How to Use Hand-Held Synthesizers With Keyboards

New synthesizers with keyboards can add a lot to your performance. Many keyboards offer sounds that are natural instrument articulations. They also have impressive, realistic sounds of other instruments. You can expand the style of music that you play with a hand-held synthesizer with a keyboard. The problem is that there are so many sounds and effects it's difficult to choose.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Decide on the style of music that you're going to play. You may have several types in mind and that's OK. Pick the genre of the music or genres and list them.

2. Attribute the effects and instruments next to the music style that you choose. You wouldn't necessarily want a harp in a jazz song. Gospel requires different sounds from heavy metal.

3. Choose lead or background. Background and harmony use different sounds than lead. If you choose lead, you may only play the melody line. When you play the individual notes you need to decide the sound that you want from the hand-held synthesizer with a keyboard. Experiment with several before you make the final decision.

4. Use chords for background and harmony. If you use the keyboard as a support for the song melody, you play differently. Use chording if you use the hand-held synthesizer with keyboard for support and harmony.

5. Listen to different effects as you practice the song. Select several effects and add them to the music. Some automatically sound bad and you can cross them off the list. Some sound good. Explore combinations of different instruments and effects.