Hi, i've been learning classical piano for quite awhile, and i want to switch to keyboard. whats the easiest way to pick up all the improvisation stuff and so on? coz KBs cant really be heard that clearly in many songs - unlike guitars - so its a bit harder to learn the song. Other than just reading and holding chords, is there any simply way to spice the KB part up?
Switching from classical to improvisation
- Thread starter m-hawk
- Start date
Heh... i'm making the same transition as you.
Initially it's quite hard but you get the hang of it after a lot of practice. Listening to a lot of styles helps a lot!
The most important thing for me was letting go of my 'shame' and desire not to mess up (i played a band straight away).
I used to feel dumb when holding the chords and playing safe & simple progressions (like 1-3-5) over and over again. This was very embarassing because there was no pleasure in playing simplistic things and even less when *listening* to what I played. When the ears are used to hearing sonatas and the fingers are usually all over the keyboard, playing something so simple gives you too much time to think. And thinking made me feel guilty about not using all my skills
Anyway once I drilled into my head that this was a new field and that I was starting all over again, this became easier to accept!
What I try to do to spice up my playing is learn the groove of the song, and add fills at the end of the 'sentences' or whenever there's a part that I feel is too 'flat'. Harmonizing the melody (from the singers or from other lead instruments) also seems to work quite well at times. If playing in a band, you have to be very careful about clashing with other instruments.
What I am doing right now to improve is to get more comfortable with 'modern' scales such as the blues and jazz scales, as well as revising those old theory notes (pentatonic, circle of fifths, etc.).
Trying out new sounds (the vital ones being hammond, pads & strings) also helps when I have no idea how to fit the piano into a song, especially those fast ones.
Edit: I found this thread very interesting as well: http://soft.com.sg/2006/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=14059
Initially it's quite hard but you get the hang of it after a lot of practice. Listening to a lot of styles helps a lot!
The most important thing for me was letting go of my 'shame' and desire not to mess up (i played a band straight away).
I used to feel dumb when holding the chords and playing safe & simple progressions (like 1-3-5) over and over again. This was very embarassing because there was no pleasure in playing simplistic things and even less when *listening* to what I played. When the ears are used to hearing sonatas and the fingers are usually all over the keyboard, playing something so simple gives you too much time to think. And thinking made me feel guilty about not using all my skills
Anyway once I drilled into my head that this was a new field and that I was starting all over again, this became easier to accept!
What I try to do to spice up my playing is learn the groove of the song, and add fills at the end of the 'sentences' or whenever there's a part that I feel is too 'flat'. Harmonizing the melody (from the singers or from other lead instruments) also seems to work quite well at times. If playing in a band, you have to be very careful about clashing with other instruments.
What I am doing right now to improve is to get more comfortable with 'modern' scales such as the blues and jazz scales, as well as revising those old theory notes (pentatonic, circle of fifths, etc.).
Trying out new sounds (the vital ones being hammond, pads & strings) also helps when I have no idea how to fit the piano into a song, especially those fast ones.
Edit: I found this thread very interesting as well: http://soft.com.sg/2006/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=14059