Keyboardists who play guitar as 2nd instrument

[The Real MC]

Roll call for keyboard players whose 2nd instrument is guitar

 

I learned rhythm guitar out of necessity, when the band would play songs with no keyboard parts. It was also convenient in that the band did not need two guitar players, which is hard for a keyboard player to cut through (and one less member to split up pay).

 

I got good enough that on occasion I was showing the primary guitar player how some parts were played. Having grown up with a bad a## guitar playing brother, I was exposed to all the good guitar amps of the 1970s and I could dial up those sounds on my amp modeler. As an EE I learned the different architectures of tube guitar amps and why they sound the way they do.

 

More than one guitar player have said "how does a keyboard player know so much about guitars and amps?". My retort has always been "I adopt the adage of a West Point graduate - know your enemy". That always gets a laugh.

[MAJUSCULE]

Well, I picked up drums, sax, and bass first, but I am also now working on guitar out of both necessity and desire.

[Mike Kent]

Guitar is the most played instrument in the world. I decided that If millions of people have learned, then I could, too. So I started on guitar five years ago.

I kept my goal limited to being a supportive rhythm player. No need to be able to play leads, leave those to the main guitarist.

Within about 6 months, playing only 1-2 hours a week, I was happy to graduate from beginner to mediocre. ;-)

 

I've only had a chance to play guitar in a live event a couple of times, when the set list suited an additional guitar instead of keyboards.

 

I haven't played much at all during Covid lockdowns. Given that my skill was not very deep, I think I've regressed a long way. I think with a few weeks of focus I could get back up to mediocre.

[stoken6]

I couldn't get the hang of a pick, but I can fingerstyle a bit. I took up bass when I realised, and I'm "adequate" there. Like others, I have let my skills slip recently (I was gigging on bass a fair amount in my youth).

 

But I can talk to guitarists in their language, and show them shapes, riffs and lines - and that's almost more useful.

 

Cheers, Mike.

[RABid]

Keyboard

Drums

Guitar

Trumpet

Sax

Bass

 

Every instrument teaches me a bit more about music. I was never really good at guitar or sax, but they pushed me to get more expressive leads out of my synth.

[BEMcCut]

I have been in the role of keyboard/guitar player for a long time. The ability to cover both has gotten me lots of work over the years. One less person in the band meant more money for everyone. Some harmonica and being to sing harmony and lead vocals makes me marketable. Despite the fact I do all of this on mediocre level usually doesn't seem to deter bands from hiring me.

[Ken Beaumont]

Since the late 70's I have played drums, keyboard, guitar, bass as well as fronting vocals for a band for 13 years. I have always just supplied whatever was needed. Right now I'm currently playing keys and guitar, mostly keys in a band that has played only 2 gigs in the last year! Right now there are only a couple of places to play and a couple dozen local acts as well as bands from Richmond VA, that never would travel this far before for pay that is half what we were getting pre-pandemic.

[Marzzz]

Been playing off and on since the mid 90"s, just as a change from keyboards. I am an adequate rhythm guitarist, no leads beyond simple lines. Have two decent guitars, one is 'strat-like' and the other is a tele-shaped mahogany/maple top two humbucker 24 3/4 scale.

 

What I would also like to do is learn to play drums.

[Dave Bryce]

 

Has been since high school. Mostly acoustic for the majority of my life...but, as some of you may have heard, I recently got a bit into the electric guitar thing.

 

dB

[johnchop]

Just joined the party myself. Having a good time. Playing daily and sucking less week by week.

 

All I want to do is play some tunes I like (which are currently beyond my skill level and hand strength... 'Solsbury Hill' anyone?) and stop playing fake guitar on tracks I"m writing.

[Dave Bryce]

Just joined the party myself. Having a good time. Playing daily and sucking less week by week.

You and me both! Hours every day for me...I love it to bits. Gotten into the pedals thing yet? Like modular synths, except with this wildly dynamic audio source instead of VCO...

 

All I want to do is play some tunes I like (which are currently beyond my skill level and hand strength... 'Solsbury Hill' anyone?) and stop playing fake guitar on tracks I"m writing.

For me there's an element of playing tunes/parts I know really well but have never really played - probably bashed them out on the piano at some point, but not the same thing. Old Beatles songs. You Really Got Me. I Can See For Miles. You get the idea....

 

Heck, the other day, I played Eyesight to the Blind - I've known it since I was ten years old, but never even tried to play it on the piano. DAMN, that was fun.

 

dB

[ElmerJFudd]

A musician is a musician, the instruments are just what we choose to express ourselves on. One may be mainly a pianist or most proficient on keyboard instruments, but I"d bet most can carry a tune with decent enough pitch and rhythm, figure out what has to happen on a guitar or sax. The rest is time spent.

 

I enjoy guitar and bass playing, drum set. I"ll sing a few songs in a set, prefer to harmonize. I"ve fiddled with trumpet - I struggled with breath control on that, found it exhausting. The woodwinds are easier for me in that respect. Violin is a great exercise in tuning your finger to ear, the chin/neck thing isn"t comfortable for me, I"m sure there"s a sweet spot there you get used to. Any way, try out a few things if you have the time and access to something else! You can always differ to someone who does it better when they show up for the gig.

[roygBiv]

I have been in the role of keyboard/guitar player for a long time. The ability to cover both has gotten me lots of work over the years. One less person in the band meant more money for everyone. Some harmonica and being to sing harmony and lead vocals makes me marketable. Despite the fact I do all of this on mediocre level usually doesn't seem to deter bands from hiring me.

 

Pretty much my story too, except the harmonica part - and getting any money

[CEB]

I play both. Started piano around 6 or 7. Classical piano pedagogy. Dad was a player I started on one of his guitars around ten. I started wanking on guitar by ear later got lessons from some good teachers. Piano"s theoretical methodology gave me a boost on learning other instruments. Guitar"s reliance on ear to learn current music made me a keyboardist. I suck equally on both. I play steel, dobro, banjo, and flunked out of fiddle school. The bow is hard.

[Shamanczarek]

I have been doing Keyboard and Guitar since the early 70s. In the early 90s I started doing left-hand Bass along with Bass Guitar when no Keys were needed. These days I play some gigs that are all Keys, some that are Keys and Guitar, and Bass-only gigs. I can also do occasional Flute when the need arises. I have a few Guitars for different gigs. If I only need to do rhythm I bring a Rickenbacker 320. When lead Guitar is required I use a Fender Strat. I also have a Rick 12-string if the situation calls for it. My main Guitar amp is a Vox AC15 but also have a Fender 65 Twin Reissue and a blonde Music Man 112RD One Hundred with E-V speaker.

[octa]

keyboard, trumpet, bass, guitar, & was a decent drummer, but it's been awhile.

[RABid]

... I can also do occasional Flute when the need arises. ...

 

I have a decent Yamaha flute but have not learned to play it yet. I've actually played drums, keys, trumpet, guitar and bass in paying bands. Drums, sax and trumpet in marching band. My only fail was clarinet. Not sure why. I could play sax but could not get a decent sound out of a clarinet. Bought a banjo when I retired 2 years ago. Have not even tuned it yet.

[GovernorSilver]

flunked out of fiddle school. The bow is hard.

 

Agreed. People think the fretless neck is the hard part - no, it's the bow.

 

I just got my acoustic viola back from the shop. It had one of those bridges with a built-in pickup but the pickup stopped working, then a couple of tuning pegs got stuck. Since I already have my trusty Yamaha YEV-105 electric fiddle for playing with the loud rock band, I decided to get the acoustic viola fixed up, with the bridge replaced with a regular bridge (no pickup, no wires). I'm still not very good at playing it but I'm really enjoying getting reacquainted with my viola, as the shop fixed it up real nice.

 

I'm GASing though for a fretted electric violin. I'm well aware these days of the reasons why Mark Wood and other electric fiddlers who play in loud amplified situations use fretted fiddles. I have a recording of our band rehearsal in which I played a whole step out of tune with the guitarist - something about all those frequencies from cymbals, electric guitar,voice, etc. really messes with a fiddler's ability to intonate on the fly unless their standing at the perfect spot in relation to their amp.

[ChiefDanG]

I can play decent rhythm guitar. First guitar song I ever played in public was 'Midnight Special' . First 'lead' was 'Can"t Get Enough of Your Love' (BadCo). From early 80s to early 90s I strummed chords on my acoustic/elect in a few songs per gig - country stuff, CCR, etc. If there"s no keys in a song, and I can handle the 2nd guitar part, it adds a whole lot to putting the song over.

RealMC mentioned how guitarists used to wonder how a keys player got so guitar-smart. I used to work in a busy music store. The owner taught me how to setup guitars (change strings, intonate, p/u adjust, minor fret work, adjust tremolo systems....). I didn"t amaze anybody, but I was amazed at how many guitarists didn"t know crap about their instrument.

 

'I lined up all my bridge bits, and now it sounds weird '

'I raised my p/u"s as high as I could to get a hot output - now I"m getting weird sounds'

'The 13th fret was buzzing. I filed it down and now the 14th fret is buzzing!'

'What"s intonation?'

 

I imagine this has gotten better over the years.

[BbAltered]

I'm impressed by anyone who devotes themselves to learning two or more instruments - moreso if one of those instruments is a piano. The piano demands so much.

 

A while back, I imagined I would learn the clarinet. I had heard it was an easy instrument to learn. I got an instrument at a garage sale and took lessons. And then stopped because any time I spent on the clarinet felt like taking away from what I hope to do with the piano. I could not get past the thought that I should be spending that time with the piano.

 

I have a melodica - I don't spend any time on that either.

 

I do love to sing popular music and even occasionally lead sing simple stuff (blues, Dylan, Neil Young, etc) at friendly jams and hootenannies. I spend very little time "practicing" singing. I sing Ray Charles' MaryAnn with the Soul Dance band; that required some practice to be able to sing while playing the rhymthic piano parts.

[TommyRude]

Keyboardists who play guitar as 2nd instrument

Does this include air guitar? If yes, then yeah.. oh hell yeah! If I don't practice consistently, my air guitar chops can diminish, but with a few sessions they come right back.

[dbran]

I grew up with piano lessons and started playing synths in bands in the late 80s. Always thought the guitar was a cool, mysterious thing but just never took the plunge to try to learn it. I remember hearing Zeppelin's "Over The Hills and Far Away" on my car radio one day in high school and thinking, "what a cool riff... and you know, it doesn't sound THAT hard..."

 

Finally one summer I decided to give it a try. I heard Edgar Winter's "Free Ride" on the radio, and that was it -- that riff was so cool, I just had to see if I could learn to play this instrument. Started with a Mel Bay book of chords and an acoustic guitar... that was hard as heck to play, so a friend helped me pick out an electric, a Squier Strat, and the first guitar song I played in front of people was Jumpin' Jack Flash. From that point on, I've always played both keys and guitars in most of the bands I've been in -- as the Real MC says, it's really handy to not have to force keys into a song where only guitars are required.

 

I love playing the guitar. So many cool sounds, pedals, amps, modelers, the whole thing... I'll never be a hot lead player, but I've become a pretty good rhythm player by learning from the (way better) guitarists in the bands. Actually I've had this dream for a long time of just being the rhythm guitarist -- life would be so simple at the rehearsals and gigs! -- but of course the keys are what get my foot in the door with bands to begin with, so I doubt it will ever happen. So I'm always schlepping twice the gear everywhere, to maintain this flexibility. It's gotten better over the years as guitar modeling has improved and allowed me to play both instruments through the same amps, so the load is lighter than it used to be.

 

30 years later, I'm still working on "Free Ride!" What a fiendishly difficult little riff that is... but I've gotten to play both that one and the Zeppelin in various cover bands, and it's quite a thrill!

[The Real MC]

Yeah my playing has progressed as far as it could go. I can play Free Ride, but I can't play it fast or consistent no matter how much I practice. Other songs are like that too. My picking technique doesn't improve with practice and it is still sloppy. That's why I stuck to rhythm guitar and let the primary guitar player handle the leads. I'm a far better bass player than guitar player. Yeah yeah "frustrated guitar player" I get it LOL

[ABECK]

I started playing 2 years ago. The learning curve surprised me. Not so much the notes and chords (although that is very different than what I'm used to), but the techniques and articulations. Minimizing string noise is so critical, but also so hard at first. Then there's all kinds of things like bending and finger angle and pressure levels and thumb position and right hand muting and pick angle and pick depth and pick direction. It is a LOT of stuff that eventually just gets built into a player's vocabulary, but at first seems insurmountable. That being said, as one starts to learn technique, the expressiveness of the instrument is quite more than I'm used too. I find it a very enjoyable instrument to play. (Ancillary benefit is my pitch bend technique on keyboard is more thought out than it used to be).

[zeronyne]

I"ve played piano and drums for the same amount of time (started them on the same day 44 years ago). In my 30s, I started playing bass and guitar (I moderate the Lowdown Lowdown, not that that means anything).

 

Frankly, I should be much better at all of these instruments I"m blessed to own.

[Dave Bryce]

I started playing 2 years ago. The learning curve surprised me. Not so much the notes and chords (although that is very different than what I'm used to), but the techniques and articulations.

This is among my favorite aspects of the guitar. SO much control over the tone with touch. Mind-blowing. Even hanging on one note for a few bars just picking and pulling is an amazing experience.

 

It's funny - modular synth thing doesn't hold my attention, but a custom-designed pedal board for my guitars is an endless source of fascination for me at the moment...and it's the variability in the tone I'm talking about above that makes the difference for me. Things like delay, distortion, reverb, envelope filter etc are soooo much fun when you've got such fine conrol over the source tone.

 

dB

[ABECK]

a custom-designed pedal board for my guitars is an endless source of fascination for me at the moment...and it's the variability in the tone I'm talking about above that makes the difference for me. Things like delay, distortion, reverb, envelope filter etc are soooo much fun when you've got such fine conrol over the source tone.

 

dB

 

Absolutely - The guitar gear rabbit hole might be worse than synths (but none of it is bad as photography!!)

[GovernorSilver]

I blame my retina for disrupting my path towards competency on the keyboards.

 

It was the operation to repair retinal detachment that got me stuck for a couple of months with my face in mandatory face-down position, which made guitar playing much more inviting than continuing my piano practice.

[AWkeys]

Guitar is the first instrument I ever laid hands on as a yute. One of my older brothers bought me a cheap nylon-string classical, and I beat the crap out of it! I'd tape keychains to the body to simulate distortion, use D-cell batteries as slides, try to bend notes (most of you guitar players know that nylon strings just roll under your finger when you try to bend them), but I picked out the E 12-bar blues and the Dorian scale by ear at an early age. Then I played trumpet and picked up piano/keys in my early teens. I kinda play keys as a frustrated guitarist. That's why the 70s keyboard gods were my earliest influences - synthesizers that could bend notes were very intriguing to my ears. And the mighty Hammond organ could sound as big or bigger than any guitar!

 

Nowadays I'm known as a keyboardist and vocalist, but I bring an acoustic on my solo gigs and play that about a third of the time. I also bring an acoustic, sometimes an electric as well, to gigs with certain bands. Like others have said, it's nice to play guitar where there's no keyboards needed, and I've been told on more than one occasion that I'm a good rhythm player. I think it's because I am just not good enough to know how to overplay, haha! I also lay guitar tracks on some home-studio session work, and they almost always end up using it. I think as we get older, hopefully our musicianship keeps growing to the point that where we understand the dialog between instruments and vocals and focus on creating music as opposed to trying to impress people - which I really can't do on guitar! I also play bass guitar and have switched off with keyboard-playing bassists.

 

Edited to add: Of course, playing another instrument just adds to the "GAS explosion". I have a LOT of guitar-and bass- related gear that crosses over to keyboards or vice-versa. 5-6 guitar amps, a bass amp or two, tons of effects pedals and racks. I just built my first pedal board, but ironically it was for keyboards. I've pretty much got all the "guitar bases" covered: 6 and 12-string acoustics and electrics, Strat-style, Tele-style, Paul-style, semi-hollow, a couple set up for slide-playing. I'm also looking at getting one of those lap steels that have the levers by the bridge. Oh, and 4 basses. Yeah, never got married and had kids...

 

 

*BTW, anyone else having problems with typing here? Certain letters come up blank or as a "wing-ding" type character or something, but then show up properly in preview. Never seen that before.

[Markay]

Been playing guitar since I was 14. I only play rhythm guitar in a band, there is no shortage of supply of lead guitar heroes. What I have learnt from playing rhythm guitar and translated to keys is that I am there for the song, the only time the audience is aware of my contribution as a rhythm guitar player is when I stop playing, most often hecause I have dropped my pick. Thats a Highway to Hell.