That piano player's left hand

[Earbrass]

[quote name='markstuk' post='990985' date='Oct 17 2010, 11:35 AM']I prefer 88 note keyboards but be aware they don't fit across the back seat of most cars.... I move my Motif ES8 around in a road ready flightcase, the combination makes moving bass gear around seem easy :-)[/quote]

I find a 76-note keyboard a good compromise - you very rarely miss the extra few notes, but the portability is considerably improved.

[mcgraham]

Amen to keyboard players with a heavy/busy left hand. As has been pointed out already, it comes down to the keyboard player listening to the whole ensemble and finding something that works. Sadly, not everyone who plays an instrument listen to the sound of the band as a whole. In particular, bass is often an afterthought to a number of musicians, and others have to stop and consciously listen out for bass in order to hear it.

I was playing with a piano player recently, who was very left-hand heavy but was skipping some changes in a particular song (perhaps he felt they were too short to be worth bothering with) which meant that at some points I was playing a low E, and he was playing an F a half-step above. We were both coming out of the bass bin so all you got was the horrific half-step low-end beating... we got through several repetitions of this part of the song before I put down my bass, walked calmly over to him, and gave him some advice (genuinely, we're on good terms ). FYI I wasn't band leader in this situation so didn't want to step on any toes, but as no-one else picked up on this at all, it just goes to show how other musicians often just don't listen to the low end in a piece...

Mark

[markstuk]

Absolutely true..

I'll probably pick up a Yamaha MM7 or MO7 to stack on top of the ES8 for Hammondy style stuff - will also give me some redundancy as well.. The fact it's not a GH keyboard is not so much of an issue in this use case.. I know there are other cheaper ways of doing this, but I like things simple :-)



[quote name='Earbrass' post='992042' date='Oct 18 2010, 11:03 AM']I find a 76-note keyboard a good compromise - you very rarely miss the extra few notes, but the portability is considerably improved.[/quote]

[Earbrass]

In my view Jools Holland is a serial offender in this department. He will often play boogie-woogie left hand parts even when playing with a band. It seems to me that the whole point of the boogie-woogie left hand is to simulate a "chugging" band rhythm section, and as such is essentially a solo piano style. If anyone listened to the recent memorial show/concert for Humphrey Lyttelton R4, they will have heard Jools ruin the classic "Bad Penny Blues" by doing just this, and muddying up the bass.

[charic]

I'm a keyboard player originally (I'm good at what I do but I'm not your 'traditional' piano/keys player) and listening for the kind of things mentioned in this thread is pretty much exactly why I left an old band where I was playing keyboard.

I was bored... SO, SO BORED! I'd get to play the intro, then some arpeggios, then.... wait.... then arpeggios, then solo, then.... wait (go to bar or something or the kind).. then ending.

There was not really any space in the music for a keyboard player at all.

It really is a tough part to play in certain styles of music. However if a keyboard player is trampling your basslines... just mention it, I wouldn't take offence and I don't see why anyone else should. Maybe think about if the bass could do with reinforcing in certain areas rather than by itself the whole time.

Honestly just talk to the chap. Maybe even point him at this thread

[bassace]

[quote name='Earbrass' post='992077' date='Oct 18 2010, 11:38 AM']In my view Jools Holland is a serial offender in this department. He will often play boogie-woogie left hand parts even when playing with a band. It seems to me that the whole point of the boogie-woogie left hand is to simulate a "chugging" band rhythm section, and as such is essentially a solo piano style. If anyone listened to the recent memorial show/concert for Humphrey Lyttelton R4, they will have heard Jools ruin the classic "Bad Penny Blues" by doing just this, and muddying up the bass.[/quote]

Well done Earbrass; that was exactly my reaction when I heard the prog. Johnny Parker he ain't. Keep those good ears tuned!

[Earbrass]

[quote name='bassace' post='992261' date='Oct 18 2010, 02:45 PM']Well done Earbrass; that was exactly my reaction when I heard the prog. Johnny Parker he ain't. Keep those good ears tuned![/quote]

He he. Too kind.