one of the reasons that I come here is to learn and be exposed to new music and learn new musical styles.

 

Best,

JC

[Dave Pierce]

This seems over-obvious to me, but I suppose if you're not versed in the genre's this might be useful. I'll keep the list small for now.

 

These all fall into some variant of funk/R&B/soul:

 

James Brown.

Skin-tight pocket, no "extra" notes, heart-felt vocals.

 

The Meters.

Letting the chops shine through, while still leaving tons of "space" in the music.

 

Tower of Power.

Just listen. There are no words for this level of tightness.

 

Parliament/Funkadelic (George Clinton's projects).

Letting the rhythm section drive the tunes. Everything else is just spice. Great use of synths.

 

I'm dying to see what others post about the styles they play.

 

--Dave

[ProfD]

An excellent source of material is compilation CDs especially put out on behalf of a label such as the following:

 

Blue Note--several CDs broken down by theme. All of them contain a wealth of funky jazz keyboard work.

 

CTI: The Master Collection--2 CD set. Same as above. Johnny Hammond, Bob James, Deodato, Hancock, Schfrin, Dave Grusin and Richard Tee. Organ, rhodes, clav, etc.

 

In addition to Herbie Hancock and Bill Evans voicings, these contain 90% of the chords and feel contemporary jazz cats use to this day.

 

Also, the Blue Note and CTI music was the foundation for post-James Brown sample source material for early hip-hop records.

 

Hi Records Soul & R&B Years--Charles Hodges on organ, his brothers on bass & lead guitar & Al Jackson on drums put the church groove in soul music.

 

Stax/Volt compilation CD--Isaac Hayes, Dave Porter and the gang (Bar-Kays) created monster gems/jams.

 

Westbound Sound of Detroit--northern soul/funk. Junie Morrison (Ohio Players/Parliament/Funkadelic) is one of the cats handling key duties here.

 

Copping these kinda compilation CDs will provide some keyboard ear candy and musical knowledge of other genres too.