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Learning Keyboards

#2
Hi, Burt 68, from Tallahassee,
born in Bethpage, grew up in
Levittown and Massapequa Park

Have played bass, in all genres for
60 years; started piano 8 years ago
with a legit teacher (she has a Masters
in performance and pedagogy).
There’s playing and then there’s playing. I wanted to learn the legit
piano literature. Of course, gigging
depends on the genre. All good
keyboardists know how to move around
on the keyboard with two hands
independently. This is legit (classical)
technique. Beyond that is specific to
the style that you want to play. The
biggest shortcut, I think, to moving
around the keyboard is with a teacher.
Most good keyboardists also are good
grand staff readers.
That’s my take. Good luck.
 
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#3
Started in my early 40s (mid-50s now). Had formal instruction on saxophone and upright bass when younger, so could already read treble and bass clef, knew some theory, etc. One semester of piano class freshman year of college, but honestly didn't learn anything you couldn't get from a good book and some YT videos. I spent the first few years following a classical syllabus, but then switched over to non-classical styles, mainly blues but a smattering of rock / pop, and a hint of jazz.

What are your goals in terms of the genres you would like to play, the technical level you're hoping to achieve, etc.?
 
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#4
I’m 64 years old and started playing keyboard somewhat seriously last year. I have a Yamaha arranger keyboard and a midi controller. I can play synth bass fairly convincingly , some B3, pads, synths and some piano. I don’t play gigs any longer but if I was I could probably play some keyboard on stage at this point. I use keyboards as a way to keep my brain working
 
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#5
I took piano lessons as a kid but never quite got the hang of it, and played flute in school, so can read music (much more familiar with Treble Clef than Bass). I picked up a keyboard a few years ago along with this book, and it all makes sense now!

 
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#6
57pbass said:
I am 67 and am seriously considering the purchase of a keyboard and just spending the upcoming winter learning how to play it. I am busy as a bassist but I think there would be some additional opportunities available to me if I had that additional instrument to offer.

Has anyone here started late on keys ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'm 43 and just realizing now I'm going to need it if I'm ever going to be a good jazzist/soloist.

Your post has convinced me to start now.
 
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#8
nonohmic said:
I just wish I could find a small, two octave keyboard that has it's own speaker aka not a midi controller. As I don't need range at all. Just want to learn and play chords.
Click to expand...
shopping.webp
 
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#10
Sam Evans said:
Started in my early 40s (mid-50s now). Had formal instruction on saxophone and upright bass when younger, so could already read treble and bass clef, knew some theory, etc. One semester of piano class freshman year of college, but honestly didn't learn anything you couldn't get from a good book and some YT videos. I spent the first few years following a classical syllabus, but then switched over to non-classical styles, mainly blues but a smattering of rock / pop, and a hint of jazz.

What are your goals in terms of the genres you would like to play, the technical level you're hoping to achieve, etc.?
Click to expand...
I’m just looking to do some home recording and maybe play locally in some of the cover bands. That would be a starting point.
 
#11
Assuming you’re not looking to learn high-level classical and jazz piano, I don’t think you need to worry about finding a teacher or obsessing about piano pedagogy like they do in the piano forums I frequent. :D If you’re just looking for a decent foundation in rock / pop / blues / country keys, you can do well learning from a few books and then looking up YT videos that will help you answer and specific questions you have.

The problem is that even simple-sounding keys can be much trickier than you think they’re going to be, especially when hand-independence is an issue. It can take a bit longer to get up to speed compared to bass or guitar. I myself was playing bass in bands with less than a year of practice, and I started teaching a friend guitar in January of ’24 and he was ready for us to play some garage parties by the end of the summer. Keys might take a bit longer, so be prepared to hunker down for a bit.

As a starting point, I recommend Mel Bay’s Modern Piano Method (volume 1 – the only volume they’ve put out so far) by Per Danielsson. Like the Modern Guitar Method series, it’s meant to provide the non-classical equivalent of a systematic and musical method. You’ll be able to see that it focuses on the sorts of things you’d likely play in modern (non-classical) genres. It’s not always super musical, but if you really put in the work, you can probably get through it in a reasonable time frame, and then you’ll have the foundations of technique for more musical things.

After (or along with) that, you might look at the Complete Rock Keyboard Method by Joe Bouchard, et al. I think it's a great next step after Mel Bay, covering some similar things and building from them, and in a much more musical way, with real songs and everything. Though it says “rock” it’s pretty generalizable to other related genres.

I can also recommend a couple of great YT channels:

pianoTV TONS of instructional material here. It’s geared toward classical, but there are great videos for complete beginners about how to sit at the piano, posture, hand position, etc.

Christian Fuchs As the title suggests, it’s mainly for blues, but that’s the foundation of a lot of rock and pop music anyway. He also has some other genres in there such as rock and country. He’s also a hoot, very amusing to listen to.

One last thing. Organ playing has some technical peculiarities not always addressed in modern keyboard methods. Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of great books about it, but there are some good YT videos. If you get into that, just search around and you’ll find stuff.

Hope that helps!
 
#12
I've kinda "banged" my whole life, but trying to learn for real now that I'm 66 and retired, Got master level lessons instead of a gold watch for my retirement gift, haven't started them yet though.
 
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#13
100% recommend it. I had a super positive experience. I played in 1st-2nd grade, then not again until I was 37 years old. I took a 1x/week lesson for a year, but I drove the lessons by choosing pop songs I wanted to learn. My teacher was an old time rock'n'roller and was bought into that way of learning. The lessons ended up being more Q&A about chord progressions than "do re mi" or form instruction. Much of the learning was on my own time figuring out how to translate what I knew from guitar/bass translates to piano.

I would say the #1 benefit was that it was FUN, especially if you're into chord progressions, songwriting, and figuring out what makes a song work. Chords that are difficult to play on guitar are easy to play on piano. It's also very fun if you like to sing. Pretty much any genre translates to piano, and you can setup a mic and sing over it. Nashville numbers + singing songs you love is super fun. Basically campfire guitar but for piano. I end up just looking up the chords on an app, then playing on piano without any sheet music.

I'd also encourage you, if possible, to get an acoustic piano to get the "sound in the room". There are nice electric pianos, but like drums it's hard to beat the experience of the piano ringing out in a room, if your situation allows for it. It's also nice to not have a plug, on/off button, etc. It's always just sitting there, tempting me to play it, so I play it every day for at least 30m... just because it's there! Super fun.

Also, before I played piano, I thought at my age I'd have to resort to just playing everything in the key of C, i.e. all the white keys. However, it was much easier than I thought for my brain to be able to switch keys. Now I play stuff in C, F, G, D, etc. without having to "cheat". I can transpose things to match my vocal range. So don't be intimidated by the black keys and fingerings. At some point, your brain will just switch over, and that's fun.
 
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#16
I've played light keyboards for off/on 30 years. I learned the notes, but never really got serious. I could play some chords & do a song, if easy enough... My vocalist, way back, had a Roland D-50. After the band split up, I bought an XP-10. I never really got serious about it.

FF to a few years ago, I decided that I wanted to get serious about it, & I bought a Roland E-Piano, that was a beater, for cheap (an early '90s model). I wanted 88 keys & weighted. The Roland was semi-weighted, I didn't really know the difference. I learned a few things, but, it wasn't really inspiring, so it didn't take me very far. All self-taught, thus far, as I know basic theory & knew the notes, so, I just put 2+2 together & figured stuff out.

FF to last year... I ended up getting me a nord Piano 5. In the last year (since Nov), I've probably progressed more than all the previous 30 years together, as I'm playing larger arpeggios, etc. & can figure out more complex chords & melodies a lot easier. I've played it through my studio setup, & recently got me some QSC speakers for live.

My thoughts on the journey thus far... Make sure what you get inspires you, in feel, sound & playability access. For me, having the 88 keys & having fully weighted hammer action keys makes a difference. Having a nice rich sound is also important. You might not need all that right away, but, you will soon outgrow a short scale, plastic toy feeling thingy w/ poor sound. Just make sure to realize that, or you'll be less inspired to play, will lose interest & will be bound to just stop... which you don't want

Look used at 1st. Try things out. I got my nord used, so, that was pleasant, but still expensive compared to other brands, even new.

Learn the notes & then apply triads, inversions, etc. Play arpeggios up & down the scale. Melodies will present themselves. Also, learning how to play w/ sus2 & sus4 chords can take you a long way, & when to play them & not...

Back, 30 years ago, I was asked to play bass for a church worship band, & because of my basic knowledge of the keyboard, I was able to follow the piano player's hand to play along w/ the songs. I still do that, when I play w/ a keyboardist, especially if playing blues, or something. Once I figure it out, I can just play (improvise), but, it's nice to be able to know what everybody else is playing. Then, if I hop over to guitar, or whatever, I know the whole complexity of the arrangement, & can choose my lane to ride in...
 
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#17
57pbass said:
I am 67 and am seriously considering the purchase of a keyboard and just spending the upcoming winter learning how to play it. I am busy as a bassist but I think there would be some additional opportunities available to me if I had that additional instrument to offer.
Click to expand...

Are you looking at a digital piano, a hardware synth, or a basic controller keyboard you can use with any softsynth (and a computer)? There are good paths to learning keys, but those paths depend on what you want to play and what your hardware budget is.

Perhaps more importantly, you need to identify what "additional opportunities" means for you locally. What kinds of suport sounds do local bands need? Aim for the target.

One of the easiest ways to get into synths is with a classic monosynth (or paraphonic synth) like the Korg Monologue, Novation Bass Station 2 or Arturia Microbrute. Playing one note at a time can be great for customized lead and bass sounds and drones, but you won't get pads or chords.

An easy step up for beginners (and pros) is the Korg Minilogue. A few versions of this one at different prices with slightly different functionality. Four voices polyphony, plus monophonic modes for biting leads and bass.

The best-selling synth of all time is the microKORG and there's a zillion used cheap. Funky design but every beginning rock band I know had one for something or other. Today there's a much updated micorKORG2, and the other two basic recommended starter synths with it are the Arturia MiniFreak and ASM Hydrosynth Explorer (the last one being perhaps too complex in my opinion).

If you want to play piano there are great digital pianos from Kawai, Yamaha and Roland at all price points.

If you want to play electric piano or organ the Yamaha Reface series of mini-synths is awesome (I've owned the Refece CP electric piano for years, and have coveted the Reface YC organ synth).

Or you could get a good keyboard controller (or minicontroller) with 25/37/49/61/88 keys and emulate anything with softsynths connected to a computer or iPad. If you want to learn keys and chords and about different synths a controller is a compelling choice.

And I'll throw in one dark horse for fun: playing 'keys' and chords on a grid. One example is the Polyend Play, currently on sale for $400, which has right synth engines built in, three of which can be used at the same time. Grid layouts make musical patterns visually intuitive, and notes/rhythyms/scales often form geometric shapes making it easier to compose and play (or learn to play more quickly) by sight. (Another option is buying a grid controller to connect to your computer/DAW synth setup.)
 
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#19
nonohmic said:
I just wish I could find a small, two octave keyboard that has it's own speaker aka not a midi controller. As I don't need range at all. Just want to learn and play chords.
Click to expand...

I got this for my then 4 year old daughter, but I find myself playing it more than she does.

It has 128 sounds, speakers, and runs on 4 AA batteries for a long time (I am using rechargeable Panasonic eneloop batteries).

Make sure you get the “Play” version, there is a similiarly named device that is just a MIDI keyboard.

www.akaipro.com

MPK Series | Akai Professional

Explore the MPK Series from Akai Professional — iconic MIDI controller keyboards trusted by producers for expressive playability, hands-on control, and seamless integration with modern music software.
www.akaipro.com www.akaipro.com
 
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