[Andy]

I am mainly a guitar player however I recently purchased a yamaha keyboard, it has loads of special effects etc, but recently I have decided to try and learn to play it properly. I learned piano for a couple of years as a nipper (8 or 9 years old) but now in my late 30's (well 40 actually) I would like to have another crack at it.
I have started doing some scales and purchased a couple of childrens music books which are quite easy to follow. This is how I learned piano, I intend to put in about half an hours practice a day if time permits, is there another method for keyboards or should I continue as I am already doing ?

Thanks again guys

Yours in Christ

[Nate]

Andy -
I'm gonna assume, since you said you're a guitarist, that you already know WHAT chords are and HOW they are formed. For example..... I'm assuming/hoping/wondering/etc that you know what, for instance, an F major chord is...... F-A-C........

Now, you're learning scales already.... that's very good. That will get you back into the swing of where the different notes are on the piano. Begin to work on some basic chord progressions too(probably very similar to what you did when you first started guitar)...... learn some basic chords..... for example, learn how to play G,C,D,Em chords on the piano, shouldn't be that hard. Then begin to play BY EAR!!! Get a basic chord progression from a song you play on guitar..... and begin to play it on the keyboard. Start off just by playing straight eighths with the chords..... or better yet, just quarter notes! Then begin to get a basic rhythm going (kinda like a strumming pattern on guitar)...... "feel" the song, just play some basic rhythms, play what sounds good! Then begin to add in some of those scales you've been working on...... play the chord for the first two beats of a measure... then for the next two beats, play some of the notes from the scale.... moving to the next chord. Also... begin to look for some books on the style(s) of music you are most interested in...... go to a music store and look for say.... a Rock Keyboard book, or R&B, or Blues, or, or, etc, etc, etc. That will give you a more in-depth look at what kind of stuff keyboards do in different styles. But most of all, have fun!!! If you can't have fun playing music, you're not REALLY playing music at all..... just making a bunch of noise!

[Nate]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ex/sh...443?pid=940022

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/ex/sh...443?pid=425001


The first is a book for keyboard scales and chords......... and the second is an electronic chord finder.

Believe it or not..... keyboardists are often left out in the cold when it comes to music! I mean, guitar players can go to any one of about 100+ sites and find tabs for just about any song they want. Same with bass players.... and even, to a lesser extent, drummers!! But as a keyboard/piano player...... you're pretty much stuck to classical, old hymns, and ragtime when it comes to finding sheet music........ on the web OR otherwise...... there are a fairly decent number of books for contemporary piano music, but not nearly as many as there are for guitar. So most of the time, you'll find yourself going from chord sheets.........

So, that all said, the best "method" for keyboard playing..... is like I said above, to learn chords!! Learn ALL the chords you can..... learn different inversions of them, learn different voicings, learn how to play arpeggios, etc, etc. I realize this is a TOTALLY different way of learning how to play compared to typical, classical piano instruction.... but I think it yields GOOD results much quicker. So, look into a book like the one up there..... that will give you a good basic idea of how chords work on the piano/keyboard........ and I would HIGHLY recommend the chord finder..... with it, you can figure out how to play just about any chord.... so if you've got some music, and a chord like C#m7 pops up... you won't be completely in the dark, you should be able to find it on there. Hope this helps.... tell me if I'm way over your head??? I don't know if I judged your musical level quite right....... I'm kinda assuming you know a little bit about the piano.... and are looking to play kinda more contemporary P&W and CCM type stuff? Correct?

[Nate]

Sorry, I keep coming up with more stuff............ LISTEN!! Listen to as much good piano/keyboard music as you possibly can stand!! Check out artists like Avalon, Nichole Nordeman, Ray Boltz, Rachael Lampa, etc, etc..... just about any artist you like that has piano accompaniment. Also listen to LOTS AND LOTS of praise and worship...... P&W has some of the best keyboard players out there..... and I'm almost certain that most, if not all, of them play completely from chords. Ok, I'm done...... someone else care to add to my mumbo-jumbo?