how to play rock & roll?

[eric.B]

or to be more specific: how do you play the fast, continuous 8th or triplet notes with the right hand, like in Toto's Hold the line? I was trying this a couple of times and found my arm got "locked" after a minute. And that's too soon because a lot of rock & roll songs are about 1:45 .

 

Do you strike the keys using the wrist, the forearm or just the fingers? Probably all of them, but I guess you understand what I mean: what technique to use to be able to play a couple of this kind of songs.

[Dave Pierce]

Eric,

 

There are plenty of people here who can give you better technique advice than me. But I play this style a lot and I know exactly what you mean about locking up.

 

For me, the way to prevent that is to make sure my forearm is relaxed and loose while playing. If I let it tighten up, I'm toast by the second chorus.

 

--Dave

[delirium]

ditto what Dave said,

plus this is like with running.

You run everyday then you can run longer

after a while. I don't play that much rock&roll

but the same problem I had with boogie.

Now I can do it all night

[Dave Horne]

eric.b,

 

if your _top foreman_ muscle becomes tense, locked up, or there's pain - you are playing using the wrong set of muscles. Get a teacher who can show you how to play with the least amount of effort.

 

There is a thread here entitled Correct piano technique - search that, read it, but get a teacher to show how to play. You're not going to learn to play from a forum.

 

I took 10 lessons with concert pianist 28 years ago who showed me in the first lesson everything I needed to know for correct technique. Invest some money .... you'll thank me later.

 

You pick up golf, you pay the golf pro for a few lessons to learn how to swing the club.

 

How to play rock and roll? ... one hand or two?

[eric.B]

Thanks for the info, I'll take a look at the thread and practice more. And Dave, I agree that by reading posts on a forum one cannot learn to play. I did take several lessons some years ago, but that almost made me quit playing as it took all the fun out of it for me. I learned the basics then and went on playing. I enjoy it and I am still making progress. So what more do I want?

 

BTW, I remember I asked my teacher the same question then, but didn't got an answer which helped. Perhaps not the right teacher!

[Byrdman]

Originally posted by Dave Pierce:

Eric,

 

There are plenty of people here who can give you better technique advice than me. But I play this style a lot and I know exactly what you mean about locking up.

 

For me, the way to prevent that is to make sure my forearm is relaxed and loose while playing. If I let it tighten up, I'm toast by the second chorus.

 

--Dave

Dave's exactly right. FOr some of us (ie me) the tendency when trying to play fast is to tense up - whichi is fatal. You have to be real relaxed, all the way up your forearm.

 

Start by practicing slow thirds (with just 2 and 4 or 3 and 5 if you've aleady worked on strengthening 5) and speed up until you feel tension creep in, then start over. Concentrate on remaining relaxed (although that's a bit like saying concentrate on not thinking of a polar bear)

 

When you get there you will discover that the wrist is moving up when the hand is moving down. Trying to hold the wrist still is a cause of most of the problems because it creates tension.

 

There's some previous threads on this.

[kanker.]

Originally posted by eric.B:

BTW, I remember I asked my teacher the same question then, but didn't got an answer which helped. Perhaps not the right teacher!

Perhaps the teacher felt it wasn't the right time for you to be taught things like that. there may have been more important things for them to teach you first in order to help you develop to the point that you could be taught stuff like what you're asking.

[vlad335]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rV57lfIsq7c

 

This is Rock and Roll!

[Trill]

Originally posted by eric.B:

or to be more specific: how do you play the fast, continuous 8th or triplet notes with the right hand, like in Toto's Hold the line? I was trying this a couple of times and found my arm got "locked" after a minute. And that's too soon because a lot of rock & roll songs are about 1:45 .

 

Do you strike the keys using the wrist, the forearm or just the fingers? Probably all of them, but I guess you understand what I mean: what technique to use to be able to play a couple of this kind of songs.

The above advice is good

 

Relax.

 

Know the chords and changes without thinking ,this will increase the relaxation process Muscle memory is a huge part of bieng relaxed.

 

Do it every day ,realizing it may take some time, but you will get it.You'll be suprised to see it getting easier. Start off slower to get the muscle memory and then build up speed.

[David Loving]

Just play along with records, that's what we did when we were learning this stuff as kids. Little Richard or Chuck Berry or Jerry Lee Lewis, et al, would put out a new record and we'd play along with it until we knew it - the day we got it. Well it's cd's, mp3 and iPods now. Stick with it. Your arm is just not in "game shape."

[eric.B]

Thanks for the replies. It seems I have some homework to do! And vlad335:

[kad]

Originally posted by vlad335:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rV57lfIsq7c

 

This is Rock and Roll!

What would make this video perfect is if he were to pick up the keyboard at the end and smash it on the table and kick over the boxes behind him - a la Keith Moon.

[Garrafon]

Originally posted by vlad335:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rV57lfIsq7c

 

This is Rock and Roll!

Excellent instructional video, but I'm still having a difficult time figuring out what the "terd" beat is? I never learned that in theory class.

[David Loving]

That's the beat that smells bad.