hand advice

[ash]

Hi im Ashley, im 34 and im from the united kingdom. Im disabled due to a road traffic accident when i was six years old which left me with brain damage. I am able to do more things now that im older than i could when i was younger. I love music, my favourite band is Queen and my idle is Brian May the guitarist from Queen.
I started to learn to play the guitar but due to my tight muscles and limited movement i gave up. I now play the keyboard a little but i need some advice.

I use one hand to play as my right hand is unable to work properly. I use midi files but what i would like to be able to do is play quick/fast licks that guitarists and keyboard players that i listen to do but i cant because of the tight muscles in my hand and my fingers don’t stay loose for long. I play with three fingers of my left hand and it’s easier to play with three fingers. I don’t know what to play as im not able to play fast licks. Could you advise me please, i haven’t played for a while because i cant play the stuff ii like, licks and big chords so i thought whats the point. People tell me it takes practice but my fingers don’t loosen, my body wont change now ive stopped growing.

 

[happyrat1]

One suggestion I could make is to get a keyboard with a good arpeggiator or a phrase sequencer and then you could play your fast and funky riffs with a single keypress. Likewise some of the consumer grade Casios and Yamahas have autochord functions which again are one finger chords.

Otherwise you could also use a computerized sequencer to program your riffs in notation and then play along with your backup tracks in real time.

Technology offers a lot of solutions to the disabled or unskilled player these days that didn't even exist 20 years ago.

More power to you sweetie. Music is all about bringing joy to peoples' lives so keep at it. It's a noble avocation.

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

Actually I took a look at what Casio UK offers with arpeggiators and phrase sequencers. From what I can see the best thing they offer for the style of music you want to play is the XW-P1 or the XW-G1. Personally I actually own an XW-P1 and believe me, it is a very powerful little beast.

Here's a semi-official XW Blog with a lot of great tutorial videos showing how to work the arpeggiators and sequencers to create one finger riffs and chords among other things.

http://xwsynth.wordpress.com/

I think you could do a lot worse than one of these for what you are trying to accomplish and I have to say I absolutely adore mine.

Gary