Solo Rock Keyboard Tips

Series Summary

Rock and roll is a style of music typified by loud, distorted guitars and bombastic drumming. The genre’s roots stem from the old blues music of Led Zeppelin and The Beatles, as well as the darker sounds of the Doors which later inspired other bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden incorporated many classical constructions to their music, creating an aggressive and intricate sound. When it comes to rock music, the guitar and drums dominate the sound and the louder the music, the better. Theatrics are a big part of rock music as well and it is not uncommon to see pyrotechnics and props used on stage at a concert. There have been many different rock and roll movements over the years and we are all looking for the next wave of great rock music.

In this series of videos, get tips on the basics of rock and roll keyboard playing. Learn how to control your volume and get many different and exciting sounds such as organ and piano. Learn more about pinch and harmonic minors. Get tips on playing a Rhodes and learn about band setting, key types and simulators. Nothing is left out so watch these videos and you'll be rocking in no time!

Video Transcript

"In this clip we're going to be talking about the differences between playing keyboards in a solo context versus playing them in a rock and roll band setting. There are a number of things that are different. When you're playing by yourself, you have to cover all the bases yourself and when you're playing with a band, there are lots of things you have to do differently in order to make what you're doing contribute to the band and not get in the way of everybody else. I'm going to start with just a little section of the song that we'll use as we're going through talking about the different ways that you'll change the way you play. This will be an example of how you would start with something you would play by yourself and then we'll move onto some of the different ways that you would do that in a band context. OK, so this is how you would play something, just a general little bluesy kind of piece by yourself, and then we'll take that and play around with it. So you can see from there, you have to do everything on your own when you're playing by yourself, you have to do the accompaniment, the bass part which also brings a lot of the rhythm into it and then also you have to do the solo part or the melodic part up on top. In the next few clips, we're going to be breaking down how you take things away or add things based on the group that you're playing in."