[twacy2000]

hiya!

I have a little problemo, could u help me plz if possible? I play a little bit of keyboard but I hav only ever played it as a solo instrument (for exams and stuff) and never really in a band environment (the most has prob been just with a singer). Anyway I might be soon playing keyboard within a worship band and I have no idea how to play keyboard as a accompanning (sp?) instrument! the chances are I'll be playing with instruments susch as guitar, voice and maybe some woodwind! eep! Please help if you can! Any help/hints/tips will be much appreciated!

Take care and keep smiling!

Tracy

[guitarplayer4jc]

How familiar are you with music theory? You'll want a solid basis in chord comping and the like. You can find some theory and chord construction lessons on the net. I'd also recommend getting Mark Harrison's The Pop Piano Book. It's a little spendy, but definitely worth it!

[twacy2000]

Cool, thanx! I shouldve mentioned that in the opening post that there will prob be a piano too so I'm just backing up and stuff! Thanx for the tip(s) tho! Any others will be muchly appreciated!

Thank u!
Take care and keep smiling

Tracy

[leiarose]

Hey there! Just analyzing the music in chord progressions is prolly the easiest way. Just arpeggiate and ad lib around the basic skeleton. Have fun!
Rose@-->----

[Nate]

Just play the chords. That is the basis of all keyboard accompaniment playing.

Get a copy of the chord sheets from your guitarist. Make sure you know how to play all of those chords. Now, go sit down at your keyboard, and play them. Try not to play all of them in root position (root/tonic, 3rd, 5th - C, E, G). Use some inversions to keep it from sounding like you're just bouncing around the keyboard. For example: In You Are My King, the progression for the verse is D-Gsus2-Asus-A. Usually, a decent chord sheet for this song will notate the D as a D/F#. This means that you can play the D in first inversion position (F#, A, D rather than D, F#, A) and all the other chords in root position. Go play this progression on your keyboard; first with the D in root position, and then with the D inverted up to the first inversion. Notice how much better the inversion sounds??

So, learn your chords, and learn your inversions; and then learn how to make good choices as far as where to use inversions and which ones to use. For example: In the song Here I Am To Worship, the basic progression I use for the verse is D-Asus-Gsus2-Asus. I invert the D to the second inversion position, leave the Asus in root position, and invert the Gsus2 to first inversion position. This keeps the top note of the chord (which is nearly always the most important one) from jumping around too much; in fact, if you look at those chords and inversions, you'll see that the top note goes from F# to E to G back to E. Minimal movement between voices makes a song flow much more smoothly.

After you've figured out what chords you're gonna play and how/where you're going to play them.... you need to figure out what sort of rhythm you're going to play them in. Usually, I just listen to the song as a whole, and then play what feels right to me. It's a hard process to describe. Basically, I just listen to the guitar strumming and try to incorporate a similar pattern, yet still different enough to be interesting. You can usually play the whole chord in your right hand, and just do octaves of the root or the root and the fifth in your left hand. Try not to play both hands at the same time all the time. Just like a guitarist hardly ever uses only downstrokes or only upstrokes when he's strumming, when you're comping (a term used for describing playing rhythmic accompaniment on keyboard), you shouldn't just keep banging away with both hands at the same time. Mix things up a little.

I have lots more I could say, but I'll leave it at this for now and see what you think. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me to clarify it. hope this helps!

In His love,
Nate

[twacy2000]

Wow! Thank you soooo much for all that advice! It'll probably be put to good use if I'm asked to play the keyboard (still kinda crossing fingers that I'm asked to play guitar ). But that's good stuff! Thanx lots You guys r stars! Really!

Take care and keep smiling

Tracy

[piano boy]

Hey Tracy,

I began piano lessons when I was 6 and it was all classical and solo like you. Then when I was 11 I was asked to join my church's worship band, and it was like learning all over again for a little while. The first thing is don't get discouraged at first. One of the cool things about worship bands is that everyones usually really nice and patient if you need help. I was backing on keyboard while another guy played piano too, so he could help if I didn't know a certain chord. As Nate said, the rhythm will come naturally, although perhaps not right away.

The most important thing I've learnd about worship music in the last 8 years that I've been doing it is "less is more." It took me about 4 yars to figure this out, but church is not the place to neccesarily play as fast as you can. It will be tempting once you become really proficent to play your best licks and riffs with the band, but this can be distracting to the congregation. We're supposed to be leading people into worship, not putting on a concert. I still mess up sometimes if I get caught up in the moment, but the lesson has really helped me learn. Notice that on the Michael W Smith "Worship" albums, he's not playing nearly all the licks that he can play. He's leading worhsip, sometimes with only a few notes at a time.

As far as keyboard goes, learn about the different sounds on your keyboard. Here's a few main ones that you'll want to use before long:

Strings. This is a must! If there's already a competant pianist, his piano wil probably sound better than your keyboards piano sound anyway, unless you paid several thousand dollars for it. If he's covering all there is to cover on the piano, and it's a slow song, go to the strings. Note: You don't play strings like the piano. Many keyboardists don't realize this. You usually shouldn't be playing rhythm in your left hand if you're using strings because it will just sound all muffly. With stings, melody is the most important thing. Try to find a counter melody to the meody of the song. Octaves are also very useful with strings, as they bring more melody out.

You should also find a good rock organ sound. This is for the fast rock songs. Organ is also not supposed to be played the same way as a piano, or strings. With organ, you should almost always use only your right hand. (Unless you have no bass player and the pianist isn't carrying the bass) With organ, you shouldn't use more than 2 notes at at time either, I don't think. This may be just my style, but even in concerts I've found that you can use organ best with just 1 or 2 notes at a time. Hang on the 5th of a chord a lot. That's the organ's note. (So if the chord id a C, try hanging onto a G) If you can learn how to slide your hands up and down the keyboard to get that classic slide sound; that's useful. (But use it wisely in a worship session) Learn to control it, and then slide up from the middle of the keyboard and land on the 5th of a chord. That sounds really cool. Some people find that it's easier if you use your left hand to do the sliding up and have your right hand already ready on the note you want to end up at, so your left hand slides up and when it gets to that G, your right hand takes over. That way you don't go to far. This is what Steven Curtis Chapman's keyboardist does. (Warning. This can hurt if your keyboard has weighted keys)

Lastly, if you're playing keyboard with another pianist, that means you both probably have to play less than usual anyway. Try not to get in each others way by playing the same things, or in the same octaves as each other. I've played with a lot of pianists while I played keys (and vice versa) and if they're playing what I was about to play, I think of something else to do. If the pianist is leading with pretty melodies, you don't have to, so just play basic chords lower than his melody is and this accompanies him. He'll learn to do the same for you.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to email me through my website. www.mp3.com/josh_brahm. I had the same questions you have when I started this. You'll learn fast though. Above all, use your talents for God. Give the glory to God whenever possible, as He is the one that gives us our gifts in the first place. God Bless!

A Brother in Christ,
Josh

[Nate]

Originally posted by piano boy
. Note: You don't play strings like the piano.

... ...

Organ is also not supposed to be played the same way as a piano

This is great advice, but may I add one more thing???

You do not play keyboard the same way that you do piano.

Many people seem to think that playing keyboard and playing piano are the same thing, but they are not. It is almost as different as playing acoustic guitar and electric guitar. You will rarely ever do the same thing. So, my advice to you is to think of the keyboard not as only an "accompaniment" or "backing" instruement, but to think of it as entirely different instrument altogether - one with with its own particular set of strengths and weaknesses.

Then, learn the individual playing techniques for different sounds/patches. You'll be well on your way to becoming an accomplished keyboardist.

Hope this helps!

In His love,
Nate

[piano boy]

Very true, Nate. That's a good point.

[twacy2000]

Wow! Thank you soooooooo much all! Your hints and tips are very very much appreciated! The thing is there is alot of guitarists and a couple of pianists about in our church but no-one actually plays keyboard in the band! But I dont think im brave enuf to volunteer since im still not really sure what im doin cos ive never accompanied before!

Thanx lots for everythin u guys! U really are a mine of information arent ya

Take care and keep smiling

Tracy

[MVP]

Don't worry, you're going through the same thing every classical piano player goes through...

What??!!!??????!! I have to play without notes? But, but, that, I, who does that?

Beleive me, when I started playing in a P&W band in about grade ten, I thought I sounded stupid. Just playing chords was against my training (By then I had had nine years of classical training). But, I stuck with it, just playing the chords written on the page. Now, six years later, I find myself more free to experiment (in practice) and by doing so, I have found ways to make songs much better. Yet, for the most part, I just play with chord inversions, adding 7s and 9s and sus's, and keyboard voicing.

The other thing you should do is listen to lots of music. The best way to find out what other people are doing is to listen to them.

All the best as your band gets started... it's the hardest time.

mvp

[Narrow Pass]

It will kind of come subconsciously. Start with just simple things like playing an inverted chord solid and the root note in your left hand. Then eventually you'll find yourself jumping around more with the chords, using different inversions. Then you'll start to play notes that arent in the chords when you begin to hear what the different chords sound like. Eventually you'll be able to play really well.

That's what happened with me so don't get frustrated, it will all come naturally. It also helps to get a little guidance, a kind of helping hand from someone who knows what their talking about.

[twacy2000]

hiya again!

All your hints and tips have been really good, I have been experimenting with different sounds and things Not played with the band yet mind u! I suppose thatll be the real test! See just to boil it all down for my wee simple head.... is it just basically playing a counter melody? I might be over-simplifying it but, hey, simple stuff works for me!

Take care and keep smiling

Tracy