Piano questions

jakepainter · Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 6:29 am Post subject: Piano questions

Im sure this has been covered before, so apologies if im going over old ground, but i need some advice:

Do you practise standards on the piano in C or Bb. I've been practising in Bb to help me visualise chords whilst playing the trumpet... what are your thoughts on whats most usefull?

Also, i've been voicing chords so as to have the smallest movement between chords in my left hand, this allows me to concentrate on impro and the melody in the right hand. Are there preferable ways to voice chords in the left hand that would particually help with improving improvisation on the trumpet ?

Finally, any advice on a 2nd hand keyboard, im playing on a crappy casio thing at the moment. I could spend about $400. Need something thats portable, with a decent amount of octaves, and has weighted keys. Nothing flash just something that is similar to the real thing. (ill never get a real piano into my flat !)

cheers for any help

Jake

_Don Herman · Posted: Fri Oct 15, 2004 8:18 am Post subject:

Can't help on playing -- my wife does that for me!

On keyboards -- Synth-weighted or piano (hammer) weighted?

For synth weighted, if you don't need all the high-end features or sequencing, I think a used Alesis QS-6/7 (61/76 keys) would be a good buy. I've seen them in the $300 - $400 range. The QS-8 is nice, 88 hammer-weighted keys, and runs about $1000 new; not sure the used price but probably out of your range (~$600).

Yamah and Roland, Korg all make pretty nice entry-level pro keyboards. If you don't need rugged, one of the Yamaha PSR might work OK.

If you just need a MIDI keyboard (no sounds on-board) them M-Audio, Fatar, e-MU, and others make good units...

Keyboard choice is as personal as horn choice, and you'll probably get lots of opinions. However, you might want to expand a bit on what you're looking for, and what's wrong with the Casio.

HTH - Don
_________________
Don Herman/Monument, CO
"After silence, that which best expresses the inexpressible, is music." - Aldous Huxley

_londonhusker · Heavyweight Member Joined: 13 Oct 2002 Posts: 658

Look for a Fatar SL990 (88-key hammer action) and hook it up to your computer to play a multisampled software piano (in Reason for instance) or a used Kurzweil MicroPiano.

The action is superb and MIDI response is adjustable. Lots of sales lately around London and in SOS. I've had mine since 2000 and have never regretted the purchase.

You can always set your software to transpose.... physically play key of C and hear Bb and vice versa. I'd try the vice versa part.