Years, really? Gee, thanks for that explanation about how people learn an instrument, I had no idea.
So, if I'm overplaying and the band, MD, or arranger asks me to tone it down, I can use the excuse you just outlined and keep stomping away?
I don't think so. Good musicians can adjust, if they are so inclined. Pianists/keyboard players are no exception.
And if a musician tried that line in my band, and they kept being annoying and stepping all over everyone else, they wouldn't last long.
I am really not trying to insult your intelligence. Sometimes seasoned pros don't stop to think how complicated and incredible the process of playing music is, and don't remember how hard it was when they first started learning to play.
If you're a well rounded player with all the necessary skills, you can easily adapt to the demands of different ensembles....so sorry, I don't want to hear any excuses from you, and I expect everything to be perfect on the next play down or your fired
. How's that?
But lot's of working piano/keyboard players only have a partial tool kit. I have been tasked to help train highly skilled concert pianists to play commercial music on a couple of occasions...none of them were ever very successful in making the transition and some made good faith efforts over a couple of years.
As I said earlier in the thread, legit and improvisational musicians really approach and think about music in a drastically different way, so I don' find the unsuccessful training results surprising. My advice...if you need a concert pianist, hire a concert pianist, but don't assume they can easily learn to swing, improvise solos, interpret chord charts, accurately transcribe pop music, or create synth or horn pads appropriate for a given style.
Here's an example that might hit a little closer to home. Take string bass for example. It is fairly easy to crossover and learn to play pizz parts. Pizz technique on string bass is not exactly the same as finger style on electric, but the mechanics are close enough where a good electric player can adapt fairly quickly. You could easily gig with a few days of practice if the bass lines are simple enough. Course if your going to be playing fast technical music in a jazz band it will probably take a bit longer to make the transition. I have seen several electric players make this part of the transition in 6-12 months.
Now consider bowing. It doesn't look particularly hard, but in my experience most players who cross over from electric don't have the slightest idea how to approach the bow and rarely develop very much facility. Those who develop even modest skills typically struggle and progress slowly.
Comping for a pianist or keyboardist who is used to reading music all the time and has never learned to play by ear or improvise, is a bit like an electric bass player trying to figure out how to use the bow. It's a totally foreign concept that the player may not be capable of developing...at the very least the player is going to have to put in some hard work.
Why do I think legit and improvisational musicians are so different? I'll be the first to tell you that I was never a very good musician. But I was pretty good at faking across board, so I might have convinced a few people that I was a decent player. I could play symphonic transcriptions with bow, sit in with the big band, or play finger-, pick-, or slap-style in a commercial music group...sometime all in the same day. So I got to work with a lot of legit and improvisational players, and I have come across very few generalists like myself. Most specialize on one side or the other and tend to struggle a bit when performing outside of their specialty. Next time you meet a legit saxophonist, try to strike up a conversation on the fine points of improvisation. It's usually good for a laugh or two.
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