Playing with a busy keyboard advice

[brandon.miller]

I play in a church band with a keyboardist who likes to play alot. I don't know if it's because he sings as well and tries to play what he's singing or what. We're thinking about doing this song again sometime soon.

Any critique on if I should play less... more...? This is a good example of him not playing a lot though. In this song I'm trying to play a little more without going overboard. Any advice/ tips would be appreciated.

"Something About The Name of Jesus" | Facebook

[Dazzare]

Tell him every Pitch below a middle C belongs to U and tell him U'll Chop his left hand off.

[MalcolmAmos]

The vocalist and the keyboard seem to monopolize all the room. Were there drums, I could not tell. If so hook in with the drums and the two of you take care of the beat. Nothing fancy, they really have not left you any room. I'd just lay out and smile a lot.

[Snarf]

Originally Posted by brandon.miller

I play in a church band with a keyboardist who likes to play alot. I don't know if it's because he sings as well and tries to play what he's singing or what. We're thinking about doing this song again sometime soon.

Any critique on if I should play less... more...? This is a good example of him not playing a lot though. In this song I'm trying to play a little more without going overboard. Any advice/ tips would be appreciated.

"Something About The Name of Jesus" | Facebook

Sounded fine, but sound quality was low. Didn't sound like the keys were doing anything egregious.

As a general rule of thumb, if the keys player is really playing heavy on the left hand, play very simple. Don't want things to get muddy, so simplify and follow him in that situation.

[Stumbo]

You might want to check out the TB sticky on the topic:How to work together with keys? (or synths?... or organs?)

Lots of other TBers have the same problem.

[oldcatfish]

I've played with quite a few of those types of players in church. You really only have two options:

1) You can talk to the keyboard player and delicately ask them to simplify their left hand part (or move it above middle C, as the other post stated), to give you more space.
2) Simplify your part.

Anything else will sound muddy. And most people won't know why, but they will know that the band does not sound tight. Apply either option, and the band will instantly sound better.

[Duckwater]

Play melodies and chords high up on the neck

[Russell L]

By dang, every keyboardist I play with, except one, plays too much, doesn't coordinate comping with the guitar player(s), has too much bottom in their eq, and plays too low on the keyboard. All night long. It drives me nuts. Add to that a low-eq'd, loud bass drum, and I might as well pack up.

The solution is to complain all the time about it, but that only makes emotional square waves. I just keep mentioning it and hoping things to work out. The one keyboardist who understands says he knows not to get in the bassist's way. One other guy also lays off a lot of left hand when I'm playing at the jam. Those guys are the real pros. They really are, and the best players for hundreds of miles in this area.

I'm about to quit one band purely for the deleterious stage sound due to such crap.

[James L]

That song is really just calling for a solid foundation. As I was listening, I noticed that the keys weren't too overdone. I would just outline the chords and make it groove... That's our job anyway, lead the groove and make it feel good.

[Clark Dark]

It was a worship song. What you played was appropriate.